Lights Out • 1 • Formula One ✔️

Chapter 60

"Hey, Lys." Charles's voice echoed down the corridor. "Wait up!" I was currently on my way to meet Max in his garage, however decided to take the route that avoided all cameras. I didn't realise Charles had followed me until he called out.

I let out a sigh, wanting nothing more than to just see Max. However, I put on a smile and turned to the man who had seen me literally two minutes ago in the medical centre. "What is it?" I asked with as much enthusiasm as I could muster (it wasn't a lot - a mixture of bad mood and pain from the crash).

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Charles said, coming to a stop about a foot front of me. He was close enough so that I could feel his light breathe against my face.

"I told you earlier - I'm fine." I went to walk away but his hand gently grabbed my arm.

"I know, but you just seem a little... off."

"Well, I did just crash and put myself out of qualifying, hindering my chances of performing well in the race tomorrow and therefore my chances at Force India so excuse me if I'm a little 'off'." I snapped, immediately regretting it. Charles looked surprised by my outburst and his hand dropped back to his side.

He then took a step back, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh."

"I'm sorry." I rubbed my face with a sigh. "It's been a long week and I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Max keep you up?" Charles asked with a raised eyebrow, a small smirk playing at his lips. It took me a few moments to get what he was suggesting, but as soon as the penny dropped I let out a small laugh and playfully hit his arm.

"No!" I couldn't help but chuckle before I returned to my solemn mood. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"What was it about?" Well, I crashed my car into a wall, I was a mother of two, and you suddenly replaced Max and we kissed.

"Well, I predicted I'd crash along the straight." I began with a loud sigh. "It's why I was going so slow in the final sector compared to the other drivers because it kept playing on my mind. The only difference was that it was actually a suspension failure rather than being hit."

"That's pretty scary." Charles concluded. "Did anything else happen?"

I shook my head. "Not that I remember, no." For a moment I considered telling him about the rest of it but didn't know how he'd react. The last thing I'd want to do is suggest to Charles that I like him because, although he is great, my heart is fully devoted to Max. I would never do anything to willingly hurt him after everything he has done for me. "Thanks for checking up on me. You're a good friend."

Charles smiled, however it looked forced and over-exaggerated. "Yep, that's me - a good friend."

"I expect you need to start preparing for qualifying, so I'll see you later, yeah?" I tried to sound as hopeful as I could in order not to hurt his feelings. I just really wanted to see Max.

"Yeah." Charles looked down at his feet and sighed. "See you later, chamallow."

I turned around on the spot and continued t walk down the corridor, not glancing back at Charles. My sole focus was finding Max before he has to get back into 'drive mode' again. My safest option of finding him was in his garage so decided to head there. If unsuccessful, I could always have a look in the hospitality centre in case he was with the friends he invited.

A screen was displayed on one of the walls and I managed to glimpse the results of FP3. It was quite a shock to see the time I had put in second overall, especially since I had been performing around sixth for the previous two sessions. The only time to have beaten mine was set by Max, and it was only by a small margin of 27 thousandths. At least I went out with a bang... literally.