The Bull Prince | Max Verstappen

Chapter Eight: Joanna Lauda

15. May 2016

Joanna knew that she was walking on thin ice, but she couldn't stop herself from enraging Max every possibility given. They weren't in the press conference together, but she still made sure to drop one thing of the other to make sure Max was fuming at the end of the day. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe she was pressuring him into making a mistake, but she couldn't make herself believe that Max was such an amateur.

At one point Sebastian couldn't watch her doing it any longer. The possibility that Nico would try to murder her becoming a serious threat by now. One wrong thought while sitting in one of these cars and more than just one person's feelings would be hurt. Grasping her elbow, he pulled her behind the Ferrari facility.

"You know what you're doing right?" the older German native speaker asked, which caused Joanna to roll her eyes.

"I just riled him up a little bit."

"What's your business with Nico?" Sebastian had watched her the whole day, touching Lewis and flirting with everyone, so that he was seriously worried at the end of the day. She was funneling someone's anger intentionally and she was adding pressure onto Nico and Lewis's relationship without even noticing it.

"Nico? I don't have time for that now. We speak after the race?"

-------------------

The race itself was alright, until Nico and Lewis crashed into each other, causing Max, who just got promoted to Red Bull, to win his first Grand Prix ever with Joanna and Sebastian right behind him.

Joanna was the first, who entered the cooldown room, with Sebastian hot on her heel. "You know that was your fault, right?" He whispered, standing behind her, which caused Josie to turn around and face her friend and teammate.

"How was that my fault?" She retorted as a smiling Max entered the room someone from Red Bull close behind. The young Dutch was more than happy.

"You were playing mind games with Nico without realizing it," Sebastian said as he stepped back from her, getting himself a towel and a bottle of water, but Joanna hated that he simply called her out for something which wasn't her fault. The rest of the people present heard the two of them talking and so did the rest of the world, over the life broadcast.

"I didn't do shit." Joanna defended herself, which caused Sebastian to snort.

"You're turning into Mark." He said, his arms crossed over his chest after he stepped up to her once again.

"How dare you..." Joanna started to speak hatred in her voice, dripping venom, as some of the officials came to tell them that it was time for the podium celebration.

----------------

Joanna wasn't in the mood to go out and celebrate. Her second place was a decent one, but Sebastian was angry at her, and Lewis and Nico had to work up some shit, so she would have to go out with someone else and not her normal companion, which is why she decided after her dinner with her father this time, during which she had to apologize multiple time for not realizing what her actions were doing with Nico, that she would stay in. A quiet night. Maybe she was too old for so many parties anyways. Impatiently she waited for the elevator as a familiar voice caused her to look up.

"We need to stop meeting like that," Max told her, he was about to leave the elevator, but upon seeing her, he didn't move out. The others could wait for him a little bit longer, he was the reason for the party after all. Huffing upon seeing the Dutchman, Joanna joined him, nevertheless.

"Your dad's proud?" She questioned, not in the mood to really make small talk but she knew that Max was gazing at her with hunger in his eyes, and talking about his father was a way to annoy him.