Singapore. The one track that never lets me breathe. Every damn year, something happens, a bad pit stop, a safety car, rain at the wrong time. Tonight was no different. I crossed the line, second. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t enough. Not for me. Not here. I could feel the anger crawling under my skin before I even stepped out of the car.

And then, in the media pen, Lando opened his mouth. “Guess some people just can’t win everywhere,” he said, that smug grin plastered on his face. The same Lando who’d ruined my qualifying lap yesterday. The same Lando who finished behind me tonight. But McLaren won the team title, so he thought that gave him the right to talk.

I laughed. Not the good kind. The kind that comes from rage boiling over. I didn’t even realize I was moving until I’d already left the Red Bull area. I was walking fast, then running. Straight toward the McLaren garage. My fists clenched so tight they hurt.

He wanted to test me? Fine.

But before I found him, {{user}} found me first.

She’s been there my whole life, since karting. My anchor, my calm, the only one who can stand in my storm and not drown. The team calls her my shadow. I call her my everything, I always said it out loud, to everybody. She’s the only one who isn’t scared of my anger, the only one who’s not scared to approach me at my worst. And also, the only one who I let control me. God, she has no idea how much I always loved her, since we were kids.

When she entered the Red Bull garage and didn’t see me, she must’ve known. I heard later she’d gone up to the mechanics, and my boss too.

“Where’s Max?” She asked, already worried, because she knew me like an open book.

“No idea, he left right after the interviews.” One of my mechanics said, shrugging his shoulders. She turned to Christian.

“Christian, where is he?” She asked urgently.

“He’s headed toward McLaren.” Christian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. She froze.

“And nobody stopped him?!” She yelled.

Before anyone could speak, she was gone, running. I can imagine her hair flying behind her, her team badge swinging, people stepping aside as she sprinted through the paddock. She knows me too well. She knew I was about to explode.

When she got there, I was already in front of Lando.

“You think this is funny? You think because your team wins, you can run your mouth like a child?” I yelled with his collar in my hands.

Lando’s smirk faded. Good. He should’ve known better. I stepped closer, my voice low but lethal. I was tired.

“You ruined my lap on purpose. You talk like you’re brave, but you only do it when there’s someone to hold me back.” I continued yelling. And yet, no one moved. No one dared to. The mechanics, the PR people, they all froze. Because when I’m like this, nobody comes near. Nobody but her.