You Broke Me First [Max Verstappen]

17. White flag

It had been a while since Sofia had been home. Her real home in Towcester. After her confrontation with Jos, she felt drained and decided to skip the next two races that were taking place in Austria. For the first time in her life, she had handed a doctor's sick notice but she knew that her mental health was declining once she recalled her behaviour towards Max's father and especially Teddy.

She had tried to make amends after insulting Teddy, but he had blocked her in every possible way. Sofia didn't want to get back together as she felt it would be wiser not to be in a relationship while she wasn't fully healed.

Even though she would fight hard for her career and hated when people tried to interfere with her life, Sofia recognised that threatening to cancel a man with a fake rape story was completely out of order, so she issued an apology and wrote a statement to RedBull Racing HR department and it had been dealt internally. She got reprimanded but the job was hers to keep.

She looked around the lifeless house. A house that once belonged to her grandparents and that she inherited when her grandmother passed away. The shelves were covered in a thick dust layer and she wasn't even sure she would have running water or even electricity even though she still paid the bills monthly. She had been avoiding going back there as it brought her memories that she wanted to erase from her brain.

She leaned against the kitchen island and put her fingertips on her temples briefly as if her head ached. She recalled the beginning of 2020. It had been the hardest year of her life. Not only she had to endure a broken heart sponsored by Max Verstappen and had to move in with her grandmother, but she also had to see the latter die in front of her.

It was a shock to Sofia when her seemingly healthy nana had a fatal stroke and died in her arms in that exact same room she was standing in now. Nana's favourite place in the whole house. Her refurbished kitchen where she spent her days baking delicious cakes and force-feeding her distraught granddaughter.

Sofia wouldn't be able to recognise her own mother if she was standing right in front of her. Apart from some old photos that got destroyed when a pipe burst in the house, that was the only idea she had of what her mother looked like. All the woman had done was give birth and run away not even a month later, leaving her newborn with her parents. No one knew who her father was or at least everyone pretended that. Her grandparents refused to talk about their daughter as it caused them great shame and Sofia grew up happy and always felt loved, so she never felt the need to pursue the subject.

Now that kitchen and the whole place smelled stuffy and mouldy, but Sofia had decided that it was time to bring the house back to life and make her grandmother proud. She felt that it was a project that would distract her from her other troubles.

*------------------*

It was nearly time for Sofia to get back to work. She had planned her sick notice until Silverstone which was a 10-minute drive from her house and she wouldn't have to check in into another soulless hotel room.

The one-story house finally looked habitable. Sofia had no idea for how long she would be able to live there but seeing it once again bright and full of life gave her a sense of relief. The three weeks spent on her own had also been a blessing. She had ignored every phone call and text message. She had also limited her social media usage. Amelia had tried to call her at least 20 times on a single afternoon and she felt guilty for not responding, but she definitely needed to be back in the right mind space.

In those last three weeks, she didn't think once of Max or Teddy. She didn't worry about an impending lawsuit from Jos or losing her job. She finally felt at peace.