Chapter 13
“So
what sort of things do you have to do today?” Jeff asked Chloe as they walked
from their rental cars to the back of the Williams garage, which was easy to
spot because of the four big white trailers that had the team name down the side
of them.
“I
don’t know, I don’t even want to be here because Chloe recognized the
mechanics that where around one car. They were her mechanics from the 2001
season. She said hello to the all and they made a fuss of Jamie. They even had a
tiny Williams’s baseball cap for him. Chloe gave Jamie to Jeff as she stepped
into the 2002 Williams F1 car. She sat down in the familiar surroundings of the
car. She placed her hands on the wheel and ran her fingers over all the buttons
on it. She looked up at her old mechanics and smiled. “Home.” She said as
she moved her feet on the pedals.
“It’s
good to have you back Clo.” Her mechanic Paul said.
“I
think it’s good to be back, even of it’s only for one race.”
“We
have to take you to the circuit about five miles away so you can drive. They
won’t let you drive here yet.”
“Ok,
lets go.” She said as she lifted herself from the car and stepped out.
After
eighty-eight laps of the circuit Chloe felt a home in the car and it felt good.
She had set faster time than Ralf Schumacher who was helping her set the car up
better.
She
practised each day for seven days and she felt ready to go for the Friday
practice. None of the other drivers knew she was racing but she hoped it would
be a nice surprise!
Jeff
and Matt had gone back to the WWF as well as Trish and Amy.
So Chloe had to spend all of her time trying to find somebody to watch
Jamie as her brother couldn’t make it and her dad was arriving on Saturday.
After
qualifying second on her return race, rumours started to fly about Montoya, had
he been sacked, but Chloe and the team tried to set them straight. She had
called Jeff and he was coming down for the race but Matt had to work. He arrived
Saturday night and he met Chloe’s dad for the first time.
“Jeff,
this is my dad Paul. Dad this is Jeff.” Chloe said as she held Jamie in one
arm and held Jeff’s left hand with the other. He used his free right hand to
shake Paul’s hand.
“It’s
nice to finally meet you Jeff.”
“You
too.” He said as he gave Jamie and new toy he had bought him.
“Well
done babe.” He said as he kissed her cheek.
“Thanks.”
“How
did the other drivers react because I know you where worried.”
“Some
were very surprised especially one certain Michael Schumacher. But most of the
accepted it and let me get on with my job. The press have been a pain in the
arse but I expected that.”
“Do
you want me to go put him to bed so you two can be alone?” Paul asked.
“Would
you?”
“Sure.”
He said taking Jamie.
“Thanks
daddy. I guess we’ll see you in awhile.”
“See
you sweetheart.” He said as he kissed his baby girl on the cheek before
heading over to Chloe’s trailer.
“You
wanna go for a walk?” Chloe asked Jeff as she watched her dad disappear into
her trailer.
“Sure.”
As
they walked along they talked about everything from the colour of Chloe’s
thong to the weather and the race.
“Any
idea about how to pass Coulthard tomorrow?”
“No,
I just want to be first into the first corner.”
“His
car is slightly quicker through the corners but ours is much quicker down the
straights. Which is a bigger advantage.”
“Cool.
Can you do it?”
“Do
what?
“The
whole race. You haven’t raced for so long. I’m a bit worried.”
“Baby,
you don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be fine. I know I haven’t raced in
a while but I’m fit, well nearly fully fit.”
“See,
in this sport you need to be one hundred percent fit. And your not, you can’t
be, think of all the training you were doing before and how much you have done
in the last year.”
They
sat down on the grass and Chloe sat in between Jeff’s legs and rested her back
onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. “I know I haven’t done
much training but I can’t let Frank down, not after all he has done for me, I
can’t.”
“Forget
about Frank and the team, it’s you you need to worry about.”
“I’m
not worried about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Clo,
do you think Senna thought he was going to be fine the night before the race he
was killed?”
“Jeff,
you don’t want me to do this do you?”
“It’s
not up to me.”
“But
you’re trying to put me of doing it.”
“I’m
not. I’m just worried.”
“Don’t
be.”
“Why
not? If you’re not worried about yourself someone has to be.”
“Jeff,
I will be fine. I really appreciate that you’re worrying about me, but I did
this job before and I can do it again.”
“Clo.”
He said as he turned her in between his legs so she was facing him, her legs
either side of him. “I know you are going to do this no matter what I say but
I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Jeff
baby, I won’t.” she paused. “If you don’t want me to race tomorrow just
say and I won’t race.”
“I
can’t do that. It’s your dream to drive in formula one and I can’t take
that away from you.”
“Do
you want me to race or not?”
Jeff paused and looked into Chloe’s eyes. “Yes, I want you to race but can
you promise me something?”
“Anything.”
”If you have the a problem and the G-forces become to much, promise me
you’ll stop.”
“Ok,
I promise.”
Chapter 14
back to Chapter 12