Love and Rivalry {Female F1 driver}

Party time!

I was currently at home, getting ready to go out with all the others. Almost all F1 drivers were going to be there, as well as their partners, Arthur, Isack and I. I decided to wear a short black dress with spaghetti straps and high heels. We were going for a fancy dinner, so I thought I had to clean myself up a bit. I wore some glamorous make-up and curled my hair a little, to give it some silky waves. 

Overall, I would say I looked great, but I was admittedly a bit nervous to show myself like this in front of all the others. Only Isack had ever seen me dress up, and it was only one time for a gala dinner with the Hitech team. 

I heard a knock on my door and grabbed my jacket and bag before heading to the door. "WOW!" Isack immediately let out, making me chuckle. "Pick up your jaw, Ice, we have to get going." I laughed and we both walked to his car. "Sorry, but you look great! I sometimes forget you're a girl you know, when you look so gross after races." He teased and I rolled my eyes. "You look nice too." I just said and we drove off to the restaurant.

We arrived at the same time as Max and Kelly, so we greeted them both with hugs before all four of us walked in together. Apparently, we were the last to arrive, as there were only four seats left in the private room in the restaurant we were given. I saw Arthur get up from his seat and come greet Isack and me. He had saved us both seats at his end of the table, so we would be sitting together, along with Charles, Carlos and Lando. 

"You look great by the way, Cart." He told me quietly, as he led the way towards our seats with his hand on my back. On the way, Lando also came to greet me with a hug. "Congratulations on the podium!" He spoke with a wide smile. "You too Lan, you did great!" I smiled back at him. 

I took off my jacket and placed it on my chair before sitting down. My seat was in between Arthur and Max. On the other side was Charles, on either side of him was Lando and Carlos, and Isack sat at the end of the table. My eyes quickly landed on Charles, who seemed to be avoiding my gaze. I did catch him looking at me from time to time, during our dinner, so I was sure we were going to be okay, but he clearly was still a bit upset after our last encounter. 

"So, Cart, any plans for the week off?" Max spoke up, gaining my attention. We all had a week completely off since the next race wasn't until two weeks from now. "Not really. My dad is travelling currently, so I guess I'll just relax at home, alone." I replied. I noticed how most of the others were listening in.

"Where's your dad travelling to?" Carlos asked. "Um, right now I believe he's in Singapore? He's an engineer, so he travels a lot for work." I explained and they all nodded. "Has he always done that?" Lando then asked, and I could sense a hint of pity in his voice. "Yeah, ever since I can remember. It was alright tho! When I was little he would take me with him all the time, and we would see all the big racing tracks whenever he had some time off!" I spoke, my face probably lighting up as I spoke about it. Those memories with my dad were always the best. 

"He likes Formula 1 too then, I suppose?" Carlos chimed in again. "Likes doesn't even begin to describe it! He loves it so much, but he was never really allowed to drive himself when he was younger. My grandparents were quite strict with career paths and such, they thought it was a waste of time." I explained, rolling my eyes. 

"Just like your mother?" My eyes darted immediately at Charles, who had spoken up for the first time since I entered the room. He seemed to instantly regret the words coming out of his mouth and the whole room went silent. As I looked around though, it didn't seem to be new information to anyone. They all just looked down or other places with pitiful looks.

I looked to Isack, who looked a bit guilty. I knew that Charles and Lando knew about it since I had told them things, but from the reaction in the room, it wasn't hard to guess that everyone knew. 

"I guess you told them, then?" I asked softly, Isack's gaze shifting to his lap. I took a deep breath. "But, yeah... Just like my mother. My parents had an arranged marriage, so obviously, my grandparents chose someone with the same kind of opinions as themselves." I explained, trying to seem as if it was no bother to talk about.

"Carter, I'm sorry, I-" Charles spoke up but I just gave him a little shake of my head. "Don't worry about it. Really. It's all good." I smiled a little before excusing myself to go to the bathroom. I could feel all eyes on me as I left the room, but I didn't care. I wasn't really upset as much as I just needed some fresh air and another subject to talk about. 

I walked outside into a small yard in the restaurant. It was filled with beautiful flowers and plants all over, and I sat down on a bench, taking a deep breath. Soon, I felt someone sit beside me, and I knew exactly who it was. "I'm sorry I told everyone..." 

"It's okay Isack, I don't mind them knowing. It would've just been nice with a heads-up." I chuckled a little to lighten up the mood. "I'm sorry, Cart." I shook my head and looked at him, but as I turned my head, I noticed a tall figure standing a few feet away from us. "Charles..." I spoke out softly and Isack looked in the same direction before he stood up from his seat. "I'll let you two talk. Don't be too long though, it's almost time for dessert!" With that, he left and Charles walked over to sit beside me instead.

"It just slipped, I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to..." I didn't reply, I just sat there, smiling at him a little. "Yn...?" He studied my face carefully. "I didn't die you know," I said, completely changing the subject. He shook his head in disbelief. "I'm serious, Carter!" He said and I shrugged, "Me too!" We both couldn't help but smile.

"I won that race because of you," I admitted and he looked at me confused. "What?" 

"I won the race because of you." I repeated and he shook his head, about to protest, "No, you-"

"Yes, Charles. I meant it when I said I would much rather die than not drive, I'll always feel that way. But after we spoke, I realised it was selfish of me to not care about how others would feel in that scenario. I don't know, I never really thought about it before, but somehow, even though I was upset, I was determined to win that race. Because of you." I spoke truthfully. He was just staring into my eyes, seeming completely speechless. 

"Thank you, Charles. I mean it." I spoke after a few minutes of silence. He just smiled at me and nodded his head. It was a beautiful moment, as we sat under the moonlight and had a little heart-to-heart conversation. I was starting to feel very close to him, and I hadn't even known him for much more than a week.

"We should probably head back inside." I broke the silence again and stood up. He nodded and joined me, "Yeah, we don't wanna miss dessert!" He joked and we both laughed as we entered back into the room.

I sat back down beside Arthur and he immediately whispered to me, "Are you okay?" to which I just nodded with a smile. He raised an eyebrow and then glanced over at Charles and back to me. "You two seem to be in a very good mood suddenly." He said accusingly and I just shrugged my shoulders, turning my attention back to the table, wanting to engage in conversation once again.

When we had eaten dessert, some of the others were talking about going to the Club. Most of the guys with partners had slowly left one by one and left now were only Max, Kelly, Arthur, Isack, Lando, Oscar, Charles and I. "Are you guys going to join us in the club?" Max asked towards Arthur, Isack and me. "I don't know, I think I might head home actually," Arthur spoke up and began to leave as he said his goodbyes around the table. I then looked at Isack, to see if he would be going, and he was already looking at me with the same expression as mine. We were definitely going to party.

"Count us in!" Isack spoke, earning cheers from the rest of the guys. "Let's partyyyy!" Lando exclaimed and we all got up to leave.