Chequered Flag | FORMULA ONE (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I stared at Ember from behind.

She seemed so... cheerful. I wish I could be happy for her, but my heart just refused to let that happen.

Why did she have to be such a good driver? Why was I always in a thick, green jungle of envy whenever she did better than me?

So many questions hovering in my head that I couldn't answer.

"This question is for Mick Schumacher."

"Yea?" That woke me up from the thoughts in my mind.

"It seems that your teammate Ember Williams has consistently scored higher points than you in the most recent races. Why is that so? How do you feel about that?"

"Well, I don't know why, but obviously she's special, iconic around here. So when everyone sees her in their mirror, they just let her through," I joked, and quite a number of drivers laughed. I saw Ember pouting her lips at me, annoyed by what I said.

"Then about how I feel," I continued, "I uh... feel happy for her. She's my girlfriend after all, and all I want is for her to be happy."

Although that was clearly not the answer in my mind, I still forced it out of my mouth because it's the politically correct answer. I didn't want to get judged for exposing my true feelings after all.

"Okay, thank you for your response, Mick." the interviewer concluded. "Now let's move on to George Russell shall we..."

***

"Wait Mick! We want to talk to you!"

I stopped whatever I was doing at the moment, which was just resting in my car in the parking lot, to look in my mirror. George and Lando were jogging towards me from behind, and when they stopped, they were panting.

"Hi George, hi Lando. What brings you here now?" I greeted.

"You," said Lando, who was still panting. "You seem a little off, and we want to help you with it."

"What's wrong with me?" I pretended not to know what they're talking about, but deep down I knew they were asking about Ember and I.

"You. Ember. There's something going on with you two. I sense it," George pointed out.

"Are you sure about that?" I retorted.

"Yes, your expression during the press conference said it all!" Lando responded. "And you know you were stuttering right?"

Was I?

"Just admit there's something going on," George urged me.

Initially I refused, but Lando and George kept repeating their questions. Eventually I got annoyed and decided to concede.

I raised both of my hands, as if I was surrendering. "Okay, I admit, there is something between us."

Lando and George whispered to each other for a few seconds and turned to me. "We'll meet you at your place tonight, 8pm. Got it?"

I nodded.

"See you then!" They said in unison and went away.

Well that was unexpected. What was I going to do now? I should really start to put some trust in them to help me in this situation. Hopefully they would be able to repair my irrational, broken thoughts.

I took a deep breath and started the engine, and drove myself home.

***

I was alone in my hotel room, watching and analysing the performances on track by me and other drivers from the past and present. I really wanted to improve my racing skills, mainly because I felt maybe I could turn my feelings of jealousy towards Ember into something more positive, productive. Maybe it could motivate me to be a better driver, and when I do, the feelings would go away... hopefully.

It was at this moment when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at my alarm clock on the desk. 8:00pm.

Time really flies when I'm alone, doesn't it?

I shut down all of my devices and strided towards the door to greet Lando and George. They sat down on the sofa and I served them some milo I had in the fridge. I also took one for myself and sat down on the opposite side of them.

"So, you and Ember. Spill the tea." George broke the silence first.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "You know how Ember has been outperforming me a lot lately? Well I don't like that. I'm jealous of her. She's just a replacement driver. How can she have such a strong race pace without that much racing experience? It's not fair! Also, I feel like my team is putting all focus on her and ignoring me, and..."

Lando interrupted me. "Okay, slow down Mick. I know you have a lot to say, but let's stick to the first issue first. Which is..."

"My jealousy about Ember beating me," I completed the sentence.

"Okay. So are you planning on telling her about this?" asked Lando.

"No!" I retorted. "Yes, I feel sour about this, but deep down, I genuinely love Ember. She's the funniest, most cheerful, most caring girl I have ever met. And she loves me back. I cherish the relationship between us, and I can't afford to lose it because of some envy inside me."

Both George and Lando nodded. They whispered to each other and discussed something before facing me once more. "So, have you done anything about this? Any assistance, perhaps?" George queried.

Yes I do. "Gerard, my personal trainer."

"Has he given you any advice?"

"Yes..."

***

We chatted for quite a long time, 2 hours to be exact. After we bid our goodbyes and I closed the front door, I carried on with my nighttime routine - brushing my teeth and washing my face.

I sat on my bed, reflecting on the talk between George, Lando and I. I mentally extracted all the key points that I could remember and apply in the future. Main takeaway from this talk: Maybe I should put some faith in myself. I didn't need to feel that way towards Ember. I just needed to love her enough to cover up all these negative feelings.

At least that's what Lando suggested anyway. I hope he's trustworthy.

Not my proudest chapter but a filler chapter nonetheless. Please vote, comment and share thanks so much <3