MAX WAS AT THE red bull headquarters when that specific ringtone pierced the air. his father's calls rang through do not disturb, which was always an issue when max was in meetings. like right now.

"sorry," max excused himself as he stood up. "it's my dad." 

christian horner's eyes narrowed and he looked skeptical of letting max go outside to take the call. "a few minutes," he settled for saying, and max knew that look. the look of your dad's a dick, stop answering him. but that wasn't possible. 

"thanks," max muttered as he quickly rushed outside the conference room to answer the call. 

"we need to talk about australia," jos verstappen said before max could even utter a greeting. 

"i know," max said stoically, bordering robotically. 

"you let some girl push you around again," the laugh was humourless. "i thought i taught you better than this."

max could feel the scars being slashed into, reopening the wounds and delaying the healing process further. it was a never-ending cycle. "you did," max tried not to raise his voice so that he could prove his point. "i'll do better, you know that. i'll— i'll win in italy."

"that's non-negotiable," jos agreed. "but i do not want to see leclerc showing up in your garage to push you around anymore. this is twice now, max. it's embarrassing."

i caused the collision, max could only think, not having the courage to say them aloud. i caused it. "i did what you told me— you told me to get angry and i did."

"you still let her push you around," jos huffed. "and god, if you're going to take someone out, at least make sure you can finish the race. it's embarrassing." the line went dead: jos hung up.

max blinked back his frustration and pocketed his phone. his heart was racing, chest rising and falling erratically as he tried to compose himself. "fuck," he whispered, preparing himself to walk back into the conference room. "fuck."

x

THE FIFTEENTH ROLLED AROUND far too quickly. it was the one thing that had broken isabel out of her training trance. ever since she had gotten home to monaco, she would eat, train physically, eat again, train with the simulator, eat again, and then sleep. she'd stretched out her training hours a lot longer than they were originally in the hopes that it would centre her frustration about max and australia and channel it into that.

tori was there the second that isabel made it to the headquarters in sant'agata bolognese, italy. 

"belle!" tori grinned the second she caught sight of the young driver. isabel couldn't help but smile back as she wrapped her arms around tori in the hq lobby.

"hi, tori," isabel greeted her friend. "i've missed you."

"you better love me as much as you've missed me, then," tori pulled away with a smile. "'cause i've been digging your ass out of so much shit."

isabel smiled sheepishly at her. "my bad," her lips pulled together into a tight line momentarily. "i apologise for that."

"it's my job," tori shook her head before lowering her voice to a whisper, "and as much as i need you to get along with max, he kinda deserved it."

she shook her head as a silent laugh escaped her. "thanks again, though. where do i have to go?"

alicia had called isabel a few days ago to berate her for both her attitude and missing out on media duties. alicia was a kind woman but if you got on her bad side . . . well, isabel was on it enough to know. lamborghini was a team that hadn't been around as long as some of the others and so good publicity was key in gaining sponsors and maintaining a good image. it was no secret that isabel was one of the best they had ever signed, but alicia would do anything to make sure lamborghini recovered its original reputation before isabel had been given a seat. it was nothing personal, and isabel knew that, but alicia would not hesitate in cutting the contract short if things did not improve. red bull was in the same boat.

"the usual conference room," tori told the girl as she began to walk in the direction of it, isabel following, "you're not in too much trouble anymore after alicia sorted you out," her attempt at a joke was rough. "but alicia's thrown you in the deep end with the media now, so good luck. i'll be there with you the whole time, but please don't comment on the australia situation . . . or the abu dhabi situation for that matter, either."

"i promise i won't mess it up," isabel said, but it still hurt how she saw doubt flicker through tori's eyes. she'd promised this a million times before and had broken that same promise at least half that million. "i swear, tori," she'd said that before, too.

"i'm right behind you," tori gestured to the conference room once they arrived. 

isabel took a deep breath, staring at the door for a moment more, before walking in with the fakest smile imagineable.

x

"THEY ASKED ME IF i have anger issues."

"eh," noah waved off. "you have your moments."

isabel rolled her eyes as she positioned her phone on the bathroom sink. "i had to speak to the press for three hours, noah," she complained as she watched noah walk out of his family's home and into the backyard through facetime. "and all they did was talk about how i fucked up in australia. i wasn't even the reason for the fuck up!"

"they're just tryin' to rile you up, belle," noah chuckled. "don't give 'em the satisfaction. i have something that'll make you feel better though."

noah handed his phone over to someone and isabel instantly brightened when she realised who was staring back at her through the screen. "oh my god, willow!" all evidence of irritation was gone. 

"belle!" willow matched her energy. "i missed you! are you gonna visit?"

"when i'm in miami, wil," she promised. "about three weeks and i'll come hang out with you, how's that sound?"

"great!" willow's smile was brighter than the bathroom lights. "i can't wait to show you all the new tricks i've learnt. did noah tell you i can do, like, three back handsprings in a row?"

"he did not," isabel said, "i'm so proud of you! keep it up, i'd love to see them when i visit."

"okay, wil, stop stealing my teammate now," noah took his phone back from his younger sister. isabel could just hear a faint 'bye, isabel!' in the backround. "i swear, she hasn't shut up about you ever since i got here."

"i guess i'm just the favourite," she joked. "hey, when are you getting to italy?"

"i'm flying out in a few days," he answered, "i've got some interview shit to do there or something near imola."

"ooh, have fun." the press loved everything about noah, the complete juxtaposition of them being teammates. 

"when are you getting there?" he asked.

i'll be there thursday morning of race week," isabel let him know. "i don't feel like being near the paddock until absolutely necessary."

"fair," noah nodded. "i don't blame you. i'll let you go though, 'cause you look like you're about to drop dead."

"thanks, mate," isabel answered dryly with a soft laugh. she was tired and just wanted to get back on the plane to go home. "talk soon. love you."

"love you, too!"

x

"WE NEED TO TALK about isabel leclerc."

max's head snapped up at that, full attention on his pr manager. "why?"

will raised an eyebrow. "you're really gonna pull the why bullshit on me? do i have to remind you of australia?"

with a sigh, max stopped himself from giving into the urges and slamming his head down onto will's desk. they were in will's office at the red bull headquarters still, and max just wanted to fly to his apartment in monaco and relax. "what about her, then?"

"her manager and i have dealt with most of the backlash about the video of you two in the garage," will continued, "but it's not enough. christian and alicia are over it, max, we've been over this before. monaco and azerbaijan are gonna roll around and if this still isn't sorted, red bull's gonna give you the boot."

max couldn't find it in him to argue. he'd been given more than enough chances over the years but now that there was a deadline on solving the problem? it was all worse. especially after what happened in melbourne. "i don't know what you want me to do, will."

"i want you to admit to her that it was your fault," will said bluntly, his arms crossed on top of the desk. "because it was your fault. the public's blaming her for the crash because of the video in your garage."

"she's not gonna listen to me—"

will sighed as he cut max off, "even if she doesn't want to hear it, she will still hear you say it. apologise. be civil for once. is your rivalry this important that you're willing to lose your seat because of it?"

it fell silent. max didn't have anything to come back with. rivalries were a healthy part of sport, but one to this extent wasn't. he could admit that to himself. the main issue was still his father — if max said anything publicly, jos would hear it all. 

taking in everything that will said, max stood up from his chair. "is that all?"

nodding, will shrugged. "yep. i hope you keep this in mind, max, 'cause i don't wanna see you leave red bull over something stupid like this."

as max left the office, he pulled his phone out of his pocket as he walked into the lounge area towards the corner of the lobby. 

opening instagram, his finger froze before he could press on the explore tab. "jesus christ," he muttered before pressing on it with a sigh and searching up a specific name. the second the account appeared, he pressed on it and then went to message the account. 

INSTAGRAM MESSENGER — 

MAXVERSTAPPEN1 + ISABEL.LECLERC

MAXVERSTAPPEN1

when are you getting to italy?

pr stuff

ISABEL.LECLERC

21st

the only reason isabel responded to the message — after leaving it on delivered for fourteen hours — was because it included the words 'pr stuff'. in their current situation, even if she hated him more than ever before, she couldn't ignore anything to do with pr. tori would find out and probably bury her alive if she did. 

max read the message two hours after she sent it and didn't provide an answer as to why he messaged her. the thought of anything max related instantly left her mind the second she hopped onto the simulator in her basement, desperate to get some quick practice in before she went to bed.