“The aluminum cans hide it pretty well.” Rafael traps his own water bottle between his knees and cracks the seal with his only free hand. He’s getting really good at that. “So why are you so wrecked this morning?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
When Julien originally created the streaming schedule, he was catering to Form 1 fans who liked listening to guys talk shit about the race while they played. In the years since, he’s never had to pull double duty by driving all day and pretending to drive all night.
But only one of his jobs will still need him after Rafael’s shoulder heals, so Julien’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The worst was after streaming ended—when the comments continued to play in his head for hours.
The brother did decent today.
Ferraro always does well in Australia. It shoulda been a one-two knock out, but he barely made Q3 in a fucking rocketship.
Pathetic, honestly, even with Rafael trying to help him.
I bet Rafael is purposely sabotaging him.
Yeah—Owain’s his best friend. He’s in on it too.
“Rafael, you’re a popular guy.”
“Most of us are. It comes with the sport.”
“Yeah, but do you get comments from fans?” Fans is probably the wrong word. “Like, negative comments?”
“All the fucking time.” Rafael spears a pineapple chunk before turning. “Why? Someone say something to you?”
“I guess.”
It wasn’t just one thing, though. It was having to sit there, exhausted from a full day of driving, while his friends ripped apart everything he was proud of. How he couldn’t defend his laps without outing himself as Julien Dubois.
“Well, it’s horrible advice, but don’t let it get to you.”
Gee, thanks. “I’ve forgotten all about it.”
“I told you! It’s bad advice, but it’s true. Every driver gets crap from people who know nothing about us or the sport. They hate us if we lose, and hate us more when we win. It’s lose-lose to worry about it, so just ignore it.”
That would actually be some decent advice if Julien was dealing with strangers. “But I can’t ignore these comments specifically.”
