Legacy Project

14

"Piper, Charles is literally hounding me. Please just talk to him!" Alex said exacerbated on the phone.

"No, Alex. I don't have the energy," Piper replied.

"It was just a racing incident, Pip. He didn't do it on purpose."

"There was so much room. He was playing dirty, and yeah friendships goes out the window on track, but he was driving so dangerously. He was trying to push me off track. He had no regard for my safety."

"But the FIA rul-"

"No, the FIA just support the bigger teams. I'm so angry, man. He didn't even get a penalty. I'm done talking about this." Piper hung up the phone.

"You okay?" Lissie said looking at Piper sadly. Piper just nodded. Emma, Lissie and Piper had been hanging out. Piper and Lissie had become quick friends, so they had organised to have a chill day together on the weekend before heading to Barcelona. It was nice to have another girl around, seeing as she was constantly surrounded by boys. 

"Has Charles messaged you?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, but I just can't be arsed replying to him, Em" Piper moaned.

Charles had messaged her every day since Miami. Apologising, checking on her, the whole nine yards. Piper just wasn't having it. At the time, she really was furious with him. He did create a dangerous situation, and it was entirely her fault. However, Piper was more upset that he did it on purpose, that he willingly took the risk, compromising her safety. She understood that friends stop being friends when the lights go out, but still, she thought they were close, she thought he might have some regard for her safety. She was also embarrassed by her reaction, she was scared and she was furious, but she should not to have screamed at him on live TV.

"It's all over tiktok, you've really divided fans" Lissie said, scrolling through her phone.

"Yeah, either Charles was completely justified and I was just an idiot little girl, or I was completely valid in my reaction and Charles drove like an arse." 

"I think both of you were in the wrong, he was driving aggressively, and you probably shouldn't have gone off on him like that" Emma concluded.

"I'm still not talking to him until Barcelona, I need time to cool off."

-------

5 days later, Piper and Charles were on different ends of the press conference sofa. They still hadn't spoken.

"Our final question is from Danica Patrick," the mediator announced.

"So, I direct my question to Charles and Piper. I would like to discuss the events from two weeks ago in Miami."

Piper rolled her eyes, "is this really racing related? I thought the FIA ruled all press conference questions had to be regarding racing, following that press conference in Bahrain." 

"Well, this is regarding racing, Miss McLaren, you are the one who decided to take the racing dispute off track. You were crude across open radio channels, you screamed at Charles on international television. You caused this line of speculation. The media has been divided about whose side to take. I want to know, after two weeks of contemplation, how do you two interpret the incident. Piper, seeing as you've already spoken, you may as well continue."

Another large eye roll. "Well, Danica, thank you for your entirely non-supercilious unbiased question. I stand by what I said to Charles, however I do regret airing that frustration on F1 TV."

"So you stand by the fact that Charles intentionally endangered your life. You believe your friendship should have been a greater priority than race craft?" Danica probed