malicious | max verstappen

forty three.

ELYSE's POV

A throbbing headache woke me up, the consequences of the previous night were really coming back to haunt me.

First it was the headache I knew would last me the whole day then it was finding Neymar roaming around in my apartment, second it was finding that god-awful text I don't remember sending.

To my shit luck, the 'seen' receipt was right below my message with no reply in sight.

After Neymar gave me a brief rundown of the events of last night, he was on his way to Liverpool and it was time for me to head back to the Redbull HQ.

On the way there, I kept praying that Max would've gotten so shit-faced to the point where he also couldn't remember what happened last night or I was going to jump off a cliff.

As I was pulling into the parking lot I spotted the last person I would find here.

And I mean, I don't usually care nor focus on the driver of random cars... but a bright red Honda NSX being driven by Kelly Piquet, leaving the Redbull HQ parking lot left an unsettling pit in my stomach.

Uneasy, I swallowed my worries and walked into Christian's office where I was given the tasks of the day– which was mostly sim work. To my luck, Max would also be there and by the way he kept looking at me, he definitely knew something...

While tensions between us were rising for no apparent reason, Thomas could clearly sense it and decided to small talk with me to ease my nerves and not screw up each lap attempt I tried.

A loud huff interrupted Thomas and I's conversation.

"How many times do I have to make it clear that there are people trying to concentrate here?" Max's voice was stern. "You can take your conversations outside and come back when you're actually going to work."

I scoffed at him, as if he doesn't talk with his engineer while on the sim. But then I regained myself and remembered what Violet previously told me.

Control your anger, don't blurt out the first thing you thought of when you're mad which you might regret later on.

Peacefully, I grabbed a random headset beside me and handed it to him. "Here, blast whatever music or anything on full volume to solve your problem."

He looked at the headset with disgust and I spared him no mind and continued my chat with Thomas.

A few hours later and the sun was starting to set and the moon was beginning to lighten the dark sky. My favorite time of the day.

Just as I was packing my stuff and about to head out, the last person I expected to approach me was standing right in front of me.

"Christian wants us at his office." Max informed me, an uneasy demeanor displayed on his face, almost like it was uncomfortable for him to be in the same room as me privately– yet alone talk to me.

I briefly nodded, setting my things aside to grab later and following the broody Dutch man in an unforgiving silence.

Entering Christian's office, it was filled with probably half of Redbull's staff.

"Ah, finally our two stars are here to join us." A cheerful Christian greeted us.

"Anyways, since it's New Year's Eve this weekend, I'm honored to invite you all to our annual New Year's party." He announced and cheers erupted all around the room. "You all know how this party goes, and I'm happy to celebrate going into a New Year with our new addition to the Redbull family, Elyse."

Another round of cheers went around for me and I could only smile and laugh.

Christian continued to rant about pointless things for a few more minutes before we were finally let go and I could leave.