For You and maybe Me

~ > 28 < ~

~On the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man, I had an awful flight~

Finally. We were there. I smiled like a little kid as I rolled my suitcase behind me and slowly left Melbourne airport with my boyfriend. It was hard to believe that we were really there and that now my adventure with Formula 1 would officially begin.
Still smiling, I took out my phone and slowed my steps so that George was walking in front of me and I could film him. This would then go on Instagram, on his account and on Williams', as I will be taking over their Instagram account inside Melbourne.
After putting my phone away, I stepped back next to George and intertwined our fingers together.
"There will probably be a few reporters outside the entrance. We'll just walk through, all right?"
I nodded in response. It was now our official first appearance in front of cameras, even though we had already shown ourselves together on Instagram or with friends, we had never been in front of cameras together and Claire already told us that they wanted to get pictures of us. I tried to take it as easy as possible as I don't want to go to the "scandal act".
We will just walk together past the entrance and get into our taxi, which will take us to the hotel. George squeezed my hand briefly, smiling at me from the side before we then stepped in front of the entrance of the airport and the reporters and people with cameras could be seen. I gripped George's hand even tighter and put on my sunglasses as we entered from the warm Melbourne summer air and the cameras began to flash. 
Fortunately, the airport was partially cordoned off so that the reporters would not get to us because we were not the only ones who landed today. Some came yesterday, most - like us - came today, and those who had a private jet came tomorrow because they would not take as long as we did with a normal passenger plane.
I heard the reporters shouting George's name and mine. "Miss Ward, a picture please?", I heard but didn't turn around.
George told me to ignore the reporters no matter what they said. "They'll be looking at you because you're the 'new one' among the Formula 1 girlfriends, but just let it pass you by," I remembered his words to me on the plane a few hours before we landed.
When we arrived at the taxi, George opened the door for me and I smiled back at him as I got in and he also closed the door behind me. He then went around to the other side and got in the back as well. We didn't have to tell the taxi driver where to go as he already knew and had been assigned to us.
I exhaled deeply as we drove a bit and tried to ignore the heat. I wasn't quite sure if it was really that warm or if it was just my excitement. Maybe the sudden change in weather was also to blame, as it was slowly becoming winter in Europe and here it is autumn, but at the moment it is summer temperatures.
"You did well, I'm proud of you," George praised me and took my hand in his.
"You think so?", I asked. "Didn't I seem too nervous?"
"Everyone is at their first public appearance but don't worry, you'll be fine. Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
I shook my head. "I expected it to be worse, to be honest. But I feel pretty good"

It didn't take long until we arrived at the hotel and we could rest a bit because the flight felt like an eternity. Ava still sent me the plan for George's day today so he could work it off and I also slowly prepared myself for the days in Melbourne.
"You have the interview with SkySport in two hours today," I repeated for George and flipped open my laptop as I got comfortable on the couch.
"So you know they're going to ask me about you?" he asked, sitting down next to me.
I nodded. "I knew that you just have to tell the good stuff about me," I winked at him.
"Darling, there are only good things to tell about you," he laughed and kissed me on the cheek before standing up again. "Except that you're always singing-"
He interrupted himself as I looked from my laptop to him with raised eyebrows.
"Okay, you're a terrible singer, but they don't need to know that," he laughed, preferring to walk away from me. "I'd better go take a shower," he said and left the room.
Shaking my head, I looked out the window and admired the beautiful view of Melbourne.
Was I really here? Was I really living my dream right now? My fear was too great that one day I would wake up and this would all be a dream...
Up to that point, my life seemed perfect. I had found the love of my life, I was working at my dream job, I had the opportunity to travel as I wished and I had my close friends around me...
Yes, I had a perfect life, but one phone call can always destroy everything.
I looked at the screen of my mobile phone and bit my lips when I looked at the name. Every time he called me, after three minutes, an embarrassed voice would come out or he would act weird and I didn't even know why.
"Uncle Adam?" I asked as I answered the phone.
I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already (or only) six o'clock. It was Monday morning for him and at this time of day, he usually drags on Mondays, as he is always in Budapest playing poker on Sunday nights. "Did you play poker yesterday?" I asked.
"Of course," he answered, sounding very tired.
"Are you all right?" I asked worriedly.
"I wish I could say that," he said, sounding not only tired this time but also very knackered. "I need to talk to someone."
"You know you can talk to me, at least for now. Tomorrow I have a lot to do and from Thursday you can only reach me if you work for Formula 1," I joked.
But he didn't laugh, as he always did when I said some shit. Uncle Adam didn't laugh often, only when we were together. He always said I was the only reason he laughed sometimes. "I didn't feel so good", he said after a while. "I have a feeling... Well. Please don't laugh at me, but I feel like I'm being followed."
I screwed up my face when I heard that. Being followed?
"Have you been drinking?", I asked sternly.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you been drinking alcohol?", I repeated my question more clearly.
This no longer sounded normal. It didn't take me long to assess Uncle Adam, I always knew how he felt and to do that I either had to have heard him without hearing him or heard him without seeing him.
"My normal dose of a couple of whiskeys..."
"You don't sound healthy," I interrupted him. "You probably imagined it because you had a lot of-"
"I DID NOT IMAGINE IT," he shouted off, making me wince for a moment.
Never, never, had Uncle Adam ever yelled at me, no matter what I'd done. Whether it was that I was watching TV too long when I was a little kid or that I drank too much alcohol, he never yelled at me, he just put me in my place.
I would have loved to yell back at him, which is what I usually did when someone yelled at me, but doing that with Uncle Adam would have felt so wrong, so I couldn't make a sound either.
"Lilibeth I-"
"Stop it," I interrupted him again and exhaled deeply. I chose my words directly and clearly because I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I had wanted to say this to him for years, only I couldn't. But after this action, I knew it was time.
"You're not well," I continued, noticing my mobile phone shaking against my ear as my hand began to tremble. "And not just now, but for years. You know, I've been able to keep my mouth shut for three years now, even though I knew it was exactly wrong. You know what this is about."
"Please, don't remind me," he pleaded formally, but I ignored it.
"What happened back in 2017 in Las Vegas?" I asked through clenched teeth, unable to believe I had finally said it. Three years. Three fucking years I've carried this question with me and finally, I dared to ask him. But I didn't expect Uncle Adam to answer. "I know something happened, you don't have to lie to me. From one moment to the next... you were a different person. You were no longer the funny Uncle Adam, but the one who always looked around and was suddenly afraid," I said. "What did Las Vegas do to make the old Uncle Adam stay behind?"
I missed the old Uncle Adam, I wanted him back, but when we were back in Hungary everything was different. He didn't smile, he didn't laugh, he didn't joke. He was last seen like that when my aunt died...
"There's this saying: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", he said after a while.
"They say that about other situations," I interjected. "With you, your whole personality stayed in Vegas."
"You know Las Vegas is still Las Vegas," he said, sounding disappointed this time.
"Yes, I know it. But something happened there and I'll find out if I have to. I'll find out why you came back to that hotel room in the middle of the night like a completely different person and you weren't the same," I said sourly this time. "I am sure that this is connected to the events of now. Ever since that happened, you've been doing strange things too."
"Not true," he contradicted me. "You're only angry with me because our family disowned you when you brought me to Las Vegas.
Shocked, I opened my mouth. Did he seriously just say that...
"It's not related," I said slowly. I felt the tears gathering in my eyes. He was the only one in my family who smiled at me like it was real and not fake, everyone else in the family didn't even look at me or just gave me a fake smile - except my cousins in England.
"You are my family," I brought out brokenly. "You always have been. Whether before or after Las Vegas, I knew you weren't well, but I didn't care, you were the one who was always there for me, when mom almost kicked me out, you were there for me, you showed me what real life was like, you showed me how to fight, how to be strong... But this time you show me the complete opposite."
A silence followed. I wanted to know what he said, I wanted to know if he felt the same as I did, because I had never confessed to him how I really felt. Maybe he knew, maybe he didn't. Turning my head to the side, I saw George standing there with just a towel around his waist, looking at me worriedly. He didn't understand a word of it, as I was talking in Hungarian, but everything could be read in my face.
But still, nothing came from Uncle Adam. That was enough of an answer for me.
"You can talk to me when you feel ready to tell me the truth," I said at last, before ending the conversation and hanging up.
I threw my phone on the couch beside me and sat back to take a deep breath.
"Are you all right, Lilibeth?" asked George worriedly, coming up beside me.
I just shook my head, unable to get anything out of my mouth.
If George was actually standing in front of me like that, I would have had other thoughts, but this time I couldn't think of anything like that. This whole thing with Uncle Adam was overtaking me too much. "If you want to talk-"
"No," I replied immediately, not even letting him finish. "I don't want to talk until I have answers."
He looked at me in confusion. Of course, he didn't know the story about Las Vegas. I didn't even really know it myself...