The next few races all felt the same. He was wearing shirts with her sketch and posted them with captions taken from her notes and poetry. Most people believed with to be depressed at this point, and honestly, maybe they were right. With every passing day, Pierre knew that the chances of finding became slimmer. She most likely had forgotten him a long time ago. Nearly seven months was too long, he had to admit that to go on with his life. Maybe she was an angel sent to him to realise what he was doing to himself with that lifestyle?

Exhaling slowly, Pyry looked over at Pierre worried. The booklet was staying at home now, the t-shirts in a boy at the bottom of his wardrobe, the only thing still remind him of her which he always carried with him when he was racing was the sketch of the car he was wearing on the side of his helmet.

"Do you want to go out tonight? I know the team has something planned for your 100th race but we could just dump them and run." The performance coach said in the hope to cheer his friend up, but Pierre only shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to go out, but he also wasn't in the mood for some stupid anniversary thingy.

"Helmut would skin us alive," Pierre muttered back. He was wearing his race suit, helmet resting on his lap while he let his fingers brush over the car there over and over again. It wasn't helping. This wasn't a magic lamp and she wasn't a Gini.

"Forget the old bastard," Pyry told Pierre as so often, a worried look on his face as he reached out to rest his own hand on the helmet causing Pierre to look up at his performance coach and friend.

"I know you're grieving something you thought could be, but sooner or later, you need to go on with your life." He knew that his words weren't helping Pierre right now, but dwelling in his pain wouldn't do him any good either.

"I really thought I could find her, you know," Pierre muttered, his eyes shining with tears even though he refused to look at Pyry.

"That she would want me to find her." He added, causing Pyry to reach over and hug his friend. He was such an idiot. There was no reason for her to want to find him. Five hours, that's the entire length of how long he knew her. Crying after her was so fucking pathetic. He should have tried again, not just once, to fuck her out of his system. Pierre didn't deserve this, not even after years of being a .... being a whore. That's what he was, that's what other people saw in him.

The tears were flowing freely as if a year-old dam had been broken. The last time he allowed himself to cry was as Anthonie died. There were so many stacked-up emotions. So much pain and grief. The sorrow nearly killed him as sobs tore through his hurting throat. His whole body was shaking with the waves of sadness circling in his body.

They took their time to get ready. After a long shower, Pierre got dressed, despite not being interested in spending the whole night with his bosses all around him. It would have been only the team he might have been happier about it, but like this, he could barely make himself get up from the hotel room bed after he had sat down following his shower. Pyry watched as the Frenchman he was working for bent over to tie his shoes, the dimmed mood visible in every movement he made.

The whole way Pierre had rested his head against the window of the car while Pyry drove them wherever Red Bull and Alpha Tauri wanted him to go. He was sure the party would be nothing more than a sponsored event as usually carried out on the back of one of the drivers, if not all of them.

"Swear to stay close to me," Pierre asked Pyry as they got out of the car causing the performance coach to nod right away. "Of course, Pierre." He told him, his hand on his friend's shoulder while squeezing it.

Was it mean to hope that Max had no way to escape this, so Pierre wouldn't be so alone in the crowd of sponsors? They normally were far more interested in Max anyways, so it would be a welcomed distraction. Normally Pierre liked it if some rays of the spotlight fell on him from time to time but today, he couldn't be more against it. All the Frenchman wanted was to be alone.

Walking inside, people instantly moved to greet him, fully to Pierre's disappointment, but he couldn't do much against it. This was a party in his name and it wasn't very often Red Bull threw a party for their most hated driver. Not from the fans of course, but from the bosses, nobody could deny it. Pierre wasn't stupid after all.

Excusing himself, Pierre made his way through the room trying to find a quiet corner Pyry following him before they both set eyes on Max. He was leaning against a pillar, behind a tall grass-like plant, his head lowered a bit and for once not wearing a cap which work for Max by now as a disguise.

Pyry rested his hand on Pierre's shoulder for a moment, telling him he was getting them alcohol before giving a meaningful glance in Max's direction which means as much as 'hide together as long as you can. Giving a thankful nod, Pierre watched as his performance coach moved away, only to instantly start walking towards Max before someone could start a conversation with him.

"Are you as happy to be here as I am?" Pierre asked Max as he stepped up to the Dutchman, who was trying to hide behind his glass of gin and tonic. The Red Bull driver looked over at Pierre for a moment, before taking his upper arm and pulling him a bit more behind the plant before checking over his shoulder if anyone was looking in their direction.

"Not so loud or they're going to find us. Helmut has a seventh sin for finding us." Max said, causing Pierre to shake his head at how paranoid the Dutchman was, but thinking about it, maybe Max was right.

"You think they chipped us?" Pierre asked which caused Max to laugh in return this time.

Max was watching Pierre with worry in his eyes as they made small talk or rather gossiped about the two missing drivers who were also associated with Red Bull. The Dutchman knew that Pierre had given up on finding his Cinderella, he had come to Max's apartment in the earliest hours of the morning, totally drunk only to knock on the door and shove the booklet against Max's chest the moment he opened the door, only in boxershorts but still.

Instead of letting Pierre leave as the Frenchman had intended it, Max had pulled him inside and made him drink some water before bringing him to bed. Pierre had fallen asleep with the plead to not tell Charles about this, earning himself a worried look from the Dutchman. Pierre remembered waking up and stumbling into Max's living room where the Dutchman was already sitting and waiting for him. A Red Bull in hand no matter the time. Max never liked warm drinks. Pierre had learned as much as they were teammates.

The Frenchman had asked Max to burn the booklet, but the Dutchman had only shook his head, before picking it up from where it was laying on the coffee table, before pressing it lightly against Pierre's chest until the older man reached out his hands to take a hold of the booklet.

"Kept it." Max had told him. "Trust me, just keep it." Pierre wasn't sure why Max wanted him to keep it, but he was secretly glad the booklet didn't get burned. He was also glad that Max had made him take it home with him again. It was all he had from her. Burning it in anger would have hurt Pierre, in the end, more than keeping it ever could. Her words were still his comfort, despite how dark they were. Max was right, she was funny. The irony in her words witty and her sketches beautiful.

Looking at his watch, Pierre wondered if it was too early to make Pyry fake a headache so they could leave without anyone being pissed. He had told Max so much, who replied that no matter when they would leave, someone would always be pissed. He was right, but that also meant that there was no reason to care.

Pierre was just about to move over and tell Pyry about his plan as Christian Horner's voice sounded out over a microphone calling for him to come forward. He wondered why the bastard even was allowed to talk, he was working for Alpha Tauri after all, but these two teams were always secretly one, well it was as long as things went smoothly. In the case of them fucking up, they were on their own.

Max patted his shoulder in sympathy but made no move to leave his hiding spot. Honestly, Pierre understood. He also didn't want to get out of their hiding spot, but dutifully as always, he climbed out of his hiding spot, gracefully in the hope no one realised he was hiding there but let's face it, they all knew. Pierre couldn't care less.

Stepping forward to stand next to Christian he gave a little smile, even though he didn't want to be anywhere near that guy.

"Let me start with thanking you all for coming. We are here to celebrate Pierre's 100th race today." He announced as if they didn't all know so much already.

"Pierre, you are a member of the Red Bull family for a very long time already and we wouldn't want to miss you. You make an amazing job and we hope you will stay with us for many more years." The Brit said while someone pushed a glass of champagne into his hand. He wanted the ground to open only to swallow him whole. He felt like six feet under he would finally have a moment of peace.

Pierre watched as Christian raised his glass a bit before he started to speak again instead of ending his speech, but Pierre was a good boy for Red Bull once more and didn't say anything even though he knew once Christian was done with all his lies, he would have to thank Red Bull as well for letting him race 100 races.

"In the honour of the day and in honour of you, we have a not-so-little present for you," Christian said and some people even had the nerve to laugh at his little joke, while Pierre made eye contact with Max, who rolled his eyes, causing Pierre to smile at him.

Behind Pierre, a set of double doors got opened only for them to kart in his car, which confused him for a moment. They surely wouldn't present him with an F1 car, they were fucking expensive, but the design was also a little bit off.

"it's made of chocolate, you can eat all of it, even though I wouldn't recommend it. Your trainer won't be happy with you when you do." Christian joked some more but Pierre had only eyes for the car.

It was beautiful and detailed in a way causing Pierre to doubt it was made of chocolate, but it was the little detail on the back side of the car. Someone had sketched a Chameleon in his driver's number at the back, but not any Chameleon. It was the one from the booklet. It was the one she had drawn.

Suddenly everything had fallen in place. On the weekend he had met her, someone from the team was presented with a Bull made of chocolate after working for the team for twenty years. He had seen the Bull of chocolate, even snapped a picture, but he never counted one and once together. He never thought that she could have been here to do her job, he thought her a fan. Well, she was both and now her plain black sweater was explained as well. She wasn't wearing merch because that wasn't the only reason why she was here.

"The woman..." Pierre said to Christian before swallowing hard. He couldn't believe it, was this a sick joke? Was the world so cruel?

"The woman who made it, is she still here?" He wanted to know while Pyry and Max had joined his side. The performance coach reached out to discreetly steady the Frenchman.

"What woman?" Christian asked confused.

"What is going on?" Max wanted to know casually as he slipped into the space between Christian and Pierre, a smile on his lips to fool the sponsors and other guests.

"It's her. She's not a fan. She makes chocolate art. She made this for me." Pierre muttered, not believing it himself, but there was no other way to explain it. It must have been her.

Max's face fell in realisation for a moment, before he started to smile brightly at him. "You know what that means? We can find her." Max pointed out, now endangering Pyry to faint before he asked Christian again where the woman was who made the chocolate car.

"I don't know such things, you will have to ask the PR...." He couldn't say any more, Pierre was already rushing through the double doors and down the corridor only to find Lisa from PR leaning against a kitchen island while eating some snacks. The woman felt caught about to apologise, but Pierre was fast to hold up his hand.

"The woman who made the car, is she still here?" He wanted to know causing her to shake her head, earning herself the disappointment of the three men, who were standing in front of her.

"She left after giving me instructions on how to take care of the chocolate until we would present it to you. Said to make sure you stand on the right side of the car." She mumbled causing Pierre to run a hand through his hair. He had lost her again.

It was as if he was cursed. She had been here, brought this here for him, made this for him and he didn't even get to see her. The Frenchman took a few steps back only to pace through the little space they had, causing Pyry to reach out and touch his shoulder but Pierre was fast to brush him off.

"Do you have a name?" Max wondered, causing Pierre to turn back around to face Lisa again, who gave him an apologising look. A little bit taken back by the sudden need to remember the name the woman had said as they shook hands.

"No, I'm sorry. I can't remember what she said. I was very busy." Lisa told them, causing Pierre to sit down, his head between his arms which caused Pyry to move and put a hand on his shoulder while Max kneeled down in front of Pierre, his hand resting on the Frenchman's upper arm.

"But I have the name and address of the shop if that helps," Lisa spoke up after another moment causing all three men to turn their attention back to her before Pyry told her to give him both right away. She told him that it was written down in the bill which was in the office, but she could go and write it down for them, causing Pyry to nod, before telling her to please do it right now, with him following her. Pierre watched them go, totally perplex.

"I'm sorry she isn't here anymore," Max told Pierre, who looked up as soon as he registered that the Dutchman had spoken to him, but all Pierre could do was smile. It didn't matter. They've found her. They knew who she was and soon he will be able to stand opposite her. Look at her and this time he won't forget to ask for her name.

"I searched for her for what? Half a year, I think I can wait one more day." Pierre told Max, a bright smile blooming on his lips. He felt lighter as he moved forward to hug Max.