Drive to Survive

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The dinner on Friday had turned out to be the best part of Dylan's day. Lewis had found a tiny restaurant with true Bahraini cuisine and they didn't make a fuss of the boys being there, which all of them absolutely loved. To her delight, Dylan had ended up sat between Carmen and Lewis and she made easy conversation all night.

Lewis had grown up in a town only about an hour or so from where she grew up so they had visited many similar places in their childhoods and they talked at length about Silverstone and attending races there. For all his celebrity status, Lewis was relaxed, thoughtful, and funny in a quieter and more understated way. Dylan warmed to him instantly.

On her other side, Carmen had also been also a delight to talk to. She was from London, was around Dylan's age and they shared interests in history and fashion. Dylan told her all about Ana and her dreams of being a fashion designer. It had been refreshing to speak to a girl after being surrounded by men all day Friday. 

The next day, Dylan had alternated between filming content with Red Bull and hanging out with her family in the hospitality zone. Both Ana and Blanca were pretty loaded up on champagne all day, mainly to numb the stress of watching their brother in a car. They'd had a low-key family dinner in the evening so Carlos could get an early night ahead of race day.

When the Sunday finally came around, anticipation was building as the opening race was getting nearer, and Dylan followed Max out of the garage to an open space of pavement out the back. She'd been trailing him all day and it was almost impressive that he'd managed to go so long without saying a single word to her. Although the glowering stare he'd sent her way when she'd first walked in said all she needed to know. 

Max had secured P2 in qualifying yesterday so she really wasn't sure why she hadn't seen a single smile on his face. She could understand that he wanted to be in P1, especially ahead of Charles' Ferrari, but P2 was still a great result in her mind. To Max, it seemed like it may as well have been P20.

On the plus side, Carlos had been positively beaming at his qualification when Dylan had seen him yesterday. She knew he was ecstatic just to have made it this far into the weekend without any mechanical errors. The family had celebrated him last night and they were all hoping he would stay in the top three today.

As she stepped outside behind Max, Dylan was met with a tall, burly man with dark hair and a friendly smile. 

"Alright?" He greeted her, his southern English accent prominent, "I'm Brad, nice to meet you."

Max looked up from his phone and watched his Performance Coach introduce himself to Dylan. He'd been so focused on ignoring the girl that he'd almost forgotten she was there. Since his poor qualifying performance yesterday, he'd been furious with her. As irrational as he knew it probably was, he couldn't help but blame her. He'd tried to focus before heading out in each qualifying round but he could hear her talking or laughing and he could smell that damned perfume. There was nowhere in the garage to escape it.

Dylan was smiling at Brad's extended hand. She reached out and shook it firmly, "Hello, I'm Dylan! It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh my, you are an absolute darling." Brad laughed at her polite tone.

The pair exchanged a few more pleasantries before Brad turned back to Max, who was watching them with a surly glare. It wasn't that he wasn't happy his coach was getting on with Dylan, but it didn't make his job any easier.

Could nobody else see what a big distraction she was?

Did they not want him to stay focused?

It seemed like every single other person in the team adored her. He'd watched as she'd so pleasantly introduced herself to everyone and his crew seemed to instantly warm to her.