Chapter 7: The Rival
1189 Words
"Red flag!"
"I'm in the middle of a crash... red... s**t!"
The front bumper of Logan's car hit the wall and spun on the track. Luckily no other car hit him from behind. But he Does Not Finish/DNF in this round. It means he quit from this race.
"What took so long?" he asked in frustration. "I've been signaling since the turn but you guys didn't respond."
"It's a little... called a little-"
"s**t!" He cursed while banging the steering wheel. "I've asked you guys to check the car. I can't turn the wheel."
"Yes, we did. This mistake will be recorded. Now get back here. You can't go on."
"Damn it!" he swore again.
This was the first time Logan had crashed so badly until he couldn't continue the rest of the lap. Even though it was just practice, it was the last practice before qualifying today. And that meant bad things!
Logan didn't want to think about how they were going to fix his car. He just jumped out of the car and out of the track.
Even though the crowd cheered him on, he still couldn't shake his anger because this was embarrassing for him.
Throughout his career he had tried his best and he had also tried very hard to win because there was a heavy burden on him. But because of the negligence of his team, he had to experience this.
Logan had told them to check the car after Elena gave him advice. They said it was fine but reality said otherwise.
Logan couldn't lose in Round 3 or his sponsors would threaten him again. Which he hated because he didn't want to jeopardize the entire Silverspoon Pack because of his failure.
Once at his team's base, Logan took off his helmet and went straight to the bathroom to scream at the top of his lungs. His eyes changed color again which had been more frequent lately as he had trouble controlling his emotions after meeting his mate.
He washed his face when he heard a knock on the door.
"Are you okay?"
It was Elena's voice. She had been the first to ask about Logan's condition rather than his car.
"Stay there if you can't cool your temper yet. There's plenty of media outside."
But the door was already open. Logan came out with half-wet hair and a more fresh face.
"I'm fine. But the car isn't."
"Cars can be rebuilt, but humans not so much."
Elena touched Logan's face, turning it left and right. "You're lucky you didn't get hurt."
"I'm not lucky because I leave the track."
"That means you still have a chance to rest and strategize for qualifying later. Don't you think so? Try to look on the bright side."
Logan sighed and closed his eyes to control himself.
"It feels strange because yesterday we suspected that your car was sabotaged and today you crashed. Is it possible that it was intentional?"
"By whom?"
"I don't know. I just assumed because if it was repaired, the car should have been fine there. Or maybe today there was someone else who intentionally made a modification to your car?"
"Whoever they’re, they want to see me destroyed," Logan said with emphasis.
He looked at the monitor that showed Dimitri's car.
Elena then followed his gaze. "Do you think he is?"
"Can't be accused if there's no evidence. But we still have to be vigilant."
Elena knew the two did not get along especially after the media day at the United States Grand Prix back then. But in her opinion, if it comes to jeopardizing other people's lives, it's too much.
"Where are you going?" asked Logan when he saw Elena leaving.
"To monitor him."
*****
"Over to Logan Vance. Can he take it away at the end?"
Elena watched her monitor without blinking as the last seconds saw Logan make his way to finish qualifying.
"Oh, he took pole position with the clock at zero. Vance takes it away!”
Elena screamed silently as Logan finally announced he'd be first on the grid for tomorrow's race. She was both proud and happy that he was still performing at his best despite his car's sabotage.
"Come on, talk to me!"
"Yes Logan, yes! That's pole."
"What a f*****g lap!" Logan's voice echoed over their team radio.
The success of getting pole this time was dramatic as many were not sure Logan would excel again in Round 3 after what happened to him in Practice 3.
But once again he proved that he is the legendary youngest Formula 1 driver to win the World Drivers' Championship when he was just 18 years old.
Everyone greeted him happily when he returned. And like always, Elena could only watch from afar.
"Gosh Elena! Why are you smiling when you see his face!"
Elena shook her head.
"I'm supporting him because he's my team driver not because of anything else."
She deliberately emphasized that to herself because she didn't want to fall too deeply into Logan's irresistible charm, he's too damn charismatic.
Suddenly her phone rang. There was a reminder alarm that she had set to remind her today. Which made Elena instantly feel sad and guilty.
"I shouldn't be happy. What happened to you Elena!"
She hit her head repeatedly to vent her disappointment on herself and then quickly left.
She slipped through the crowd to go somewhere she always went at least once a month. And since she was in this place today, she wanted to stop by as she was probably busy in the future and might not be able to visit very often.
*****
Elena looked back when she felt that someone was following her but it turned out that there was no one. Then she walked back to the grave.
It was the grave of the F1 driver who died on the track when he was very young, 19 years old, from Team Phoenix, William.
William was originally a Stewards Fenrir driver, who then decided to move into Phoenix. But who would have thought that his fate would worsen. His career actually stopped because he died in the first race after moving teams.
At that time, William, who also got pole position for the race, received praise from his new team and was predicted to win the round. But unfortunately during the race, the incident happened and took his life so he couldn't finish until the end. Which made him have the nickname 'Angel on the track' because of his good reputation but had to go tragically.
His fans and F1 fans are still talking about the incident. They all also regret William's decision to change teams when his career is rising.
And many also believed that Phoenix got William's curse because after that incident, their team drivers never got a podium again and their performance dropped rapidly, being below Team Fenrir especially when Logan started joining F1.
Elena finally put down the flowers she bought on the way here after looking at the tombstone for a long time.
"Hi William. How are you? Don't you miss your sister here?"
- Writer
