My heart races each time the cars pass by our side of the track, engines roaring.
After a couple of minutes of watching, and I turn to see Annalise entering the room. I immediately straighten my posture and try to pull myself together.
“Hey,” she says in a tentative voice. “Kinda boring, huh?” she asks, surprising me.
“Boring?”
She nods, then turns to the screen. “Yeah, I mean, they’re just circling around the roads over and over again. Gets tedious after a while.”
Boredom is the last thing I would’ve ever thought to describe what’s happening.
“Travis used to say he’d get so bored during a race that he’d start to sing to keep himself entertained.”
She says this with a straight face.
“I have the recordings if you want to hear it.”
“He has a terrible singing voice,” I say.
“I know,” she replies. “Drake was begging him to stop.”
We both laugh.
“He says you love racing,” I state, out of the blue. “You study it more than he does.”
Folding her arms, she looks at the screen. “I love motorsports and I know what it’s like to fear someone you love being on that track,” she says in a low voice before turning to me.
Her lips pull into a sympathetic smile.
A silence falls between us, at which time I turn my attention back to the screen. It’s a little easier to watch now.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, her voice growing serious. “Watching this.” She nods toward the screen.
It’s obvious she knows about the accident. But I’m not upset or mad; I appreciate the sympathy in her voice. I suspect that she came up here to check on me.
“No,” I sigh out. It feels good to be honest. “But I don’t want to look away either.” I raise my hands to my belly because somehow holding my baby like this helps me feel closer to Travis.
“You know, despite the way it looks, this sport is very safe.”
I nod, watching the screen. “I’m aware. Travis took me to the museum and explained all of the safety features.” I shrug.
“I’m sorry we haven’t gotten much time to talk or get to know one another,” she says after a beat of silence.
I smile. “I’d like for us to get to know one another. I don’t have many friendsat all,” I admit after starting to say, ‘on this side of the world.’
“I apologize if you felt like I didn’t appreciate all that you did to help with my move from New York, by walking out on the apartment. When I first got to Monaco,” I clarify.
I’ve always felt guilty about that. While I didn’t appreciate what felt like Travis scheming to control my life, I now know Annalise thought she was helping me.
She gives me a sly grin. “Don’t worry about it. After I found out you had no idea the apartment was Travis’, I was rooting for you to give him a little hell. He’s spoiled.”
I chortle because she’s not wrong.
“Plus, I would’ve done the same thing myself.” She shrugs.
For the first time today, relief floods me. I like Annalise.
“I’m glad our baby will have you as an aunt.”
