Julie's POV
After looking at Fabio's wrist and talking I went back in Tom's room. The questions Fabio asked about goals and stuff were too confronting. I know I sounded like a bitch. I took an empty journal I bought at the airport and started writing. Eventually it got late and I fell asleep.
'hey little whore, I found you. You didn't think you could run, did ya?'. That voice. It makes my stomach turn. He's standing in the doorway of Tom's room. I scream when I see his eyes. His dark eyes, it looks like he's hollow. How did he even find me? I went to a different country, far far away. He steps closer and closer slowly, licking his lips like he's about to eat something delicious. 'stay away', I tell him low. Trying to sound threatening, but my voice is shaking.
Suddenly he's shaking my arm.
Blinking my eyes a few times Alex is away and Fabio appears. It takes me a few minutes before realising, seeing Alex was just a dream.
"Can I sit down?"
I make room next to me on the bed, so Fabio can sit next to me underneath the covers. It's cold inside. Without saying a word he understands and sits next to me against the headboard.
"Come here", he tells me, opening his arms. I lay my head on his shoulder, letting him wrap his arms around me. I now realize he isn't wearing a shirt. I should be uncomfortable, but for some reason I'm not and it isn't.
"So.. is this about an ex?"
"Yeah, it is. I'm so sorry for waking you", I feel guilty for interrupting his much needed sleep. He squeezes my shoulder softly, "please stop apologizing. I'm not royalty, I can handle a bad night sleep. And I was already awake"
It's quiet for a few minutes, before Fabio asks another question. "Was it recent?"
"Almost 3 weeks now", I close my eyes, "we were together for more than two years. The last six months were different. He changed"
Fabio stays quiet. He only tightens his grip, holding me closer.
"He was so loving and caring, but got angry, was drunk alot. He hit me once after I tried to break up with him". There are no tears, no feelings this time I tell it. Maybe it's because of the calmness of Fabio, I don't know. I'm telling him things Tom doesn't even know.
"Three weeks ago he tried to have his way with me and he succeeded. He raped me. Luckily Tom found us and stopped him. Beat him really bad too"
We both stay quiet for a few more minutes, before Fabio breaks the silence. "Thank you for telling me, for trusting me"
"Yeah, well thank you for getting me out of there and letting me stay here" I tell him, looking at him. I yawn, laying my head back on his shoulder. "Sorry, I'm really tired".
"You can go back to sleep. Do you want me to stay or go?", Fabio asks, letting go of me.
"This sounds really weird, but would you want to stay? I'm a little scared of being alone. I don't want anymore nightmares", I feel so stupid saying this. I don't dare to look him in the eye.
"Yeah, no problem. Let me just grab my phone and set an alarm". Fabio gets out of bed and walks to his own room. He comes back with his phone in hand and a shirt on. "I thought you might be more comfortable if I'd wear a shirt", he tells me laying down next to me. "Come, lie back down. I'll be here, I won't go anywhere"
A little hesitant I lie down, my head on his chest. His arm around me. It feels save. Others may think there's more going on when they see us lying like this, but for me it's just feeling save. "Thank you", I whisper before falling asleep.
I wake up well rested, feeling better than I did the last few weeks. It takes me a few moments to realise I'm not alone. My head is still on Fabio's chest. Slowly I lift myself off of him, seeing he's wide awake. His phone in hand, scrolling through Instagram.
"You should've woken me up", is the first thing I say, sitting up a little.
"Good morning to you too", he smiles, "I didn't have anywhere to be and you looked like you needed the sleep"
"Yeah, I did, thanks. I slept really well", I look around to find my phone, but can't find it anywhere.
"Your phone is charging in the kitchen. Tom did that before going to Mathilde last night. Your journal is there as well", Fabio answers my unspoken question.
"Oh.. okay. So what does your day look like?", I ask. I actually have no idea what a whole MotoGP weekend looks like. I mean off track.
"I have to be at the physical therapist in an hour. And the rest of the day is interviews, some Instagram live and running. I think Tom will be here in half an hour and Maider in about two hours tops", Fabio puts his phone down and gets up. "I'm gonna shower. If you want you can join me to the physical therapist?"
"Yeah, that would be nice", I smile. "Wait, you said running, where?" I ask when he's almost outside the room.
"On the track. Why?", He turns around in the doorway.
"Oh", I say a little disappointed, "I actually wanted to run later. But I figure something out"
"Well, I don't think you want to run as much as I need to run, but you can run a lap or something. It's pretty nice. Tom usually bikes a few laps with me", he says before walking away.
I change in a baggy boyfriend jeans and a big shirt. I normally would never wear something like this. I don't have the perfect body, with a skinny waist, I'm curvy and a little bigger. So a baggy jeans and big shirt would make me even heavier. But I don't have to impress anyone. I just want to hide.
After brushing my teeth in the kitchen I'm all ready. Fabio is still in the shower. I take my phone and journal and sit down at the table. After seeing no new messages, I open my journal again. Reading what I wrote last night. I've never done anything like this, but yesterday I just started writing and kept going. I wrote about Alex. About what happened, but also about the nice times we had. The nice memories. How he used to bring me tea in bed when I wasn't feeling well.
But when I read all of this, I realize there weren't much nice memories. Most were me surprising him or doing something he wanted to do. We went to a lot of comic book meetings and conventions. He collected them. But I didn't really care about them. At the time I gladly went along because it made him happy. I guess I was really in love with him.
"You already ready?", Fabio walks out of the bathroom in a Yamaha shirt and dark jeans. It suits him.
"Yeah, just need to find some sneakers"
"I thought women took ages to get ready in the morning", he jokes. "Hey, I think you should wear a Yamaha shirt, just to be sure they don't think you're just a fan. You can borrow one of my shirts"
"Yeah sure, that's a great idea", I tell him sarcastically. "I don't know if you took a good look at me, but it won't fit"
Fabio looks surprised at me, "of course it will. It may be a little big, but it won't be a problem for a day"
"I'll take the compliment. But I'm fine in my own clothes", I look down at my journal again. He's crazy thinking I could wear his clothes. I mean we are the same height, but I must be 20kg heavier. I haven't stepped on the scale for half a year, but I never shop clothes smaller than large.
"Maybe you need to look in the mirror again, Julie. I'm serious, those pants fall off your ass and that shirt is three sizes too big. I won't force it on you, but I'm sure it fits you", he turns around, getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "Tom is picking up my breakfast, what do you want?"
"Nothing, I'm fine", I start writing again. This time about my job. About the good parts, the bad parts. My majors and masters. I start with the facts and continue with my feelings. I didn't notice Fabio stepping outside.
The writing makes me feel better.
"Juul, you ready?", Tom yells from outside, pulling me out of my thoughts and writing. I stand from my place at the table and walk out. "Hey! You already here?"
"Yeah, time to go. Get your shoes"
I get back inside, closing my journal and slip on my sneakers. Outside Tom and Fabio are waiting with two scooters. Tom's holding a Yamaha jacket.
"Here, Rafaella got this for me. It's the biggest woman size she could find". I smile grateful, slipping it on. It's big, but I like it.
"Come on, let's go"
We ride to the clinica mobile and Fabio leads me inside.
"I have an appointment with a different guy this time. My regular physical therapist, Julio, isn't here this weekend", he tells me, going to the right room.
"Hey Fabio. Good to see you", the guy greets him, shaking his hand, "Matteo"
"Hey, thanks for seeing me"
"So who did this?", He asks looking at the taping I did. I look down blushing.
"Actually, Julie did this last night", Fabio says, looking at me.
"Yeah, Fabio strained his flexor pollicis a little playing golf yesterday. So I did a quick fix. Maybe not the best work, I don't usually treat world champions", I speak softly.
"Not something I usually use. But I'm a little curious, you a physical therapist?", Matteo asks, "Fabio can you lay down? I'll look at it"
"She's a physical therapist with a sports master and major in motorsports. Among other things", Fabio answers for me. I look at him surprised, he remembers that?
He takes his shirt off and lies down, handing me the shirt. "did you also major in motorsports, Matteo?"
"Oh.. uh, no. I didn't. Where do you work Julie?"
"I don't at the moment. I worked in Nice for a few years. Saw some Motocross injuries over the years. But this is more a thing I learned from my tennis major. The beginners usually tend to twist and hold their racket in a certain way it strains their flexors. Fabio had some pain holding pressure while squeezing and moving his thumb up. And the muscle belly was a little swollen", I try to explain. "But maybe you want a different approach, you're the expert after all"
Matteo removes the tape and Fabio looks at me smiling. "So do I need to squeeze again?", He asks me.
I just shrug, looking expectantly at Matteo.
"I want to look at it with an echo. I'll be right back", Matteo walks out of the room.
" 'you're the expert' ", Fabio mimicks my voice. "You are the expert", he points at me, "he could learn something from you"
"Fabio please, I don't work with MotoGP riders. I may have studied about it, but he has the experience"
"You're doing yourself short", was all he said before Matteo came back. He did the echo and everything was perfectly fine. Fabio insisted on squeezing and squeezed a lot harder in Matteo's hand than mine yesterday. But without any pain.
He thanked him and asked when Julio was back.
Turns out, Julio is leaving for a job with some football team. A little less travelling around and a little extra salary.
Fabio isn't happy about it, he certainly trusts the guy a lot more than Matteo.
Outside, Tom is talking to a man I recognize as Francesco Bagnaia.
"Hey man, you here to see this Matteo guy as well?", Fabio asks.
"Yeah, he's gonna check out my shoulder. Why?", He looks from Fabio, to me, to Tom.
"Fabio isn't a fan.. but he isn't bad, he knows what he's doing", I speak up. Bagnaia looks curious at me. "Sorry, I'm Julie. A friend of Tom's"
"Hi, Pecco", he says shaking my hand. Fabio interrupts with saying, "she isn't just Tom's friend. She's also a damn good physical therapist. If you don't trust Matteo, come to her. She really knows what she's doing"
"Yeah yeah.. you're just not used to him. It's all going to be fine", I tell Fabio. "Really, Pecco, he's a great physical therapist. Don't listen to Fabio", I assure Pecco. It's so weird. I'm a Pecco fan and now I'm talking to him like he's an old friend.
Fabio doesn't know, but I wanted Pecco to win Misano last year. Maybe better if I don't tell him that.
The door opens and Matteo walks out. "Ah, Francesco, here you are", he says holding the door open for him. "Julie, are you still here this afternoon?", I nod at him surprised, "can you come back here around 2? I want to talk about something", Matteo asks, I nod again, he smiles before he disappears inside.
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Hey everyone,
Thank you soo much for reading this. I would really like to know what you're opinions are. I hope you will leave a comment or message me.
Thank you again for reading this!!!
xSuuz