Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2016-05-21 06:12 pm
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2016-05-21 06:12 pm
Entry tags:
120.2.1 - quote
"Everyone has challenges and lessons to learn - we wouldn't be who we are without them."
"Nine. Fucking nine. Are you kidding me?"
Shelby is angry as she stalks through the garage after the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying. She had made it into the Fast Nine that would compete for the pole position on Sunday, but as the last car in. There were eight drivers ahead of her on the scoring pylon and as the defending race winner riding a three-race win streak, she feels that was simply unacceptable. She wants to throw something, but there isn't anything to throw except her Oakley sunglasses and she needs those.
"Come on, Shelby." Shane is following behind her, both to try and calm her down and because he wanted to get to her before any TV cameras did and splashed her temper tantrum over the air. "Get a grip."
She laughs caustically at that, turning on her heel to face him complete with an accusatory finger. "We're better than ninth and you know it."
"I do know that," he retorts. Having caught up with her his blue eyes bore into hers with another level stare. "But I know this morning you fainted so all things considered ninth isn't that bad."
It had not been the best of days for the No. 2 Penske team. Shelby might have been on a win streak but she had increasingly been struggling with feeling detached from the life she had tried to build outside of racing. It had been a month since she'd heard from her boyfriend and she'd convinced herself that he'd fallen out of love with her. And then it hurt her that she was enjoying success and wasn't able to share it with anyone. But she kept pushing those feelings down, setting them aside in order to be able to do her job at the most important time of the season.
She'd been getting up from her seat in the hauler, finishing her coffee in order to go see the car, when she'd simply passed out. Shelby only remembers coming to in the strong arms of her strategist who looked as worried as she had ever seen him. It was an awkward moment, frightening and intimate at the same time. And it had immediately been followed by the mutual decision not to tell anyone about it. If it became public knowledge she would have to be checked out by the medical staff and cleared to drive. Not to mention that it would become a story and give people reason to doubt her. Neither of them wanted the circus and Shelby didn't want even the chance that someone could take away the one thing she had left.
So they had kept quiet about it. She's felt fine the rest of the day, though Shane has been watching her like a hawk ever since, making sure that she stays hydrated and that she's eating with the rest of the crew. Knowing that she's not at her physical best he's not at all bothered by ninth place, especially being aware that the times reset tomorrow and she can go back out and post a better time and get herself on the front row where she belongs.
Right now she's just staring at him. "Don't say that," she hisses under her breath. "Someone might hear you."
"They're not going to hear me, but right now you need to." Shane clamps a strong hand on her shoulder so she doesn't run away again. "You're not driving to win. You're driving because you're scared of what it looks like. Scared that he's going to leave you. Scared that people will talk about you compared to last year. Fuck all that shit. What do you always say? That's just noise. Tune it out and race.
"I am always going to be here for you," he reminds her. "No matter what happens to anyone else you will always have me. I'm here for you and nobody else."
Shelby exhales slowly and allows herself a slight nod. She knows that he's telling the truth; if he wasn't invested in her he would have taken the Formula 1 job he was offered in the offseason and be calling the shots for Romain Grosjean right now. She can't control her boyfriend or the media. All she can do anything about is what happens in that tub and what gets posted on the pylon. That's what she needs to focus on, and she definitely needs to go back to the hotel for dinner, a massage and enough sleep to be back here tomorrow morning.
She came back into this world alone. Just her, this bullheaded crew chief in front of her, and her race team. She didn't have a boyfriend or any media attention and nobody gave them much of a chance. And they found a way to succeed. If she loses everything else then she's just back to where she started. A racer whose entire world is behind the wheel.
"Let me take you back to the hotel," Shane encourages her, now nudging her toward the hauler. "You can get cleaned up and if you really don't want to be alone, you can crash with me tonight."
"Yeah." She nods again, the boundaries of her world once again coming back into focus. Stop trying to go outside the lines. Stop trying to be something that you're not, and just be what you are. A driver. The best damn driver in the league. "Yeah," she says. "We'll try this again tomorrow."
--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
915 words
"Nine. Fucking nine. Are you kidding me?"
Shelby is angry as she stalks through the garage after the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying. She had made it into the Fast Nine that would compete for the pole position on Sunday, but as the last car in. There were eight drivers ahead of her on the scoring pylon and as the defending race winner riding a three-race win streak, she feels that was simply unacceptable. She wants to throw something, but there isn't anything to throw except her Oakley sunglasses and she needs those.
"Come on, Shelby." Shane is following behind her, both to try and calm her down and because he wanted to get to her before any TV cameras did and splashed her temper tantrum over the air. "Get a grip."
She laughs caustically at that, turning on her heel to face him complete with an accusatory finger. "We're better than ninth and you know it."
"I do know that," he retorts. Having caught up with her his blue eyes bore into hers with another level stare. "But I know this morning you fainted so all things considered ninth isn't that bad."
It had not been the best of days for the No. 2 Penske team. Shelby might have been on a win streak but she had increasingly been struggling with feeling detached from the life she had tried to build outside of racing. It had been a month since she'd heard from her boyfriend and she'd convinced herself that he'd fallen out of love with her. And then it hurt her that she was enjoying success and wasn't able to share it with anyone. But she kept pushing those feelings down, setting them aside in order to be able to do her job at the most important time of the season.
She'd been getting up from her seat in the hauler, finishing her coffee in order to go see the car, when she'd simply passed out. Shelby only remembers coming to in the strong arms of her strategist who looked as worried as she had ever seen him. It was an awkward moment, frightening and intimate at the same time. And it had immediately been followed by the mutual decision not to tell anyone about it. If it became public knowledge she would have to be checked out by the medical staff and cleared to drive. Not to mention that it would become a story and give people reason to doubt her. Neither of them wanted the circus and Shelby didn't want even the chance that someone could take away the one thing she had left.
So they had kept quiet about it. She's felt fine the rest of the day, though Shane has been watching her like a hawk ever since, making sure that she stays hydrated and that she's eating with the rest of the crew. Knowing that she's not at her physical best he's not at all bothered by ninth place, especially being aware that the times reset tomorrow and she can go back out and post a better time and get herself on the front row where she belongs.
Right now she's just staring at him. "Don't say that," she hisses under her breath. "Someone might hear you."
"They're not going to hear me, but right now you need to." Shane clamps a strong hand on her shoulder so she doesn't run away again. "You're not driving to win. You're driving because you're scared of what it looks like. Scared that he's going to leave you. Scared that people will talk about you compared to last year. Fuck all that shit. What do you always say? That's just noise. Tune it out and race.
"I am always going to be here for you," he reminds her. "No matter what happens to anyone else you will always have me. I'm here for you and nobody else."
Shelby exhales slowly and allows herself a slight nod. She knows that he's telling the truth; if he wasn't invested in her he would have taken the Formula 1 job he was offered in the offseason and be calling the shots for Romain Grosjean right now. She can't control her boyfriend or the media. All she can do anything about is what happens in that tub and what gets posted on the pylon. That's what she needs to focus on, and she definitely needs to go back to the hotel for dinner, a massage and enough sleep to be back here tomorrow morning.
She came back into this world alone. Just her, this bullheaded crew chief in front of her, and her race team. She didn't have a boyfriend or any media attention and nobody gave them much of a chance. And they found a way to succeed. If she loses everything else then she's just back to where she started. A racer whose entire world is behind the wheel.
"Let me take you back to the hotel," Shane encourages her, now nudging her toward the hauler. "You can get cleaned up and if you really don't want to be alone, you can crash with me tonight."
"Yeah." She nods again, the boundaries of her world once again coming back into focus. Stop trying to go outside the lines. Stop trying to be something that you're not, and just be what you are. A driver. The best damn driver in the league. "Yeah," she says. "We'll try this again tomorrow."
--
Shelby Manning
Need for Speed OC
915 words