Our Little Secret [ Max Verstappen ]

part eight.

** im changing the pov to lilia's first person bc it's easier for my brain lol <3
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The sun had barely risen when my first alarm of the day sounded. Blaring out of the speaker on my phone, right next to where my head lay restfully on my pillow, causing my eyes spring open. Oh my god, I have not missed the ludicrous wake up times one bit.

My life is racing, and to finally get started properly with the my first ever season in formula 1 is undeniably exciting. It's not just pre season testing anymore, this is the real thing. A fresh start, everyone is on a level playing field, and I have this feeling that it might just be my time. No one has ever been a world champion in their rookie year, although Lewis got very close. I don't want to inflate my ego too much, though. But we look fast - certainly faster than the rest, apart from Ferrari.

Loving what I do so much gets me out of bed in the morning. Granted, I hate actually waking up, but once I think about the year I have to look forward to, and just how lucky I am to have this opportunity, I feel like I could conquer the world. To be a champion: that is the goal for all of us drivers, and I do have a real chance to fight. But of course, there can only be one champion. And if you don't close your mind on everyone else and start believing that you are quite literally the best of all time, you're not going to be that one.

And naturally, being a woman is reason enough for almost everyone to write me off. I am beyond sick of people only seeing my gender and not my success in karting, Formula 3, Formula 2... I want to prove them wrong; I will. And you better believe that I will stand up there on that podium and laugh- I hope they plaster my face all over every newspaper article, and that they finally treat me with the same respect any of the other drivers receive.

***

Finally, I hauled myself out of bed.. only for my phone to start ringing five seconds later making me stop in my tracks on the way to the bathroom and roll my eyes. Jumping back onto the bed, I picked up the call and sigh dramatically.
"Yes, Max, I am awake." I said
"Just checking." He said.
"Like Ferrari?" I joked, and he laughed. I love listening to him laugh- you can just visualise the expression on his face, and it made me smile, too.
"You're funny. Now get out of bed." He said.
"I'm not in bed." I lied.
"She thinks I'm stupid." He said.
"Yeah you are, now leave me alone stalker!" I said, laughing, before I hung up on him. Seconds later I heard a loud thud from above me that sounded like somewhat of a stamp. "Two can play at that game." I said to myself, shaking my head, and standing up on my bed. I start hammering with my fists loudly on the roof in return. No more noise came, and I giggled to myself in triumph as I sent Max a text:

➡️ Stamp on the floor again ill come up there and kill u

I didn't? ⬅️

➡️ What.

I'm next door to you? ⬅️

➡️ You are fucking kidding me right?

     No ⬅️

I heard a loud knock on the wall on my right hand side. Oops. Now I've probably angered some random person who wants to sleep.

➡️ There was some noise upstairs and
I thought it was you being annoying so
I started banging on the roof
😂😂😂⬅️

***

"Pull in here." I said, craning my neck to look at the free parking spot behind us. Max turned too, then shook his head.
"That's the bird's place." He said.
"The birds? What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Lando said that he parked here last year- bird's shit all over his car. Not happening." He said, taking the car again in a loop around the car park.
"You can't really be picky, Max, there's no spaces anywhere-"
"Aha." He said as he pulled into a spot next to a bright green McLaren. The both of us, filled with curiosity, looked out of the window and into the other car. Sat in the driver seat was Lando himself.
"Speak of the devil." Max said.
"Christ, he'll attract the shitty birds over here too with that obnoxious thing." I said, chuckling.

Max unbuckled his seatbelt, and mine too, clearly eager to get into the paddock. I jumped out of the passenger seat and ran round to the other side of the car, and knocked on the window of Lando's new neon McLaren. He slowly looked up from his phone, raising his eyebrows and grinning when he saw the two of us there. I gestured for him to open the door.
"Hey, Lilia, what's up?" Lando said as he wound down the window instead.
Immediately I couldn't help myself. "What's up with your car?" I asked him as I started laughing.
"Oh come on it's nice. No? You don't like it?" Lando questioned.
"Mate, it's a very bold choice." Max said.
"Yeah, well, I like bold. I'm trying to reinvent myself this year." Lando said.

Max and I exchanged a look. "Okay, well, good for you! But are you planning on actually coming in the paddock today?" I asked Lando.
"Yeah, yeah, I just need to sort out some .. stuff." Lando replied, pointing at his phone screen.
"Unfortunately he's not patient enough to wait, so you'll have to walk alone. You have fun with your stuff." I said.
"See you guys later." Lando said, still very much focused on the screen.
"Bye." We said before we turned to walk away. Max pulled me by the arm, walking so quickly he was almost running. I worried for a moment if anyone around us might deem this strange, but I quickly shook off those thoughts as we can still be just good friends- plenty of other teammates act this way, and no one knows about our little secret. Except Jos to some degree, but he's not here right now.
"Do you think Lando got a girlfriend?" Max asked.
"You are such a gossip.. Yes." I agreed as both burst into laughter.

We reached the entrance to the paddock and scanned our passes, opening the security gates into the paddock, and the door to the new season. New opportunities. Wins. Podiums. A new champion.
I took in a deep breath of the air around me. And so it begins...