Brute

21. Kalki

An evening to forget later, Kalki found herself awake with a headache late in the morning. She pulled herself out of bed, she still had to sit down for a meeting with Kai and report to Raymond. All these commitments in her mind really woke her up, she took a shower, got dressed headed to breakfast.

She wanted to apologise to the lift boy, but the new shift had just come in. Now all she could hope for was that the poor receptionist was still around, Kalki was lucky. The old lady was on her way out, she walked up to her and profusely apologised for the way she had behaved.

"Thank you, and please don't ever put yourself in that situation ever again." Lydia chuckled.

"I promise to celebrate responsibly." Kalki said placing her hand on her heart, as if she was taking a pledge. "But please let me know if there's any other way I can make it up to you."

"Oh it's alright dear! With a coworker as handsome as that young man I would act like you too." She winked.

"Oh no! You got it all wrong." Kalki shook her head.

"See you in the evening, enjoy your stay." The lady politely smiled before leaving the lobby.

Kalki headed to the restaurant for breakfast, she took a table by the window and placed an order for her food. She took this time to ask Kai when she would like to discuss F4, send Raymond a message about her plan of action for the next race weekend.

Kai: I'm so excited for today! I'm already dressed in my formals😂

Kalki: Hahaha! Please hold onto this excitement just a little longer. Full disclosure, things got off to a shaky start this morning 😬 I'll see you in a hour!

Kai: See you!

Kalki finished her breakfast and headed back to her room, she sat down in one of the chairs and started typing. Raymond had said it didn't have to be a very detailed plan, but Kalki did the work how she had always done- putting down every detail. It took longer than she had expected because the tasks weren't that familiar, it was time.

She walked to the conference room with her laptop in hand, she decided to get things set up before Kai and her parents arrived. She thanked the hotel staff that was already present, ready to help her out.

"It's nothing too fancy, I just wanted privacy." Kalki explained.

"I completely understand, please let me know if there's anything I can get for you." The staff member said to her on their way out.

A few minutes later someone had barged in, she was about to give them a piece of her mind. "Where's Kai?" He asked.

"You're not supposed to be here." She crossed her arms.

"Why can't I be here?" Max shot back.

"You don't represent Red Bull management nor do you represent Kai. Whatever discussions happen are for only the two parties involved."

"Your fancy words don't scare me." He scoffed, "I'm still part of the Red Bull academy so I technically represent Red Bull and young drivers." Max said smugly. The look on his face enraged Kalki even more.

"I'm going to tell you one last time. Get out." She marched to the door holding it open for him.

"Jeez." He rolled his eyes, "Oh hey! How are you doing champ?" He smiled looking straight ahead.

Kai was here, dressed sharply in a formal button up and trousers. She had a big smile on her face, her parents looked just as thrilled, they exchanged greetings and took a seat around the round table. Much to Kalki's annoyance, Max was still in the room. Not given a seat at the table, he had resorted to standing in a corner of the room, staring out of the window but still eagerly hearing the conversation going on.

"So, I want you to focus on the remaining stretch of the karting championships okay? I'll be trying to secure you a spot in any of the Formula 4 championships, do you have any preferences?" Kalki asked.

"None really. I just want to get into a single seater." Kai beamed.

"She doesn't, but I hope it's possible to find a spot in any of the European championships... I think she's too young to already be used to the loneliness of this career." Cordelia voiced her worries.

"It's tough to accept but it's better the sooner you learn to live by yourself." Max decided to join the conversation.

"Her mother clearly said she doesn't want Kai to lack a support system. She is my talent in F4, not you." Kalki smiled patronisingly.

The meeting didn't last nearly as long as Kalki was expecting, her parents were completely fine with a lot of the terms and conditions placed forward by the academy. Kai was buzzing, she just wanted to sign those papers and be donning a pair of navy blue overalls.

"I'm sorry I don't have overalls to seal the deal." Kalki laughed filing the papers and forms that had been filled and signed, "but I do know we'll have your measurements taken soon."

"This is a dream come true I'm still not sure if everything that just happened was real."

"It's very real!" Max exclaimed, he walked towards the girl, "well, I sadly don't have navy blue overalls to offer you either but welcome to the team champ!" He beamed handing her his cap.

Kai looked at him in confusion, he placed his cap on her head. "Really? This is for me to keep now?"

"Yes. Really! This is yours to keep now." He laughed, "have a good season ahead, I'm rooting for you! I'll be making sure Kalki is working hard on deals for you."

The family left the conference room after saying their goodbyes and final thank you, Kalki continued sorting the papers into her file and making sure everything was in there. Max sat there, waiting for her to be done. Naturally, the best idea that occurred to him is spinning in the chairs placed for conference members, spiny chairs were fun.

"I want to sponsor her." He suddenly spoke up.

"What?" She looked up from the papers.

"I said that I want to sponsor Kai. Whatever championships you put het in, I'll back her."

"Why?" Kalki blurted. In her head this was some weird way of compensating for whatever events had gone down between him and Kai's sister Kylie.

"Because I see potential in her, Kai is brilliant. She's got innate talent and a knack for learning, and to round it all of she has a lovely personality. It's like she's not aware of the power she possesses, she's humble about it."

"Why did you become a Formula One driver when you clearly have the acumen for whatever my job is?" Kalki laughed.

"I don't think I know what to do other than drive." Max said plainly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's all I've ever known, my father sacrificed his career so he could focus on mine. I think it's all I've known and will ever be good at."

"That's a very depressing thing to say." She sighed.

"It's not!" He laughed.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."