Page 72 of Falling Fast
‘Actually, that’s a lie.’ She pulls up a chair. ‘I need it, but I’ll feel better about the calories if you have one too. Although we must have burned enough just picking up phones today.’
‘Definitely.’ I sink my teeth into the gooey dough. ‘You’re right – this does help.’
‘Have you heard any more from Vienna?’
‘Not yet.’ I wipe my mouth and glance at the clock on the wall. ‘I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad sign.’
‘It has to be good.’ Emika sounds like she’s trying to convince herself. ‘I mean, Bastian is a stickler for the rules. There’s no way he would have breached them.’
‘Unless it’s some kind of technicality? That’s happened before …’ Suddenly I wish I didn’t know quite so much about the history of F1. I don’t want to think about those other instances.
‘At least one good thing’s come out of all this.’ Emika taps at her phone and then hands it to me. ‘Take a look.’
I find myself staring at an online article about Philip Sawyer. According to the byline, it was written by one of thefriendlier journalists I spoke to this morning and the headline makes me splutter with laughter.
‘“Sawyer Grapes”?’
‘It basically accuses him of trying to stir up trouble for his own ends.’
‘Wow.’ I skim-read the article. ‘It really goes for him.’
‘There are others too, and it’s all over X, so at least popular opinion is on our side.’ She looks thoughtful. ‘You know, if his claims are dismissed, in a weird way this could actually end up being good for the team. And if he realizes he’s destroying his own reputation, he might finally stop trying to ruin us.’
‘I hope so.’ I quickly swallow a mouthful of doughnut as my phone lights up with Vienna’s name.
‘Hello?’ I put it straight to speaker.
‘No case to answer!’ Vienna sounds triumphant.
‘Already?’ I jump to my feet. ‘How did you manage to get it dismissed so quickly?’
‘It turns out, Nova can be very persuasive.’
‘That’s such a relief.’ I practically hurl myself across the desk to hug Emika. ‘So what now?’
‘Now we need to put out a press release telling the world we’re back in business. Then we need to get everything ready for Monza. We’re going toownthe second half of this season! We’re going to be faster and better and we’re going to show the whole world exactly what we think of Philip fucking Sawyer!’ She sounds ferocious. ‘Are you with me? With Rask?’
‘Oh, we’re so with you,’ Emika answers. ‘One hundred per cent.’
‘Um … yes.’ Guilt makes my voice a lot smaller. ‘We’re with you.’
‘HI! WHAT ARE YOU doing here?’ I ask, smiling at the sight of Leif leaning against the wall outside my flat, dressed in baggy jeans and a vintage hoodie. I texted him when I was leaving work, but I told him not to worry about dinner because it was so late.
‘I brought you this.’ He holds up a bag. ‘Beef and black bean, your favourite, just in case you were hungry after all. And I wanted to make sure you were all right. It sounded like a rough day.’
‘It was. You know, when I joined Rask I wanted a challenge, but I never expected anything like this.’ I reach up and kiss him. ‘Thanks for the food.’
‘You’re welcome. At least it all worked out for the best.’
‘It did.’ Somehow I manage to sigh and yawn at the same time. ‘We’re in the clear and you’re free to go back out and win races.’
‘I’ll try.’ He steps aside so I can unlock my door. ‘Now I’d better get going. I don’t want to intrude and you look like you need some sleep.’
‘I do, but you’re not intruding. I want you to stay.’ I reach a hand out, curling my fingers around his and tugging him after me through the door. ‘Once the season starts again, I’ll hardly see you for almost two months. I want to get as much of you now as I can.’
‘Then I’m all yours.’ He closes the door behind us. ‘You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you.’
‘Oh, I think I do.’ I drop my blazer to the floor and walk into his arms. The next race after Monza is Singapore. After that, it’ll be São Paulo, then Mexico City, Austin and Las Vegas. With such a punishing schedule, the plan is for Leif to stay mostly in the Americas so he won’t get too jet-lagged.It’s another reason why I want to tell Vienna about our relationship. I’m hoping she’ll take pity on me and find me something to do at one of the races.
