‘You didn’t agree to anything, right?’
He’s unbelievable.Unbelievable. ‘Why do you immediately think I did something wrong?’
‘Because they played you for a fool and you took the bait, Tiago!’
‘What if they were just feeling me out?’
‘Teams don’t feel drivers out over awalk. We’re talking millions of dollars here – lawyers, official channels, maybe even court for breach of contract. Everything has to go through your representation. I respond to evidence, notvibes.’
‘Fuck you!’
‘They’re probably softening you so they can lowball.’
‘You have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘There’s this thing called plausible deniability, dog. Have you heard of it?’
God he’s so annoying. ‘How would you know? You weren’t even there.’
He drops the pen and crosses his arms. ‘Did he ask about how long was left on your contract? Timelines? Buyout? Did he minute it?’
‘I mean, no, but?—’
‘What about Leone? I thought things were better.’
‘They are.’
‘I thought you were happy.’
‘I am, but?—’
‘Then what the hell are you doing jeopardising that?’
‘I’m not jeopardising anything! You know I’ve wanted to go back to Volare all season. Sue me for taking the opportunitywhen it landed in my lap. As my manager, you should want me to go to a better team. Sometimes I think you like me stuck at the bottom.’
Heat blazes in his eyes as he shoots to his feet.‘¡Vete a la mierda!I’ve done nothing but fight for your career, you ungrateful bastard, even when you’re trying your best to nuke it.’
‘You’re negative abouteverything. That’s why I went to Jules in the first place – you’re so single-minded. This right here is a chance to fight for a title again?—’
He scoffs. ‘They’re doing even worse than you are.’
‘—andjust this once, I thought you could back me. There’s nothing concrete about it. It’s just a chance. If I didn’t grab onto it, what am I even doing in F1?’
‘A chance?’ he repeats smugly, looking at me like I’m still his naïve five-year-old little brother, and I hate him so, so much for it. ‘Alright. How did Carmine leave it?’
I grit my teeth. ‘He said, “Let’s keep talking”.’
He makes a pitying face and I want to punch it off. ‘Tiago.’
‘Don’t look at me like that.’
He sits back down like this isn’t a big deal at all and I’m a fool for believing otherwise. ‘They’re either hedging their bets or maybe even using you to scare another driver.’
‘You’re so extraordinarily predictable.’
He snorts. ‘Get your head out of your ass.’ He turns back to his laptop.
Fuck him. Fuck this.‘Hijueputa,’I spit, and leave to the sound of him barking after me.
