ALICE Ch 299

“There you are,” Val says, meeting Erica in the hallway on the second floor of the hotel.

“Are you OK?” Erica gives her a quick hug and looks her over worriedly. “Difficult race. I’m so sorry. But I saw what happened. That was a hell of a duel. Incredible driving. Today, everyone just saw you lose, but Drive to Survive will definitely talk about how technically demanding that was for both of you.”

“Sure, fine, whatever.” Val peers up at her impatiently. “Do you want to have sex?”

FF1

Hotel lobbies are always full of chairs and sofas. This is the first time that Glynda has used them. She doesn’t even know what time it is. She sits in the deserted space, staring absently as one finger taps restlessly against her phone case.

The doors glide open, and Lotte appears in dark leggings and a sports bra. Her hair is tied back, and she’s shiny with sweat. She’s clearly been running. Isn’t it a little late for that?

She spots Glynda and looks curious. Lotte checks her phone, then straps it back onto her arm and strolls over, stretching her arms high over her head.

“Are you OK?” she asks.

“I am. What are you doing?”

“Running.”

“On a race day? This late?”

Lotte smiles, but there’s something melancholy about it. She bends and looks into Glynda’s eyes. She uses her gaze to indicate Glynda and the chair, the lobby.

“On a race day? This late?” she echoes.

“Fair enough,” Glynda says.

Lotte snorts and drops into the chair beside her. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Will you?”

“You don’t have time to listen to the problems of your employees. You have too many of us.” Lotte nudges Glynda with her arm. “And I have a therapist. Do you?”

Glynda twitches. “I don’t know that I was ever in control of this circus, but every day it feels like it’s less.”

“Do you need to be in control?”

“It’s my job.”

“It’s Alice’s job to win races. But you expect her to?”

Glynda frowns. “That’s not an apt comparison.”

“I’m sure there are people who put much pressure on you all the time.”

“There are.”

“Then why do you do this? They will put the pressure on you. You don’t have to put it on yourself. And if you are going to pressure yourself, do it for things that you can control. You can’t control all the people. People will do what they want.” Lotte waves a hand. “You can influence them, maybe, but not control. And the car? You can hire the people, but this is Formula One. If it was easy to have the best car, everyone would have it.” She shrugs.

“It’s harder to be dismissive of these things when it’s your livelihood.”

“Oh, will you have no home if you are fired?” Lotte puts on a mopey face. “You penniless pauper. Charles Dickens.” It doesn’t come off the way that she intends because her English is so stilted.

Glynda smiles. “All right. All right.”

Lotte looks critically at her nails. “If you don’t need the money and you don’t enjoy it, then what are you doing?”

Glynda has no answer for her.