Technically speaking, Silverstone is her home turf. They are going to attract thousands of people this year – the only British team, and with better results than ever to boot. Nice for the drivers, who enjoy being celebrated like stars. Her home turf, and yet she hates it.
The track is difficult. It is nearly impossible to find a setting for the cars that works for the whole track. And then there is the weather! They need to change the tyres twice, of course, but with the conditions being on the unpredictable side, this might not be enough. The pit lane, newly laid out, is still short and crammed, and there is this awful right turn right after the exit to the track, which means there is a high accident risk, higher than necessary. Many things can go wrong. And to top it all off, there will be an eight hour car ride home to Wake Hall at the end of the weekend. Home turf all right. Okay, the last issue could be skipped if she was willing to revert to a rented helicopter just this once, which she also hates. But they had survived Le Castellet. They would survive Silverstone as well.
They had tried to find a temporary replacement for Strathairn, but to no avail. More work for Tom. When the team meet up again in full force on Wednesday, everyone seems to just grit their teeth and get on with it.
On Wednesday Faith also finally finds the courage to go and talk to Daijiro Mori. He is distanced and polite as always, and she feels stupid when she brings forth her weak-ass apology. Overall, he seems more interested in the recovery of Strathairn than her relationship status. Apart from that, he looks grey. Faith leaves him worried and relieved at the same time.
Her personal life is tense. She had forbidden Kenny to show up at the race track. He is outraged, or pretends to be. He also claims that she is working too much and does not have time for him. “What kind of marriage is this? I hardly see you. When was the last time we’ve had sex?”, he says. Faith does not believe he really cares. For different reasons, they are both keeping up appearances, it seems. He does not seem to have an agenda of his own, though, or plans, for that matter. He sleeps in, plays video games, goes to the bar, and picks fights with her when she finally gets home at night.
Nicholas and the lawyer from the US are handling her divorce now. The papers need to be handed to Kenny in person, but neither she nor Nicholas are allowed to do that. Until then, they have to make sure to know his whereabouts, and it would happen soon enough, at Wake Hall. Then it would take another one hundred and twenty days until the divorce became effective, but she could throw him out immediately after he had received the papers. She is counting the days, ageing a year for each one that passes, but Kenny does not seem worried at all. He also does not reduce his drug abuse, he does not even take the trouble to hide it any more.
When she returns late in the evening to the hotel on Friday – there were more interviews than ever before, home turf and all – she sees Kenny approaching the entrance as well, but on foot. He must have been “shopping”. She watches him and does not get out of the car. Right before he reaches the doors, a person in a very large hoodie intercepts him. Faith sees him start, he actually does a little jump. Then he looks around and leads the person into an alley next to the hotel. Interesting. Faith thanks her driver, gets out of the car and sneaks up to the entrance of the alley. The other two have not gone in far, a large power unit offers some protection for her, and while she cannot understand what they are saying, she gets a good impression of the situation. The person is a woman, and these two know each other quite well, judging by the way her husband is touching the woman’s arms and her face. When she thinks she has seen enough, Faith withdraws from her post, deep in thoughts.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Kenny had been beside himself when Liv had addressed him just outside the door. All his failings came back to him at that moment. Their fight back then, in Dublin, when his career could have been saved yet. He had thought he did not need her. How wrong he had been! How everything had gone downhill from there, including that party where he had done himself in so badly that he had lost his phone and therefore had been unable to contact her. She was a drifter, never in the same place for long, very much like himself, and he had missed her. At some point, he had given up on finding her, though, and now he was married. But the way his heart had leapt when he had seen her really said it all. Here she was, the love of his life.
“My love”, he says, brushing the hair from her face.
“Why did you get married?”, Liv says accusingly. His heart is breaking, her eyes are so sad.
“I don’t know. It was stupid. But I’ll have money shortly, and we…”
“You’ll have money?”
“Yes! I’ll have so much money, and I’ll be free, and we will…”
“When, Kenny?”
“Very soon. A few more days.”
Liv starts to cry.
“My love, I have to prepare things”, he pleads. “My wife, that woman… I need to set things up, and she is so damn busy all the time. But after the weekend, we’ll be in Oban, and then I’ll get it all sorted.”
“Oban? Where is that?”
“Scotland. She has a castle there or something. That’s where we’re going from here. Oh, my love, so very soon!”
She sighs, but she, too, looks hopeful now. “So I come to Oban?”
He nods and starts digging in his pockets for money. He hands her the forty pounds he has left from what Faith had given him the day before. “Take this. Go to Oban. Wait for me at the station. The castle is called Wake Hall, I believe, but don’t go there, wait at the station. Okay?”
“Okay”, she whispers.
“I love you”, he says. He kisses her and then rushes off. He needs to think – and he needs to set up a few things, just as he had said. This is giving his life meaning again. God, he had missed that girl so much! Now all would be well.
The first person he contacts to set things up is not his wife.
