Full Throttle

Aftermath

"Fucking gun it, fucking gun it, come on fucking gun it, Jessie," I growled to myself as I rounded the final turn onto the straight of my last lap, Charles hot on my tail. I flew past the chequered flag and relaxed on the accelerator, down-shifting to match my decreasing speed.
"P5! P5, Jessie! Amazing, absolutely brilliant! You got Driver of the Day as well, congratulations! Great race, well done, great race!" Jonathon sounded ecstatic over the radio as I whooped and cheered for myself inside my helmet.
"Well done, guys, thank you to everybody. It's amazing being in this car, thank you!" I drove slowly around the track before parking it with Vettel's car in the line from P4. I took off the steering wheel and clambered out of the car, pulling off my HANS and putting it into the car along with the overly-complicated steering wheel that should really be called more of an oval or a rectangle at this point. I lifted up my visor and rubbed my eyes, my vision returning in time to see Sebastian Vettel walking towards me.
"Jessie Osbourne," he said, "you were giving me hell and I hate you for it, but what a drive. First race, rookie season and you're pressuring me and defending against Charles. Congratulations! Your family must be so proud of you." He held out his hand and I shook it in stunned silence.
"My dad absolutely loves you," I blurted out.
"Oh yeah? What's his number, I'll text him to tell him how much of a pain in the ass you were today," he chuckled as he said a goodbye and walked away. A hand patted my shoulder.
"Well done, amazing driving today," Charles said.
"Thanks."

I walked back to the pit and was welcomed by cheers and pats on the back.
"Well done, Jessie," Nick said to me, shaking my hand before whispering in my ear. "You've made them both proud."
I smiled, images of what my mum and Dylan would look like celebrating with my dad causing tears to prick at my eyes.
"Do you know where my phone is?"
"With your stuff in the room."
"Okay, I'll be back. I've got to call dad."

I rummaged through my rucksack to find the red cased device, pulling it from the depths of the bundles of clothes, and pressed my dad's contact. It rung through.
"Jessie! Oh, Jessie you were brilliant, love. There was so many people in the pub to watch you race, and what a race it was, my darlin'."
"Dad, are you crying," I giggled.
"Course I'm crying, I just seen my daughter come 5th in a Formula One Grand Prix! Nevermind what happened this morning, it's in the past now, and you have this to celebrate. Beth, Lexi, and Jacob are here as well, they're ever so proud of you, lovey. Driver of the Day, too!"
My phone pinged to let me know I had a notification, and I checked it quickly, putting my still speaking dad on loud speaker as I did so. It was from Charles Leclerc, although I don't know how he got my number. I'd have to ask him later. It was a video attachment.
Charles: Hey, Jessie, it's Charles Leclerc, Seb told me to send you this. It's for your dad apparently.
Read 4.12pm
Jessie: Hi, Charles, thanks.
Read 4.14pm
"Hey, dad, have you got your iPad with you?"
"Yes, why?"
"I'm going to send you a video and I want you to stay on the phone as you watch it, okay?"
"Okay, lovey."
I sent the video to his iPad contact, and heard the buzz at the other end of the call.
"Okay, let's see here," my dad muttered, and I just knew that he'd put his glasses on and was doing the face that everyone's fathers did like they were inspecting the screen.
"Oh my God..." I heard him mumble. I faintly heard the voice of Sebastian Vettel in the background.
"Oh, Jessie, oh I'm so proud of you, and, oh your mother and Dylan would be bursting with joy if they were still here to see this." My dad's voice cracked and wavered as he spoke, too overwhelmed with emotion.
"Well I'll be back home soon, don't you worry. Now, I've got to go, I've got to debrief. I'll speak to you later, dad."
"Alright, darlin'. Speak to you soon."
The call ended and I wiped away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks, then I put my phone away, walked out of the door, and up to the meeting room.

I didn't realise how tired I was until the debrief had finished. Katie met me outside of the room with a top-up for my diminished water bottle, and some avocado.
"You are a bloody lifesaver," I said as I thanked her.
"You've got a press conference now. Other drivers with you are Lewis Hamilton, Valteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, and Sebastian Vettel," she chirped.
"Oh great, all of the people that I don't talk to."
We walked briskly to where the press conference was being held so as to not be late; the debrief had run over slightly and the schedule was already tight. I was the last one to arrive and the four drivers looked at me when I walked through the door. I paused, not liking the sudden attention.
"Jessie," Lewis said, walking towards me, "congrats. Great first race."
"Thanks," I said, shaking his outstretched hand.
"I don't expect that you'll get a lot of questions, given who's in the conference with you," Katie whispered into my ear as I walked up to get my mic fitted.
"Okay."
I waited, going on my phone as the others talked.
"Jessie." I looked up to see Max Verstappen standing in front of me.
"Hi?"
"If any of the reporters give you grief about what happened this morning or if there are any questions that you don't want to answer, we'll shut them down for you."
"Thanks, but I can fight my own battles."
He nodded and gave a quick smile, before wandering back to the others.
"Okay guys, you are good to go," a man with a headset and a clipboard said. Valtteri walked through first, then Sebastian, then Lewis, then Max, and finally, me. My heart was beating out of my chest as the bright lights hit my eyes and I saw all of the reporters and journalists on chairs. I took my seat, placing my bottle down in front of me with a shaky hand.
"Okay, folks, first question," the supervisor said to the audience. Everything was done in a very orderly fashion. Nobody shouted out. People had the order of which they followed. A man stood up.
"This is a question for Valtteri, uh, how does it feel beating your teammate in the first race of the year?"
Valtteri chuckled and made his reply, I wasn't listening. My heart rate was speeding up again and my palms were beginning to sweat. I didn't like it here.
"Okay, and a question for Jessie Osbourne," the man said. I looked up at him, trying to hide the panic in my eyes. "How do you feel about completing your first race in Formula One?"
I breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Uh, yeah, it was a, a good race. I'm feeling good about it," I answered. The questions carried on, being fired at the others, as expected, and my anxiety eased off a little, although I was still wringing my hands and fiddling with my Toro Rosso cap every now and then.
"Jessie Osbourne, can you tell us what happened to you this morning?"
I looked up at the journalist who'd asked the question and sucked in a deep breath.
"Well, um, what do you want to know?"
"It was reported that you fainted, is that correct?"
"Uh, yes. That's, correct."
"Why? Was it because you were nervous about the race? Were you overwhelmed by being surrounded by male drivers, or something," the man said with an amused smile on his face, like he was enjoying trying to make me look like a fool.
"No. I was asked some, uh, bad questions by another reporter."
"So, some bad questions caused you to pass out? That's hardly believable," the reporter chuckled.
"She doesn't have to comment on that," Sebastian Vettel spoke up. I shook my head.
"I'm not going to say anything further about this subject," I said quietly.
"Well at least tell us what questions you were ask-"
"Jessie just told you that she wasn't going to comment on whatever you're trying to find out. Drop the subject, or leave," Max said, interrupting the man who promptly clamped his mouth shut and sat back down in his chair.
"Thank you," I whispered to him.
"I told you that we had your back."