Too Sweet | A Max Verstappen Story

One

Scarlet

(End  of Beginning , Djo)

        Shadows cast across my room as the morning sunshine creeped slowly into my room. Across the room the white numbers on my alarm clock revealed to me how early it was. Everything was silent this early in the morning and was one of the reasons why I never minded being awake. Most people don't start their days until seven or eight o'clock, allowing me at least two peaceful hours all to myself. The past year I have spent a lot of time surrounded by my own company because of how much my job asks of me. Among other reasons. I live alone, if we're not including my dog Gabriel, in an apartment just a few minutes outside of Edinburgh. I was born in Vermont, in a small town, with an even smaller population. It was a beautiful place to grow up but when it came time to apply to college's I was craving an adventure and to finally feel like I could begin living. Not being originally from here it took me a good amount of time for me to be able to call this country a home and find myself a new found family.

      I still keep in touch with my parents and my older sister and have messaged them almost every day since coming here. My parents still live in Vermont and try to come visit as much as they can but with their salaries it's usually only on special occasions. There's a four year age gap between my sister and I which meant she was ahead of me in school. Unlike me she only moved a few states away with her high school sweetheart, who she is still with today. She and my brother-in-law visit more than my parents, mostly spontaneous and unannounced.

      After what I felt was too long of laying in bed I finally pushed off the comforter and slid my legs over the side. Gabriel lifted his head from his paws and just looked at me with his pitiful eyes. Slipping on my blue fuzzy house slippers I stood up and made my way to my main living area. My apartment wasn't big, it was all one floor where everything was very close together. The selling point being a fenced in backyard and it being the only place I could find within my budget on such short notice.

     Gabriel sat at the sliding glass doors and just stared longingly at the squirrels that tormented him each morning. As I slid open the door I told him to go get them before heading to the kitchen to brew myself a pot of coffee. I poked through the cabinets searching for the ingredients I would need, every so often glancing out the windows to make sure Gabriel was still there running around. I heard faint dings coming from my bedroom, indicating the world was starting to wake up.

     Once I finished the last sip of the bittersweet coffee I made, I let Gabriel back inside. He ran over to his dishes and began munching away at his kibble I had put in there for him. I made my way back into my bedroom and grabbed my phone to see who was desperately trying to get ahold of me. It was a Saturday which normally meant my time off but it was a little less than a month away from the busiest time of the year for us. My job includes a small team where we all work PR for the Formula 1 racing team McLaren. We all have different assignments but if one of us is working it usually means we all are. I began as an intern during my last year of uni, it mostly consisted of me running around like a chicken without it's head doing everything that was asked of me. Slowly working my way up in promotions I was finally given my dream position a little less than a year ago.

     Gabriel jumped onto the couch and snuggled up beside me as I tried catching myself up on all the messages that was coming in at rapid speed. Biting my lip I tapped the text box and began typing away a response to my team. The drivers were set to be in office Monday morning and nobody had solidified the final slide of our presentation. As texts came in quicker than I could respond I let out an aggravated sigh. I loved this job and would not trade it for the world but on days like this I wish I could slip my phone onto do not disturb for awhile. Finally after a few minutes of back and forth an agreement was made and I was able to set my phone down. I turned on my television to help drown out my wandering mind and glued my eyes to the characters on the screen. Letting myself enter the world of fiction and leaving behind the real world. As a kid my parents never understood how I could slip into my imagination so easily. They spent so much time trying to get me to stop and be present in the moment but I couldn't help it. The world I made up in my head was prettier than reality.