Page 37 of Retrograde

‘You’ve slept with him twice ?’ Bea screeched down the phone.

Lucie was in the car on her way to Revolution’s Le Mans livery reveal in Emilia-Romagna, and twenty minutes into the journey she had made the decision to fill Bea in on her situation with Brett. Which she was now regretting as her friend’s voice came through the speakers, deafening her.

‘The first time was years ago now, on a hiking trip and then… two days ago.’

‘What do you mean a couple of years back? And two days ago? Does Faith know? Does anyone know? Oh my God, and you almost slept with him in Vegas!’

‘Bea!’ Lucie scolded playfully. She could rely on Bea to make light of situations, and it made everything feel a little less heavy.

‘Sorry, sensitive subject!’

‘But anyway, nobody else knows yet. I’ll be telling Faith when I get to the hotel.’

‘She knows about the hiking trip rendezvous though, right? I mean, she was there.’

‘Apparently we weren’t as subtle as we thought.’ Lucie cringed. The whole paddock probably thought something was going on with them, but then again, they’d always been touchy-feely. Surely people would know that was just how they were?

Bea snorted, which was very unlike her. ‘You and Brett have never been subtle. When I first joined the IEC, I thought you’d been dating for years.

I even had a theory that his and Sienna’s relationship was a publicity stunt for you two to hide behind.

Anyway, care to share the details? I bet Faith won’t want them. ’

‘What kind of details?’ Lucie blushed. Her sex life so far had been pretty non-existent, and she’d never had anyone asking for information on it.

‘Well, how did it start? We’ll save the Alps scenario for another time but tell me about the other day! Was it romantic? Who initiated it? I want to know everything!’

‘Fine. So, we’d kissed the day before, but we also kissed in Sydney. I kind of thought we were just going to keep doing that, kissing, but then we were hosing down outside and I just, I don’t know… He gave me that look and I lost it.’

‘Oh, I know the look. I’ve seen him give you that look countless times before.’

‘Exactly. But anyway, I just froze. And I stared at him for maybe not even a millisecond before I closed the gap. Jumped into his arms and everything.’

‘That’s so romantic!’ Bea gushed.

‘What’s not romantic is what happened next. He pinned me up against the garage wall, Bea. Like, literally held me up against it while we went at it.’

‘That is absolutely romantic! The fact you were so attracted to one another in that moment that you were willing to risk being caught!’

‘Is it romance or just a lot of sexual tension?’ Lucie wasn’t so sure, she’d always expected romance to be more candles, champagne and chocolates. Not hot and heavy primal sex.

‘I reckon if it was just sexual tension, one of your kisses would’ve led to more before now.

Especially in Vegas when you were under the influence of alcohol.

But also, Luce, you ran to him. I have never run into the arms of a man in my entire life.

That’s straight out of a film. He literally swept you off your feet. ’

‘Hmm.’ Lucie went quiet, pretending she was focusing on driving. ‘So, Ricardo?’

‘We’re changing the subject? Noted,’ Bea laughed. ‘Well, he came to Paris to see me. And he stood on my doorstep, told me he loved me and I gave in. Life’s too short, you know? I love him.’

Bea was a hopeless romantic, and she’d waited years for her fairy tale.

But Lucie wasn’t so sure that she should be getting back with De La Rosa, not after he’d broken her heart last summer.

Who was to say he wouldn’t decide to walk away from her again?

Lucie felt De La Rosa had a lot more making up to do, but the heart wants what it wants and Bea wanted Ricardo.

‘You know, you’ve left me speechless many times, Beatrix Miller, but this takes the cake. I know you love him, but are you ready?’

‘He makes me feel like me again. He keeps me grounded, more in touch with myself. I don’t have to put on an act around him, or pretend to be someone I’m not, which isn’t something I’ve ever had before. We all deserve to be with someone who loves us for us, not the idea of who we should be.’

‘If he freaks out again, can I roast him on social media?’ If she had to witness broken-hearted Bea again it might tip her over the edge.

‘If you and Brett don’t confess your feelings to one another by the end of the season, can I run a story in the press calling you both out for your idiocy?’ Bea challenged.

‘No!’ Lucie wouldn’t put it past her. Faith would get involved too, re-post fan edits on social media. The fans went wild for her friendship with Brett, but she certainly wasn’t going to let her friends feed into it.

‘Don’t tell Faith about Ric yet. I’m going to tell her at Le Mans, I want to give us some time to settle back into it.’

‘I have to keep this to myself for a week ?’

‘You’re making me keep quiet about you sleeping with Brett… again!’

‘For two hours! I’m literally going straight to her hotel room when I get there!’

‘Can I call Brett and get the gossip from his perspective?’

‘I’m going to hang up now.’

‘Fine. Goodbye. Good luck with the work thing.’

‘Bye!’ Lucie laughed.

As Bea’s voice was replaced with the babble of an Italian radio presenter, Lucie allowed her mind to wander.

She had seen Brett briefly this morning, and she’d had to fight to convince him to stay with her parents for the day.

He wanted so badly to be involved in the livery reveal, and she knew he felt awful about being banished from work events as well as races.

She tried to reason with him and tell him that ignoring Jasper’s wishes would only anger his boss, but that didn’t stop Brett from moping.

It didn’t help that yesterday, Revolution’s PR team had released a statement announcing that Brett wouldn’t be racing for them for the rest of the season.

They said it was due to personal reasons, and Lucie had confiscated Brett’s phone so he couldn’t see responses.

Fans were angry and confused, and she couldn’t blame them, it was unusual for a driver to step away for so long without more reasoning but they had to trust the process.

Lucie knew Brett would risk revealing the truth one day, because nobody in the industry was open about their mental health. He had a platform, and he was going to use it. Eventually. When he was strong enough to tackle the criticism and judgement head on.

She had asked her dad to keep an eye on him and suggested maybe they could work on one of his classic cars together.

Lucie knew she couldn’t wrap him up in cotton wool, but it didn’t stop her wishing she could be with him today instead of travelling a couple of hours away to spend time with the people Brett wanted to be around, in the environment he was temporarily not allowed to be in.

How was she supposed to document today and plaster on a fake smile when her heart was elsewhere?

As she pulled up to the hotel in her tiny Fiat, parking next to a row of black SUVs, a wave of nausea hit her.

Everyone knew she was close with the team’s drivers, Brett most of all, and she was no doubt going to be bombarded with questions about his welfare.

The wider team didn’t know what was going on with him, so they were going to push her for information out of curiosity and concern, and their friends were going to want updates.

She was supposed to be here as part of the team, to work.

To do her social media magic. But in reality, she was here as Brett’s spokesperson.

She was going to have to put on a brave face and lie to her co-workers, to sponsors and people who cared about their teammate and friend, and she hated it.

She wanted to hide. But instead, she would be there next to the stage to get those perfect shots of the car and the team, doing her colleagues proud and keeping her best friend’s dignity intact.

Lucie grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and jumped out of the car, locking it over her shoulder as she hurried inside to find Faith. Maybe she shouldn’t be telling her without Brett’s permission, but Brett openly flirted with her all the time, so did it really matter?

Checking in at reception, Lucie turned to her left and saw Revolution Racing’s reserve driver, the one replacing Brett this season. ‘Oh! Hey, Lucie.’

‘Hi, Garrett!’ Lucie went straight into work mode, hoping she was as welcoming as possible.

None of this was Garrett’s fault, but it felt alien to see him standing there in team uniform.

Brett’s uniform. He was even wearing an ID badge with ‘Driver’ written underneath his name. It all just felt wrong.

‘I’m sorry to hear about Anderson, I hope he’s doing all right.’ To give Woods credit, he did look genuinely apologetic.

‘Thank you, it’s appreciated and I’ll make sure to pass that on.’

‘I was going to drop him a message, but since I don’t know the situation, I didn’t want to overstep and make him feel shit about the whole thing.’ Woods’ cheeks flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably.

‘It might be better to leave it for now, but I’ll make sure he knows you’re thinking of him. I’ll let you know when he’s ready though.’

‘I’ll be sure to do his team proud, keep his car in one piece.’

‘You’re part of the team too, Garrett. You know that, right?’ Lucie smiled at him, trying to ease his nerves. It warmed her heart to hear how much he respected Brett, and to know that he was so grateful to be racing for a top team. At least he didn’t have a massive ego.

‘I know, but it’s not forever. I will happily step aside again when Brett is ready to get back behind the wheel. Oh, I wanted to ask you, do I have to, sort of, match his energy on camera? Because I’m not sure I have the right personality…’