Timeless - Max Verstappen

Chapter 23

Fp3 ends with max still not where he wants to be. He grumbles past everyone, including me, and goes to his driver room, slamming the door behind him. "Would you go check on him please. And let him know the ice bath is outside and will be ready soon." Brad says to me. We met this morning and he's been really nice to me. Unfortunately this weekend so far has not been nice to max at all. "Yeah sure. I'll see if he will talk to me." I says with a small smile. "Yeah the rest of us have tried to talk to him. Maybe since you're here now you can talk to him." Brad says. "Wish me luck." I say with a small laugh before I walk through the garage towards Max's driver room.

I softly knock on the door. "Maxie, can you let me in please." I say in a soft voice and I hear a sigh from the other side of the door. I hear the door unlock and it opens, max grabs my arm and pulls me into the room. "Ouch! Let me go! I don't appreciate being manhandled like that." I say, pulling my arm from his grip and stepping back once he has closed the door. I see his helmet thrown onto the floor along with his gloves and balaclava. His face drops when he realizes. He sighs. "I'm sorry, I'm just struggling this weekend and I didn't want anyone else to come in here. Just you." He admits. "I know and I want to help you but grabbing me like that is not going to fly with me." I say, walking over to him.

"Hey, I'm not mad," I say, placing my hands on his cheeks, making him look at me and he lightly places his hands on my waist. "I had a boyfriend once and he didn't treat me well but I know you're nothing like him so please don't worry about it. I'm here to talk about you, to help you. So tell me, what's going on in that beautiful mind of yours." I say softly, fixing a loose curl of his hair back into place and I feel him relax against me. His sad eyes meet mine again. "I'll tell you if you promise to tell me who that guy was so I can push him off the top of a tall building." Max says, a slight fire returning to his eyes. I let out a small laugh. "If you tell me everything that's going on in your mind right now, I'll tell you everything that happened with him, I promise." I say to him and he nods, accepting that agreement.

We sit down on the couch in his room and max starts talking. He explains that he has felt the need to be absolutely perfect this season. Ever since he started his win streak in Miami he has felt pressure to be absolutely perfect every race weekend. He doesn't show that he feels pressure because he wants to seem calm and collected but he isn't. "My dad has been putting so much pressure on me ever since I was young. I don't talk about it publicly because he'd end me if I did but it's really stressful for me. This car has been perfect all season and the reason it isn't going well this weekend has to be me then because it can't be the car. I'm the problem this weekend. I'm not perfect this weekend and I wanted to be perfect for you." Max says and my heart breaks. He sighs and I take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together.

"Max, I can tell you right now that the problem is not you. I can tell you are doing your absolute best which is all you can do. You put your all into every session and it shows. It's incredibly inspiring to see if I'm being honest. No one is perfect and I'm really sorry that you feel like you have to be, especially for me. To me, you are perfect without all this. To me you're Max, the boy from the Netherlands who captured my heart all those centuries ago and still keeps it with him, to this day. It breaks my heart to see you distraught like this. Yes you've had an absolutely spectacular season so far this year but this is just one race. Yes it sucks that it's not going your way this weekend but this should be motivation to work hard and make the best of this weekend." I say to him with a soft smile.

He looks up, his eyes reaching mine and I find his eyes filled with tears. "What's wrong?" I ask worriedly, placing my free hand on his cheek and wiping away a stray tear as it races down his cheek. "No one has ever said those things to me. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear those words from you. So really, even if I wasn't a driver, you'd still like me?" He asks sadly. "You of all people should know the answer to that is yes." I say, motioning to the ring and he laughs. "You're right." He says. "Yeah I am. I know I am. Now I believe Brad has organized an ice bath for you outside." I say to him, getting up. "No no no, you're going to tell me what happened to you." He says, grabbing my hand softly. I shake my head. "Not today, you have other things to worry about right now. I will tell you soon." I say and place a kiss on his forehead before I walk out and find Brad.

"I think he's good now. I told him the ice bath was ready." I say to him. "Great thank you. He should be there now." He says and walks off but motions me to follow him. We weave through the garage and open a door to find two small black swimming pools. This area is enclosed from any prying eyes. "Hey Anna." I hear and look to find Checo sitting on one of the tubs. "Hi." I smile, seeing his trainer and two other girls dressed in Red Bull attire sitting between the two pools.

Then a loud splash comes from the other tub and I look to find max surfacing from under the water. His wet hair flops onto is face and he rakes it back with his fingers. Damn... his eyes meet mine and he smiles. "Glad to know this is where the real shown is." I say and the others begin to laugh loudly, including max. I smile and move next to Max. "Are you feeling better?" I ask him softly as the others continue to laugh. "Much better. Thanks to you." He smiles at me. "I'm glad." I smile at him.