Page 6 of Rush
Savi crossed her arms, ‘You and me, we don’t work.’
‘Just as well we’re not getting married then, ain’t it Savannah?’ His Italian accent, which she had grown rather fond of, had a weird twang to it all of a sudden.
‘I’m sorry, was that meant to be my accent?’ she shot back.
‘It’s time to go in.’ Kodie shoved Savi through the door before they could cause a scene.
The girls headed straight for the stage while the guys lined the back wall, alongside Jasper and the socials team. As the only all-female team in the entire IEC, the Revolution Racing girls had a spotlight on them this season and itmade Savi nervous. She had to make a name for herself all over again in a new championship, and it meant answering questions and avoiding conversations she had managed to steer clear of over the course of her career so far.
Privacy was a privilege most drivers weren’t entitled to, especially when they were put in rooms like this where all the attention was on them and it was their job to provide stories and headlines. Savi kept her brother’s identity under wraps for a multitude of reasons, but there had been a couple of reporters who had been paid to keep quiet over the years. Journalists who were desperate to get a reputation for the dirt they could dig up, but valued the money her team’s lawyers could offer more.
If people really wanted to know every detail of her life, they could probably figure it out with a deep dive on the internet but for the most part, thanks to cheques and the good graces of people in her hometown and in the rodeo circuit, she had been able to maintain that privacy when it came to her family.
As the first reporter stood up from her seat, clutching her microphone and recording device, Jasper shot them a supportive thumbs up.
‘Savi, this first one is for you. It is widely known you had offers from multiple teams this season. What made you choose Revolution Racing over and above the others?’
Savi had to fight to keep the sarcasm at bay as she whipped up an Oscar-winning answer in record time. Obviously it was the money primarily, but she wasn’t going to say that. ‘Not only are they consistently at the top of the leader board with very few mistakes and strategic misjudgements,’she nodded at her boss, ‘but thanks to their incredibly fast growth on social media in recent years, I could see that this team puts their relationships first.’
‘Could you expand?’ The reporter smiled, encouraging her to keep going.
‘Well, their bond is next level, and I wanted in on that. When you’re on the road for so long and your whole life revolves around your job, you need to be in a team where everyone has your back. I’m also very easy going, and as much as I am a professional, I want to be able to have fun with it. Nobody does that better than Revolution Racing.’
The reporter nodded politely and moved on to Miko, while the rest of the team gave Savi a silent cheer from the back of the room. She sat back and let the others have their time answering questions, chiming in when necessary, and waiting patiently for the more personal ones.
Then she spotted him, his tortoiseshell frames perched on the end of his nose in that same precocious way they always did. The reporter who had been at her first-ever press conference years ago and seemed to have a personal vendetta against her. Hugo Schmitt, ego the size of Jupiter, zero manners and a serious problem with boundaries. He had made it his mission to find out every single detail of her personal life, although she did have to laugh at his lack of knowledge regarding her dating history.
Her team back then had paid him off so he didn’t reveal too much about her family, but since her new team didn’t know, they couldn’t protect her from him. She knew she should’ve listened to her agent when he’d told her to come clean to Jasper.
Mr Schmitt all but yanked the microphone from the moderator, itching to fuck up Savi’s day and attempt to humiliate her again. For the first time in a while, she worried he might succeed.
‘Savannah, what do your family think about you abandoning them to chase your dreams?’
There it was. A personal attack thinly veiled as an innocent question, meant to get a reaction out of her. Family was a sore spot for Savi, because her parents and her brother didn’t choose this life. They wanted no part of the media attention that came with her career, the invasive nature of journalists and the lack of respect for what they had been through.
It was bad enough when Weston had hit the big time, and they’d had camera crews trying to sneak onto the ranch to capture behind-the-scenes footage of the rodeo’s newest star. Savi was much younger then, but she had seen the stress it had caused and how much worse it all got after his accident. Constant headlines, rumours on social media and letters from crazed fans. She was determined to keep them very far away from all of this, and she wasn’t going to let this one man and his cheap, tacky suit get in the way of that.
‘I don’t think I’ve abandoned my family at all. I had a childhood dream and did exactly what you said, chased it. They’re very supportive of my career. I’m sure the families of every driver on the grid feel the same way.’ She resisted the urge to shrug, which was code forI win. That was the thing; whatever negative things he had to say about her choices in life were simply untrue. He could have an opinion, but it wasn’t fact.
‘What about your brother? Is he not jealous?’ He stared her dead in the eye, refusing to waver. Savi glanced around at her teammates who looked confused, just like every other journalist in the room, as if they hadn’t got the memo.
She would tell her team one day, but today was not that day. It was too soon, and she didn’t know if she could trust them just yet. While Savi clenched her jaw and tried to re-centre herself, for a split second she debated letting it all out in the open and then holding everyone hostage in the conference room until they’d signed NDAs. Except they didn’t have time for that, and there were at least six other teams who were yet to give their own interviews.
Schmitt would come off far worse if he exposed Weston’s identity. Savi and Wes had decided between them very early on to keep their familial connection a secret. At first, because she didn’t want to ride his coat-tails and have opportunities handed to her as a result of his own sporting success, and then later, after his accident, because he didn’t want pity. He had enough people feeling sorry for him, he didn’t need anyone comparing him to his kid sister who was still able to do the job she loved while he was stuck back home in Wyoming with hordes of medical bills.
‘My brother understands what it means to want something so badly that you would give up everything. He encourages me every day to live my life the way I want to while I can.’
There was more confusion radiating from her team, but when she looked over at Jasper there was an underlying sense of understanding. Recognition for the fact she was making an active choice to hold things back from him.
‘You didn’t come from money, did you? Not like your teammates here.’
‘No, I didn’t,’ she frowned. ‘But money doesn’t buy talent, and you can’t get into an industry like this, a championship as big as the IEC, without it.’ She wanted to say more in defence of Kodie and Miko, but she didn’t want to be labelled as difficult. She was already treading in dangerous territory and Savi was not a difficult person.
Schmitt narrowed his eyes at her, getting frustrated that his victim of the day had an answer for everything. Not only did she have years of media training, but so did her entire family. She knew all the right things to say. ‘Do you ever feel guilty?’
‘I’m sorry, for what exactly?’ she pushed, almost wishing she hadn’t. This could be it. The follow-up question that tore it all apart.
‘Your parents would have spent a lot of money on your karting lessons and travel expenses over the years. If they weren’t very well off, wouldn’t they have struggled?’
