Chasing Daisy

Jesus,’ Holly murmurs. ‘That’s going to cost the team, big time. Simon will be really pissed off.’
    I’m sure you’ll cheer him up, I think to myself. ‘At least no one was hurt,’ is what I actually say.
    ‘They’ll probably still have to go to the Medical Centre for a check-up,’ Holly replies.
    There are no celebrations that evening and the atmosphere is decidedly subdued. I see Will come back into the hospitality area after the doctors give him and Luis the okay, but Laura is by his side so I can’t – and don’t want to – get near him. Finally Frederick sends me back to the pits on clean-up duty and by the time I return to the already partially disassembled motorhomes, both Luis and Will have gone.

 
Chapter 15
     
    I’m getting a bit bored with this flying business, now. I’m back at Heathrow again, and this time we’re off to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. This race used to come towards the end of the season, but races can be moved around on the calendar – or even removed completely. The French and Canadian Grands Prix recently succumbed to this fate.
    I’ve had a lot to think about since Monaco, but right now I feel like I have very little to say to Holly. I’m still upset she hasn’t confided in me about Simon, and I certainly don’t feel like talking about Will. It was all very well daydreaming about him when ‘Laura’ was just a name, but now that I’ve met her, it’s a whole different ballgame. I know I have to try even harder to put my feelings for him to the back of my mind. Luckily we’re flying at night, so I can pretend to sleep, even if I can’t.
    When Will turns up at the track in Shanghai on the Friday morning before the race, he looks unfamiliar again, but my heart still jolts at the sight of him. No, Daisy, I tell myself. Enough of this.
    ‘Hey,’ he says warmly, coming over to the serving table. ‘How are you?’
    ‘Okay, thanks,’ I reply coolly. ‘What can I get you?’
    ‘Er . . .’ He looks taken aback by my reaction.
    ‘Actually,’ I interrupt, then call over my shoulder. ‘Gertrude, can you see to Will?’
    ‘Of course,’ she says pleasantly, joining us at the table.
    Will gives me a strange look before I walk away in the direction of the kitchen.
    ‘So have you heard the latest about their feud?’ Holly asks, appearing by my side.
    ‘Whose feud? Will and Luis’s?’
    Holly rolls her eyes impatiently. She’s been in a foul mood the last couple of days, I’m guessing because Catalina is at this race. ‘Yes, Daisy. Who else’s? Are you still not reading the papers?’
    I shake my head. I wanted to after Monaco to see if I could spot any pictures of Johnny in them, but for that reason alone I stopped myself.
    ‘I thought drivers were supposed to get over incidents quickly?’
    ‘Not our two,’ she says ominously. ‘Team-mates. Too close for comfort, I guess.’
    ‘Fill me in,’ I say to Holly.
    ‘Apparently,’ she whispers, checking to make sure no one is in earshot. ‘Luis blames Will for the accident in Monaco, saying that Will was showing off in front of his girlfriend because it’s the only race she’s gone to this year.’
    I shake my head dismissively. ‘I don’t believe Luis said that.’
    ‘That’s what they wrote in the papers.’
    ‘And you wonder why I don’t read them?’
    ‘Well, they also reckoned that Will’s jealousy must’ve got the better of him because he feels like he’s over-the-hill compared to Luis, who hasn’t even reached his peak, yet.’
    I scoff. ‘Yeah, right.’
    ‘I’m just telling you what I read.’
    ‘Okay, thanks,’ I say wryly, grabbing a bowl of hard-boiled eggs and tapping one against the counter to break the shell.
    Holly joins me. ‘What’s up with you? Why don’t you believe it?’
    ‘Because Luis isn’t a gossip, for one thing,’ I say, peeling the shell off that egg before reaching for another one. ‘He’s not going to go running to the papers and spouting his mouth off.’
    ‘You’ve changed your tune,’ she says.
    ‘And as for Will being over-the-hill,’ I continue. ‘That’s just ridiculous.’
    ‘You would say that.’ She gives me a look.
    ‘They’re both only twenty-six, for crying out loud. If Will were forty, I’d agree.’
    Holly falls silent and I realise what I’ve said. Simon is in his forties.
    ‘Do you think we should offer Catalina an egg sandwich?’ I don’t know why I just said that, but I have a mean desire to wind her