Racing | C.L (English)

10

.·:*¨༺ NEXT DAY ༻¨*:·.

They hadn't talked since the kiss. Even though Max had tried to call her several times the day before, she kept ignoring him. They were still friends and co-workers, but she didn't know what to say.

Today, Alice had to see him again, but she got to the track as late as possible so that she wouldn't have to see him, at least not before the third practice. It was going to be impossible, but at least she could try.

When Alice got into the garage, Max was nowhere to be found. Maybe her plan had worked. She thought she had everything ready for practice when someone touched her shoulder. She knew exactly who it was.

"Hey," Max said softly when she turned to see him.

"Hi," she tried to act as normal as possible.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"This isn't a good time, maybe later."

"You've been avoiding me since yesterday, the best you could do is give me a chance to talk."

"Max, please let's talk later," she insisted.

"It will be fast, just let me talk."

She closed her eyes, knowing that he wasn't going to accept a no as an answer. She nodded, standing from the seat. He walked to his driver's room, and Alice followed him silently. She closed the door behind her, leaving them alone.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"You didn't scare me."

"So why did you run away?"

"Max," she said, trying to think of what to say next. "Since you joined the team, and I was asked to pretend, I knew at some point I was going to end up dating you. I knew I would be asked to, and I would agree because I am normally ignored. But when you kissed me, I didn't feel anything. I figured that all of this," she said, pointing at them while taking some steps in his direction, "is a mistake. Yesterday, I told you I could be your perfect girlfriend, you remember?" He nodded. "Well, I can't. I could pretend, but it feels like a mistake. I don't want to hurt you or anything, believe me. We work together, and more importantly, we are friends. That's why I need to let things be how they are."

He looked at the wall next to them, his jaw tensed, just like it did every time he lost.

"I like you, like a lot, Alice. You can easily read me. You know me more than anyone. I thought that by pretending, at some point, you would end up feeling the same way I do. At first, I thought we were just friends, but seeing you first with Pierre and now with Charles makes me jealous. I want to be the person holding you, not them," he stopped talking. "But I guess that isn't going to happen."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"There's nothing to forgive. You didn't do anything wrong," he replied.

"I'm still here for you, Max. Always. I will understand if you—" She was cut off by the sound of someone knocking at the door.

"Max, come on. We're about to start," a man's voice said.

"We'll continue this conversation later. Right now, I need you to be the fastest, okay?" Max nodded and walked out of the room, but she stayed there thinking about what had just happened. Closing her eyes, she thought about what it would be like to ignore her feelings and just be with Max. It was the right thing to do, but that wasn't fair. She couldn't do something like that.