80. Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty
Henry
We hung up with nothing resolved, but I wasn’t sure there was much TO resolve right now. Kat was already on a plane, and whenever she got wherever she was going, I’d call her. And convince her to let me come join her. I wasn’t leaving her alone. Even if she thought she should be.
What I was surprised by, though, was Milo crouching down beside me, kicking his feet out at the same time to sit rather ungracefully. I didn’t say anything for a moment, and neither did he.
“So, what are we going to do now?” he asked carefully.
“About Kat?” I asked, turning toward him. He shook his head, bending one knee up to lean his elbow on.
“Well, no. That’s obvious. We find out where she went and you go after her. But I meant for a job,” he said as if it was that simple. But…
“Milo, what in the bloody hell do you mean, about a job?” I asked in a dangerous voice. Please tell me this fucking fool-
“Hey mates, mind if I join the club?” Tim asked before I could get an answer out of Milo. We both gestured for him to sit. He leaned his head back against the wall in a resigned way.
“Know of any teams hiring a head race engineer?” he asked nonchalantly. What? What the fuck was happening right now. These arseholes better have been speaking hyperbolically.
“You’re taking the piss, yeah?” I asked them both, but facing Tim. He shrugged.
“I thought it was time for a change. I don’t particularly like the little person getting railroaded, scapegoated.
And it being a woman just takes us back to the bloody dark ages.
I’m not helping a team like that win especially if they’re too stupid to see they need HER to win this season,” he said with a fair amount of heat behind it.
I knew he’d had some issues at his last team, down in one of the other formulas.
Basti had basically snorted and hired him anyway.
My mouth was open to respond when I was interrupted AGAIN.
A group of about ten mechanics and engineers, headed by Andy, walked up.
I was really hoping they weren’t going to bitch me out for quitting.
I knew a lot of them didn’t particularly like most of the drivers they’d worked with.
Because most of the drivers were arseholes.
“You guys want to go grab a beer?” Andy asked.
“Don’t you need to be packing up the cars?” Milo asked before I could. Andy looked at him, and I saw the same thing there I always did. The same thing Milo didn’t see at all, I knew that for a fact.
“Like we’d stay without you,” Andy said evenly. He gestured at all of us, but his eyes stayed on Milo. That sounded about right. One of the other mechanics stepped forward.
“We like Grace. She was updating the code, which was going to make our lives a lot easier. And she worked harder than most of us. She wasn’t in the union, because she was a contractor. But we can still make our voices heard,” Nate said.
Next, Basti strolled up casually, his hands in his pockets. There was no fucking way.
“I hate every single one of you, deeply and unforgettably,” he said casually, shrugging his shoulders. He sighed.
“You didn’t quit too, did you?” Milo asked curiously. Basti threw his head back and laughed.
“Fuck if I didn’t want to, Milo. But somebody had to stick around to keep all the paperwork locked up in HR long enough to talk sense into, well, all of you.
And Dennis. Luckily, I know I won’t actually need to handle Dennis.
I think Eleanora will do that for me,” he said nonchalantly.
But then he sighed again. And looked directly at me. Like this was somehow MY fault.
Nonsense.
“I’m assuming you knew that Eleanora would never let you go, hmm? And in turn the rest of these arseholes?” he asked me pointedly. Well, no, actually. I hadn’t thought that at all. I knew I’d mentioned her earlier, but I tended to forget she had any say in the team. I shrugged.
“Honestly, no. I may have lost my temper a touch. But I meant every word, Basti. I’m done. This wasn’t meant to be a negotiation. Kat won’t want to come back,” I said quietly.
“Understatement of the year, my boy. Well, Eleanora loves you. She always laments that she only ever had sisters but you were the little brother she always wanted. I highly doubt she’ll let Dennis fuck this up enough for you to leave.
Not to mention… well, I honestly am glad I’m not Dennis right now,” Basti said agreeably, still just standing there.
I sighed. I knew Eleanora would be furious I’d quit.
But she’d be utterly livid about what Corning had done to Kat. The documentary company, too. I could almost hear her saying ‘us women in motorsports need to stick together’. I had been looking forward to introducing the two of them. Now, I wasn’t sure I’d get to.
“What do you mean, Grace won’t want to come back?” asked one of the newer mechanics—I thought maybe his name was Sam—in a hurt voice. Andy laid a hand on the younger mechanic’s shoulder.
“She loves all of us, we know that. But it’s hard as fuck for a woman out here, and nobody’s been making that any easier for her lately,” he said reasonably if sadly.
“Well, then how do we make it easier?” Sam asked, as if it was that simple.
“We get Corning to make a statement, that’s how,” Basti said.
“You mean Eleanora does,” I countered. He laughed.
“Well, I already called her. Had to leave a message, but I’m sure she’ll take care of things quickly,” Basti added. He probably could have led with that.
“And then we need to talk to Kat,” Milo said confidently. I stood as quickly as I could, pulling my ringing phone out of my pocket. It had to be Tam calling back.
But it wasn’t.
I hurried off for some semblance of privacy. Because Milo had spoken so confidently, he spoke it into existence.
Kat was calling me. I answered immediately.
“Hello, love.”