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"Why can't you just go and make the deal? You know I don't wanna be involved in that sport no more. I already went to help Kay look over the contract." Kallie's voice echos down the hall making Keziyah look up at the stairs where her sister was walking down with the diapers and wipes.

"I told you a million times, I have no interest in motorsport. I got kids to take care of, Kalliope. The only reason we're sponsoring Mercedes is cause they signed Kaylen. Stop thinking about yourself and do this for our brother, okay? You know more than anyone that he needs you. I'm no use to him when it comes to motorsport." Kez replies, taking the stuff from her sister so she could change her son's diaper.

"What about the album? Taylor said you'd need my help? I can't help if I'm traveling do all these races with him." Kallie said, her african accent coating her vocals as she sits on the sofa in her sister's LA apartment.

"This album won't be out for a while so you can still help when you have free time, and if not, that's fine. Taylor still has me if she needs any help. Pass me the wipes please." Kallie sighs at her sister's words, passing the container of baby wipes. "Why can't mama just go with him? She can support him better than I can. And it would get her out of Africa for a while." Kez shoots her sister a knowing look, "you know exactly why I'm not asking mama to go with him. And you really think she'd wanna go on a plane?"

Kallie averted her eyes to the floor, every since their father passed in a place accident, her mother hated planes. The only times she went on planes was if it was to one of Keziyah's movie premieres or award shows, otherwise she wouldn't go on one, and it had to be Kez's private jet. "She needs to face it eventually, Kez. If we all did, she can too," Kallie points out, desperate for any reason to not go.

"Kalliope, we are not forcing our mother to travel alongside Kay. That was her husband in that plane, it's different for her. She's terrified of going on planes not just because of Baba, but because she doesn't want us to lose her too. Why are you making this so hard? Is it an ex or something? Did you date someone on the grid? Is it that Lewis guy? I knew you had problems with him on the track but I didn't think it was that serious." Kez rants, pulling the Kaidyn into her lap as he played on his iPad.

Kallie sighs, shaking her head, "no, no, it has nothing to do with him or anyone on the grid." Kez raised a brow, wondering what it was. "It's fine, I'll go. He's gonna need my help anyways, I guess." She sighs in defeat, laying back on the sofa as Kez gives a look of relief, she thought it would take forever to get her to agree. Kallie was always the more stubborn sister.

"Mama!" They look up as the six year old Kamari runs downstairs excitedly. "Hey, no running in the house! You could get hurt!" Kez scolds, her daughter immediately nodding and slowing down but still excitedly making her way towards the woman. "Mama, look! I lost a tooth!" The child holds up her tooth excitedly and Kez grinned, pressing a kiss to her head. "That's so awesome baby! You wanna go put it under your pillow so the tooth fairy can come pick it up?"

Kamari nods eagerly, showing her aunt the tooth before running towards the stairs. "Slow down, Mari or you gonna lose another tooth!" Kallie warns and the girl obeys, walking up the stairs instead of running.

"I swear that girl never listens to me. Mike let's her run all over his house so now she thinks it's okay to do here." Kez sighed, picking up Kaidyn in her arms. "Anyway, I'm gonna start dinner. The kids would love for you to stay but we understand if you have work. No pressure, sister." Kallie smiles and nods, "I can stay. Here, you look tired, I'll make dinner and watch the kids. You take a nap. You have a plane to catch tomorrow, remember?"

Kez let's out a relieved sigh, handing Kaidyn to her younger sister. "Wow, that's very thoughtful of you, sister." Kallie nods in assurance, using the pillows to make a small fort around Kaidyn so he can't fall off.

"You guys listen to your Aunt Kallie! Mama's gonna take a nap." Kez says loudly so Kamari can hear before she walks upstairs to her room.

"Thank you, Kallie. I'm so grateful for you, Kallie," she mutters to herself, standing up to start dinner.

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Kalliope tugged down her dress and shut the car door, rushing into the building she owned with her sister. It was a huge fragrance brand she started with her sister called Malo Fragrance; inspired by their mother Kaikara. When Kaylen signed with Mercedes, one of their shareholders thought it would be a good idea to sponsor them. It would help grow their business, not that it wasn't already huge but it was a good business opportunity and who were they to turn it down?

Kaylen sat down in the meeting room, nervously glancing down at his phone, seeing all of his texts to his sister not seen. "I'm so sorry, she's had a rough couple days. Tough breakup, ya know?" He explains, adding a little white lie. Lewis and Toto both nod in understanding, along with the few others. They were also supposed to get a tour of the building to see how it all worked before signing a contract. Lewis was there as Keziyah contacted him about a separate contract.

In a few seconds, the door is pushed open and Kalliope stumbles in, almost tripping because of her heels. "Hi! My apologies for my tardiness. Welcome to Malo Fragrance Headquarters, shall we get started?" She smiles kindly, ignoring the annoyed look she got from Kaylen. "Of course, it's no problem. Lead the way, Ms. Kumalo." Toto says, himself and the others standing up to follow the woman.

"Uh, Ms. Peterson can you show them downstairs where the coffee is. I need to have a private conversation with Ms. Kumalo." Kaylen says, the assistant nods quickly and gestures for the men to follow her. Lewis walks out last, his arm accidently brushing into Kallie's, "sorry, love." He says before leaving the conference room, not giving her a chance to respond.

"Where have you been? We've been waiting here for fifteen minutes, do you know how embarrassing that was?" Kaylen exclaimed.

Kallie sighs, dropping her head, "I know, I'm so sorry. There's no excuse. It won't happen again, Kay. Promise you." Kaylen sighs, bringing her into a hug, regretting his words. He knew how much pressure she had on herself, running the companies as Keziyah was off filming a movie. "It's okay, Kal. You're doing your best. Come on, let's not keep them waiting any longer. I had to say you were going through a breakup so try to look heartbroken."

Kallie furrowed her brows, following her brother down the stairs. "A breakup? Really?" Kaylen shrugs, "it was all I could think of. Now that I think about it, it's unrealistic as hell. You haven't dated anyone in forever." Kallie scoffs, hitting his arm harshly, he winces before pulling a tight smile when they get closer to the guests.

"Sorry about that. Let's get started for real this time. I'm Kalliope Kumalo, and I'll be showing you around. I know you were all expecting my sister Keziyah, most usually are, but she's off filming right now so she couldn't make it. Therefore why you are stuck with me, her younger and less famous sister." Kallie jokes, obviously the older guys didn't really get it much so she wasn't surprised by the tight smiles. Although, Lewis held a look of genuine amusement.

"Actually, we're all quite familiar with you. I think you forgot you raced for our rivals," Lewis spoke up, taking a sip of his water. Kallie smiled awkwardly, "right, yeah, that did happen. Anyways, uh, just follow me. I'll show you around the factory, it's just in the next building." Kaylen walked alongside Lewis as they walked around the factory, Kallie explaining how everything worked and almost tripping over her own feet a lot. For a driver, she was quite the clumsy one.

"Is she always this clumsy? I didn't notice when she raced before." Lewis asks quietly towards the youngest sibling.

"Yeah, she's very uncoordinated, especially in heels. I don't even know why she wears them. It's like watching a toddler try to walk for the first time." Kaylen replies, watching his sister bump into one of the workers by accident. Lewis chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. The tour was over and they were back in the conference room, Mercedes had just signed a contract with them and was getting ready to leave, each person having a box of the cologne and perfume. (the perfume most likely for their partners) 

"All right then, it's a pleasure doing business with you, Toto." Kallie smiles, shaking the tall man's hand as she stood from her chair. "You as well, Kallie. I hope to see back on the track, or at least in the garage." He said kindly, returning the gentle handshake. "Yeah, hopefully. You have a good day." She and Kaylen exchanged goodbyes and Kallie turned to get herself a cup of coffee. When she turns around, she jumps slightly, noticing Lewis still sitting in his chair.

"What are you still doing here?" She furrowed her brows in confusion and he does the same. "Uh, I got a message from your sister, Keziyah, right? She said we'd look over a separate contract?" Kallie, still confused, reached over to the phone and dialed up her sister's number as Lewis waited patiently. "Hello? This is Keziyah's phone?" Neela had picked up, Keziyah's manager ever since she was 16.

"Hi, Neela, this is Kalliope. Did you by any chance contact Lewis Hamilton about a separate contract?" Kallie asked, leaning against the table with a curious look even if she couldn't see Neela's face. "Oh, uh, is that the cute race car driver?" Neela asks in her strong Pakistani accent. Kallie clears her throat, ignoring the small smirk that grew on Lewis's lips from the comment. "Yes, that's him. Kez didn't mention anything about meeting with him today."

"Well, that's because she knew you wouldn't want to. Said something about him being your ex or uh rival or something like that-" Kallie's eyes widened, quick to mute the call before Neela could continue with her theories about the driver. Kallie let go of the button and sighed, "so it's true then? I'm meeting with him today about the contract?"

Neela nods, despite not being on camera or anything. "Yes, you should be meeting with him right now actually."

"Okay, thank you, Neela." Kallie pursed her lips awkwardly, avoiding any eye contact with the driver. She could only imagine the cocky ass smirk on his face. "Of course, and Kez said not to screw it up. He has a good face. Bye now." Neela hung up, making Kallie close her eyes and look down, shaking her head in exasperation.

"It might just be me but I don't recall being your ex," Lewis spoke up, breaking the insufferable silence in the room. Kallie rolled her eyes, turning around to face him, she pressed another button, "Ms. Peterson, bring me the three year sponsorship contract right away." She doesn't wait for a response, letting go of the button. "Sorry about that, she must've gotten you confused with another ex."

Lewis shrugs, not bothered by the mishap. "Oh yeah, sorry about the breakup by the way. Seems tough."

Kallie didn't hide her confusion, making Lewis raise a brow in suspicion. "Oh! Yeah, right, breakup. Of course. Thanks. Very very tough." She lies, chuckling nervously. Thankfully before he could question it, Ms. Peterson walked in with the folder and handed it to her boss. "Thank you." Kallie takes the folder and walks over to where Lewis sat, she leaned against the table and set the folder down. "Take as much time as you need. I'll answer any questions you have."

"Okay. Why did you leave F1?" He asks, not even opening the folder yet.

Kalliope withholds the urge to roll her eyes, clenching her jaw tightly. "I meant work-related questions, Mr. Hamilton." Lewis grimaced at the name, "please, just call me Lewis. No need for formality when we've crashed into walls because of each other." He opens up the folder as Kallie walks over to the end of the table to grab her coffee.

"How's your mum doing by the way? We all miss her coming by the track." He asks, still reading over the contract, he was probably already finished with it but was stalling so he could talk to her longer.

"She's doing fine, still in Africa. I'm sure she would love to be at the track but the whole plane stuff is hard on her." Normally she wouldn't answer questions about her mother but Kaikara was very well loved by everyone, even Kallie's rivals. Her parents showed up for all of her races. So everyone took it really hard when her father Jae-hyun passed away.

"Yeah, everyone took it really hard. Jae was awesome. I took a visit to Korea a few months after his passing, helped me feel a bit closer to him. Can't imagine what she must be going through, or any of you really." Kallie smiles softly at his words, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. "To be honest, I have probably been avoiding Korea like the plague, unlike Kaylen who took over my apartment there."

"Yeah, he invited me over for the next time I visit. Hope you don't mind I'm there, seeing as it's your place." He says, not even hiding the fact that he wasn't looking at the contract anymore. He just wanted to talk to her. "No, I don't mind at all. It's not like I go there anymore." Kallie clears her throat seeing they were getting off track. "Anyways, back to the contract. What do you think? Any questions?"

"Does this mean I get free stuff?" He asks.

Kalliope chuckles lightly, "yes, for as long as we sponsor you."

Lewis grins, signing his name on the contract. "Then I'm down. Not that I wasn't already buying your products, it's just that my sister's are in love with you and your sister so this makes for good Christmas gifts." Kallie nods with a smile, picking up the folder and seeing he had written down his number as well. "Oh you didn't need to put your number, they know how to contact you," she explains.

"It's not for them. It's for you." Lewis says as he stands up, his words catching her off guard.

"A bit forward don't you think?" She questioned, trying to hide the fact that she was quite flattered.

"I like being forward. See you this season, love." Not giving her the chance to reply, he leaves the room.

Thankfully, he left just in time before she dropped to her knees, puking into the garage can. She wiped her mouth, only to see the dark crimson red liquid coating the back of her hand. She let's out a tired sigh, pulling out her phone and dialing a familiar number. "Hello, this is Dr. Grey's office, please leave a message with your name and number and I'll get back as soon as possible."

"Hey, Dr. Grey. It's Kalliope. It's happening again..."

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a/n: first chapter done, low key mad proud of it. im so excited for this book like 😆 anyways, why do you think kallie left formula 1? genuinely curious abt your theories 🏃‍♀️

btw, in case it wasn't clear, all the kumalo siblings are south african and korean! their father is korean and their mother is south african! for future reference, italics will be xhosa, korean, or arabic unless stated otherwise! kallie and kaylen speak four languages as keziyah speaks five including ASL!

this is purely fictional bc ik nothing abt how sponsorships work ok, i just needed an excuse for my two baes to talk before the season starts 🤸‍♀️

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