ALICE Ch 174

People chat and cough. Lots of coughing.

Erica Bruhl doesn’t even smile at the pretty stewardess as she settles into her seat, scrolling intently on her phone. In a few minutes, they’ll be taking off for Canada.

She can’t make sense of what she’s seeing. Glynda issued a statement about yesterday’s race that is so bizarre. All FUTA has said is that Alice is all right, and they are still “Assessing” if she’ll be driving in the Canadian Grand Prix.

They aren’t blaming Lando or McLaren. In fact, the crash isn’t even mentioned.

Erica was there, watching intently. Something happened to cause Norris to make contact. The rumor is that, internally, Lando has claimed that Alice slowed down. He’s since shut up about that. And Lando isn’t Erica’s type, so she doesn’t have a scoop. And Alice? Nobody’s seen her since the race. Faye Darcy has been silent on socials and FUTA’s acting like nothing happened.

Some people are blaming Lando. Others are blaming Alice. FUTA fans seem more inclined to blame the car, given the problems it’s had in the past. Spending a night with Glynda has perhaps allowed Erica to get to know a certain side of her, but not really. That wasn’t Glynda the person, it was just a lot of frustration. Not that Erica’s complaining. She doesn’t know Glynda.

It's not out of the question that this weird, tone-deaf response to the accident is just a misstep from a new Team Principal. It’s also not out of the question that FUTA’s trying to sweep this under the rug, but that doesn’t completely make sense. Something really strange is going on here. She sighs and orders a cocktail, resigned. There’s nothing for it.

She has to do some real journalism now.

FF1

“You can’t do this,” Lora insists.

She and Glynda are huddled together at the airport, their privacy guaranteed by the noise level.

“It’s already done.” Glynda shoves the boarding pass against Lora’s chest. “Go. Now.”

Lora takes it, searching Glynda’s face, which is icy.

“What happened?”

“Our luck’s run out. That’s what. Go.”

“Go where?”

Glynda jumps and Lora looks over to see Faye there with her carry-on. She looks jittery and nervous like she did at the beginning of the season. She’s been like this since the crash, just when she’d started to even out a little.

Lora smiles fixedly. “Japan.”

“It’s not Japan yet. It’s Canada,” Faye says, visibly puzzled.

Lora just throws Glynda a venomous look and walks away.

“Mum?”

“What?”

“What’s she doing in Japan? Are we having another new engine? A Honda engine?”

Glynda, with some effort, forces her facial expression into something less openly hostile.

“If only.” She puts her arm around Faye and steers her firmly toward the gate. “How’s Alice? Is she…”

“Is she what?”

Glynda searches for words. “Is she being good to you?”

“She’s not being grumpy, if that’s what you’re asking. She’s behavin’ as though nothing’s happened,” Faye says, frowning at her mother’s reaction. Is that not what Glynda wants to hear?

Erica Bruhl is going to do some investigating.

Meanwhile, Lora is heading to Japan.

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