My Best Mates Sister

15.

Rosie

"Good morning Marcus" I say as I take a seat at my position "Morning Rosie, you okay?" I nod my head "better than last weekend that it's for sure" he gives me a sympathetic smile "well we have a full weekend ahead" I nod and turn my attention to the screen "which set up mode are we using for FP1?" I ask Marcus who looks over his screen "strat mode 2?" He questions and I analyse the data "yeah that will be a good starting point" we continue like this for a couple of hours bouncing off different ideas and needs for the set up of the car. Around 9am Adam, Jake and the rest of the mechanics arrive. I get a hug off of each of them but Jake lingers for a lot longer "give me a shout if you need to be somewhere but don't want to go alone" he tells me and I feel guilty that he doesn't know my secret "thanks Jake, I will" he gives me a squeeze before heading over to the car.

Usual home time rolls around and I'm currently seated in the car testing all of the steering wheel controls for the weekend. I have been offering to do this most weekends now but I'm finding any excuse at the moment to stay in the garage till Charles arrives. I'm just finishing up the last few controls when I hear Jake "Hey man, you here to get Rosie?" I try to look over but the car gets in the way. "Right all done, you can jump out now" Adam tells me and I wiggle my way out of the seat and to my feet before Jake helps me climb out of the car. I spot Charles leaning against the desk "I'm pretty certain this isn't your garage" I joke with him "well I'm only here to collect an annoying person, not sure if you've seen her" he jokes with me and I stick my tongue out at him "you guys need anymore help?" Jake and Adam shake their heads "you are good to go!" I give them both a hug goodbye before leaving the garage with Charles.

We arrive at my hotel and I don't feel like going inside after Lando managed to get me yesterday. "Can I stay with you?" I ask Charles and his whole face lights up "of course mon ange" he leads me across the road into his hotel. The ride up to his room is silent and I can't help but gaze at the stunning man stood beside me "you okay?" He asks and I find myself nodding even though I'm not too sure how I feel. He unlocks his room and I wander through behind him, dropping my backpack on the floor before collapsing onto the bed with a sigh. "How are you feeling?" He fusses over me "just tired" he nods and grabs a Ferrari shirt from his case "you can wear this" he tells me and I debate with myself before getting up and padding into the bathroom. I strip my team kit off and hang it over the towel rail before pulling the t-shirt over my head, it went down to just above my knees. I open the door and wander back over to the bed and I can feel Charles gaze on me "can we order some dinner?" I ask and he immediately nods "of course, what do you fancy?" I have been craving fries all day "fries please" he snorts "of course, shall I get some pizza as well?" All I can see is a pepperoni pizza in my mind "pepperoni please" I ask him and he calls the room service to place our order.

I stretch my legs out under the duvet waiting for the food to arrive "I have booked you an appointment on Tuesday" he tells me and I'm surprised "thank you, I know this is a lot for you" he frowns "for me? You are the one going through all of this, I'm just sorry that Lando has caused all this pain" I'm very lucky to have him "he caught me in the hotel lobby last night" his eyebrows raise "and?" I take a breath "he apologised, asked for me to listen and said he loves me" I say and Charles seems to be thinking "but I'm not going to allow myself to be treated that way" he nods "as I said you are the strongest woman I know" I smile over at him "I'm only strong due to the people I have around me"

Sunday

It's race day, I've barely left the garage all day, I made sure I arrived early. I thought Soph was going to kill me when my alarm sounded at 5am but she managed to go back to sleep. Marcus joined me around 8am and we have been sat analysing as much data as possible from the practise session to come up with some different strategy options for today. "Morning Rosie" I turn to see my brother grinning at me "morning! Feeling confident?" He nods "well we don't fight at the front but we can try for some points this weekend" I nod my head and George goes to get into the car.

Lap 1, Lando locked up into the Turn 10 hairpin, briefly allowing Max to pass him for P8, before Lando brazenly outdragged him again to nick the place back. For Norris, though, that was about as good as his afternoon got. On Lap 9, the McLaren driver crossed the finish line with his right-rear looking decidedly off-kilter. A touch with the Wall of Champions was suspected, but it ultimately looked as though his brakes had cooked the rear suspension. I couldn't help but fixate on this fight before turning my attention back to George. On lap nine, Lando, who was running in eighth place, pulled over to the side of the pit exit after suffering a broken right-rear suspension. It later emerged that the McLaren's brakes had overheated and set on fire, burning through the suspension. This was unconnected to the problem encountered earlier by his teammate, which was caused by a helmet visor tear-off. No safety car was deployed, since Norris' car had stopped away from the track. Charles managed to keep out of trouble, allowing Seb and Lewis to scrap in front but it is a podium finish! The rest of the race was pretty straight forward for us and George finished in 13th position. I felt completely exhausted after this one and I just know the briefing will drag. I send Charles a message congratulating him on his P3 finish as I couldn't go and see the podium.

Our briefing was straight forward, we gave George some areas to work on and we all feel confident about next weekend. "Great work today Rosie" Claire tells me as we leave the briefing room "thank you! Wasn't too sure on the strategy but we made it work" she nods "onwards to next weekend" she smiles at me before catching up with Marcus ahead. I go to Jake in the corner of the garage "can I help pack the car away?" He grins "of course you can! You can even be in charge of the music" I pull up my favourite playlist and connect it to the portable speaker, Coldplay blasting out across the garage. I take my position under the car and start taking the screws out of the bargeboard.

About 2 hours later I am helping Jake carry parts of the garage out into the packing crates. "Rosie?" I see Carlos walking down the paddock "oh hi Carlos" he wraps me in a hug "I'm sorry about my muppet friend" he tells me and my eyes start to water "is he okay?" I ask and Carlos nods "seems to be, he did say you won't talk to him which I get" I'm glad he seems to be okay but I know I can't act like nothing happened "I need to finish helping out the guys" I tell him and he nods "no problem, see you Rosie" I give him and wave and Jake gives me a concerned look.

"Mon ange?" I look up from my phone and see Charles walking towards me "Charles" I give him a quick hug "ready to go?" I look over at Jake and he nods "thanks for helping out" I give him a hug "thanks for letting me stay" he rolls his eyes "of course Rosie" I grab my backpack off of the floor and follow Charles out of the garage. We walk down the paddock and I spot Lando walking along with Ella in front of us and resist the urge to go back to the garage. Charles spots them as well and places a protective arm around my waist. We follow them out into the car park and annoyingly he is parked next to Charles' Ferrari. My heart sinks and I start to feel sick when I see Ella climb into the passenger seat. Charles unlocks the car and that attracts his attention "Rosie?" I lock eyes with the boy who broke my heart and he glances at Ella sheepishly and I just shake my head before climbing into the waiting Ferrari.

Lando

Fuck! I am literally just giving Ella a lift back to the hotel as she missed the mini bus. Now Rosie is going to think everything I said yesterday was a lie. It wasn't, I really do love her. Fuck! Charles shoots me a disappointed look before he climbs in the car and drives them both away. "Are we going?" Ella calls from the car and I resist the urge to tell her to fuck off "yeah" I climb in the car and start the engine "you need to move on Lando" Ella comments and my fists tighten on the steering wheel. "I don't want to, I just want her back" she laughs "well that isn't going to happen" and I know she is right "I know but I can try" she shakes her head "I know you think she is the only option but you have me Lando" she comments and nothing could make me feel worse right now.

Rosie

I can't keep seeing them, I know I might sound pathetic but I just can't handle it. "You okay?" Charles asks me and I shake my head "I can't keep being here" he has an understanding look on his face "well I was going to wait to tell you but Mattia said there is a position at the factory if you wanted it? It will be as head engineer" I look at him in shock "seriously?" He nods "he knows how good you are at your current job, he said you would be an asset in Maranello" I do love Williams, they have helped me get to the position I'm in now but I don't want to be at race weekends "can I have a think?" He nods "of course you can" I smile up at him "thank you, for everything, for being my person"