Forbidden

8. The Bulls

The next day Olivia woke up feeling more excited than nervous. She woke up early to take a shower and eat a big breakfast from room service. She didn't have any Red Bull clothing yet so she just wore some straight blue jeans and a white button down shirt. Her hair was long and she styled it in loose waves. Her makeup was very natural and made her look fresh and vibrant. She took one last look in the mirror, and once she was pleased with the outcome she finished her breakfast, brushed her teeth and went downstairs to the lobby to wait for her car, although it was already there waiting for her. It was a little bit early but she decided that it was better being early than late, so she hoped in the car and she was on her way to the paddock.

Checo had told her security would have her paddock pass and sure enough she just showed them her ID, they gave her the pass and then they were nice enough to show her around. They guided her through the paddock and Red Bull's motor home was thankfully at the very beginning of the road. She thanked security and went inside, looking for Checo.

"Can I help you?" A brunette woman with beautiful eyes looked at Olivia curiously and asked.

"Actually yes, I am Olivia Perez, Checo's sister. I'm supposed to have a meeting with the drivers and Christian" she explained.

"Oh, of course! Liv, Checo has told me so much about you. My name is Alice by the way. " she said with a smile "you are a little bit early but I know they reserved the room A on the second floor for the meeting. Feel free to help yourself to some coffee or water, we have great catering" she added.

"Okay thanks! I'll just get some coffee and wait for them then" she replied with a smile, she started walking towards the station that had food and drinks, then she looked back and added "it's very nice to meet you!"

She just served herself some coffee in a portable cup when Checo came in. Finally it was time for the meeting. "Good morning Liv" he said with a smile on his face, she could tell he was excited.

"Morning Chequito" she replied with a smile. "I got here a little bit early". She added.

"That's perfect actually, we needed to have another meeting with the mechanics, so this way we can do yours first. You can go to the first room at the right on the second floor. I'll go get Christian, I think he's still outside".

"Alright, then" she replied. She grabbed her coffee and a small bag of cookies and went upstairs while Checo served himself some coffee. When she entered the room there was someone already there. Sitting at the far end of the table, a guy in all Red Bull merch. He had a Red Bull shirt and cap on. He was looking down at his phone, texting something. Olivia couldn't see his face because of the cap while he was facing down.

"Hi, I'm Liv. Nice to meet you" she said as she walked towards him and extended her hand.

"The famous Liv! We finally get to meet you" he said putting down his phone on the table and starting to stand up. Olivia froze, his voice was strangely familiar. He looked at her. "Olivia? What are you doing here?"

"Emilian? What are you doing here?" She replied in a state of shock.

"You said your name was Olivia! Checo's sister is Liv" he said not responding to her question either, he had a confused expression on his face.

"Liv is a nickname!" she said in a louder tone like it was obvious. Breathing became more difficult as she connected the dots.  Seeing Emilian in front of her, in Red Bull merch, when her meeting was supposed to be with Max and Christian. It all made so much sense now, he lived in a pent house in Monaco, traveled for work, and had a racing simulator. Emilian was not someone who looked like Max, he was max. He didn't have a secret family, like Ava had said, he had a secret life. 

"Oh God, you are Max" she said, feeling her stomach sink. Then she remembered how she had drunkenly called him out for his anger issues and had said he wasn't that cute when they were at the club. "You told me your name was Emilian!"

"I mean, technically that wasn't a lie. Emilian is my middle name, Max Emilian" he said with wide eyes and a guilty look on his face. He got closer to her and touched her shoulder with his hand, trying to keep her calm and at the same time trying to ground himself. 

Was she really there? He had been thinking so much about her. When he had texted her and nobody replied he thought he must have had the wrong number, and wether that had been on purpose or accidental, it crushed him. He had no way of finding her, no last names, no address, no idea where she worked since she was a photographer. The next day she finally answered but he thought he wouldn't be able to see her for a long time, the season was starting out and she didn't even know he was an F1 driver. But now she was here in front of him. He was feeling everything: guilt, shock, disbelief and excitement at the same time. There was this fluttering in his stomach the moment he saw her again.

Her face, however, he could tell she was mad; and he couldn't blame her. Olivia grabbed his arm and took if off her shoulder. "You lied to me. Didn't you know I was Checo's sister?!" she demanded.

He hadn't known. Checo never called his little sister Olivia, he always called her Liv. Max thought that was her name. How was he supposed to know it was her? Although, Checo's real name was Sergio and nobody ever called him that...

"I had never seen you before and he calls you Liv! Didn't you know I was his teammate?!" he replied, trying to defend himself. 

"You are always wearing helmets!!" she said trying not to scream again. She didn't know what to feel, she was furious he had lied to her but at the same time she couldn't believe she was seeing him again. Could this be a second chance? An opportunity to get it right? No lies, no secrets. 

There were voices and footsteps coming in from the hallway, getting closer. Olivia stepped a little farther away from Max and tried to act like everything was okay even though it wasn't.

"Oh good, you've met Max!" said Checo as he came in the door with a smile on his face and Christian Horner next to him. 

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The meeting was short, it was basically just introducing Liv to Christian and Max. Christian talked to Liv a little bit about the types of photographs they needed for their social media and web. "We have a photographer, his name is Vladimir Rys and he takes care of the race shots, but we could really use someone who was in charge solely of portraits and garage, you know? The drivers getting ready, getting in the car, training, having a chat, something for our fans to see this other side of Red Bull Racing." explained Christian. 

After the meeting was over, Christian guided Olivia through the motor home and the garage, giving her a little tour of the place. Checo and Max stayed at the garage chatting, Max seemed tense. The tour ended at the garage and Christian said "we begin pre-testing on Thursday but you can come tomorrow and Wednesday to take some photos while we prepare and just feel free to do your thing, alright?" he patted her in the back and gave her a smile.

"Perfect then, I'll get to it" she said with a smile. Christian left to go talk to the mechanics and Liv walked towards Checo and Max, who were talking.

"Is Ashley coming to the first race?" Checo asked Max.

"Ashley?" repeated Liv curiously.

"Yeah, that's Max's girlfriend" said Checo.

"Oh right, of course" said Liv turning to look at Max straight in the eye. If looks could kill Max Verstappen would be a dead man. The knot in her stomach got even tighter. 

Max took a deep breath and looked at the floor "Uh no I don't think so, we are working some things out" he said avoiding Liv's glare. 

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Big reveal, Emilian was Max all along haha. 

What do you guys think of this chapter?

Too much? To little?