Faking it || Lando Norris LN

68

Mattia Binotto had never been known for being too facially expressive. However, given the chaos that had ensued inside his glass-paned office inside the Ferrari Lounge, no one would've been surprised if he'd lost his temper.

It wasn't the case.

The two Ferrari drivers stood in front of Mattia, who was reclined, half sitting over his desk with his arms crossed after a mountain of evidence and a request was displayed in front of him. Gianna had to leave the team.

And she had to do it now.

Gianna, who had of course seen the heated conversation of the drivers holding Chiara's computer, had stormed into the room demanding an explanation. The brief, of course, hadn't satisfied her.

"Alright, alright, I'm sure we can sort this out after the race, can't we?" Mattia proposed. His neck was itching with the need to head back to the garage. It wasn't long until the race was supposed to begin. "Have you two already warmed up?"

"Yes we've warmed up, and no we can't wait until after the race," Charles stated.

"This is absolutely ridiculous, Mattia. This is absolute foul play. You can't allow—" Gianna began.

"Foul play?!" Olivia turned around quickly, staring at Gianna. "You're the one who's been manipulating every aspect of my career and time without ever showing the hand you're playing with. This is my life you've been messing with. I'm an actual human being, not some fucking Instagram account you can rebrand and reshape however you please. Everything you've done has been at the goddamn expense of my peace and I'm done with it."

"I'm not getting inside the car until she's fired," Olivia stated as her brows shot up. Gianna was speechless.

She'd been held by Gianna's puppet strings ever since she joined Ferrari, but she was finally breaking loose. It felt good to stand up for herself, —to set boundaries over the things she would no longer accept. This, and choosing to let go of Lando had felt like getting her wings back.

And she was ready to fly.

Mattia turned to look at Gianna, and then back to Olivia. His expression was indecipherable. He turned back to look at Gianna.

"You're fired then," he said.

"What?!" Gianna yelled with disbelief. "After everything I've done for this team for all these years?!"

"Do you drive the car?" Mattia asked. "Then you're replaceable." Gianna's mouth hung open, but she couldn't make a single word come out of it. "Even drivers are, but I'd rather stick with these two."

"I—" Gianna began.

"Hand your stuff over to Chiara and make sure to sign the confidentiality forms from the legal team before you're done," Mattia said. He couldn't seem more over the whole topic. He was the team principal of a racing team, after all. Anything besides racing felt like an absolute waste of time, especially if it was making his drivers lose focus.

Gianna walked behind Mattia right out of the room, spewing a thousand words per minute as her voice decreased in volume from where Charles and Olivia stood. The two drivers followed them with their eyes until they were out of sight, and then jumped into each other's arms. No words were needed. The last puppet string had been cut.

Or the last one directly tied to Olivia, at least.

As soon as the hug ended, Olivia took the laptop back into her hands. She stared at the pictures, all of them this time.

The story was perfectly clear in them. Lando's uneasiness, the shove, the clenched jaw as he told Luna to leave, the door closing on her face. Olivia's chest was aching. Lena entered the room in silence and took a seat next to where Charles was standing.