This Love

5

The morning of the Grand Prix we take our time eating and make a bit more of an effort in terms of our appearance not knowing what to expect. Once I've finished my portion of the pancakes we made I drag myself to my bedroom standing in front of my suitcase thinking up an outfit for the day. "Cal" I look over my shoulder at Lexi, "we might need to turn up our outfits, I just searched up some of these drivers and wow" I snort, "like they would even notice that we spent an extra few minutes on what we wear" she shrugs and walks away leaving me to my own devices. My hands automatically reach for jeans, a yellow and black shirt and my favourite Colts baseball cap. On the way out of the room I grab my crossbody bag and jacket feeling ready for some sports action.

In the living room I see Jill and Lexi giggling over something. "What's got you guys acting like this?" I ask making the two of them look up, "is that what you're wearing?" I look down at myself not seeing what's wrong, "yes, why?" Lexi steps towards me, "babe..." I shake my head, "if this is about the drivers comment, I'm not putting in the effort for these men who I will never see again after this event" I explain, she pouts. Jill comes over putting a hand on her shoulder, "no point Lex, she'll be awkward as hell in front of them anyways" I scoff shoving her, "rude J, you know I can't help it" she winks making Lexi laugh. I roll my eyes before grabbing my pass and the penthouse key, walking out of the apartment not bothering to wait for my two friends who are still giggling behind me.

We decide to take transit to the racetrack knowing that even trying to get there by car would take way too long. "This is going to be epic" Jill exclaims while grinning, "you know I think you're right, i've never been to this kind of thing but the excitement in the air is contagious" I say with a smile looking out the window watching the scenery go by as we get closer to the venue. I sit up slightly when I see the building sized ad for the race the marketing professional in me loving the scale and colour combinations included in it. "Look Lex she's geeking out over an ad" I turn to my smiling friends, "oh stop, you guys get the same way about your passions" they open their mouths to object but then they nod in agreement making me smirk.

——

Lexi drags us the the event entrance minutes later, I jog to keep up with a smile on my face. An usher guides us to our seats and the crowd noise is thunderous, with hundreds if not thousands of fans in the stands, flags waving with many different logos on them. My eyes don't know where to look as we walk, I suddenly bump into Jill who has come to a stop in front of me. "Oops" she says sheepishly, I wave away her apology and that's when I notice the big VIP sign roped across the section we're entering. The three of us look at each other confused, but when the usher lets us through Lexi shrugs walking forward into the area. My eyes widen at the luxury of the viewing area we have entered, "woah" I say under my breath, "mhmm" Jill adds while taking my hand, "here you go ladies, enjoy the race" Lexi thanks the woman with a smile.

When she's out of earshot I walk over to Lexi, "how did we get these seats?" I ask shocked, "I don't know, I didn't realize they were this fancy when I looked at the passes" she replies, "you're aunt must be someone important over here" Jill adds, "I think she's some kind of ambassador or something" Lexi explains with a shrug of uncertainty. I let out a breath blinking a few times looking out towards the track, "guys..." me and Jill look over at our friend, "pictures or it didn't happen?" I scoff, "definitely" she smiles at my statement and reaches out her hand for my phone. She captures a few shots of me, one of me looking out at the venue and one of me facing her with a smile on my face, Lexi gives me a thumbs up before taking some pictures of Jill. I look down a the photos not being able to decide which one I like more so I post both tagging Barrie and using one of my ever so popular captions 'Took a wrong turn somewhere, this isn't a hockey rink' I jump in surprise when engines roar my phone forgotten so I put it back into my bag.

The three of us are leaning against the railing, which has us suspended above some of the paddocks. I glance down seeing the crew running around the garage below us, which graces the Renault name, the contrasting yellow and black standing out. "Looks like you ended up wearing the perfect shirt Cal" I look over at Lexi who is pointing at my shirt while smiling, "I didn't even plan that" I reply with a shrug, she gives me a look that says she doesn't believe me, "I didn't! I've never even watched racing let alone researched it for any reason" Jill pats my hand, "she's just teasing, we know you didn't plan that" I huff not enjoying being the punching bag today.

As I turn my head to look back to where the race has just started a strong gust of wind catches my hat lifting it off of my head, I gasp reaching for it, but before I can it drops over the railing and out of reach. "Guys" I say feeling panicked, "oh my god" they mumble in unison, my eyes widen, "I'm going to be in so much trouble, this is terrible, that's my favourite hat, what do I do?" Lexi comes over to me placing her hands on both of my shoulders, "breath Callie, it's going to be okay, we'll figure something out" she looks into my eyes concern on her face, "how though, what if it injures someone, it's the most unexpected things that cause the most damage" Lexi moves her hands up to my cheeks I feel extremely tensed up with anxiety, "shhh no one is going to get injured let's just go get some water and sit down, I'll buy you a new hat when we get back to Canada" i feel much breathing levelling out at her calm and reassuring voice as she leads me to where we can get beverages.

A/N Hey, Hi, Welcome to this fic, kinda late of me I know 😅 started watching the F1 series on Netflix...so that explains this out of the blue fic🤷🏻‍♀️ also losing my hat in any similar way like the one above is kind of my worst fear 😬 okay done babbling, hope you stay along for this ride 🥰