Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

People don't change

During the race, Y/n always kept an eye on Carlos and Charles' statistics, after all she wanted them to win. Everybody is a Ferrari fan.

The race was heated, Max was hot on Carlos' heels and everyone, including Y/n, feared a repeat of the terrible incident between the two of them. Her palms were sweating, she couldn't sit still and prayed that nothing would happen.

The race seemed to take forever, Charles, Carlos and Max were so close, all three wanted that first place, they wanted to win in front of Y/n. They all three repeated it to each other over and over again, they wanted to make a good impression, they wanted to raise the cup high and dedicate the victory to Y/n who had come to see them.

Max wanted to do it to make her happy, to see her smile, because he wanted to show her that he had improved. He wanted to run a clean race for her, to show her that he was no longer the spoilt child she remembered. He wanted to make someone happy, someone who with time he had come to see only as a good friend and an excellent professional.

Carlos, well, Carlos would have done anything to surpass Max. He couldn't stand the fact that he was ahead of him in second place, there were only a few laps to go now. Carlos would also have wanted to win, or at the very least, finish ahead of Max, just because Y/n was there to watch him. The chat with Y/n had stirred something in him, although he didn't really know what it was. He wanted to see her happy, he wanted to beat Max.

Charles felt strange, he was confident, he knew he would win this race again, yet he felt pressured because Y/n was there. Seeing her there in the paddock had made his heart beat fast, he couldn't explain what he was feeling, but he had thought that she looked better than usual that day. He had to win at all costs, he wanted to run to her and hug her.

Strange, he had never tried anything like this for Y/n, yet he was feeling it, driving at 320km/h.

Carlos was able to get DRS on Max every lap, yet he couldn't overtake him. This was driving him crazy, and then images of Max and Y/n in bed, naked, flashed through his head, twisted images that made him gag. He was pissed, only four laps to go before the end of the race, but he couldn't get past him. Damn RedBull.

He was right on his heels but suddenly, in the excitement of the moment, Carlos skidded, going off the track for a moment.

Y/n from the RedBull pit wall winced.

Fortunately he did not end up in the gravel and was able to return to the track. It was unbelievable, there were only a few laps to go and he was about to fuck up the whole race, risking not making it to the finish. It was immediately after this moment that Carlos realised how much his anger and jealousy were really destroying his career. The images of Y/n and Max alone were enough to make him swerve and risk a DNF. It was not possible, Y/n had to get out of his life. Now.

The race ended like that, Charles on the podium, Max second and Carlos third, with a big gap to Max after that mistake. But he had finished the race, finished on the podium and had had the greatest epiphany of his 28 years.

Y/n was happy and smiled at her father, who smiled back. Immediately from the pit wall they moved under the podium, where Charles' car arrived to take the first place. He ran to hug the mechanics and Mattia, then stepped back and, taking off his helmet, saw Y/n among the RedBull mechanics. They looked at each other, smiling, while people around them were screaming the drivers' names. 

They stood still and looked at each other for a while. Charles was all sweaty and red in the face, he had the imprint of his helmet on his sweaty cheeks and his hair all messed up, yet he was handsome. Y/n looked at him, then lost sight of him as Max arrived to hug the RedBull mechanics.

As soon as he saw her there, Max hugged her tightly, the paparazzi bombarded them with photos and videos. It was the smoking gun for Formula1 gossip.

Carlos arrived later, hugged Charles quickly. He was tired, angry, but resigned. It had to go like this. He saw from afar Y/n next to her father, they were smiling, they were happy. That image only made his thought more solid: Y/n had to stay away from him.

In the cool room Charles talked to Carlos and Max, but Carlos and Max did not interact with each other, nor did they talk about what had happened to Carlos during the end of the race. Carlos had absolutely no intention of doing so and Charles understood this perfectly well.

At the end of the prize giving, Y/n made her way with her father to the RedBull garage, it was just the two of them.
"It would have been way better if Max had won" said Christian
"He had a good race, I feared the worst between him and Sainz at the end" she had said Sainz....
"Yeah, it could have been a lot worse... Listen, Y/n, I have to ask you something..." 

"Y/n!!!" came Lissie to her "Oh, Mr. Horner, hello!"
"Hi!" Christian stood still, listening to the two girls talking.
"So are you ready for the podcast?" asked Lissie all excited.
"Podcast?" asked Christian in curiosity.
"Yes, I asked Y/n to be my guest during one of my podcasts. I think it's only fair to value women in the sport, don't you think?"
"Sure, sure." replied Christian quickly.
"Your daughter is one of the top track engineers here, it's an honour to have her as my guest" said Lissie smiling towards Y/n, she smiled back.
"I'm off then, I'll see you later and you tell me what you were going to ask me, okay?" Y/n walked off with Lissie and during the podcast, they talked about so many things, sports, women, work, cars, passion for Formula1. Y/n walked out of that room really charged up and ready to rock.

Once back in the pits, they were all still there and as soon as Christian saw her, he asked her to go to his office to talk.
"You want to go back to work in RedBull?" he was smiling at her, sitting in front of her.
"What?" Y/n was not sure if she had heard correctly
"What do you think?" he crossed his arms and waited for her answer
"I don't know what to say, dad" her heart was beating so fast, she had definitely not expected something like this, just now.
"Aren't you happy?" he asked, almost shocked at his daughter's distrust.
"Yes, well, I was wondering why just now" Y/n didn't understand why everything was happening so fast.
"Because you finally understood what I want you to do here" he had become serious.
"Understood what?" Y/n was getting more and more confused sitting at that table.
"You sacrificed your feelings for something bigger" that sentence rumbled loudly through the office walls, as if it had been uttered in front of thousands of people.
"Dad, I swear I'm not understanding you."
"You're with Max, right?"
"No, I'm not with Max"

Okay, now this was all really weird.

"That's impossible...I mean...pictures of you two came out..."
"You mean the ones in Max's car? I went to his place to clarify and he gave me a ride, we're not together."
"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that the paparazzi I called photographed you two together."

Y/n whitened. Had he called the paparazzi? He couldn't believe it.
"What did you do?" she shouted, her voice shaking.
"I...I mean, everyone had to know about you two, so I sped things up" at times, now, he felt guilty for what he had done, but he had done it for the greater good.
"Ferrari fired me because of those pictures! What the fuck did you do? You ruined my life!" the screams of Y/n overcame the thin walls of that office and echoed in Max's garage.

Christian quickly composed himself.
"Your place is here in RedBull, Y/n," his voice was back as authoritative as ever towards her.
"I don't want to hear a single word from you, you are no longer my father." Y/n walked out of the office furious and headed for the Ferrari pits, hoping that someone between Mattia, Charles or Carlos would be there to tell him everything that had happened. Her face was red, her eyes swollen and full of tears, she was pissed off.

Her father had betrayed her again.

As she walked like a fury, she bumped into someone who was walking in the opposite direction. The two bumped into each other and when Y/n looked up to see who it was, she saw Carlos. "Y/n? Are you okay?" he clutched both her shoulders, trying to look her in the eye.
"I need to talk to you, Carlos."