Counterpoints Book 3 Page 3

  “That smile. Priceless, like a kid at Disneyland” Isabella said, quoting Christopher’s words the day he had surprised her with the visit to the Aquarium in Toronto.

  She squeezed his hand a little. “Sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow”

  “I will. Thank you all for coming” Christopher said, raising his voice now, as some of the drivers turned to wave. He kept his eyes on his friends until Isabella, the last one of them, was out.

  “You can take a seat” Christopher gestured to the empty chairs by his bed.

  Noah walked over to them and placed Christopher’s bag on the one to his left.

  “It’s your clean change, the one you took to the track for after the race. Your phone is in there somewhere, too”

  “Thank you, you didn’t have to do that. I could have sent someone to get it for me” Christopher said, as Noah finally took a seat next to him.

  “I wanted to see how you were doing”

  “I am okay” Christopher sat up straight and winced a little, a pain as sharp as a blade pierced through his chest. He sucked in a breath and his face hardened “I managed to push myself off track without your help this time, but no worries. I’ll be back next race weekend”

  “Actually, I am here to apologize” Noah told him, his voice serious, his face unreadable.

  Christopher stared at him a moment longer, until he let out a small laugh and shook his head.

  “You know, I really don’t get you anymore”

  Noah nodded and leaned forward, his arms resting on his lap- one hand over his mouth- while he seemed to think carefully of what to say next.

  “I’m trying to do the right thing…”

  “Two weeks ago, you said you didn’t see me coming. You waved it off, like nothing happened, but you sent me flying out, off the track. Today, you come to me to apologize” Christopher shook his head again.

  “I wasn’t thinking straight”

  “No, you weren’t” Christopher said “We’ve known each other for years. Years, Noah. We’ve raced against each other since we were kids. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “A lot of shit has been going on. But I am trying to do the right thing here” Noah straightened up and shifted in his seat. “I made a mistake and I came here to say I am sorry. Seeing you injured like that today, seeing you here in the hospital, made me want to apologize for Cannes, for Toronto”

  “Is that it?” Christopher brows went up.

  Noah stared at him for a moment and then shook his head. “We are not so different you and me. All we want is to win. To be the top driver and win the championship”

  “You are wrong. We are different. So different. I put my foot down on that throttle when I know I can do it. I never put anyone’s life in danger but my own” Christopher rebutted.

  “And how is that any different? Isn’t your life important? Is there anything dearer to you than your own life?” Noah paused. “Who are you racing against, Christopher? Not me, not Tommasini or anyone else on that damn track. Are you?” he questioned him and Christopher went quiet, his eyes dark.

  Noah’s words surged through him like a thousand needles.

  Who was Christopher racing against? What was he desperately trying to achieve?

  James’ name was never spoken between them, but it didn’t need to be. They both knew.

  Noah knew since the first day they had met, when they were just kids and racing go karts, that Christopher’s battle was going to be different from his.

  I may be striving to make a name for myself, but Christopher is after the impossible.

  How do you win against a ghost? How do you step out of its spotlight and manage to shine of your own? Noah had always thought, seeing Christopher’s ache to win. To win like his father, more than his father.

  “Look Christopher, all I am trying to say is that I know how important Berlin is to you and I am sorry you didn’t win” Noah went on.

  Christopher was quiet, his face serious.

  Yes, Berlin was important to him. The victory had almost been his.

  For a moment, a few laps before the crash, Christopher had almost felt that trophy in his hands. And then he had seen it slip from his grip, as the sound of the car hitting the barriers drove violently into his head.

  “I am sorry I put your life in danger, mate”

  “Our lives in danger” Christopher corrected him.

  “Our lives in danger” Noah repeated his team mate’s words. “Get your ass back on that car” and he outstretched his hand.

  Christopher took it and held it tight.

  “You bet” Christopher said and smiled, a wicked smile. “You think I am going to let you win the championship that easily?”

  “No and I would be disappointed if you did” Noah said, as he stood up. “Championship or no championship, the last thing I want is to lose my number one rival”

  “I am not your number one rival. I am the privileged one, remember?” Christopher teased, referring to Noah’s latest interview in Toronto.

  His words hadn’t struck a nerve that time, Christopher had let them wash down until Noah had pushed him out, off the track during the race. The resentment had built up inside him, Christopher remembered the rage when he had walked to the boxes to confront Noah.

  “You are the number one rival. Why do you think everyone was here today? To see you?” Noah asked and watched Christopher shrug.

  Maybe because he was nice to everyone in the boxes. Maybe because Christopher spoke to everyone, knew everyone. At least that was what Christopher assumed.

  “It’s not just that” Noah said. “What happened to you today could have happened to anyone of us, but it happened to you and we all came to see you. Because you would have come to see us- if it had been one of us. Because you are strong, you don’t fear anyone. You respect everyone and fear no one. Your determination defeats us all. You are the one to beat and if you are out of the game, what kind of game is it?”

  Noah turned his back to Christopher, with a smug smile on his face and walked to the door.

  “That journalist was right you know. It’s easy to win when the other fast car is out of the game. But I want to win while you are still in the game. You are the man to beat” Noah added and closed the door behind him, leaving Christopher alone and in silence, lost in his own thoughts.

  What is the word I am looking for? Isabella looked around the table again.

  Awkward.

  Awkward was the word.

  Isabella brows went up, as she looked down at her plate.

  So far, all eyes had been on her, constantly throughout dinner.

  Isabella had tried her best to ignore the stares, the glances across the table.

  It’s like I am on that creaking, old stage and it is middle school all over again, she thought recalling the moments she had loathed with all her strength during school.

  Recitals, plays, Christmas shows.

  If it wasn’t for the folklore of the German beer house they were in, Isabella would have thought she was really back on that stage again, everyone staring and no words coming out of her mouth. Like she had forgotten that song in the school play all over again.

  And this is just a preview of what is to come, can’t wait for the press to have a field trip with me.

  Isabella cleared her throat and reached out for her glass.

  Keep drinking beer, the glass is my friend, the glass is my friend.

  She took another sip and she caught Hillary staring at her. Again.

  The waiters kept bringing them food and topping up their glasses.

  Someone laughed hard at the other side of the table and Isabella’s head turned to the sound.

  One of Noah’s mechanics- his name must have been Joshua, Isabella wasn’t sure- had probably had one too many glasses.

  Despite everything that had happened that weekend, despite Christopher’s crash, things seemed back to normal at MB. The atmosphere was relaxed that night and for the first time since Toronto.
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  Except Christopher isn’t here with us.

  She sighed thinking of him, laying in the bed alone. Isabella would have given anything to sneak up to his room and slid in bed with him.

  And maybe tease him a little, to make him feel better about himself.

  He had wanted to win that race more than anything, more than any other race in the championship.

  “There’s always next year” Isabella had reassured him but she knew what was going on in his head.

  Christopher knew what was going to happen once the press got a hold of him.

  Questions about his accident, similarities with his father’s crash...

  “People, one moment please” Mr. Johnson stood up, a pint of beer secured in his hand.

  He patted his chest, right over his heart and looked around. The table went quiet, but the room was still loud- the house of beer was packed with people.

  “First of all, congratulations to every single one of you here. Today wasn’t easy. We had a hard time. It was a mess and the odds were against us but despite the difficulties, we reacted like only the greatest team in First Category Racing would. Well done for holding on” the guys cheered and clapped hands, some raised their glasses to Noah – for saving the car and taking a few points home.

  He waved briefly in their direction but sat there in silence, waiting for Mr. Johnson to carry on with his speech.

  “But we have so much more to celebrate today. Christopher is doing well, he’s not injured and he will be back on his feet I am sure for the next race in two weeks” everyone clapped and cheered.

  Glasses clanged and Isabella heard Christopher’s name being mentioned around the table, but didn’t quite grasp the whole sentence.

  “I didn’t fly out tonight because I wanted to spend this evening with the number one team in First Category Racing. Because even if the results today didn’t reflect our potential, we are still on that top chart, we are still number one in the Championship as a team and we still have one great race ahead before the summer break. Rome will be our comeback” everyone cheered and Isabella couldn’t help but smile, feeling the passion and energy at the table, for being part of the big extended family that was MB Racing Team.

  “To Christopher and Noah” Fred said raising his glass and everyone repeated after him.

  A few moments later, the chit chatter was back at the table. Some guys stood, glass in hand again, doing their own cheering, laughing hard and trying to relax.

  It had been a bad day, for everyone. All the people sitting there looked tired, Isabella realized.

  Tired and in desperate need to turn page.

  Back in that box there was a car to fix, a new strategy to plan for the next race weekend, more training, new set ups for the cars. But that evening, in that beer house it was the time to file the bad day, relax and get back to work in London with a clear mind.

  With the MB racing determination, Isabella smiled at the guys’ rowdiness.

  They were happy, relieved and so was she. She was relieved that everything had turned out fine.

  “So, it was Christopher then. The man you were seeing”? John, who was sitting right next to her, was brave enough to ask.

  He smiled a little as he spoke, his voice low, while the laughter carried on at the table.

  “Yes. It was Christopher” Isabella confirmed.

  John nodded, his brows up.

  “Well, I hope he won’t hurt you or anything. If he breaks your heart, I might have to kill him” he said, but was quick to add “Well, seeing the size of him, I might have to kick him and run like hell”

  Isabella stiffened a giggle and gave him her best smile.

  “That’s very sweet of you John, thank you” she patted his shoulder, holding back a smile and added “I admit, it would be a funny thing to watch”

  He winked, just before Robert called out for him and he was sucked into one of the loud conversations at the table.

  Isabella’s attention was back on her food. She had picked up a chip and had taken it to her mouth, when she realized Hillary was staring at her from across the table.

  She chewed and swallowed the food in her mouth, smiling a little, not sure of what that look meant. Hillary smiled back and nudged with her head.

  “Would you like to go out with me for a smoke?” her manager asked.

  It was one of those requests that you couldn’t say no to- not really anyway -Isabella was sure of that. She nodded and stood.

  Here it goes.

  They walked through the crowd of people in the beer house, until they reached one of the side doors of the big room and stepped outside.

  It wasn’t raining anymore. The sky was deep blue but the city lights made it impossible for the stars to be seen.

  “How are you?” Hillary asked and then lit her cigarette.

  She offered Isabella one, but she kindly declined the offer.

  “I’m okay now… thanks”

  “So, how long have you guys been seeing each other?” Hillary asked, her voice calm and understanding, not the least bit bothered.

  If anyone, Hillary knew what it was like, to have a secret affair. She knew how difficult it was to talk about it, to open up to somebody and make the affair go from secret to real.

  Isabella let out a sigh.

  How long have we been seeing each other? Well, I don’t know. Since our eyes met the first time and then we flirted every single chance we had from then on.

  “Three or four months. But It’s complicated. It just became ‘something more’” Isabella said and took a deep breath. Then she looked up at her manager “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you”

  “Nothing to be sorry about” she waved it off and went on “I understand why you didn’t. I can relate to that, I think”

  Hillary inhaled from her cigarette and then let the smoke out slowly, squinting a little as she did.

  “I never noticed anything between you two. But today when he crashed, that look on your face when you saw he wasn’t moving, that he wasn’t conscious… It was more than worry, you were desperate” Hillary took another drag.

  “I was” Isabella looked down at her feet, her cheeks flushed “I just want you to know I didn’t see it coming, this thing between me and Christopher. I didn’t even want it to happen…”

  “Darling, it’s none of my business. It’s nobody’s business” Hillary reassured her. “You guys are free to do whatever you want. I just hope you know what it means to work and sleep with someone at the same time”

  I think I just had a small preview in there, Isabella thought looking back inside the beer house.

  “We won’t let this get in the way of things…” Isabella said, knowing it was true.

  That is until Mr. Jenkins finds out and has a fit.

  “I hope you are right. It’s very hard, I’ll tell you” Hillary said.

  Her boss knew what she was talking about, having recently ended an affair with a person she worked with.

  Mr. Jenkins.

  The situation had been completely different though, Alfred was a married man. But what was Christopher? A lady’s man. Not exactly the best of reputations.

  There were many rumors about him in the field, that went from a different woman every night to threesomes and broken hearts all around the world.

  A different one in every country, at every race, tabloids wrote about him and his phone, Isabella had noticed a few times, was always ringing.

  Hillary eyed Isabella to the side, as she took another drag of her cigarette and thought of her assistant’s words.

  Isabella was a lovely girl, very young but also a very smart woman. Her head was exactly where it was supposed to be- on her shoulders. Hillary was sure she knew what she was doing.

  “Now I get it. I understand where that constant smile on your face was coming from and the heart shaped eyes all the time. The spaced-out moments…” she elbowed her gently and winked. “I bet it’s because he’s as good as they say”

  Isabe
lla laughed nervously and relaxed a little, as the conversation became lighter and so did her chest.

  Chapter 3

  After dinner, the hospital went quiet and the lights dimmed.

  Eleven pm.

  Christopher checked the clock on the wall, opposite his bed.

  “Rest, catch some sleep” a nurse had said to Christopher earlier, after checking on him and handing out another dose of painkillers for his chest.

  He tried to give in to sleep and let his body recover from the crash – his limbs ached, as if he had just run a marathon- but the adrenaline still pulsing in his veins since the impact, wouldn’t hear of shutting his mind down.

  Christopher tossed and turned alone in his room, unable to give it a rest.

  It was exactly half past eleven when his eyes finally closed.

  And they were wide open again within instants.

  Shit, he panted and ran a hand over his mouth, as flashes of the accident went by before his eyes.

  Maybe his body needed sleep, but his mind was wide open, wide awake.

  He tried to calm down and turned to the side, his eyes resting on the whiteness of his room.

  Curtains white, wall white, bed linen white, so Christopher tried to empty his head, tried to think about nothing besides the whiteness that surrounded him.

  He was just tired, he just needed to rest and put everything behind him- the accident, the race in Berlin, the trophy, the anniversary of his father’s death.

  Everything. And possibly ignore every single word the press was saying about the situation.

  Focus, you know how to keep your mind off things, he willed himself.

  After all Christopher had always been good at keeping his mind thought-free.

  Slowly, his grip on the white pillow loosened and Christopher’s eyes finally given in to the darkness.

  For what felt like a second.

  The sound of bending metal filled his ears, clawed its way into his mind, while his head moved sideways and the car hit the barriers. A flash of his father’s limp body, made him sit up on his bed, panting.

  Christopher’s eyes were wide open again.

  “Shh” his mother reached for his hand and held it tight.