Eyes Open [ c.l. ]

↦ chapter seven | foxglove syndrome

Chapter seven -

CHARLES

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    "Se rumora que el piloto de fórmula dos Marcus Armstrong-" at the mention of the familiar name, my head shot up. Marcus Armstrong, the Formula Two Driver.

    Unfortunately, due to my unfocused mind, and inability to speak fluent Spanish yet, I couldn't understand anything further from what the news reporter spoke. Luckily, I have Carlos.

    "What are they saying?" I asked Carlos, reading for the remote so I could turn up the volume of the small cliché television in the corner of the light room.

    Carlos cleared his throat, prying his main focus of attention from his phone -where I am almost a hundred percent sure he was texting someone, you could tell by that smug look on his face when he thinks he's being smooth. His eyes shifted to the television which I referred to as he took in the information on the screen.

    He -much like I was- looked a little in shock when his eyes first drifted over the headline. After waiting a few seconds to make sure his information was correct, he turned to me, from where he sat cross legged in the tacky blue plastic chairs on the side of the room. "Armstrong is retiring from Formula Two."

    My lips parted slightly from shock. While I could understand the premise of what the news anchor was saying, it was more the shock of the news. While the audience for the sport is not nearly as wide as the viewing and fanbase of which Formula One receives, it was still shocking news.

    "At his age? He is too young to retire." I pointed out, to which Carlos nodded. It was extremely odd for a driver to retire at the young age of twenty one. The only reason for a driver to leave the sport at that age could be because he was forced to, and has been replaced. However, from the few Prema Academy promotional videos we had to film, and the times I've watched the series, Marcus has appeared to be a more than decent driver.

    I wouldn't categorise him into that "pay driver" bracket, which some drivers seem to horribly get labelled for. He did produce some good results for his team, so I wouldn't see why Hitech would feel the need to replace him.

    "Apparently, there are rumours that it's just a cover up for another reason." Mirroring my view on the situation, Carlos was audibly confused. "Maybe he's struggling with money?" Carlos suggested, with a confused tone.

    It wasn't uncommon for drivers to take a year out, or even have to end a contract due to money problems. However, from what I could see, Marcus wasn't struggling with sponsors. He even had his own family's motorcar business as his primary sponsor.

    And it wasn't like he had a pregnant girlfriend he needed to look after, or a terminally ill grandmother. So I really don't get it.

    "En otras noticias, no ha habido ningún avance en la enfermedad mortal telangiectasia hemorrágica hereditaria-" The lady on the television began to speak again. And because they had moved on from the mediocrely riveting subject, I turned the volume back down again, so it was now merely a distant chatter, talking about some medical disease I really don't care about.

    I suppose that I have been deprived from motorsport due to my injury, that now, that any links I could get to motorsport, I would find a thousand times more interesting. Oh god, I just hope it doesn't go as far as me genuinely wanting to actually watch Drive To Survive. The horror I would face when that day comes.

    "You know," I speak up, a contrast to the short silence the room had slipped into, causing Carlos to look my way, "I saw Marcus around a week ago."