Minefield of Mirrors

-40-

Nerves were rushing through Iris's body as she held her paddock pass against the scanner that would give her access to the paddock again. The beep already sounded familiar to her and a happy feeling was mixed with her nerves. As good as it felt to be back, there were still things running through her mind. As far as she knew, the team wasn't yet informed that she was going to be back at the track today.

Fans were running back and forth in front of her, hoping to snap a picture with one of the drivers. Their chances were quite low as it was still a bit later in the morning and most of the drivers were already present in their motorhomes to run through some last data before going into the first practice session.

Secretly Iris was hoping that she would bump into Lando today. She couldn't wait to tell him how everything had been the last couple of weeks and how the voice in her head was almost silent again. Iris felt like Lando was the only one who could understand her in these kinds of situations. That's why she felt so proud that she could finally share it.

Although she was looking forward to seeing Lando, Iris wasn't particularly happy to face Mick. It was clear that she had to talk to him, how hurtful it could be to both of them. Mick had been the absolute sweetest with his surprises and his understanding. However, Iris couldn't deny the fact that during the time she had been home, she felt the spark disappearing. Maybe it would lighten up again once she saw him, but she already had this gut feeling that it wouldn't be the case. And it didn't feel fair to keep up a façade to him. He deserved to know the truth, how hard it could be...

It didn't take long for Iris to walk through the paddock to end up in front of the Red Bull motorhome. She looked up as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder. Her body relaxed just by seeing the logo of the team. And by that feeling, she knew she had made the right choice by signing the contract. She belonged here. Even if it was just for the time being.

Iris walked into the motorhome and she immediately spotted the brown-haired PR manager of Max.

'Linsey!'

Linsey looked up from the paperwork she was discussing with another colleague. 'Shut up! Iris?!'

Right away, the paperwork was shoved into the hands of the other colleague and Linsey ran towards Iris to give her a tight hug.

'Oh, it's so great to see you again!' Linsey said with her arms tightly wrapped around Iris.

They rocked back and forth and Iris laughed a little. 'Same! I missed you!'

Linsey unwrapped her arms again and looked with a big smile at Iris. 'The girls are going to be so happy to see you! They've got so much tea to spill! I do too, by the way.'

'Oh? Already something you want to spill?' Iris's interest was piqued right away.

'No, no. Only suitable for your ears, so let's do it sometime later today. You'll be here all day, right? Or just a couple of hours?'

'The idea is to fly back tomorrow afternoon, but nothing has been decided yet. I just have an appointment with Jules in half an hour and later on, I've got a meeting with Christian. Lots of time left, so just let me know when you want to get together, okay?'

Linsey put her hands on her hips and smirked. 'That's bloody perfect. You'll get your phone back today? Then I can text you about the details.'

'I honestly have no idea.' Iris admitted truthfully. 'I think the chance is quite small. Do you have your phone around you?'

'Of course! I'm a PR manager.'

Within a minute Iris had put her private number in Linsey's phone, so she could contact her anytime. They quickly discussed some practical stuff about their planning and where they would both be during the next couple of hours. Then they said goodbye and Iris made her way up to the office of the financial team. On her way, she was greeted by a lot of colleagues who were all happy to see her again. It made her feel like she was heavily missed during the past month.