Page 76 of Falling Fast
‘Me?’ I put a hand out to grasp the back of a chair. The Las Vegas GP is a huge deal, but it also means seeing Leif again and I’m nowhere near ready for that. ‘But I thought I was minding the office this weekend?’
‘That was then. Now it’s action stations. I’ll need someone to help me field media enquiries stateside, and Emika and Yuto are going to be too busy with the drivers. Emika, you’ll be minding Quinn, by the way.’
‘No problem.’
‘And Charlotte?’ Vienna narrows her eyes. ‘Don’t even think about telling me you have a dress fitting this weekend.’
‘I don’t.’ Charlotte shakes her head quickly. ‘I’ll mind the office.’
‘Are you sure?’ I ask her. ‘Because if you’d rather go to Vegas, I can stay here. I mean, I went to Hungary, so really it’s your turn.’
‘Actually, I don’t have a passport right now because I’m getting it renewed for my honeymoon.’
‘Then that settles it.’ Vienna pulls herself up to her full height. ‘Charlotte, you’ll be on your own for the rest of the week, so if you need any help, go to Merchandising and tell them I said you could borrow their interns. If anyone argues, call me.’ She looks around each of us in turn. ‘We have to view this as an opportunity. If it goes well, we’ll be trailblazers and it’ll look great for the team. In other words, it has to fucking go well. Failure isn’t an option.’
‘Yes, boss!’ Emika, Charlotte and Yuto all grin.
‘Good. So forget about sleep until next week and let’s get started.’
I force a smile along with everyone else, but inside I’m screaming.
Hot on the heels of Quezada’s announcement is the news that fan favourite Australian driver Corey Hammond will be missing the rest of the season due to injury. Meanwhile, his replacement is the nineteen-year-old racing prodigy from Aberdeen, Quinn Sommers.
@MotorsportEchoNews, 14 October
TWENTY-FIVE
BY THE TIME WE reach Las Vegas late on Tuesday afternoon, my mental panic is under control, but I’m physically the most tense I’ve ever been in my life. Every muscle in my body is twitching and I haven’t been able to eat anything since we left Cambridge. It doesn’t help that Pacific Time is eight hours behind the UK, and I was too wound up to sleep on the flight, so I’m both exhaustedandedgy. I’m making a conscious effort to sit still and not fidget as I sit in the back of a Lincoln Navigator, driving along The Strip towards our hotel.
Now that we’re here, surrounded by an infinite array of neon signs and illuminated billboards, it’s obvious why they decided to hold the Grand Prix at night. Aside from the nightmare logistics of shutting down so much of the traffic infrastructure during the day, it’s not called the City of Lights for nothing. The whole place is thrumming with energy and excitement. I only wish I could relax and enjoy it.
‘I can’t believe they’re going to turn this street into the race track,’ Yuto murmurs beside me. ‘It’s incredible.’
‘What’s incredible is the number of messages on myphone.’ Emika groans. ‘It’s going to take me all night to deal with every one.’
‘Just do your best.’ Vienna glances up from her laptop. ‘Your priority is Quinn. Anything you can’t handle, forward to Ava.’ She shoots me a look. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s fine. That’s why I’m here.’ I smile at Emika, then look out of the window again, at a red, white and blue medieval-style castle, closely followed by the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and the spectacular Fountains of Bellagio. Everywhere I look is another world-famous high-rise hotel or casino. It feels surreal, like driving through a Hollywood set.
‘We should have brought Charlotte and Andre.’ Yuto nudges me. ‘They could have got married in the Little White Chapel and we’d never have to hear another word about wedding planning ever again.’
‘No one’s getting married,’ Vienna interjects. ‘I don’t care if you meet the loves of your lives, there’s not going to be time for anything but F1. Thousands of fans, not to mention sponsors, are descending on this city right now and I want all of them to leave in five days thinking what an incredible team we are. This is going to be intense.’ She looks down at her phone and then immediately back up again. ‘And one more thing. Everyone keep an eye on Leif. I don’t know what happened to him over the summer break, but he’s been in a bad mood ever since Monza. It wasn’t so obvious when he had Corey beside him to charm everyone, but this week we need him to step up and represent the team in as positive a light as possible. If he starts scowling, let me know.’
‘Vienna’s right. He’s been like a bear with a sore head for the last four GPs,’ Yuto grumbles. ‘It makes no sense when he’s driving so well.’
I squirm in my seat because I’m pretty sure Leif’s recent behaviour is my fault. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own thoughts, I haven’t allowed myself to wonder about how my sudden silent treatment might have affected him. Or, whenever I have, I’ve nipped it in the bud straight away because I have enough to deal with, without adding guilt into the mix.
As cowardly as it sounds, I’ve also decided the best thing to do this week is to keep on avoiding him. I know I need to tell him about my job offer from Quezada, but I can’t do it here, especially not just before the race. I’ll tell him as soon as we get home and then maybe … Maybe talking about it will help me make a decision.
‘OK, this is our hotel.’ Vienna slams her laptop shut. ‘We’ll drop our bags off and then head straight to the Media Centre. I want to make sure everything’s ready for Media Day.’
‘I wonder what Quinn is like,’ Emika muses, as we enter a huge, dimly lit lobby, decorated in shades of scarlet and gold. ‘Your friend Gio must know her pretty well. Have you met her?’
‘No.’ I purse my lips. Personally, I have mixed feelings about meeting Quinn. I find it hard to forget how she almost came between Maisie and Gio earlier this year, even if it did turn out to be innocent. ‘But I’ve heard she’s nice,’ I add, to be fair.
‘I’d better find out what room she’s in, so I can go and introduce myself.’
‘Good idea,’ I say, as my anxiety skyrockets. The drivers’ personal motorhomes are for European races only. That means Leif and Quinn are probably staying in this hotel too. They – he – could appear at any moment.
