Counterpoints (Counterpoints #1) Page 14

  Isabella shrugged off her thoughts and decided that If he had wanted to call her, he would have by now. She had been gone for four days already.

  Her stomach grumbled again. Two hours of waiting in Singapore airport and all she could think of was food. Tired of waiting around for Hillary – a laptop bag and a small camera bag on her shoulders- she walked to the screen and checked the flight from London. It still said delayed two hours and there were no updates.

  It had been like that for two hours now. Great! It was exactly what one needed after a twelve hour flight and another eight hour one to the final destination. To be honest, she and Hillary hadn’t exactly agreed to meet at the airport. They would see each other on the plane to Australia. If she makes it to Singapore in time for it. Their next plane was leaving in a little over an hour.

  Nevertheless, Isabella thought it would have been nice to pick her up at the gate, since she had to wait around anyway.

  Isabella walked to the counter of a café and ordered a quick sandwich and coffee to go. There was a long line and she waited resting her head in her hands. She felt so tired she couldn’t wait to drop dead on her bed, no matter how comfortable or uncomfortable it was. It had been almost impossible to sleep on the plane there: first children crying, then turbulence.

  When she had finally fallen asleep, she had woken up an hour later and had had to get up to walk, because her legs had been sore.

  Maybe she would get lucky on this other flight. Either that or she would faint for how tired she was.

  When it was finally her turn, she took her bag of food and coffee and sat down at a table, where she could still see Hillary’s gate. Five bites into her BLT, she saw people coming out of the doors.

  Isabella checked the screen. Finally she saw the word she had been hoping to see hours ago: landed. She kept her eyes open for her colleague, ready to stand up and call her over.

  While she waited, she thought about the days she had just spent back home. No sign of Angela, no sign of Salvo and she hadn’t had the chance to see her sister either, as she had been in Naples busy with University tests.

  She hated herself for trying once again to call her friend Angela- who of course hadn’t picked up the call nor had she tried calling her back. Isabella promised herself that that had been the last time, the last time she would try to contact her.

  She would not call her again, ever. And just like that her mind went back to Christopher, like it had happened every day she had spent back home.

  They hadn’t spoken at all, no text messages, no calls.

  A part of Isabella was relieved. Maybe that had been a sign that it was all just a joke, nothing much there. They had gone out as friends, like they had said back in Valencia. Yes, they had kissed, but that was that. It had ended just as it had started. Now she could move on and focus on work. Christopher wasn’t her kind of guy. Period.

  However, the way he had kissed her in the hotel restaurant, just before she had left for the airport, had been so intense, she couldn’t believe a person would put so much passion into something and not really be interested.

  I can’t believe I am obsessing over a kiss. We just kissed!

  Amongst the passengers, she saw Hillary walk through the door, pink jumper on her arm and laptop bag on her shoulders. She was smiling and looked as fresh and relaxed as on any other day.

  Whatever she had done to look so good on a twelve hour flight, Isabella demanded to know, as soon as possible.

  She put down her sandwich and got up, ready to wave but stopped immediately when she saw another person walking right behind Hillary, holding her hand.

  Mr. Alfred Jenkins was smiling at Hillary and saying something either very funny or very exciting, because Hillary’s face lit up.

  They stopped out of the gate and she told him something, letting his hand go. Hillary searched the big room, scanning the area, maybe for someone they might know. Isabella ducked down instantly. She sat down again and used a menu to cover her face, pretending to read. It works in the movies, it must work in real life too.

  From that angle, she could see the two walking together towards the duty free area, still talking to each other with a certain intimacy. They looked perfectly at ease with each other, a very different attitude from the one she had seen at the MB headquarters and on the track the first time. It was as if they knew each other quite well.

  Isabella saw them disappear in a boutique and put down her menu. She resumed eating her lunch – or was it dinner?- even though she had lost her appetite. She was a little confused. Isabella hated jumping to conclusions but it wasn’t easy not to.

  First of all it was none of her business, they could do or not do whatever they wanted.

  It just seemed strange that a strong, confident woman like Hillary would go for a pretentious, grumpy, rude, prick like Mr. Jenkins. Or maybe that was what he was like at work, maybe he was just very scrupulous and came off as arrogant.

  She shrugged. Isabella decided it was none of her business and would do her best to pretend she never saw the two together to begin with. Although she made a mental note not to speak badly about Mr. Jenkins in front of Hillary. Ever. Just in case.

  “When we get to the hotel, we have a couple of hours before the meeting” Hillary was saying while in the car.

  Isabella agreed with her that they should take a shower, rest and change before meeting in the lobby and discuss the events of the week. Isabella felt better already. On the plane to Sidney, she had slept a good couple of hours.

  Then she had started writing an article on the events of the week. Monday to Thursday the drivers and the team in general would be busy checking the cars, training and taking part at local sponsors’ events. Noah had a photo shoot for a magazine, Christopher an interview with a national broadcaster.

  Isabella had saved her article and decided to publish it as soon as she got to the hotel and had a Wi-Fi connection available. After Mr. ‘I am the King of the World’ Jenkins’ approval, of course.

  Speaking of which, Mr. Jenkins- who had been sitting in business class- came to see them and acted as Hillary and him had nothing more than a professional relationship.

  Hillary was cool too, so good in playing the part and Isabella tried her best to do the same, hoping her eyes would not give her away.

  “Before you post it on the blog and on social networks, I’d like to see your work. Send it to me, also the articles about Noah’s photo shoot and Christopher’s interview” he said to Isabella, barely looking at her in the eyes. Isabella agreed, being well aware of the procedures. His opinion worried her a little.

  “Anyway, I want you to be there with your camera ready. Also, when we go to gala’s and dinners I’d like you to have a camera with you as Phil is with us only on tracks. Is that alright?” Hillary asked her.

  “Absolutely, that’s what I am here for”

  “Great” she smiled at her. “Also I need your help with the interviews and the press conferences. We need to prepare the two drivers. There is a lot of turmoil around the races, about our car, the new regulations… There’s also a rumor going around that one of our drivers will leave MB. We need to make sure they know what to answer” Hillary looked a little stressed then.

  “No problem” Isabella reassured her. Hillary smiled, but in that moment the stress was visible on her face. They hadn’t even arrived yet and already she felt the pressure on her shoulders. But Hillary was like that, she stressed beforehand and then looked fabulous on the job.

  “You know, a few weeks in the job and I am already happy to be working with you. I knew it the minute I saw you that you knew your stuff”

  Isabella was proud to hear those words from a professional like Hillary. She thanked her and they talked about the upcoming race and how things get really tense during the championship, how drivers and their teams all feel the need to prove their abilities.

  Finally they stopped in front of a hotel. They were somewhere in the city, but of course Isabella had no idea
where. She wondered if Christopher and Noah would be staying there too.

  I’ll see him again soon. Her heart thumped hard in her chest just then, thinking of his smile.

  “Here we are. This is it. This is where we will be staying. I think it will be just us and a few others from the team, staying here” Hillary said as If reading her mind.

  Isabella blushed a little, as if she had been caught with her hands in the jam. “Anyway, Christopher and Noah are nearby. The Chilton Hotel is a few blocks away. So It will be easy to organize our schedules” She added.

  After one hour of cardio and one hours of gym, Christopher walked to his room, feeling satisfied and in shape.

  On his way, he bumped into Noah, who was going for a swim. And like every year- a few days before the race- their conversations were down to a minimum.

  His partner probably didn’t do it on purpose, Christopher guessed it was the tension of the championship playing up with him.

  Having been in the racing environment for years now, he knew that it was very important to show immediately what you were capable of from the first race. It was fundamental for the car to be perfect, for the driver to be in excellent shape and focused on winning.

  They said hello in the corridor, right in front of the elevators and talked a few minutes on how their day had been so far.

  Then they parted and Christopher went up for a shower.

  He wondered where she was. For a week he had thought about Isabella, wondered what she had been up to and now he wondered when they would be seeing each other. Probably later at the sponsor event held at a top location in the city.

  His head was on the race, one hundred percent focused on winning and getting the first position during the qualifications. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that her presence there, on the track, watching him drive made it all more worth winning for.

  He wanted her to see how good he was, how much effort he put into his life. He wanted to show her what he was capable of. Also, he wanted to kiss her like madness.

  First things first, Isabella called her family to let them know she was doing fine. Then she quickly sent a message to Cristina.

  After a nice warm shower, she read a text Hillary had sent on her phone and walked to her suitcase to take out a pair of clean jeans and t shirt.

  Even though it was March and therefore beginning of autumn in Australia, it was nice and warm outside.

  From what she had seen from the car, Sidney looked amazing. It had all the charm of a modern city but also, from people’s laid back attitude, she could sense it wasn’t chaotic or unfriendly like most big cities.

  Not that she thought she could actually visit Sidney. It was just an illusion. Her days were fully booked.

  Isabella walked into the white and beige elegant lobby and scanned the room for Hillary, who she saw was talking to a tall man in his forties. She recognized him instantly.

  It was Aaron Johnson, the executive director of MB. Despite all the pressure on his back, Aaron looked like a friendly, relaxed man, with a few wrinkles on his cheeks and a warm welcoming smile. Once a glory in the rally racing category, Mr. Johnson still had all the characteristics of a driver: he was fit, charming and liked to use his imagination when it came to race strategies.

  “Hello Isabella. So nice to see you again” he said as they shook hands. The only other time they had seen each other, had been at MB headquarters, when she had gotten the job.

  “The pleasure is all mine” Isabella said nodding.

  As a gentleman, he invited Isabella and Hillary to take a seat before getting down to business.

  “The reason I am here with you and Hillary today is that I wanted to discuss exactly the image we want to promote with this project you ladies are part of”

  He looked from Hillary to Isabella as he spoke, stressing the importance of the image of the company. They were sitting in front of a small table, on beige armchairs in a sort of a booth near a large window.

  Although the lobby was a little busy, where they were sitting it was very silent. Mr. Johnson’s words echoed in Isabella’s head, as she took in every single detail of his speech.

  “Last year we finished second in the championship and two years ago we were third. Although we have improved, our aim is to be the number one team in the category. So, we developed a new car which we are quite sure will beat the number one, which is as you know Chiellini” he paused “What we want is to attract the attention of our fans and fans of the sport in general, to defend ourselves from potential negative attention during the championship. We are a team, we have been in the sport for many, many years and we want them to see how united and determined we are” he paused again and Isabella couldn’t stop thinking about all the responsibilities he had and the pressure he must have felt from the outside world. It was a very expensive sport, they were looking at. One mistake on his count, one too many accidents from the drivers and it could cost millions to the team.

  “We also think it makes it all more interesting and involving for a fan to see what the sport is really all about, the behind the scenes of it, the drivers lifestyle. Let’s get the press’ attention, everyone’s attention, let us set the topics and let’s make sure that gossip stays out of it all”

  “Okay” Isabella said and nodded. Aaron smiled at her warmly.

  “I know you and Hillary will do wonderful things together. Just remember the most important thing is the team. Drivers need to be as serene as possible, so they can focus properly”

  They drank their juices and spoke about the dinner that was going to be held later that evening.

  All through their conversation, Aaron laughed and was the down to earth person that Isabella sensed he would be. He was the kind of man that, although he carried the world on his shoulders, didn’t like dumping things on others and that was a quality Isabella really appreciated in a person.

  Aaron Johnson was a real charming man, with great business skills. He had saved MB years ago from default and had brought the team right back up to success. Yes, Isabella definitely admired him from a professional and human level and couldn’t have been more proud to be working for him.

  Mr. Johnson remained calm and relaxed, until he received a call from one of the engineers and he quickly said his goodbyes and excused himself. He disappeared like thin air.

  Hillary and her were left there in the lobby, chatting about random things, before getting back to work.

  “Did you send your article to Mr. Jenkins about this week’s events?” Hillary enquired.

  “Yes, I did. And he send it back full of corrections” Isabella took another sip of her juice, to wash away the bitter taste in her mouth and did her best not to roll her eyes.

  It was just a post on the blog and on social networks about Noah’s and Christopher’s activities of the week. As simple as that. But no, Mr. Jenkins had to have the last word.

  Of course, she should have added this, that…bla, bla. It’s not that Isabella didn’t like to be criticized or corrected, she knew that she had a lot to learn and really appreciated constructive criticism. It stimulated her creativity and was a great help indeed, but the fact was that he was always trying to control her every sentence, every little expression, personal touch. It made her nuts.

  All of which, by the way, without saying hello, goodbye not to mention thank you in the process. Isabella was really doing her best not to judge him. Lovely person.

  “Cheer up, darling. It’s not you, it’s him” Hillary said touching her hand and laughing a little. Isabella wanted to tell her that she knew very well it was he who had issues, serious control issues, not her. She smiled to her boss instead.

  “He’ll back off soon. He just wants to protect Christopher. He will start trusting you soon”

  “I hope so” she sighed. “When are we meeting the team?” Isabella did her best to sound professional and distant. It was work, nothing personal.

  As she lied to herself, she started fantasizing a little about Christopher
’s hands in her hair.

  “Dinner in a few hours. We’ll meet them there. It’s the famous drink sponsor of the team. They are very popular here in Australia. Dress code… let me check” Hillary opened her laptop bag and searched frantically for her agenda.

  Isabella thought it was cute: Hillary was the last person in the western world still using paper and pen to write down things, instead of a tablet. She knew Hillary had one of them, she had seen her use it, but still when she had to choose what to use, she would always go back to the good old paper and pen.

  “Ah, here we go. Dress code: elegant chic. Whatever that means. I don’t know why I bothered reading the invitation. It’s always the same. It’s so pointless to write this stuff. Of course we’ll be stylish and elegant. We are not going in our race tracksuit or in our uniform” she rolled her eyes and Isabella giggled a little to Hillary’s annoyed face.

  Chapter 12

  As their car pulled up in front of the place, Isabella noticed the large number of fans behind the barriers, waiting to see the drivers and all the guest stars of the event.

  It didn’t occur to her, that people would be so enthused of the sport in Australia. Then again, one of the top drivers was Australian, that should have given it away.

  She looked around, drinking in the smiling faces, waiting near the red carpet. It was a red carpet situation. Oh my.

  When the car stopped, they all waited for the driver to open the door. Hillary turned to help Sarah, Mr. Johnson’s wife out, while they continued their conversation and then Aaron stepped out and people waved at him.

  The last person, to set foot on the red carpet, was Isabella.

  Her heart was in her throat. Isabella Bresciani on a red carpet, she just couldn’t believe it. It was all so overwhelming, but terrifying at the same time, seeing so many journalists pushing their way through to get a picture of the guests, people screaming names.