𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚: 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖 1

𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

"I slept with Max"

Natalia's face dropped. Blyat, she whispered. Ana rubbed her eyes, the sun burned through them and made her headache feel like a million hot needles pressing into her brain. The bustling cafe held the likes of different customers, some just starting their mornings and others ending their crazy nights.

"Ana..." Natalia started.

"I fucked up I know"

"You are a grown woman, you can sleep with who you want, but Max? Why him" Natalia wanted to provide as much support to her best friend as she could, but all she could think about was how Charles would be heartbroken if he found out.

"You can't tell George" Ana pleaded.

Natalia nodded, "I won't"

Ana sipped on the coffee in front of her, letting it warm her cold body that had begun to feel like stone. She still felt Max's touch, the way he made her feel and she remembered how it felt so wrong but so right, and how she loved every second of it.

"So what now?" Natalia asked.

"I don't know, I haven't called or messaged him" Ana admitted.

"Do you regret it? Be honest"

"A little, not much, I don't regret what we did, just the shit I'm going have to deal with now..." Ana didn't know how to describe how she felt, she'd never felt like this before, completely vulnerable and unsure.

"Well it's not like it will be easy to avoid him" Natalia ran her hands through her hair and tied it back.

Ana looked back down at her phone, the missed calls from Charles still built up on her Lock-screen, and a message reading, are you ok?

"I have a meeting at 5" Ana buried her head in her hands, she knew she'd see Max there, but she had no idea how he was feeling after last night.

"Whatever you do, just pray Charles doesn't find out"

—

The meeting room was painted with white walls, each engineer, each mechanic and everybody who played an important role in Red Bull sat behind a computer with a pair of thick, black headphones on. Ana played with a pen in her hands, her skin had formed goosebumps from the cold air that filled the room. She sipped on her fifth coffee of the day.

Christian spoke passionately, moving his hands around with each word. What he was saying was important, but nothing Ana hadn't heard before. She'd completely zoned out, remembering the events of the night before, the feeling of pure euphoria and the thrill of sneaking around had made her feel young and free.

"What do you think?" Christian asked her, taking her out of her own mind.

Ana looked around, everyone's eyes were glued to her, especially Max, who sat across from her, he smirked under his hand that rested on his chin, like he knew what she was thinking about.

"I think the car performed well, the aerodynamics really are something else" she had saved herself the misery of admitting she wasn't paying any attention, instead Christian had taken her comment and turned it into another long speech about aerodynamics.

She could feel Max looking at her throughout the meeting but not once did he say anything to her, even after they had finished. She rested her head against the steering wheel of her car wondering why she didn't speak to him or why he didn't speak to her. There was no book on how to have a one night stand with your coworker although she really wished there was. She couldn't control if he wanted to talk to her again, if they both 'mutually' decided to forget about it then there was nothing else she could do. But one thing she did have control over was her relationship with Charles, and treating him like a second hand option to her fucked up mess with Max wasn't right.

"Charles" Relief washed over Ana, he had answered her call much to her surprise.

"Ana, where have you been" Charles never sounded angry, he did get mad here and there but never would be raise his voice to Ana, even if he was completely upset.

"I left the club and went to sleep, I didn't see your messages until this morning" Ana spewed out lies over lies into the phone, hoping Charles didn't recognise a vocal tell that she had when she was being dishonest.

"It's ok I asked Natalia she told me about your date this morning" Charles voice had returned to its natural happy state, back in his hotel and scrolling through the TV, Charles didn't have a worry in the world and Ana talking to him had made his day.
"I didn't get to see you last night it's a shame" he continued.

"About last night" Ana spoke

"I know"

Ana's heart had dropped, if Natalia had told George, and if he told Charles then the mess she'd created would've now expanded to something beyond her control.

"What do you mean?" She'd felt like a criminal being convicted of first degree murder. This is why she hated sneaking around, in the moment it's fun but the guilt on her conscious was too much.

"I know how you went to eclipse with Max, but you two should've come to the nightclub where we were it was so good"

Ana bit her tongue, "Oh, yes I wanted to but I ended up going back to the hotel, I didn't feel like partying" Charles hadn't found out and she wanted to keep it that way and if it meant lying to him then lying was what she would do.

"It's good we get to go home before the next race, I miss Bernadette" Charles laughed through the phone.

"I miss her too"

The two ended their phone call after planning to meet before their flight that would leave in the morning. Then they'd be back at home and preparing for the next race, which meant longer hours in the car and in the gym.

The season was just beginning and Ana had three rules; keep up, be fast, and under no circumstance, no matter how much she wanted to, don't sleep with Max Verstappen, again..