Drive to Survive

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

When Thursday came around, Dylan was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the race weekend.

She'd been dealt a horrible hangover Tuesday morning and had the embarrassing joy of waking up in Max's bed again. If he'd been exasperated at her drunk actions, he never showed it, and he very kindly fetched her pain relief when her pounding headache hit. Luckily, she only had admin work to do in the day so she was able to wallow in her bed with her laptop and slowly recover.

Texts from Lando said he was essentially in the same state and he had the unfortunate task of a photoshoot so she was definitely grateful for her lazy day.

On Wednesday, she had the whole day off so she spent it with her family, wandering around Barcelona and just catching up. Her aunt and uncle were glad to see her looking so much brighter and happier and she enjoyed telling them both about her beach date with Max. Reyes had a smug look on her face that said she felt responsible for such a happy outcome.

That evening, she'd sat down with Andy to prepare a statement to go out to the press on Friday. It clarified that the photos of Dylan and Max were not from a date but that the pair were pursuing romantic relations and asked for privacy in their personal lives. The wording was cleverly articulated to basically ask that the media stop harassing Dylan. It gave them enough to confirm speculation without encouraging follow-up questions.

Christian, Andy, and Greg all signed off on the statement. Max had made it clear that Dylan could put out whatever she wanted; he trusted her to handle it best.

So, as Dylan got ready for Max's press conference on Thursday morning, she truly felt optimistic. Tomorrow, she would get ahead of the media and share her statement, stopping them from bombarding her at the paddock or diverting Max's post-race interviews.

"Good morning, Dee-Dee!" Lando was downstairs to greet her in reception, stood next to Danny.

She met him for his hug and then turned to Daniel, saying hello and giving him a hug as well.

"You guys excited for media day?" She asked brightly as they began to walk towards Lando's car.

He'd offered her a lift as he was travelling in with Danny already, and she was not ever going to turn down a ride in his beautiful car. The trio headed down to the hotel garage, chatting about their plans for the day, the upcoming weekend and what they were doing in the couple days they would get off before the next race.

She thought Danny was looking a little more withdrawn than usual so as Lando went to find the valet with his keys, she squeezed his arm and asked, "Are you alright? You seem quiet."

He smiled kindly down at her, "I'm fine, Dee, thank you for asking. Just not been the season kick-off I was hoping for and I know I'm going to get grilled about it today. Hopefully this weekend brings some points."

"Oh Danny." She said, her heart aching at his deflated shrug, "You are a gifted driver. Don't let other people take away your faith in yourself."

Lando reappeared with his car keys before they could talk any more but Danny wrapped Dylan in a quick hug, with a friendly kiss on top of her head, as a show of gratitude. She knew he wouldn't want to talk about his racing concerns with his teammate present. As much as they were good friends, they were still rivals and Lando's fantastic driving and regular points only served to further highlight Danny's lack. It was a frustrating situation.

He cheered up on the journey and the trio sang along to the radio, rolling the windows down and letting the cool air rush through the car.

When they neared the track, Lando showed his ID and they were able to park with all the other drivers and senior managers. The car park was already quite busy; Thursday was always a packed day with media and sponsorship demands across all the teams.