Do you belive in forever? (Max Verstappen)

Chapter 32

Annoyed I buried my head in the pillow, the alarm clock was just always annoying no matter when and how it sounded. Since Max and I were something like together, I was supposed to get up over motivated, but the fear of awakening was too great.

But with a job waiting for me, I had no choice but to get up. I briefly thought about looking at my phone, but in principle I let it be. I didn't want to wake up, even though I probably owed an answer to some people at home.

Showered and dressed, I headed to the meeting point, only to be stupid when a hundred other press staff were staying in the same hotel. After my offensive yesterday I was found food and through the common abode easy prey.

When the elevator went up, I saw nothing and couldn't understand anything through the hustle and bustle. Now I could understand Pierre and Alex when they didn't feel comfortable in front of a camera. These reporters before me behaved like animals that hadn't had anything between their teeth for years.

Without a word of promise, I pushed myself between them all so that I could get to my team. But then I had done the bill again without my fellow reporters, because they just followed me. I hurriedly stood up to Sandra and pretended the reporters behind me weren't there.

I could very well ignore all the questions and comments until I heard one clearly: "Is Sky Sport a Max Verstappen fan channel from now on, as his girlfriend you can't stay objective." Sandra had probably seen in my eyes that this question had hit me. Ralf and the others also knew that this was to much.

Thomas pushed me a little back and stood directly in front of the cameras: "Sky Sport is a neutral broadcaster, just as Hanna is a neutral presenter. She has not out of nowhere together with Max Verstappen, she can separate her feelings and profession very well, which one cannot say about some of you. Hanna is a serious journalist who can separate work and private life. You should focus on what's happening on the racetrack rather than the private lives of others."

He had probably said more than enough, even if some reporters saw it differently. With a sign, Thomas made it clear to us as a team that we should go outside to our bus. As more reporters were waiting outside and others followed us, my colleagues had lined up around me.

Arriving at the bus, I settled next to Ralf. Exhausted, I leaned back and drove across my face. Max and I weren't even together and my world were already upside down. I never wanted to be in the spotlight as a person, only I wanted to live my dream as a commentator. As a presenter and even more so as a commentator, you enjoyed a lot of privacy, even if you were in the public eye, something I appreciated about the professions.

"You probably kicked an avalanche, on the paddock it will probably only get a little better, but also there the other broadcasters will bring you in front of their camera," I groaned to put my head on the front seat. Why couldn't Max be a mechanic or a press officer, why was he a driver.

Ralf patted me on the shoulders: "This weekend and maybe the next one, after that you're already ticked off. Media quickly lose interest, but at the moment you deliver new headlines." Even if it should have motivated me, All I could do was push my head even tighter against the seat. I didn't want to spend a whole weekend with reporters, how could I do my job when I'm constantly being followed by photographers.

"Just be as normal as possible, if reporters get too close to you, we'll keep them away," Udo assured me. He as a bodyguard was a funny idea, so I could grin a bit again.

Slowly, I straightened up, "Do you know what's the worst? I couldn't get my tomorrow can, which means I have to go straight to the canteen on the premises." Ralf next to me could only shake his head while others laughed.

"It's nice that you still have a sense of humor," Thomas said. If I had known what was to come, I wouldn't have been interested in the missing Red Bull can. But at that moment I was missing the drink, whether it was because of my addiction or simply my habit, I couldn't judge. Probably a mixture of both.

As expected, there were also reporters and photographers at the paddock who wanted to get me in front of the lens, but I just ignored. It might be seen as arrogance, but I didn't want to ask them any questions.

"If someone took a suitable photo for the passport, they could please send it to Sky, I could use one," I turned to the photographers. Some of them ran a bit in front of me again and again and took hundreds of photos, there should be a suitable photo for the pass. Finally, I needed one because I had to renew my passport.

Since I was travelling a lot professionally, I had to do this early enough. Actually, my passport was still valid for half a year, but in some countries and airlines this was the limit.

The positive side effect of my statement was that it probably amused the photographers and hopefully made me seem a little less arrogant. But I didn't get a real answer from them, I probably wouldn't get around a passport photo machine, even though I hated these things. I felt just as uncomfortable in things as I did in the changing rooms in a shop, so I always tried the clothes at home.

I quickly got two cans of the energy drink in the canteen, one I packed into my backpack and the other I started drinking right away. Likewise, I couldn't understand that even photographers were taking pictures of me, but I had to go through that. I just hoped that I wouldn't spill something while drinking, it would be a bit embarrassing.

"Are you actually chasing me all day now?" I asked, somewhat annoyed. Because they really followed me everywhere, because unfortunately they all had access to the same buildings as me. So slowly I got an epileptic seizure from the lightning, so I just tried to look at the ground and imagine that I was somewhere on a deserted island.

Of course, I didn't get an answer again, which almost annoyed me even more, how could I do my work if they followed me everywhere with their flashed. The cabin was my only rescue, so I rushed to get there.

I dropped on my armchair and took out the second can of my beloved drink. By the way, I was still looking at the notes from the previous day, it seemed to me as if a week had passed between time and yet it was not even 24h.

I still hadn't looked at my phone, which I probably wouldn't do before qualifying, so I could concentrate on the job as best I could. My friends and family would probably forgive me if I just needed some rest in the hustle and bustle around me, hopefully Max had less distraction than me. With him, a mistake would probably be more fatal because of lack of concentration than with me.

The door to the cabin opened, causing me to shrug: "Did you be scared? What did you think who was going to come, Santa Claus?" I turned a blind eye, because of course I didn't expect Santa Claus.

"Was immersed in my notes and I trust the other press people almost everything," I confessed. Ralf nodded approvingly, as he, as a former driver, probably knew only too well how bad reporters could become.

With a powerful lump, my expert settled next to me on his chair: "Then let's hope for a thrilling and accident-free 90 minutes." So, we both put our headphones on as usual. As if nothing had happened in the last few hours, we commented on what was happening on the track, as we usually did.

Unfortunately, the 1 1/2 hours passed too fast, and I had to go back to reality. Together with Ralf I left the cabin in the direction of the canteen, because I wanted to get something to eat quickly, because Like Sandra I had to do some interviews before qualifying, because she couldn't do all of them.

Ralf walked slightly in front of me, but the flashes of the photographers hit me anyway and blinded me. Out of reflex, I held on to Ralf, who immediately looked at me anxiously. Since I had quickly caught myself again and just turned my gaze to the ground, I let him go again. But Ralf put an arm on my shoulder so as not to lose me in the crowds of reporters.

"Hanna!" it had been Max's voice. I looked around all sides in surprise until I saw him at the Red Bull building. Shortly I saw Ralf, who just nodded to me, before I almost ran to the Dutchman. He just seemed to be waiting for me to be with him to get inside the building with me.

Luckily, only the Red Bull employees had access to this building, so for the first time today I felt safe from the media: "Is this already going on all day?" Christian looked outside to the reporters and photographers and seemed concerned about his circumstances. I could also read from Max's facial expression how little he liked it.

"Half as bad, after all, I'm a journalist myself. Everything that's new is exciting for the excitement, after the weekend nobody will be interested in us anymore," I tried to play it all down. Even though neither Christian nor Max believed me, they did not do anything about it.

Together with Max I disappeared into his room, where he had already had food for me brought to it. I had three-quarters of an hour to be with the Williams box, I would use that time with Max.

As with Charles the day before, this time I also saw myself with Max, but there were no families or other photos with him. Generally, apart from his clothes, he had nothing personal in the room, which was perfectly fine. So, there was nothing interesting for me to see, other than the boy who had my heartbeat raised.

Max had already sat down at his table with food and was just waiting for me to do the same: "If your colleagues put too much pressure on you, then we can also make sure that they stay away from you."

"Is already okay Max, and I have a whole team that are trying to protect me from the crowd. Thomas has already taught them a lesson this morning, but not everyone has yet to do it, but they will lose interest in me. But can we not talk about it anymore? I don't want to spend all lunchtime talking about the stupid photographers," Max reluctantly agreed. He just wasn't right that the press ran like a dog.

I took a fork from the lasagna, and Max had to be careful that he didn't start laughing. Even though I had to eat with left for a week, my left hand was still uncoordinated like a baby elephant. So, I couldn't blame the Dutchman for having to grin, because I had to.

"If you're laughing all the time now, I can't eat", I rebuked mine with a laugh. He raised his hands in front of him protectively, but had to keep a laugh. Since he couldn't stop, I couldn't stop, so I put down the fork and shook my head.

Max tried to stay serious: "Keep eating, I'm not going to laugh anymore, promised. But you have to eat, you're almost too thin." I raised my eyebrows, since when was a woman too thin for a man. They were all on these bones of models, until now Max had been no exception with his ex-girlfriends.

"First, I'm not that thin, I just have my body in shape with sport and secondly, you guys stand on the thin models who are threatening to fall off the pole," Max's eyes pulled together slightly.

He looked me seriously in the eye: "As an appendage, this may be nice, but as a woman no one wants such a thing in the long run. I don't want to be constantly afraid that you're stalking next to me, and I like it when you eat a steak with me and not just salad."

"Steak is just too good," I put a fork of my lasagna in my mouth, grinning, "What are we?" Then it shot out of my mouth, which probably surprised Max a bit. For at first my question did not seem to have fully understood, but then reached for my hands.

'I'd love to have you as my girlfriend, but I don't want to ask you like that. It's supposed to be something special, not something that I do between training and qualifying. Because you are something special," I bite my lips.

I had to grin slightly: "But don't you make a request out of it?" Max shook his head just as grinning. Even though I wasn't really on kitsch, I was curious to see what was going on in Max's head and what he had planned.