Page 22 of Retrograde
‘You can’t think like that. You have to learn to trust yourself more. You may not always have complete control, and that’s okay. But don’t let the fear of relapsing dictate your career. You worked hard for this, Brett. You deserve to be with your team.’
‘And what if I do fuck it all up?’
‘Then you’re honest with yourself. With your fans.
You use your voice. You do something good with this, because I know you’ll be okay in the long run.
You’re made of strong stuff, and you’ve got the team, and me, and your family behind you.
If you fall, you’ll get back up. Taking care of your mental health is a lifelong journey, and you’ve got the resilience for it. ’
‘I can’t believe I let myself get to this point, Luce.
’ He rested his chin on the top of her head, running his hands up and down her back.
He clearly knew she was hurting, too. Even though he was struggling, it was having a direct impact on Lucie.
She had always been an empath, but because it was Brett who was broken, her heart was being ripped in two.
‘I’ve got you. I’ll remind you every single day if I have to, okay?’
‘I’ve got you, too. Even without Revolution, we’re a team in our own right.’ He kissed her hair and let her go, physically shaking himself off. ‘Okay, I’m over it. For now.’
‘Come on, let’s go get a shot of you in action.
I can do a promo video, get a shot of the brand’s logo on the livery, some shots of you and the guys wearing different styles.
I’ll edit it together quickly and post it mid-race when all the attention is on the team.
Bring those ones for Mars!’ She was halfway out the door before he could even get his race suit on, afraid that if she stayed in there for a second longer, she would give in to temptation.
‘Make sure you zoom in close on the logo for Sundaize,’ Faith reminded Lucie. It was vital to meet the sponsors’ requirements. After all, they had invested a lot of money into the team’s development, the least the team could do in return was include a quick shot in a social media video.
Lucie studied the contracts closely at the start of each season so she and Faith could incorporate any social media requirements into the schedule, for the team accounts and for the drivers’ personal ones.
Sometimes sponsors just required the team to attend their events and post about it, sometimes they wanted more of a feature.
Sundaize and other fashion and lifestyle brands were the easy ones.
A sprinkling of driver photos where they wore the sunglasses– or watches or jewellery– was enough, but they could get creative if they wanted to.
Lucie loved working with them. Loved coming up with content ideas.
Energy companies, financial companies and other corporate sponsors were the boring ones.
They couldn’t have any fun with that content, and frankly, the fans didn’t care.
They wanted products they could buy themselves, not business opportunities.
‘Which one of you is filming the hot lap?’ Jasper asked.
These were fan experiences which were usually won in competitions run by the organisation.
A driver would take them around the circuit for a lap or two, hitting the high speeds.
For this race, Revolution were being asked to do it with a driver of their choice behind the wheel of a Porsche 911.
In an ideal world, the fan would get to go round in Revolution’s car, but it was a one-seater.
‘Luce? You want to do it? I’ll get this edited.’ Faith waved her phone.
‘Absolutely. Is the fan here yet?’ Lucie peered around the garage, then spotted Brett with his new helmet tucked under his arm, a custom black and white one with his parents’ and siblings’ zodiac constellations across the top. He was talking to a young boy, no older than eleven or twelve.
‘That’s him over there.’ Jasper pointed to where she’d been looking. ‘I thought I’d let Anderson do the driving; he’s got the personality for things like this. Plus, I figured he could use the boost,’ he added, and Lucie smiled knowingly.
Heading over to them, she noted that this kid was fully decked out in Revolution Racing merchandise.
Someone at the team had clearly got to him the second he’d stepped foot in the garage, because some of it wasn’t on sale to the public.
He was bouncing on his heels, and the way his eyes lit up when Lucie walked towards them with the camera told her all she needed to know.
He was going to battle Brett as the star of the show and give the organisation some great content to work with. The GoPro reaction clips would be gold.
‘Hi! I’m Lucie, I’m part of the social media crew for Revolution Racing.’
‘Hey! I’m Theo. Are we ready?’ He beamed at her, cutting straight to the point.
‘Have you done all your health and safety checks, signed the consent forms?’
‘We’ve taken care of that, haven’t we, mate?’ Brett nudged him, equally as excited.
‘Yeah. Basically signed my life away to one of the best racing drivers the IEC has ever seen. No big deal. My friends are going to be so jealous.’
‘Well, you’re in safe hands. You cool if I just keep the camera rolling while we get you set up, and then again when you get out?
We’ve got in-car cameras too, to the left, right and in the middle of the dash.
And as you know, the footage will be posted on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook by both the IEC and by us. ’
‘As long as you make me look good. I’ve got to impress the ladies.’
Brett roared with laughter. ‘I love this kid.’
They led Theo out of the garage and down to the far end of the pit lane, where a representative for the IEC was waiting along with someone from the main media crew who was in charge of the GoPro, a health and safety official and the medical car.
It made this whole situation seem very daunting, but Theo was totally unfazed.
He looked like he was about to burst. This car went fast, but still not as fast as Revolution’s car.
It was from a different class within the competition, and it was also a winner.
As Theo was briefed, again, this time by the health and safety woman, Lucie walked around to the driver’s side of the car where Brett was getting himself situated and leaned in the window.
‘I love doing this. I reckon this Theo kid is going to be an absolute blast.’ He pulled his helmet on over his head.
‘Make sure you get me my content.’ Lucie patted his chest.
‘Of course.’
‘I’m in! Let’s go !’ Theo cheered as he got strapped into his seat.
Lucie stepped back, camera aimed at the car.
She was definitely going to keep the wink Brett shot in her direction in the final edit.
The fans would go wild for that, but she knew he hadn’t done it for their benefit.
That wink was for her. That wink was him telling her he was about to kick ass and be the Brett she knew and loved. The one who had got his fire back.
She waited for them to complete the standard two laps, laughing when Brett took Theo for a third and a fourth, interrupted only by the IEC rep telling him over the radio that the marshals needed to clear the track of the gravel he had just flung everywhere, in preparation for the race.
Brett always liked to push the limits and give the fans an experience they’d never forget, but he was always skating on thin ice with health and safety.
Still, everyone knew Theo was in safe hands.
And they knew Brett would simply give his signature cheeky grin and all would be forgiven and forgotten.
‘That was amazing!’ Theo was still yelling when they pulled up next to her in the pit lane again, competing with the idling noise of the engine. Lucie had a feeling the in-car microphones would have struggled with the volume of his screams.
‘Glad you enjoyed it,’ she smiled.
‘Thank you for today. It was the best day of my life . I’m going to get me one of these one day.’ Theo patted the side of the car in appreciation.
‘No worries, mate. I had fun.’ Brett shook his hand. ‘Let’s take a quick photo before you head back into the paddock. Luce?’
‘It was so cool meeting you, Mr Anderson,’ Theo gushed after they’d posed for the camera, and Lucie tried not to snicker at the formality. She didn’t think she’d ever heard anyone refer to Brett as a Mr. It was just Anderson.
With Theo whisked away in the direction of the hospitality area for his next adventure, Lucie sidled up to Brett. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Unstoppable.’ He breathed out a laugh.
‘That’s because you are. I’ve been telling you.’ She rolled her eyes playfully.
‘I have never felt so mentally prepared for a race. I’m going to go get ready.’ Brett kissed her on the cheek and ran off to find his team, leaving Lucie standing there in a daze, unable to wipe the pride from her expression.
The tension in the Revolution Racing garage was palpable.
Not one member of the team was looking anywhere other than at the screens as Brett tailed Kahan Racing’s number eight car.
He’d been trying to overtake for three laps, and they were only two away from the finish.
If he couldn’t catch them, Revolution would lose at Monza for the first time since the team was formed.
Brett obviously wasn’t going to let them lose in Marco’s home country. Not without one hell of a fight.
Lucie and Faith always left Marco and Julien alone in moments like this, choosing to stick together at the back of the garage and shoot their content from a distance.
Until their car was over the finish line, the drivers couldn’t be spoken to.
It was like they tuned out the rest of the world and their only focus was the race win, and somehow the garage was deafeningly loud and silent all at the same time.
You could hear the cars out on the track, the engines roaring as they passed the pits, none of them coming down the pit lane so late in the race.
The smell of burning rubber lingered in the air, and Lucie’s palms were sweating.
He needed to win this. Not just for his team, but for himself.
And she needed him to. To prove that leaving Sydney prematurely hadn’t been a waste, that it had done him some good.
If he lost, he would enter his usual downward spiral, only this time it was likely to be far more intense and have bigger consequences.
But right as she was starting to worry, to lose hope, ruby red shot past metallic blue and with one lap to go, Brett was ahead. Way ahead, in fact, as the Kahan Racing driver momentarily lost control of his car and those precious seconds allowed for a gap that there was no coming back from.
‘No way.’ Faith breathed out a laugh, in disbelief. That was the difference; Lucie wasn’t surprised he’d done it. This was what Brett was known for.
‘Let’s go.’ Lucie pulled her out to the pit wall, her co-worker still not used to this moment of the race. They always did this, every team who placed on the podium.
Julien helped Faith up onto the wall, then Lucie, and before long the majority of Revolution were hanging on to the metal fence that separated the pits from the track.
The chequered flag waved, the crowds went wild, and their beloved Aussie driver crossed the line in first position, seconds ahead of anyone else. Brett was back.