ALICE Ch 125

Alice holds herself together. The press gaggle, the conference, the party, and then it’s back to the hotel. Tomorrow, they’ll pack it all up and move on. Next stop: Monaco.

The mosaic that makes up the shower wall is one with Alice’s palms. She’s been here, leaning under this water for far too long. Water streams down her lanky body as she tries to get her head on straight. There’s this vast gulf between thoughts and feelings.

Finally, she forces herself to turn off the water and step out, halfheartedly taking a fluffy towel from the warmer and lackadaisically using it as she walks out into the suite, dripping on the carpet. She plants her face in the towel and does her best not to scream into it.

It’s not just today; it’s Monaco. Monaco scares her, and all she can think about is how much easier it would be to face if she didn’t have to worry about her car. She shakes her head and puts the towel aside, picking up her phone. She finished on the podium. She has a trophy and medal that cannot be taken away from her. It’s a meaningful achievement, and the internet should be flooded with dopamine hits for her… but the internet is also full of rumors, gossip, and Diorgasm ads.

Queasily, Alice checks her texts. There’s one from Faye. They haven’t spoken much for obvious reasons. Faye drove well tonight, and at the party, Alice could see her luxuriating in Glynda’s relief. If Glynda’s happy, Faye is happy. But no, that isn’t really true, is it? Because if Faye wanted Glynda to be happy, she’d stay away from Alice.

There’s a text from Faye: ‘Good race!!’ with lots of emojis. It’s a transparent attempt at engagement. Alice needs a distraction from these emotions and the internet is too dangerous. Faye clearly wants company. Alice doesn’t have the mental capacity to reply to the text, but she does need to get away from her phone and out of this room. Being alone in this mental state is not healthy. Pissing of her Team Principal isn’t healthy either, but Glynda’s probably busy yelling at people over Alice’s car, even this late. But who is there to yell at? Well, they’re in Miami. This is where FUTA Racing’s HQ is, so Glynda’s probably there in person hassling the designers. This isn’t a maintenance issue, it’s a design problem. Colby and her Amazon pit crew are perfect.

Alice allows herself to think wistfully about Colby and the Amazons for a moment. Then she looks down at her phone and sighs pathetically. A part of her is genuinely upset, and the other part is disgusted with herself. She should be happy about a good race, and since when did a cute girl like Faye become a problem? What a mess.