Austria was amazing. Watching Niki achieve fourth place two weeks ago was a revelation, but Silverstone is something else. This isn’t even the race. That’s tomorrow.
Jacs and Tawny stand with me. Tawny came eleventh in the second session, so she didn’t make it into Q3. She huffs as Jacs attempts to placate her.
“I don’t want to listen to your wisdom,” Tawny snaps in a rare moment of anger. “I know what I did wrong.”
Jacs throws her hands in the air.
“What did you do?” I ask.
“I messed up on the chicane on the final corner. If I’d been faster in the previous sectors, it wouldn’t have been as big an issue, but I oversteered and fucked up.” She yanks her gloves off.
“Do you know why you oversteered?” I ask, and she side-eyes me.
“Billy was behind me, and I was worried he’d achieve higher than me.” She sighs, and her head drops. “He got in my head when I saw him being interviewed in the media pen yesterday. I should ignore him, but that makes him worse.”
“Have you ever been able to shut him out?”
She shakes her head. “Not since we were teenagers. His dad used to make digs because he doesn’t think women should be drivers. I don’t think Billy believes the same, but sometimes I question if he does because of how he treats me. It’s like he doesn’t think I can be good enough. But I can. I’m just as good as him.”
“He knows that.” I’ve only spent one evening around Billy, but it was clear from how he tried to niggle Tawny and make her question her performance that he was attempting to get in her head. “That’s why he tries to press your buttons. He can’t beat you on the track, so he tries to do it psychologically.”
“And it worked.” She slams her hand against the wall.
“I tried to tell her,” Jacs mumbles.
“You said Billy is a dickhead and to ignore him. That’s not the same,” Tawny says with a huff, although the way she hugs her sister afterwards shows her sweetness returning. “Thanks, Rosie.”
“No worries.”
We watch the screens as a dark-haired woman with bright blue eyes waves at Jacs.
“Layla, what are you doing here?” Jacs beckons her over. “Layla, this is Rosie. She works at Coulter, and she’s dating Niki. You already know Tawny.”
Layla smiles at me. “I’m Connor’s sister.”
“The social media wizard?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says, although the way she squeezes her lips and tugs at her ponytail suggests there’s anxiety, or something else, going on.
“I’m surprised you’re here. Connor is still recuperating at home, isn’t he?” Jacs asks.
“I never get the chance to come to races because university is full on, especially with all the extra interning I do in my holidays,” Layla says, “but I had a free weekend, and I wanted to see what Coulter is like without my big brother getting all protective. He can be a bit much.”
“How long until you’re working here?” I ask.
Layla shrugs. “About a year. Unless something comes up.”
My brow furrows at what Layla isn’t saying. “Did you always want to work in social media?”
Layla winces. “Not really, but my boyfriend said we should go to university together, and that meant studying a subject available at his university.”
“Was it worth it for love, though?” Tawny asks.
“He dumped me during our first term and went off with his housemate.”
“Bastard,” Jacs grunts. “Never trust a man who makes you give up your dreams.”
We stare at the screen as Tawny whispers to me, “Niki wouldn’t want you to give up your dreams.”
