What to do when feelings change?
Mauro’s POV
Thursday morning was not what Mauro had expected. He had been busy checking the books his sister had laid over his desk when his notifications spiked. Many of Mauro’s friends were attacking the CEO with messages asking him to check his instagram, and the F1’s. The motorsport community was going crazy. It took Mauro almost three minutes to figure it all out. Strom Vincens had instagram. And if Mauro’s mind didn’t fail him, the German driver once said that if he ever entered social media it would be after his retirement.
“Please let me be wrong,” he begged as he saw Vincens’s post, “Oh no, no, no,” the video played and would be engraved in the Mexican’s mind and haunt his dreams, “This can’t be happening,” but it was happening, even the drivers were already saying their goodbyes through their social media accounts.
His phone rang and he answered immediately, “Rory, tell me this is a lie!”
“It is not,” sniffled the girl, “It’s not.”
“This has to be a joke” he almost shouted, “This can’t be happening”
“But it is,” Rory said through the line, “I am not able to believe it myself. It is a shock, I..I was with Yori when it was announced. Nobody knew, Mauro. I don’t think even Mathis, his own nephew, was aware of it”
“Mathis must have known,” Mauro said walking up to his office’s window, “Maybe at least a day or two head-up”
“Could be,” agreed the girl, “Mauro I don’t like this. First Weil and now Seb…What if Deano Ricci and Habergham are next? What would become of the sport?”
“Rory, I don’t think Ricci and Habergham will leave any time soon,” He assured her, the way she spoke made Mauro worry, “They won’t retire, they already have contracts for the next couple of years.”
“Talking about years,” Rory chuckled, “What are you doing in August Mauro?” she changed the subject all of a sudden, “Have you got vacations?”
Mauro needed to check but he could take a vacation, “Sure, about two weeks, give or take.” If Rory asked him to take a vacation, Mauro was afraid that he would drop everything and go on vacation.
“I have vacations as well,” she said, “I was thinking of going to Cancun, maybe Vallarta.”
“Really?” he smiled to himself, he couldn’t really see her but he could imagine a shy honest smile over her pink lips.
“What are you doing? Stop that!” Aurora seemed to be struggling with something or someone.
“Mauro, cabrón, how are you?” It was Marcos and on the back Aurora’s voice was heard yelling at the Spaniard to give her phone back.
“Marcos, ando bien, ¿y tú?”
Marcos groaned, “Tired. You heard the news, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” nodded Mauro, his eyes looking down at his city, “It is tough news.”
“The worst. A legend like him, gone. I can’t…they are interviewing us later today about that.” He sighed, “Changing subject I heard you were inviting Rory to Cancun, count Lloyd and me in, Bela too.”
Laughter erupted from Mauro’s side of the line, “Alright”
“Alright” chuckled Marcos
“Who else might want to join?” Mauro asked, “Put me on speaker,” the noise from the other line changed, “Rory?”
“Yes?” Came the girl’s response.
“The vacations have been hijacked.”
“I noticed.”
He wanted to see her face, her expression, “Are you alright with that?”
“I have been surrounded by them, I won’t mind one more week or two.”
“Good thing is I’ll be there,” Mauro joked, “That way we can judge them all in Spanish.”
Marcos Salazar cleared his throat, “I won’t translate to the others if you let me in on your judging.”
“I’ll think about it,” giggled Rory, “Now give me my phone, let me talk with Mauro!”
“Adiós Mauro!” shouted Marcos
With his forehead against the glass Mauro apologized, “I guess we are going to Cancun,” he chuckled, “I am sorry”
“Don’t be,” said Rory, “That’s what I get for calling you while he’s around,” Mauro heard how the model took a big breath, “I’ll call you after the qualifyings on Saturday. Maybe then we can plan the trip.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call,” smiled Mauro walking back to his desk, “Keep safe.”
“Always do. Bye Mauro”
“Bye Rory”
Rory’s POV
The rain made it difficult for everyone to see. The drivers were turning and spinning out of control, crashing into the barriers and what-not. Rory was sitting beside Carolina in the VIP section, both shivering with cold even though they wore jackets. Rory was not used to the cold, she had always lived in warm places, Monterrey, Los Angeles and well now Madrid. So the cold of the Hungarian environment was not exactly something that suited the Mexican and apparently it didn’t suit Carolina either.
“Not even by drinking boiling coffee will I warm up,” hissed the brunette rubbing her shoulders, “If I didn’t love Wicho as much as I do, I would have already left for the hotel!”
Rory turned to the brunette, “Una esposa ejemplar.”
“Claro” winked Carolina taking her coffee cup to her lips, “So rumor has it that you and Mauro invited drivers to Cancun,” Aurora laughed and Carolina raised an eyebrow, “Is something funny, Rory?”
Carolina could be trusted, but maybe Rory still needed to keep some things for herself, “I called Mauro, and I asked him if he had vacations, because you know I would rather not lose his friendship now that I got him back,” she sighed, “I was between Cancun or Vallarta and well, Marcos heard. He basically invited himself and Lloyd and Mauro then invited Jean-Pierre and Yori. So would you and Wicho care to join us?”
The smile in the woman’s lips wasn’t that of excitement, “We would love too, but Wicho already planned a ski trip with the kids,” she took Rory’s wrist, “Thanks for the invite, though.”
“Don’t mention it,” Rory covered her new friend’s hand, “Though we should take a trip together sometime soon. Hopefully you can leave the kids with Wicho.”
“I’ll work on that.”
Marcos walked towards where Rory was chatting with Charline and Côme. He greeted the couple before turning to Rory and handing her his phone, “Mamá quiere saber que querras de cenar el martes,” he explained as the blonde took the phone.
“Excuse me,” said the girl walking a couple steps away from the guys, “Mrs. Salazar”
“Querida, you can call me by my name,” was the woman's response.
Rory mentally slapped herself, “Sorry, Reyna. How are you?”
“All is good Rory. Now Marquito is telling me that he wants sushi for Tuesday dinner, so now I ask you; what do you want?”
The model thought for a second she was really liking the idea of sushi as long as it did not have any fish, “Sushi sounds great Reyna, as long as it has no fish or shrimp or anything that comes from the ocean,” embarrassment crawled its way into Aurora’s stomach, “I am sorry, I like sushi I just don’t like…”
“Seafood” chuckled Reyna, “Just like Lloyd.”
“Yeah, just like Lloyd.”
“I don’t know what Marcos does because he always befriends people who dislike seafood. He is a magnet.” Laughed the driver’s mother, “Perfecto querida, pasadla bien.”
“Thank you Reyna. Goodbye”
Lloyd then looked over Rory’s shoulder slightly resting on her, “What did you say about me?” he asked as Marcos joined the two of them leaving the Monegasques behind, “Marcos, your sister was talking about me with someone on the phone and won’t tell me about that!” Aurora noticed the word choice Lloyd had used to refer to her, but Marcos didn’t miss a beat and pushed the Brit off Rory’s shoulder, “Oi!”
“Don’t get your nose where it doesn’t belong Lloyd,” said the Spaniard, “She was talking to my mother.”
“Now I am really curious” added the younger driver caressing his nonexistent beard, “Speak Lagos”
“Reyna asked me what I wanted for dinner when we returned to Madrid,” explained Rory, “Marcos wants sushi and so do I.” Lloyd made a face of disgust when the food was mentioned, “However I don’t like seafood and Reyna said that I was like you, Lloyd,” she chuckled and turned to Marcos, “Your mother said you are a magnet for non-seafood eaters”
Marcos then placed himself between Rory and Lloyd. He placed his arms over their shoulders and said, “I guess I am,” and the three of them started walking towards the Paddock exit. “About tomorrow, I’ll knock on your room door to wake you, yes?”
“Got it”
The only thing that was left to do for the Hungarian race was wait. And as Aurora did that, she couldn’t catch sleep. She tossed and turned but sleep seemed to run from her. The job was all she could think about. On Wednesday Aurora had a shoot with Desigual and Sal would catch up with her in Wattens, Austria by Saturday so they could talk to the head of Swarovski. Just thinking about that made Aurora shiver with anxiety. It was moments like this that made her hate being alone. Going to Marcos was not a solution, it would become a problem. Every other driver that she knew staying at her hotel had partners and the last thing Rory wanted was a scandal of that magnitude besides, she knew the girlfriends, they were her friends too. If only Jean and Yori were at the same hotel.
Instead of fighting against her insomnia Rory decided to take a bubble bath. Patiently she waited as the bathtub was almost full, and when it was, the model poured the liquid soap into it and used her leg to stir the bath. She stood naked, only covered by a short towel around her body. The water was warm enough to calm her nerves, Rory took several deep breaths and lowered herself under the water until her lungs begged her to breathe air. Rory broke the surface before leaning back on one end of the tub.
All of a sudden Rory had a nostalgic feeling in her chest, “What am I missing?” She whispered to herself, the blonde looked around the hotel bathroom. The mirror hung low close to the sink, while the toilet was across from the bathtub, there was no curtain covering the tub, but glass. It was a fancier hotel than Aurora had expected, she was not whining or anything, but sometimes Rory longed for her home, which ironically enough was the Salazar’s house. Feeling at home with the Salazar family didn’t feel weird to her. They spoke the same language, maybe they used words that Rory didn’t understand and the other way around, but the same language nevertheless. Reyna was kind to her, always inviting Aurora to join her at the garden, sometimes they even went to grab coffee together. Marcos’s older sisters, Alma and Manuela, had already met her and gladly talked with her, making the Mexican feel welcome and part of the family. Marcos was amazing and Bela as well, the only one who had been keeping his distance was no other than the Salazar patriarch.Marcos Salazar Senior was a tough cookie. And though it had only been a week and a half, Aurora thought she would have better their relationship by now.
Then a song came to Rory’s mind. As the song started spinning around her head, she realized that Taylor Swift was right about something.
The model hummed to herself, “I hate accidents, except when we went from friends to this.”