The Fight • Max Verstappen•

•forty-four•

MAX

"You know it doesn't matter how long you stare at that picture of them, it's not going to change?" Beau poked as she sipped on her chai latte. "It's always going to be Pierre and Scarlet."

I scoffed, "I'm not staring at it, it just came up on my feed."

They had barely announced their relationship to the world, and it had already hit headlines in gossip columns, not to mention F1 were plastering it across their media. It was pathetic really; Will Buxton had already posted an article where it referred to Scarlet and Pierre as the star-crossed lovers.

Suddenly Beau reached over and grabbed the phone from my hand, "Hey?!" I exclaimed. She then brought her brown suede bag up to the table and placed my phone inside. "Why did you do that?"

A smile came over her face, "You're currently in the presence of your best friend who you haven't seen in months, and you're more interested in another girl."
I had first met Beau just over four years ago whilst she was visiting Monaco with her younger sister. I remember walking into the famous Oke Kartel rooftop bar and seeing her surrounded by a crowd of suitors but being more interested in capturing the perfect shot of her cocktail. Our eyes clicked for less than a second before I was dragged away by my ex-girlfriend. I would have the pleasure of meeting her three days later when she was honouring her grandfather's plaque at the F1 Monaco Museum.

Since then, our lives had intertwined and over the years we had grown incredibly close.

"That's rich coming from you," I countered, "You've spent more time with Daniel than you have me!" I reminded her.

It was obvious that they had hit it off and I was pleased for them both, however that didn't change the fact that I had invited her to be my guest and somehow Daniel had gotten confused.

She smiled a teethy smile at the mention of the Aussie. "Well, I'm here now, and I want to know exactly why you left last night." Beau said wagging her finger in front of me.

Oh, here we go. "I already told you about this."

As much as I appreciated that Daniel wanted me there, he knew who he had invited, and he knew that I wouldn't want to spend the evening with Pierre. It had been no secret that we had never clicked even when he was my teammate; in-fact the only teammate I had ever truly clicked with was Daniel.

Beau pursed her lips before letting a giggle escape. She shook her head softly at my words, "But if you knew Pierre and Scarlet were going to be there, why agree?" She pondered, "It makes me no sense."

Her face glazed over with confusion, her nose crinkling up and I could almost see her wander through hundreds of different scenarios in her head. One of the things I had always loved about Beau is she would always tell it straight.

So many throughout my career would sugar-coat things as they were afraid to break me down, but not Beau.

I pushed my hair back and let out a sigh, "I didn't know Pierre was going to be there." I told her honestly.

That was when Beau raised her eyebrow, "Now it makes sense." A smug look came over her face as she looked at me. "You wanted to spend time with Scarlet."
Beau was right and I couldn't lie to her about it. She would be able to read my deceit and then she would point out that I was lying.

I nodded, "It's stupid really." I admitted as I thought of the British girl who had unexpectantly walked back into my life at the beginning of the season. Ever since I saw her perfectly irritating smile at the end of the first qualification session followed by the whip of her tongue going to war with me, I had been infatuated.

The truth is I had liked her for a lot longer than I knew but having her in my playground and then beat me, well that had just intensified my feelings. Scarlet had this habit of being able to bring me to my knees and then pushing me to the ground. I never knew whether I was coming or going with her.

"Why is it stupid?" Beau inquired as she squinted in confusion, "Also you've known her for, like, ever?"

"When I was thirteen years old my dad forced me to go a Karting Summer Camp in Belgium and I had hated every single moment of it, until I met Scarlet a week later. She was with her older brother who appeared to have absolutely zero interest in karting preferring to escape through the Ardennes Forest with some of the older boys. It was also at this camp that I witnessed first-hand just the level of talent she had.

I remember one day I was leading the race and she pulled off this spectacular overtake taking her into the lead. When I went to congratulate her and tell her that she raced well, she turned around and said, "Yes I know, I'm going to world champion one day." There was that same confident attitude that she would have for the rest of her karting career and into single seaters.

For the rest of that summer, we were as she used to say, two peas in a pod. There was no Max without Scarlet and vice versus. On the penultimate day of the camp, once the awards had been presented, there was a massive treasure hunt in the Ardennes Forest. Scarlet and I spent half an hour before giving up and sitting under the canopy of an oak tree. I listened to her talk for hours about London and her dreams, and she welcomed my stories of the pressure of being a Verstappen. We laughed about how neither of us had really wanted to come to this camp. Scarlet had wanted to spend the summer learning the moves to the High School Musical songs and I wanted to be, well anywhere else.

As the camp leaders called out for us all to return, I remember twelve-year-old Scarlet turning to me and asking if we would ever see each other again. I told her that I hoped so, but she would be returning to England and myself to The Netherlands, so we couldn't be certain. I will never forget the look on her face when those words left my mouth. Her leafy green eyes looked down at our hands that were intertwined.

She decided that we should probably head back but as we turned to walk, she pulled me back and her lips touched mine. It was timid, but I recall her lips being soft and tasting of peach. "Well, if we won't see each other again, then I want you to remember me."

I knew at that moment I would never forget her. I just never expected that the next time I saw her she would be competing for the World Championship – and leading it

Beau listened and nodded as I told her the story of how I had first met the Mercedes driver. And then out of nowhere she burst into laughter, I swear I almost saw a tear drop from her blue eyes.

I groaned, "Are you fucking serious Beau?" I snapped and pushed myself away from the table. "I don't laugh at your dumb love stories." I slammed two $20 bills onto the table and walked away towards the edge of the beach.

The late afternoon Miami sun was beginning to set over the horizon, and I sat down on the stone bench that was on the lip of the sand. Moments later my best friend sat down next to me and placed her hand on my back.

Her voice trembled, "I'm sorry for being insensitive," she said as she rubbed her hand in circles on my back. "It's just I think that's the first time I've heard you talk like that...about...well anything." Beau added her tone slightly guilty.

I turned to her, "So that's why it is stupid."

Beau looked to me, "Does it hurt?" She asked apprehensively. "You know, seeing her with Pierre?"

I nodded "The worst part," I chocked as I turned my attention to the crashing of the waves, "It's knowing that no matter how much I wanted her or how many moments we shared, that she picked him."

💜💜

It's finally out there. Who knew he had such feelings?

So now... the question is if he is going to do anything about it!

Thanks for 17k 💕🥺