“The burnout question.You told him you don’t burn out on things you love—that mental fatigue isn’t a problem for you.”She tilted her head, studying me.“Why would you say that?”
“I didn’t know what they wanted me to say.”
“Henri.”Her voice softened.“It’s not true.Nobody goes through what we go through and doesn’t struggle sometimes.You know that.”
I shrugged, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve.“I thought it was what they wanted to hear.”
“Who?Ollie?The team?”She leaned forward.“Or are you trying to convince yourself?”
When I didn’t answer, she pressed on.“You’ve been off all season.Snapping at people, isolating yourself, and now you’re lying in interviews about how you’re handling the pressure.Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?”
“It was just a bad interview,” I said finally.“I’ll do better next time.”
Georgia studied me for another long moment, clearly unconvinced.Then she sighed and leaned back, arms crossed over her chest.“You know what’s going to happen, right?You keep acting like this, shutting people out, snapping at everyone, making scenes, and eventually, you’ll run out of people willing to put up with it.”
She stood, brushing off her jeans with deliberate casualness.“You’ve got twenty minutes to pull yourself together and not piss off Ruth any further.”She headed for the door, pausing with her hand on the handle.“Good luck with that press conference.Try not to make any more headlines.”
On Saturday, the post-qualifying press room was already hot.Rows of reporters leaned forward in their seats, phones raised, recorders blinking.The low hum of voices quieted the moment the moderator stepped up to the mic.
“Post-qualifying conference for the Austrian Grand Prix,” he announced, his voice the same neutral drone used for every circuit.“We have Henri Dubois for Hermes, Lily Blackwood for Rennen, and Luca Rossi for Rennen.Congratulations to our top three.”
I gave a half-smile.Next to me, Lily’s posture was perfect, hands folded neatly on the table.She didn’t bother to look at me, not even a glance.We hadn’t spoken since Monaco.
“Henri,” the moderator began, “another pole position.How are you feeling heading into tomorrow?”
After a long and arduous qualifying, I’d managed to secure P1.Thankfully, sunshine had finally arrived.Not five minutes after Q3 ended, the rain had started coming down.
“Confident,” I said.“The car’s been solid all weekend.The team executed perfectly.”
“And Lily, P2, your thoughts?”
“Rennen has really strong pace.The car’s been improving every week, and we’re in a great place for the race tomorrow.”She plastered her usual deflection-ready grin onto her face.The same one Luca often wore.
Wonder if they practiced it in the garage, I thought sarcastically.
The moderator adjusted his mic.“Next question, please.”
A hand shot up in the third row.“Question for Henri and Lily.In FP3 this morning, there was that close call in Turn 6.No penalties were given, but it looked tense.Care to comment?”
My stomach felt sick.Lily and I had another close call during qualifying, and while no one received a penalty, both teams had been screaming that we’d tried to block the other.
Before I could answer, Lily reached for her microphone.
“Closer than I would’ve liked.”Her knee bounced ever so slightly—that sign she was feeling uncomfortable.“But it’s a tight track.I know Henri was probably frustrated, but I left as much room as I could.”
As soon as she said that, the scripted answer Ruth had provided me immediately fled my brain.Lily had blocked me, plain and simple.
“I was on a flying lap.She was just starting hers.I had the right of way.”
Lily turned toward me, finally looking at me for the first time since we’d sat down.Her brows lifted slightly, like she couldn’t quite believe I’d decided to go there.“And I respected that and stayed off the racing line.”
“You nearly forced me off the track,” I said bluntly.
“I was six car lengths back.”That diplomatic tone was starting to thin, cracks showing beneath her polished tone.“You had room, Henri.”
“You know, Lily, there’s a difference between racing hard and creating unnecessary risk.”
Lily lightly scoffed.“Unnecessary risk?I just said that I wassix car lengths back.”Her voice was restrained, but I could see I was poking the metaphorical bear.
