Page 86 of Not So Fast
“Yes. And if I have to surrender my microphone for a short time, I’d like to give it to someone who really knows their stuff, and who the drivers are already comfortable with. They all speak highly of you, Mia. Which is a wee bit humorous considering where you started off in this sport.”
Mia laughed quietly. Claudia wasn’t wrong.
“I’d love to do it. I’ll likely be at the races, anyway.”
“I take it things with you and Xander are going well?”
Mia couldn’t contain her smile. “They are.”
“Brilliant. Happy to hear it. I’ll have Cloud Sports be in touch about contracts and paperwork and all that.”
Mia took several deep breaths. She was excited and astounded that although additional responsibility always made her nervous, she didn’t feel completely overwhelmed. “Great.”
Claudia started down the stairs, then turned. “Oh. Mia. By the way, did you hear what happened to your old friend, Reginald?”
“You know he’s not my friend, Claudia.”
“You’re not the only one who doesn’t like him. Someone put dark ink around the viewfinder on his camera. I saw him only in passing. It looked like he had a black eye.”
“Oh, wow. A bit of karma, perhaps?”
“Something like that. I’ll see you soon.”
Mia ducked into the corner and got out the notes she’d written that morning, then pulled out her recorder. “Well, here we are. Abu Dhabi. Emilio Baquero has long since won the Drivers’ Championship and Vermillion has taken the Constructors’. So what intrigue remains for the final race of the season? Kenji is on pole for the first time in his career and Florian has a three-place grid penalty for speeding in the pit lane during qualifying yesterday. And of course, you all know I’m thrilled Xander is starting in P5. I’m not quite sure what will happen. It’s always a bit of a mystery and that’s what makes it exciting, isn’t it? And if you’re like me, you’re going to soak up every last minute of racing, then spend the next few months longing for its return. Let’s get into it. I’m Mia Neal and you’re listening toNot So Fast.”
She clicked off her recorder, marveling at how effortless it had become, when she got a text from Xander.
Can you come down to the garage? I have something I want to ask you.
Mia had been eyeing the croissants after seeing Claudia with hers, but she’d grab one later.
Sure thing. Two secs.
She hurried downstairs and found him waiting outside Mega hospitality.
“I need to ask you something,” he said.
“Yeah. I read your text.”
He took her hands, both of them, and peered down at her. He wasn’t smiling.
“Xander. What in the hell is going on? Don’t you need to be focusing on the race? Your final preparations.”
“This will only take a minute.”
Mia’s breath froze in her chest. It was so unlike him to take his eyes off the prize. The race was always the most important thing.
“I hate that look on your face. When your forehead does that thing with the crinkles. What is it? Is it something serious?”
Somehow, the furrows in his forehead became even deeper. “It is.”
Oh, God. Was he going to propose? Because she wasnotready for that. She loved him to the ends of the earth, but marriage? No. She hadn’t sifted through her feelings about the way patriarchy and traditional marriage were so fully intertwined. It was a deeply complicated subject, buried in centuries of misogyny. “Maybe this can wait. Until later.”
“Why are you getting panicky? I don’t like that look on your face, either.”
She couldn’t take the suspense. “Then just come out with it, Xander. Please.”
“I want to know if you want to come for Christmas. To England. Spend it with my family.”
