Minefield of Mirrors

-30-

As soon as Iris dropped herself in her seat inside the plane next to Emma, she grabbed her earphones and plugged them into her phone. A couple of hours of rest before going into the chaos of the street circuit of Jeddah, wouldn't be that bad.

A message showed up on her screen and she clicked on it to read the words that Mick had sent her.

Mick:
Have a safe trip! I can't wait to see you again this afternoon!

Iris:
You too! And don't forget to bring the chocolate! ;)

With a smile, Iris put her phone on airplane mode and started to play her favourite calming playlist. As Emma did the exact same thing next to her, Iris thought back about the last couple of days. The girls skipped their first post-grand prix party out of solidarity with Iris, which was way too sweet of them. She had to remind herself that she had to do something nice for them when they were all reunited again this weekend.

Mick had sent her messages every day. Sometimes to let her know that he was thinking about her or just a simple text to ask how her day has been. She felt bad that most of the time she was too busy or too tired to answer them all, but whenever she had the opportunity to, she did. His attentiveness was something Iris had to get used to. No guy had ever treated her like this. Like she was the only thing that mattered in this world and that her well-being was the most important thing. Even before the guy's own well-being. This German Haas driver was just completely something else.

Another person who was completely something else, was Max. He had been deadly silent after Linsey's call that Iris ended up having a big migraine. He didn't send a single text again. Nor did he call her. He just went completely radio silence, almost like he was trying to ignore her existence. And honestly, Iris had no idea how to feel about that.

She had caught herself thinking about Max more than she actually liked. This little game between them was invented to get underneath his skin to get an easier life for her colleague friends, but it gradually also got underneath her skin. He irritated her, and she irritated him. Yet she couldn't stop thinking back about the flame that lit up between them every time they got close. Although it was clear he felt the same thing, Iris wondered what kind of reason he had not to reach out to her. Otherwise, he would've at least tried to call her, right? Linsey happened to be stuck in Austria with Max because of some extra marketing events during the evenings. Iris hadn't heard from her yet, so maybe something was going on up there. Linsey would've told her otherwise, right?

*

The plane trip was over within a blink and before Iris knew it, she was already back behind her desk in the financial office in the Red Bull motorhome. The only difference was that everything was located in another paddock. The rest of her surroundings seemed exactly the same.

A knock on the door made her look up as she was the only person in the office. Meaning that it must be someone for her.

Linsey peeked her head around the door and smiled. 'Hi girl! How are you doing?'

Out of happiness, Iris jumped from her seat and walked up to Linsey to hug her. 'I'm alright. What about you? You survived Austria?'

They closed the door behind them and sat down on random chairs. 'I'm perfect! You didn't eat any warm yoghurt again?'

Iris laughed and closed her laptop in front of her so she could focus on the conversation. 'No, I don't think I'll eat yoghurt for the next couple of weeks.'

The usual small talk took place and slowly but steadily the conversation headed in the direction of the star driver of the team.

'You know, I have to tell you something before the weekend starts.' Linsey said it so carefully that Iris was almost afraid one of her family members had died.

'What is going on...? Are you sure you're alright?'

Linsey smiled and rolled with her chair closer to Iris. 'Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry! It's more about the things I overheard during my time in Austria.'

Oh, shit. Automatically Iris's heart started to beat a bit faster again in her chest. This thing Linsey is about to tell must include her somehow. If it didn't, Linsey wouldn't have come to her office like this. No, then she would've texted her, right?

'Apparently Mick has told Max all about your two cute little meet-ups that ended in a kiss. Which surprised me by the way, because I only knew about one kiss.' Linsey's eyes were playful before they turned into a more serious setting again. 'Let's say Max definitely was not amused by that at all. He threw himself into those tests in Austria and got the best performance out of himself ever since 2015.'

A little laugh haltered in Iris's throat. 'You're kidding, I hope?'

'No, I'm sorry...' Her friend played a bit with her bracelet on her wrist. 'And I heard that Jos is joining us on the track again this weekend, so please watch out for yourself. Already put your defences up, because I've got this feeling Max's behaviour can be all over the place.'

It was a perfect heads-up, but Iris had no clue what to do with herself. She started to pull at one of her cuticles on her left hand. 'It's too late to pull the plug out of the plan, isn't it?'

Linsey leaned back into her chair and nodded with a grimace. 'I assume so. You've got two Formula One drivers walking behind you, both waiting until it's the right time to claim you as theirs.'

A deep sigh left the lips of Iris. Why had she gotten herself into this?

'You can ring my phone day and night. I'll be there for you, but please be careful. You're somehow in a dangerous and luxurious position at the same time.' Linsey's words should be relieving, yet in her voice, there was a little anxiousness hearable.

'At least thank you for telling me this Linsey. I definitely needed to hear this all before I would see either one of them.'

Linsey got up from her chair and repositioned her skirt a bit again. 'Always, Iris. I'll always tell you stuff like this. Max is completely booked for interviews, so he won't be back into the motorhome until six tonight.'

'Then I should try to make it out of here before six. Thanks Lins!'

Her friend put her hand on Iris's shoulder to give it a little squeeze. 'I'll keep you up to date. Be careful and I wish you the best of luck today!'

'You too! You'll get through this awful PR day.'

Linsey laughed as she already opened the door on her way out. 'We both know that there is only one person who will hate this day more than me!'

Oh yes, if there was one thing she had learned last weekend, it was that Max hated every single part of PR and marketing. Only more reason to finish her work on time so she can get away from the paddock before six tonight. Because if she didn't, there would be endless different options of what could happen if Max and she were in the same place. It was already sure he would put all of his anger on Iris, and she wasn't up for that. Not after an important day like this.

The little sit-down with Christian last week had put things into a whirlwind. All of her ideas had been worked out at the factory during the week and things were already going to be implemented at this specific Grand Prix. They put so much faith in Iris, that she even got a bit nervous about it all. What if things didn't work out as she expected to? Well, they wouldn't lose money because of it, but it would mean that she had to start over with her investigation. And honestly, she wasn't really up for that. She really wanted this to work out so she could put all her focus on this problem. Her team manager Fred had a lot of confidence in this project, so hopefully he was right about it. But well, there was only one way to find out...