Page 2 of Game on, Love

I always called that moment a bittersweet accident because running into Axel’s Mum—who had found me and brought me back to our section—had almost given us three exactly what we needed.

A friend.

From travelling together during the race weekends and spending the off-season training together to celebrating birthdays and festivals and spending the winter break at our lodges, we became a family.

But as they both went along in competitive series and Axel made and broke records, his and Vedant’s relationship got sour. I knew it wasn’t jealousy because Vedant was always one step behind him, but I always found it amazing that neither of them put me in the middle of it until last year, anyway.

After completely disappearing from his life without a word, I had no expectations for our friendship. I would be seeing him after nine years, and while I had kept my eye on his career and watched him take over the world of motorsport, I rarely saw the kid I had been friends with all those years ago in the media. But despite all of that, when I saw him at the pre-season gala, it took him about 10 minutes to spot me and recognise me, and there was the guy I had made some of my best childhood memories with.

So yeah, Iwasbiased.

We finished our shoot around 3 PM. and called it a day. The filming crew stayed back to get on-site shots while I tried to find a ride home.

Even though Axel and I had plans to meet later with the group, I still had to collect my stuff from campus, go home, and drop it off, and that was more thanjusta pit stop.

The plan was to take a taxi to campus and then return home, as I had done a hundred times in the past year.

But the weather had other plans for me.

As I was packing up, my driver called me frantically, saying his car had broken down in the middle of M40, and I was left to make my own way.

I looked at my train app and knew I would not be able to make it back to campus in time.

I walked back to where the rest of the crew were. My only option was to go back with them, which meant I would need to cancel my plans with Axel. But before I could even say the words, Axel was packing up and giving me a ride back.

It took us two hours to reach campus. The drive was quiet as I worked on my laptop while listening to the most random playlist in the world. His rule was simple: the song needed to make his head bounce, and he didn’t skip it.

Walking into the building, I was met with a tense, hushed atmosphere that signalled something was wrong: awkward smiles, stiff shoulders, and frown lines.

What the hell?

Instead of walking to my desk, I went straight to my manager’s office.

Knocking on the open door, I walked in. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Hazel’s lips pursed in line as she nodded at the door, instantly making my stomach drop to the floor.

During the years I’ve worked at NexGen as a sports media journalist, Hazel has asked me to attend a closed-door meeting once.

Her idea was that if we kept the door open, the conversations would need to be quick and to the point.

The door made aclickingsound as I sat in front of her.

“This morning during the town hall meeting, the execs announced we’d be going through a restructure.” Her voice was flat.

A restructure.

The word alone was enough to send shivers down my spine.

As she gave me the brief run-down of the announcement, the thought of losing the job I loved was like a punch to my gut: cuts were coming, and friends I had made in the time I’d been here would lose their jobs.

My whole career has been at NexGen. I started as a summer placement student and worked part-time while I was at university. I made my way up as a sports journalist, covering Formula 1 and occasionally tennis during Wimbledon.

The idea of it being ripped away was heartbreaking.

“Raina? Did you hear what I said?”

“Huh?” I drawled.

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