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“You’re fine to go along with this terrible idea?” I asked Henri coldly, a look of betrayal on my face. He finally turned to me and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Peaches, but they’re right. I finally got you in Formula 1. We’re living our dream together, and I don’t want to lose you because Maison de Klotho or anyone else can’t see that you’re as amazing as I know you are.” I scoffed and pointedly rolled my eyes at my brother—a perfectly crafted statement from Henri, as per usual. Hugo, going along with this, I could understand. He was my older brother and my former manager, but Henri knew how this would affect me. He knew how much I would loathe this agreement, and the lack of heads-up felt like a betrayal.
“This is fucking ridiculous!” I yelled, stomping my foot on the ground like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “I won’t stand for this, and I won’t do it. And if I have to give up my Formula 1 seat, then fine, I don’t want it. I’m one of the best damn drivers out there, and it’s ludicrous that this is what I have to do to keep sponsors happy. When did we stop caring about driving talent?”
Before I could stop myself and register what I was doing, my feet had moved me to the door, and I was sprinting down the hallway toward my driver’s room, tears pouring down my face. I slammed the door and leaned against it, falling to the ground as I cradled my legs.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, I repeated over and over as tears streamed down my face. I obviously didn’t mean those final words. The truth was, I would do just about anything, even start a fake relationship, to keep my Formula 1 seat.But why did this sham have to be with the one driver I couldn’t stand?
* * *
I heard a knock on my driver’s room door, immediately knowing the group had sent Hugo. He didn’t have to announce himself for me to know who was standing at the other side of the door. Henri wasn’t stupid enough to think I would want to talk to him, and Hugo had always been my sounding board for big decisions.
“Go away, Hugo!” I yelled.
“Georgie Pie, come on, let’s talk,” he said, his voice low and soft.Against my better judgment, I got up, opened the door, and motioned for him to come inside.
“Feel freenotto make yourself at home,” I said spitefully, the pathetic words sounding even worse when they left my mouth.Hugo chuckled a bit and sat on the couch across from my massage table.
“Look, I know this situation isn’t ideal. Hell, I know it just fucking sucks. I don’t know what it’s like to be in your shoes. You’ve had to go through so much more than Henri. I have watched you work twice as hard to get to where you are today.
But Georgia, this iswhythis is a good idea. You know I am your biggest supporter through and through. If you genuinely don’t want to do this, then I’ll tell the team, but the truth is, I’m worried for you. Isabelle has let me in on some of the sponsorship conversations, and while it’s unfair, theyexpectyou to be more like Lily. I know it’s wrong, we all do, but this is a short-term solution that could help bring you more than a decade’s worth of races in Formula 1. You have a chance to be the first female World Driver’s Champion. I don’t want to see you lose that dream, even if it means dating someone as frustrating as Luca.” Hugo finished and moved towards my massage table, plopping down next to me. He laced his arms around my shoulders and gently hugged me.
I let a few minutes of silence pass, truly contemplating what he had said.Deep down, I knew Hugo was right.
Bastard is always right, I internally grumbled, drying the tears from my eyes.
“But why Luca? Was Éliott not free?” I said, a small chuckle leaving my lips.
“While I am sure Éliott would do it just to help you, the team chose Luca because he also needs the good press. You both have something big to lose.” And there was the truth. We both did have something valuable to lose, and that motivation would help sell the whole fiasco.
“Fine. I’ll do it. But the moment my sponsorship prospects start to turn around, we’re ending this.”
“Agreed.” Hugo held out his hand as if we were about to shake on a business deal. I let out a small laugh and took it, shaking it as if we had just reached the agreement of a century.
Well, someone alert the Devil,I thought. A cold day in hell has finally arrived.
After the talk with Hugo, I slinked back into the hallway and moved towards Isabelle’s office. It’s as if she had read my mind because before I could even knock, she yelled, “Come on in, Georgia.”I felt like a pig being led towards the slaughterhouse. There was no turning back now.
As I entered the office, I saw Fiona and Lizzie sitting on the sofa across from Isabelle’s desk. Lizzie smiled at me, a smile so warm that I couldn’t help but give her a small –very small– smile in return. I walked towards the chair next to Isabelle’s desk and plopped down. Several silent seconds went by, not one of us uttering a word. After a few more moments, I sighed and decided to break the ice.
“Do you three truly believe this is my best option?” I asked, more level-headed than I expected to be.
“Yes,” Isabelle replied simply. “If I could have found something better than having to endure Luca Rossi visiting our garage for the next several months, I would have found it.” While she didn’t smile as she said it, there was a pleasant nature to her voice.
“So what is the plan then?” I supposed I didn’t need to tell them that I would obviously accept the deal. My seat was too important, and they knew that.
“We’ll take it slow,” Lizzie piped up, getting up from the sofa. “This week in Miami, we’ll do some small stuff like have you and Luca head to dinner together tomorrow and then get drinks with Henri and Edward on Thursday – nice and easy. Hermes F1 has agreed to let you pop by Luca's garage a couple of times this weekend, and they’ll ‘accidentally’ catch you on their social media, which will create some speculation with fans.”
“I’m not kissing Luca if I get onto the podium.” The idea of kissing a man I barely knew was bad enough, but kissing Luca in a fake burst of joy was enough to ruin my podium celebration, and I wasn’t having that.
“No one’s asking you to do that.” While Lizzie didn’t sayfor now, I knew it was implied. The moment any driver made it on the podium, the media immediately looked for their significant other – every photographer trying to capture that winning kiss.
“This weekend is about sowing the seeds of the relationship, getting the fans to speculate on what is going on. The good news is, with the other Hermes F1 driver being your brother, the fans will love the idea of your brother’s teammate dating his sister. It should be an easy sell.”
I sighed in agreement because I knew Lizzie wasn’t wrong. It’s what fairytale romances were made of. I had no doubt the fans would eat up our relationship – Hermes F1’s golden boy Henri Dubois’s sister dating their incredibly handsome number two driver – what was not to love if you were a fan?
“I have the details of this week all put into your Miami outline so you know when and where you are expected.” Lizzie grinned at me as if she was proud of all this nonsense. I took the pink Lisa Frank folder with dolphins on it, no doubt to represent Miami, and opened it. To be fair to Lizzie, she had done an excellent job organizing the week, down to the thirty-minute intervals and small visits to Luca's garage. I nodded in agreement as I flipped through the pages, opting not to look at her directly since she seemed a little too pleased with herself. I knew I should have felt more guilt. My screw-up with the media wasn’t just affecting me. It had now given Lizzie an extra job as my personal assistant and relationship manager, something I knew she hadn’t signed up for.
