The Rival

Chapter Thirty-six

That evening I sat with Max in the hotel restaurant alone. Lando had taken Caitlin out somewhere - saying he wanted to explore rather than stay at the hotel but I was sure that there was more to the story. We saw Macey and Charles enter first, both pulling up chairs to join us - Macey had chosen a long and elegant blue dress that perfectly highlighted her figure whilst Charles wore a simple Ferrari polo. I felt highly underdressed, still wearing Max's clothes, but I didn't let it bother me. Charles left quickly to grab drinks for the two of them and Max leaned in and whispered "I like you better in my clothes" in my ear and gently laughed. 

"Its much comfier" I replied and excused myself to get more pizza. The hotel's buffet had a larger selection of pizza today so I helped myself to plenty of slices. Once more, I came back to an almost full table of drivers but this time I felt more comfortable around them. I slipped back into my seat and I felt Max's hand move to my thigh, it was warm and made me feel better about being around strangers. Just like the night before, the conversations were pretty much argument based with the occasional nice comment. I zoned out for the most of it unless I was brought into the conversation, for example when Gasly and Ocon attempted to bring back the France vs Monaco argument. I occasionally talked to Macey and a few of the other girls around the table but I missed Caitlin's company. It wasn't until we were all finished that her and Lando stoled in.

"About time" I said rather loudly, interrupting most of the conversations around the table. Caitlin looked unusually happy and I was instantly suspicious. "What happened?" I asked but instead of answering Caitlin walked around everyone to me. That's when I noticed a shimmer from her finger and my jaw dropped - had he done it?

"Well-" she began to say but I snatched her hand and squealed. The little English girl couldn't help but squeal too and everyone glared at us. "We're engaged" she announced and there was a round of applause and cheers for the couple from everyone.

"How did he do it?" I asked, wanting to hear all the details.

"We went out to this really lovely restaurant and ate sushi before he took me onto the beach and proposed" I could tell from her voice that she had never been happier and it made me happy too. I could not wait for the wedding.

"I'm so happy for you!" I squealed and pulled her in for a hug before letting her go talk to everyone else about her engagement. I turned to Max and he could tell I was over the moon for her.

"Did you know?" he asked quietly and I nodded.

"Lando asked me about it a couple of months ago and I helped him slightly in the process but I didn't expect it to be now" I explained. I checked the time - 10:42. I didn't want Max missing qualifiers because then we would have a problem so I quickly congratulated the happy couple and pulled Max up to the room.

"We don't need to go bed yet" Max whined as I dragged him into the elevator. 

"You want to keep your job right?" I asked and he nodded, sulking. 

"Saai" he whined.

"Huh?" I asked confused. He took a step towards me and brushed a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Boring" his smile was smug and I instantly knew what his intentions were. "Prinses" his lips met mine and I'm sure you know what comes next.

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AUTHORS NOTE <3

Sorry its short <3

I just wanted to say that this story should be coming to end soon unfortunately. I think there could be about 5 chapters left as I don't want to drag it out too much. I would make a sequel but I feel like the plot line could get boring so I might be making a new story.

Thanks for reading ❤️