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I heave a sigh. This heart attack is the result of long days on the track, the pressure to win Formula World, that entire nomadic, wild lifestyle. It’s fine for a man half his age, but not for him. We’re going to have a serious talk about his health, but now isn’t the time. I stare at him for a beat. “What else were you going to ask me?”
“Since your obligations to your old company have ended—” He begins coughing again.
That’s a polite way of putting it. Technically, my obligations ended when I was so fed up with the sexual harassment situation at my company that I tweeted a photo of one of my fellow executives who’d said filthy things to me. I figured that the harasser would get fired, but no. I took the brunt of the punishment because I’d “put the company’s business on social media.” Never mind that I’d tried to get the ear of the CEOs for months. But those are merely details that are now firmly in the past and irrelevant right now.
“I’d like you to take over running the team until I’m well enough. Dr. Patel said I might be out of commission for a few races at least.”
“No, no, no. I’m not qualified to run theentireteam. And I’m going to stay here and wait for you to get out of surgery. You’ll probably be out for more than a few races. This isn’t some minor procedure.”
“Honey, I’m either going to live or die in this damn surgery, and you being here will have no bearing on it. You worked for a racing game company that most of the drivers use for off-season training. You have a great mind for business and know the sport in and out. You’ve been on Formula World tracks since you could walk.”
“But that doesn’t mean—”
He interrupts me, steamrolling over any possible objection. “Keep an eye on the financials and boost the team’s morale. You’re my eyes and ears. A figurehead. The team runs itself. Give some interviews, make some inspirational speeches. I don’t want there to be a perceived power vacuum on the team, and the press needs to know that our family is still in charge.”
He thinks I can do all that, while I’m worried about him? Surely the heart attack has affected his brain too. I look around helplessly for the doctor, but he’s deep in a conversation with the nurse, looking at my father’s chart.
“Papa, there’s way more to the job than that. Can’t you get Uncle Christos to fill in? Or Jack, or—”
“Christos is in worse physical shape than I am. You know I’ve always wanted you to—”
“Work with you on the team. I know. But it’s not my skillset. I’m an HR manager.”
“You’re a lot more than that. You know how to manage people. I’m asking you to make it your skillset, at least temporarily. A few races, starting with Austin next week. The ones here in America, and perhaps in South America after that. Keep morale high. Those drivers need direction and coddling. Especially Max. Esteban, too, but in a different way. You’ll figure it out. You’re a smart woman.”
He wants me tocoddleMax Becker? The man whose nickname in the press is “the Iceman”? It’s almost ironically hilarious because Papa didn’t want me around Max seven years ago.
But things have changed. Max is a champion, the top driver on my father’s team.
I clear my throat and pull my hand away from my father’s so I can retie my hair. Prior to the start of the season, I’d given my father an earful about why Max wasn’t the best hire for the team. He’d disagreed. Naturally, he was right; Max was an amazing hire. I didn’t want him so close for personal reasons, but Papa operated like he always did.
The past is like your ass, he always said. Behind you.
“I don’t know if Max takes direction well, Papa.”
“Like any driver, he wants to win. That’s all. You know him better than most.”
The weight of his words hangs in the antiseptic-scented air of the hospital. “Um,” I whisper, my eyes darting around the room.
“I know it will be difficult, given your history with Max. But that’s all in the past now. And Lily?”
“Yeah?” I try to swallow but my mouth is too dry.
“Try to keep your relationship with Max aboveboard. I don’t care what the two of you do in private, but in public keep it on the up and up. I know the two of you had, er, a powerful connection, and maybe I was wrong back then—”
I interrupt him, not wanting to hear any more. It’s so weird that he claims not to care now, when he was so angry back then. “Please. Stop. I’m not having any relationship with him, ever. This isn’t the time to discuss all that. You need to relax.”
The last thing I want my father to think of before he goes into surgery is how angry he was when he found out his daughter was screwing a younger, rival driver.
“Okay. I have faith in you, Lily. You will inspire the entire team. Please? Tell me you’ll do this. I’ll feel so much better going into this surgery. Let the team know I’m doing okay and that I’ll be back as soon as I’m physically able. They need to hear the news from you, my only daughter.”
The idea of spending weeks—possibly months—being Max’s boss seems like the worst idea I’ve heard in a while. But it’s near impossible to argue with Papa when he’s lying in a hospital bed. And it’s not like I’ve got anything else going on, being unemployed and all.
“But, Lily, one thing. One more thing?”
I’m unsure if I want to hear any new requests. “Yeah?”
“No twitting.”
