A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

FIFTEEN

George held his phone against his ear and closed his eyes. His mum talked about something; he didn't know about what, the words didn't enter his head. He was feeling off, like something was wrong. It felt like he had a muscle strain, and he felt nauseous. The feeling started yesterday evening, and it didn't stop. But the feeling needed to stop, George had to focus on the race of this afternoon.

He opened his eyes and listened to the voice of his mother; she sounded different, like she was hiding something or trying to cover something up.

"...how are you feeling? Having a good feeling about the race?"

"Hmm, I don't know," George muttered and stretched his legs. His head was leaning against the backrest of his room in the Williams hospitality. "I'm not feeling it. I..." He sighed. "Let's hope for the best."

"Ow." It was silence. "That doesn't sound too good," his mum said.

"Yeah." George stared in front of him. "I can't describe the feeling, but it doesn't feel right. Like I feel empty, but also like I have run the marathon and being nauseous. Maybe it's just the nerves or pressure. Or something happened to Ted, something bad. But no, nothing bad would happen to Ted, so it's the pressure."

His mum took a deep breath, she didn't say anything. Instead of relying on her son, she looked at her husband - George's dad. "Should we tell him?"

"Is it necessary to say it? George can't use more pressure and problems. He needs to focus."

"He's feeling bad, he can feel something is wrong. It's his sister," she whispered.

George cleared his throat. "I can hear you talk," he shared. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, love," his mum said, trying to sound cheerful. It indeed would be better if she wouldn't share anything, just to prevent distraction before a race "There's nothing to worry about. Dad wishes you good luck, and we will watch you race from home!"

"Mum, what's wrong?" George's voice sounded worried, he could hear something was wrong. He sat up, and tears filled his eyes. "Don't lie to me."

"Catherine has been in a car accident."

His face straightened, and his lips parted. Catherine has been in an accident... What happened to her? Is she alright? Did she cause the accident? But...what if she is dead? Oh, god, no, is she dead? She can't be dead. No, no, no. She can't be gone. "Is...is she okay? Is Ted okay?"

"She is fine. Ted has a broken wrist and bruised ribs. The hospital wanted her to stay overnight to observe her. Your dad and I are picking her up in an hour."

George could now state his feelings; something had happened to his twin sister. And people always say it was bull crap to feel each others feeling, but it could be felt when something's wrong. "What happened?"

"The police says that a Mercedes drove into an Audi, who crashed into Ted's car. It wasn't Ted's fault, she was crossing the intersection safely during a green light," mum said and took a deep breath, it was hearable she was worried. "The investigation is still running, but the good thing is that Ted is safe, and that is what counts now."

"Jesus Christ." He swallowed hard. "Mum, I have to go. I will try to reschedule my flight to this evening." George was worried; Catherine always spoke about the fear of having a car accident. And Catherine was probably one the safest drivers he knew. "I will let you know the details later. I love you."

"We love you. Drive safe, have fun and do your best, love."

"Cheers."

The call ended. George ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. It was time to find courage; Catherine was safe, but hurt. However, he couldn't let his team down because of this. He got up and walked towards his team. A fake smile grew on his face.

George was absent; he didn't join conversations or walked around the grid to get interviewed. He was scrolling through his feed on Facebook when his eyes got stuck on a news article from the national newspaper. It was a picture of the accident. Catherine's red Mini was crashed into a traffic light, a white Audi was laying upside down, and a Mercedes was standing in the middle of the intersection, it was a total loss. It looked fiercely. George's eyes glided over the title: 'Two death and two injured at a mega crash at an intersection'. His jaw tightened, two death...

"Mate, you ready?" James, George's engineer, asked. "It's almost showtime!"

George put his phone away. "Yeah, yeah." He pressed a smile on his lips.

James scanned George's face. "You okay? You seem...upset. Is there anything on your mind we need to know? We need full focus."

"I'm fine," George nodded. "Nothing to worry about. Showtime." The cheer in his voice was fake, but that didn't matter to him now.

❉

The chequered flag fell when the last cars crossed the finish. George finished as nineteenth, followed by his teammate Nicholas within three seconds. They both had driven one lap less than the others.

"Alright," George sighed over the board radio. "Thank you for your work this weekend. I'm sorry I couldn't give good results."

"You did a good job," James neutrally shared and closed the line again.

George bit on the inside of his lip and drove back to the pits. This was perhaps the worse race in his career; however, it didn't matter to him. All he could think about was his sister. George was trained to entirely focus on a race, but he couldn't do it, he couldn't block out the negative thoughts.

The car was parked, George stopped at the FIA centre and walked towards the interview area. He didn't show any emotion.

"This was a..." The press officer tried to find a neutral word. "You have had better races," she came to a conclusion. "The team is disappointed, there was a chance we could have got some points...the first points." She looked at him, still no reaction. "You have made mistakes."

George tightened his jaw. "Yup."

They entered the interview area. George switched over to autopilot and gave minimal, neutral answers. Telling the same story over and over again. His mind was fighting against his real emotions, he had to act formal and professional.

"...this has probably one of the worst races in your Formula 1 career. Is it acceptable for an F1 driver to lose focus, to make many mistakes during a race?" The reporter held the microphone under George's face, more reporters put their microphone in George's direction.

George locked his eyes with the reporter and sighed. "I'm going to repeat it one more time," he annoyedly said, this would be the tenth time he had to explain it. "It was not my day, not my race. We can't change the results now. I'm happy for Daniel's third position."

"But can you accept this unprofessional behaviour?"

The comment didn't enter George's mind on the way the reporter wanted it to be. George didn't even bother to give an answer. He stepped away from the reporter and turned around; he was done with it. George left the interview area, he didn't even bother to speak to other reporters.

"George, what are you doing?" The press officer stopped George from walking. "You can't just leave, not with this attitude. What is going on?"

"Ted has been in a car accident, that is what is going on," he sneered.

The press officer rose her eyebrows. "Ted?"

"Ted, Catherine, my twin sister. Two people have died in that accident, it could have been her! I don't know how she's doing. All I know is that she is alive. So if you will excuse me, I'm going home."