Minefield of Mirrors

-28-

With only fifteen laps to go, Max was comfortably leading the race in the first place. It took a bit of craftsmanship to end up before Charles Leclerc, but somehow Max was able to keep his car steady on the road. The tension was still spread all through the garage as everyone kept on looking at the big screen to keep up with the developments during the race. Iris found the same spot somewhere in the back of the garage as yesterday and was sitting on a little bar stool next to Linsey. Her friend had almost no nails left after the little cat-and-mouse play between Ferrari and Red Bull. Her nerves were already so strong all day, that she didn't even get some breakfast or lunch into her stomach. A banana was all that she had eaten that day.

Iris's phone started vibrating on her notebook in front of her and she took a look at the number. It was a British number that seemed a bit familiar to her.

'I'm sorry, I think I have to get this.' She said to Linsey to excuse herself.

As soon as she had left the garage through the back and was into the paddock again, she picked up the phone.

'Hi, this is Iris Jansen speaking.'

'Hello, Miss Jansen! This is Marc Keller from Vivid. Is it a convenient time for you?'

She slowly frowned. It was her former client who had praised her solutions to their different problems. Why were they calling her? She had closed the file the day before she left for the assignment of Red Bull. Nothing should be wrong at this point in the progress.

'Oh, hi Marc! I have to admit that it depends on the reason why you're calling.'

The roar of different engines of the Formula 1 cars was so loud in the background, that she quickly moved her way over to the motorhome of Red Bull where she could listen better to the words of the client.

'I apologize for bothering you while you're on a new assignment, but according to your boss, you were the only one with the information.'

Within the next five minutes, Marc explained how one of the managers whom Iris had discussed most of the new implementations with, had had a car accident this morning. No one knew the code to her laptop, so no one had the information about the new organisation structure and plan either.

Iris had moved her way up to the office and sat down on her chair to open her laptop on the desk in front of her. 'I'm so sorry to hear that all! How is Angie doing?'

'Angie is, apart from all the broken bones in her leg and arm, quite alright. Thanks for asking.' Marc's voice was calm and the British accent was suddenly so thick after being around different accents for the last couple of days.

Quickly Iris clicked her way through different files on her laptop to find the detailed elaboration of the plan she had set up for the company. 'Please send her all my good well wishes. I really hope she will feel better soon again! I'm already searching for the right files on my laptop. Do you have an email address for me where I can send everything to?'

Suddenly the crowd outside went silent before a little part started roaring again. Iris took a look outside the window, but couldn't see what was happening on track. Did someone crash? Was there a big overtake? She shook her head to get her focus on the email address Marc was spelling for her on the other side of the line.

It took another fifteen minutes before she hung up the phone and started to drag all the right files to the attachment part of the email. She felt sorry for what happened to Angie. She was such an incredible woman with such great passion for her job. It was everything to her.

Some footsteps sounded on the staircase of the motorhome and not much later a big bang sounded against the wall. Iris jumped up in her seat and looked from her seat into the hallway. What the hell was that? She quickly sent the email to Marc and wanted to get up from her chair, when Max in a race suit walked by, carrying his helmet in one of his hands.