Race With a Heart
Chapter 91: Friendly Lunch

Chapter 91: Friendly Lunch

The confidence Steve spoke with was definitely admirable. But Jack was worried that this might not be enough.

In fact, no one at Fergus’ Stables knew where they stood in terms of the whole situation. The "random" situations that "accidentally" happened to Steve were too purposeful and Karl Walton asked for a more detailed check that both situations were definitely not caused on purpose.

The commission, however, had neither the means nor the desire to seek any deliberate action here. Such a situation would have a negative impact on the entire races. The only thing the committee agreed was to issue a warning that any subsequent such "incident" would be dealt with and punished with the greatest severity, including exclusion from the race. So drivers have to be extra careful.

Jack doubted it would have worked. The federation could have threatened, but to exclude the driver from the race, it had to have really strong evidence, otherwise it would have to face big money, which usually achieved exactly what they wanted. The federation could not afford to lose sponsors, so the commission might scare you, but nobody was afraid of it anyway.

Karl planned to start a private investigation and has even contacted the detective firm. Lambert didn’t know if he actually hired someone? Walton was definitely not going to sit back and watch his first driver and friend fall victim to someone’s jealousy or revenge and vile manipulation.

All of this, of course, was done quietly. It could get hot if the media smells anything. Fortunately, motorsports weren’t quite as popular as athletics, for example, so they didn’t get that much attention, but Steve quickly became the face of the covers because of his looks and inaccessible demeanor.

Steve’s declaration, however, was impressive. If someone else had made her, Jack would have doubted her honesty or her ability to be fulfilled, but Paxton was damn stubborn, and if he decided go against any dark forces, he just could do this. Steve would finally have a reason to live, and it seemed he wasn’t going to either run away from the battlefield or lie on his shield. You can defeat the invisible enemy too!

Jack looked at Steve again and noticed that his friend was blushing strangely when he glanced at the TV screen in the cafeteria, then looked away. Lambert looked over his shoulder as Paxton’s smiling face faded from the screen.

"Your first ad?" He asked.

"I don’t know why I let myself be talked into it," Steve sighed. Andrea Feretti, last year’s overall winner and current leader, patted Paxton on the shoulder as he passed. There was a wide, cheerful smile on his lips. Steve felt even more embarrassed.

"You know why," replied Lambert. "And for whom. Now you can admit that you want Martin back. "

"I want," Steve admitted without hesitation. "I miss him among our mechanics, the fact that I was greeted by his smiling face."

"With your current performance and the sponsor you’ve earned, it shouldn’t be a problem to hire extra hands, only ..."

"Only’?"

"Did you talk to Martin about this?"

"I was going to," Paxton admitted, "but something came out." He suddenly became concerned. "And you talked to him about it?"

"Yes. But that was a while ago before you decided to be together. "

"I know Martin is comfortable in this little workshop, but it’s not a career for him. What a career, anyway?" Steve snorted. "What he does there will not allow him to develop. He works only on old cars, without access to the latest technologies. Without development, this all will go away with these cars. "

"Some people like to play with antiques," Jack noted.

"Exactly, ’play". Don’t you think Martin is better suited to working on something developmental? He can take care of old cars in his spare time as a hobby, but don’t you really think that it would be better for him to work in a professional stable? "

"You don’t have to convince me. But do you think Martin will want to work in the same place as his lover? "

Steve remembered all their intimate meetings - in the corridor, behind the building, in the cloakroom ... He shook his head to chase away the erotic thoughts attacking him.

"It’s been like that in the past," Paxton recalled softly, not even knowing he was blushing.

"But you weren’t really a couple back then," Jack remarked. "Now you’ve taken the relationship to the next level. It’s probably natural that now it will be... different. "

Jack’s voice hesitated for a moment as Lambert saw Don Alston entering the cafeteria. The third driver was just placing food on a tray. Steve followed Jack’s gaze and spotted his younger colleague who would join them in a moment.

Paxton knew the Martin topic had to be over for now. Don was not someone who should have witnessed this type of conversation. In fact, Steve would rather not have much to do with the new driver at all. He hadn’t liked him from day one, and although Alston tried to be nice, Paxton knew the feelings were mutual. What surprised him most, however, was that the excellent relationship between Don and Jack looked as if they were for show only.

Lambert was a man of enormous openness to other people, sometimes too open, which violated the privacy of others, but that was just how he was. Always smiling, always helpful and kind. But for some reason very quickly his affection towards Alston became forced and false, and that was just weird. What had Don done to deserve the reluctance of such a tolerant man as Jack?

Steve knew why he himself didn’t like Alston. It had to do with Martin’s past, of course. Young men once rode in one racing class and were rivals. Don, however, did something unforgivable, namely took Martin’s girlfriend away and he brazenly pretended to be Martin’s friend. Wait a second, one was excluding the other! If you are somebody’s friend, you don’t steal their girlfriend! If you took his girlfriend away, you are not his friend! It’s simple! So if someone, after such action, claimed to be someone’s friend, he was just a liar. And Steve didn’t like liars very much.

But he didn’t like the people who had hurt Martin even more.

Predictably, Don appeared at their table with a warm smile. Both drivers seated at the table greeted him with equally warm smiles. Paxton wondered if the witnesses to this scene are aware of how false it is? Probably not. Otherwise, rumors of a conflict between the drivers of the Fergus Stables would have been buzzing between the drivers a long time ago, and maybe even would have surfaced in the media. The silence indicated that all three were perfectly playing their roles.

"I haven’t had a chance to congratulate you yet," Alston sat down next to Jack. "Both Fergus Stables cars on the first starting line! I knew which stable to sign a contract with! "

"Really?" Paxton wondered innocently. "Wouldn’t you rather be on the track?"

"I’m the driver," laughed Don. "I would be lying if I said no, but seeing you up close and being able to compete with you in training is a great school for me. I’m not so arrogant as to think that I can’t learn anything from my older colleagues. I am still young enough to try my hand at F1 next year. "

"Oh, so you’re aim there!" Jack noted admiringly. "Well, no wonder you don’t feel frustrated when you heat our bench. But are you not afraid that if you are only a test driver, you will not move to F1? "

"Not at all. As I said, I’m still young. Contrary to others, I still have time to study and career. "

"Steve, do I think our young friend thinks we are shabby grandparents?"

"Only you," Paxton said. "You are much older than me. How many, four years? "

"Hey, don’t be like that!" Lambert rebuked him. "In the eyes of youngsters like Don, you should also be retired by now. Am I right?" he turned to Alston.

The third driver laughed.

"You’re a joker, Jack. It’s not age, but skill. You are currently the oldest driver in the field and few other than Steve can beat you this season. "

"Right?" Lambert noted happily. "Nobody would give me more than twenty seven years!"

"Totally youngster," Steve said as he finished his batch and set the spoon down. But he didn’t seem to want to get up from the table. Jack had a lot of food on his plate, he started later than Steve, and Paxton didn’t want to leave him alone with Don.

"I’m surprised," Alston noted, "that you, Steve, didn’t make the move to F1. I heard rumors that they wanted to give you a contract. "

"Old history," Paxton admitted.

"So it’s true?" Don made sure. "So why didn’t you go? Wasn’t it a great opportunity to develop your career, earn huge money and become very famous? "

"It was," Steve admitted.

"So why?" Alston sounded like he really couldn’t believe that someone might not have taken this chance. After all, it was F1, every driver’s dream!

"Because I would have to move out of my town," was the simple answer.

"Only because?" Don was incredulous.

Lambert smiled sadly and looked not at Alston but at Paxton and announced:

"Sometimes it’s too much."