LOVE OR RIDE | LESTAPPEN

Chapter twenty-three - the corruption of man

Max

I lean my tired head against the wall. I haven't seen Charles since that evening two days ago, and for those two days I can't sleep normally, because I've gotten used to his presence and when he's not next to me, sleep doesn't want to come. Now I sit tiredly in the FiA office, waiting for them to decide anything. They know about the situation with Hamilton. Next to me sit Horner and my father, who, of course, always have to be where I am. Slowly it's starting to annoy me. I would like some space of my own.

"Max, this is unacceptable." begins the director.

"And it's acceptable to call other drivers names and make fun of them? Ask him about it, he's no saint, so I don't know why the fuck he's not here." I say nervously, raising my head.

"Because he's lying in the hospital, Max!" begins to shout my father, causing me to uncontrollably move away from him. "He's lying in the hospital because of you, and we don't know what to do to make sure you don't suffer! Again, you looked at yourself and not the team!" he slaps his hand on the table, making me flinch.

"Calm down." Christian begins. "For now, until Lewis wakes up, we have nothing to do. When he wakes up, I'll talk to him and we'll set up compensation so that no one else finds out about this situation." He says, looking at the FiA director, who agrees with a nod.

I have already signed three confidentiality agreements. I feel terrible today, and they are tormenting me with their presence. There's a meeting with journalists in an hour, so I had to arrive early so the makeup artist could cover my facial wounds, which are slowly coming off.

"Can I go now?" I ask, to which Christian sighs loudly and agrees with a nod.

I get up and, avoiding my father's gaze, leave the room. I walk toward the room where the meeting will be held and greet the drivers on the way. Toto met with Christian and none of them want to make trouble for the teams, so they decided to announce that Hamilton is currently in the hospital through an accident and will be replaced by a Formula 2 driver. I go inside and half the chairs are already taken. The journalists set up their stuff, and I look around, and when I find Charles looking at me intently with his eyes, I move toward him. I know he already knows everything, so I don't even try to pretend it's ok. I don't force myself to smile, sitting down in the row in front of him. After a while, Daniel and Pierre sit down next to Leclerc, with Checo and Lando on my two sides.

"Okay, I'll start. Hello to you all, my first question will be to Pierre." says the journalist.

I spend the next fifteen minutes listening to what the other drivers are answering. I think everyone is afraid to ask me a question, seeing my discouraged face.

"Charles, we've heard a lot of rumors about you and Lewis lately. Now the boy is in the hospital. Do you know anything about this, since you were supposedly close?" I find the journalist with my eyes. If looks could kill, he would lie dead.

I discreetly give my hand a sideways glance and move it behind me until I finally meet Charles' leg. I slowly slide my fingers under his pants and run them over his skin every now and then from top to bottom. I feel the boy flinch, not expecting it, but after a moment he relaxes.

"I... Well..." He begins, not knowing what he should say. If he continues this speech like this, everything will get more complicated and his life will turn into a nightmare. Mine is already a nightmare, plus I have the patch of that mean driver who hates the media, so what's the harm.

"Is this some fucking meeting for coffee and gossip? Journalists should say something that makes sense. Talking about gossip and, on top of that, such gossip that is pulled from the finger of someone's fan who hates Leclerc is funny. If you don't have more interesting topics that involve Formula, I think we can end this meeting." I interject, rolling my eyes. Suddenly everyone's gaze falls on me. I look unmoved at the journalist who asked the question.