Page 38 of Retrograde

Lucie laughed as she took her room key from the receptionist. ‘Not at all. You just be yourself, and I’ll make you look good. Fans might complain a little at first, especially the die-hard Anderson fans, but they’ll just have to get used to it.’

‘Awesome, thank you. Anyway, I’ve got a meeting with my manager so I’d better dash, see you later!’

He departed and Lucie’s heart sank a little.

There was no denying that Brett played a huge role in the success of the team’s social media content, and doing things without him was going to take a lot of adjustment.

From what she knew of Garrett so far, he was friendly enough, but the humour just wasn’t there.

It wasn’t fair to rely on Marco and Julien to carry the content, and she and Faith had to make sure that even though he was only here temporarily, Garrett was given an equal platform and shown in a good light.

If sponsors and other teams liked what they saw both on and off the track, and he had fans behind him, it would give him a better chance at being signed by another team next season.

She wished that Jasper had chosen a woman to fill the position.

It would make perfect sense; to have a female driver on a team where the social media content was run by a two-woman team who had an entire campaign and academy dedicated to women in motorsport.

She was certain that if a permanent position on the team ever came up, she could convince Jasper to approach someone like Savi Hart or Océane Clair.

Not that she wanted to say goodbye to her beloved Revolution Racing boys, but change always came eventually.

Knocking on Faith’s hotel room door before she’d even got to her own, desperate to get to her before Bea opened her mouth, Lucie groaned when she heard Marco’s voice on the other side. She was going to have to kick the guys out.

‘Luce!’ Marco hugged her and gave her a little squeeze.

‘Hey, Mars.’

‘How have you been?’ He pulled back, holding her at arm’s length and staring into her soul with his piercing puppy-dog eyes; she was so close to breaking down to him.

‘Okay.’ She smiled weakly, her eyes welling up with tears.

‘Hey, Luce!’ Julien appeared next, bucket hat on.

‘What the hell is that?’ she sniffled.

‘I got trapped into buying it from one of those stalls on the street. Faith and I were doing some exploring, taking a walk through a park nearby and I spotted this.’ He pointed to his head.

‘The guy saw me take one look and then gave me his whole life story and I felt rude walking away, so I bought it. Tipped him, too,’ Julien shrugged.

‘That’s not an excuse to walk around wearing it, Jules. Cow print doesn’t suit you.’ Faith glanced at it in disgust as she came out of the bathroom. ‘What’s wrong, Luce?’ She looked at her friend, whose bottom lip was now trembling.

‘Guys, can I have a second with Faith? I need a woman-to-woman chat.’

‘Sure!’ Jules grabbed his key card and ushered Marco out, leaving them to it.

Faith led her over to the balcony, pouring her a glass of water. They sat down on the sun loungers, and while Lucie stared out at the park opposite, her best friend studied her. ‘Spill.’

‘I slept with Brett.’

‘Oh my God,’ Faith whispered. ‘When?’

‘Two days ago. At the farmhouse.’

Faith beamed, looking like she’d just won the lottery, but Lucie couldn’t match the excitement. She needed someone to tell her it was a mistake. ‘So, now what?’

‘Now I retreat back to my corner and avoid any physical touch like the plague?’

Faith frowned. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘I don’t want to add to the long list of things weighing on his mind. He’s finding his feet in a world outside of racing, and this could get messy.’

‘Lucie, get real. That man is your soulmate.’ Faith let out a laugh, almost in disbelief at what she was hearing.

‘Well, now isn’t the right time.’

‘Is there ever a right time to confess your feelings to your best friend of ten years, though? Surely, at some point, you just have to rip the Band-Aid off and hope for the best. Win or lose.’

The livery reveal had gone off without a hitch, Lucie and Faith had captured some great behind-the-scenes footage of the set-up, plus clips of people’s reactions.

They had strayed from the red for this race and instead opted for pinks and purples, which you didn’t often see out on the track.

Each driver had been dressed in brand new pink and purple race suits, and sponsors were already voicing positive feedback.

The consensus was that Revolution Racing should have a total rebrand next season.

Some of the sponsors and members of the team had been pushing for updates on Brett, clearly irritated when Lucie refused to give details.

Jasper and the owner of Revolution Racing were the only people who knew.

Lucie felt terrible, she didn’t know how to tackle the questions coming from everyone.

She just knew she had to try to convince people that Brett had plenty of support and he just needed some space and time away from everything.

‘You don’t think the whole boy-next-door thing is too similar to Marco’s vibe?’ Lucie questioned their approach to Garrett Woods’ social media portrayal.

‘Not at all. We need him to be likeable, not too cocky, he needs to be the new guy in an innocent and sweet way. Just show how grateful he is to be here, push the stats of his career prior to the IEC. Don’t forget we’re trying to get him a seat with another team next season so he can stay in the championship once Brett comes back. ’

‘Okay, got it. Friendly, not too in-your-face.’ Lucie mentally took note of some ideas, like short-form videos where Garrett listed fun facts about himself or talked about his favourite racetrack and the reasons behind it.

‘Precisely! Oh, you won’t believe who I was talking to this morning.’ Faith suddenly changed the subject, almost bursting with excitement.

When she didn’t continue speaking, Lucie urged her to spit it out. ‘Who?’

‘Jennifer Lockhart, co-owner of Jaehn Sport, one of the top Formula Voltz teams,’ she gushed.

‘I know who she is, Jensen,’ Lucie laughed as Faith tried to contain herself. ‘What were you talking about?’

‘She wants to join forces with Girls Off Track!’

‘Really?!’ Lucie was shocked. Their academy had only just started out, really, and yet they were already garnering interest on a wider scale.

‘Yes! Our two championships can work together, and we can provide way more opportunities for girls and get twice as many people involved. This is about bringing together all of the motorsport industry, breaking down the barriers between the different championships and divisions.’

‘This is huge !’

‘I know! She wants to have a meeting in London in a few months, come to HQ and see what it’s all about for herself.

She even said she’ll bring some other people along!

While I have a second, I’m going to go and get Bea and Esme on a group call while I know they’re available.

You keep working. Be back in a few minutes. ’

As Faith disappeared into the crowd, Lucie let out a deep breath.

Whilst this was all so exciting, she had a lot on her plate this season.

Between work, her career and now Brett, she felt pulled in so many different directions but this was everything she’d ever wanted.

So why was she beginning to feel overwhelmed with the plates she was juggling.

‘Hello, Lucie.’ Jasper appeared behind her, hands clasped together as if he was nervous.

‘Hi, Jasper. That went well!’ She gestured at the car in front of them, the spotlights hitting it in all the right places as it sat proudly on the stage.

‘It did, didn’t it? I’m feeling rather proud of the direction we’ve been headed in the last couple of years. How is Anderson doing? I know he’s scheduled his first therapy appointment, so that’s great.’

‘He’s doing fine, I think. He’s working on my dad’s classic cars today.

He had a rough start to the week, but he seems to be settling in nicely.

’ She didn’t want to tell their boss that Brett had been struggling with night terrors.

He could choose what to tell Jasper and when, it wasn’t for Lucie to give that detailed an update, she wasn’t his nurse or his keeper, she was his friend.

‘That’s good. He was okay after the statement was released yesterday?’ Jasper frowned.

Lucie thought back to how he’d been. Although he’d been quiet and a little shy around her, she had put that down to their antics the day before.

He had formed a habit of hovering near her, starting and stopping sentences and then disappearing into the kitchen to help Rosa with baking and cooking.

They were already on their second tiramisu of the week.

‘He was a bit quiet, but I didn’t let him on his phone or tell him what people were saying online. Obviously, he’s probably had a sneaky look today since I’m not there, but I guess I’ll find out how he really is when I get home. I’ll keep you updated.’

‘That’s brilliant. Thanks for looking after our boy.’ Jasper patted her on the shoulder as he moved on to find one of his clients.

This team was Brett’s home. He truly was their boy. He would always have a place here, if he stayed committed to facing his demons.