Page 60 of Retrograde
‘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 whileLucie 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 wasthat 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 ishuge!’
‘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.’
