Foggy Mirrors | Max Verstappen

Chapter 18 - THE PRESENT

"I know we are constantly doing this shit to them as well, but where on earth are they?" Isa complained. "I want to leave. This party is dead."

They had moved onto the dancefloor for just a few songs, the last time she had glanced over to the bar, Max had still been sitting there with Leanne standing leaned against the counter, her head tilted towards Max so she could hear what he was saying.

Now they were gone. And all Isa could do was roll her eyes. She might not have the right to be annoyed, but she certainly was, nevertheless. It was her idea to bring them to Saint Tropez after all these years again in the hope they could go on holiday like they used to do. Them all together, having fun, enjoying life, but the moment they stepped through the door, they fell back in old patterns.

Leanne and Max were a team, an uneven and strange team, but they were one. Refusing to leave each other's sides, even though they were arguing most of the time. There were moments of gentle smiles when the other one didn't look, there were gentle touches, which they would never admit to. There was a deep rooting friendship, nothing could ever destroy, if only it would be like this when they weren't in Saint Tropez as well.

"I'm sure they are fine." Checo said and Isa didn't even have that thought for a single moment, because it was Max and Leanne. If someone on this plant was able to look after themselves, it was these two fuckers. Isa knew that, she had grown up alongside them. She had seen them fight over pretty much everything her entire childhood and the first years of her teenager years. Always coming back for another fight, never getting enough of the constant battle. The rivalry that rooted soo deep, Isa guessed they were born with it.

"Can't you text them, that we went back home?" Isa asked Checo, right in the moment a jangled melody came from his phone. It was such a vast contrast to the music in the club that they noticed it right away, only for Checo to fish out the phone and glance at it, causing Isa to do the same, but as she read the name, the blood in her veins froze.

"You can't really mean to pick up now." Isa told him, while he starred down at the screen that showed him a picture of his wife.

"She thinks I am on a work-related bounding trip with Max, if I don't pick up..." He trailed off, while exhaling slowly, before picking up and pressing the phone to his ear while giving Isa and apologising look.

Not waiting for a reaction from the younger Van der Verden sister, he already knew he would have to make it up to her later, he told his wife to hold for a moment, while he fought his way through the crowd to the terrasse, only to turn to the stairs that would lead to the beach, past a kissing couple, to focused on trying to think of something to say once he was in a quiet sport, he didn't notice that the kissing couple was Leanne and Max.

"Sorry." Was the first thing Checo said, but he wasn't sure what exactly he was apologising for. Letting her wait on the phone while moving to somewhere quieter, or for cheating on her while she was pregnant with his third child. He was sorry for all that, but Isa just happened. It's not like he had planned to become a cheating bastard. He hated himself for it, he truly did. But Isa, she had moved into his life to turn everything upside down with no care, a bit like a whirlwind.

"Sounds like you're busy, are you in a club or something?" Carloa wanted to know, which caused Checo to nod, before he realised that his wife couldn't see him.

"Yes, no better way than to bound over a few drinks." He told her, hating himself for lying like that. Carloa deserved so much better. His kids deserved better.

"So, it's going fine? Max and you are getting along?" She was always so earnest. Thinking of others before thinking of herself. Making sure he was happy, making sure his career was going well. She had never asked him for anything, never pleaded with him to stay home with her. Carola understood who she had married and what he did for a living and she supported him unconditionally. For that, he loved her. He loved her deeply, which made the whole situation such a freaking mess. He loved two women. The one young and exciting, the other one making him feel safe and loved, needed and cared for.