“Sorry I’m late.” Julien fiddles with the camera on top of his sim rig until the image clears on his screen.
It shows much more than he expected, and he immediately regrets not testing it first. At the very least, he could’ve made his bed, maybe tidied up a little.
“Were you in a super-secret Ferraro meeting?”
“Tell us everything.”
Julien snorts. His life sounds so much more interesting from their point of view. “I wish. My car broke and I had to convince the tow guy to take it to a shop instead of a scrap yard.”
“How bad did it break?”
“Were you in an accident?!”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I didn’t crash—it’s just old.” The French GP is already selected, so Julien picks a Sobber and starts a Qualifying lap.
“You drive a classic car?”
“Lucky.”
“I don’t know when the cut-off is? Is thirty-five a classic car?”
“Classic is a vibe, not a number.”
“My mom’s car is old as shit, but it’s not a vibe.”
“Hang on.” Julien pauses the lap and digs out his phone. He never takes pictures of his car, but he snapped one right before leaving the shop. He picks the best angle and holds his phone up to the camera. “Can you see this?”
There’s a long pause—possibly a lag—then laughter rings out from his speakers.
Julien snatches his phone back. “Don’t make fun of her!”
“You’re a Formation 1 driver!”
“I’m a reserve driver—it’s a completely different tax bracket.” Julien’s salary can barely handle two apartments and a parking space—much less a car payment.
“Doesn’t Thomas have a whole collection of Ferraros?”
“They’re like, customized too.”
“Yeah.” But, again, Julienisn’tThomas. “They’re probably at his house in Italy. Even if they were here, we’re not ‘borrow your Ferraro’ close.”
“Is—is that your apartment?”
“Why’s there a bed in your kitchen?”
“You’re like, hella messy, huh?”
“Jesus.” Julien angles the camera down until they can’t see so much of the background. “If you keep picking on me, I’m gonna turn the camera off again.”
“Nooooooooo!”
“We’re teasing, we’re teasing.”
“Chat doesn’t want you to go.”
Considering streaming pays his bills, Julien concedes. “Fine. For chat.”
