Full Throttle

Shopping Trip

I started hardcore training as soon as I'd had the recovery day back in England. I'd had to write down my schedule and post it on my wall so that I didn't get distracted or forget anything:
6.30 wake-up, get up at 7.00.
Smoothie and yoghurt with granola and fruit at 7.10.
Leave the house at 8.00, 8.30 maximum.
Catch the trains to London and meet Nick at the gym at 10.00.
Cardio until 10.45, quick break for some dried fruit and avocado.
Core until 11.30.
Arms and legs until 12.30.
Break for smoothie and a little bit of pasta with a protein bar until 1.00.
Neck training until 1.30.
Cardio cooldown until 1.45.
Lunch time until 2.45.
Sim room until 4.00.
Get back home at 6.00 for dinner and relax time.

Much to my dad's disapproval, my new schedule meant that I was out of the house most of time, although he was pleased to hear that I'd sit down most nights I was home and watch a movie or T.V series with him. Most of the time, we ended up watching M.A.S.H, the comedy show about doctors in the Korean War. We'd watched it a million times, I'd practically been raised on it, which, in hindsight, probably was not a good thing, but we loved it anyhow. It was during one of the episodes that I received a call from Katie.
"Hang on, dad. I've got to take this. You carry on watching." I walked into the kitchen and pressed the green answer button.
"Heya."
"Hey, Jess! How're things?"
"They're good, I've got myself a stricter training schedule. How about you?"
"Nice, nice. I've been good, went out with some old friends from Uni the other night. Got absolutely hammered. Like, I'm surprised that my kidneys still work," she laughed. "Looking forward to Monaco? It's a fancy one."
"Yeah, I guess I am, but I don't know what it'll be like," I sighed.
"What dress have you got?"
"Dress?"
"You're appearing at the Amber Lounge event in Monaco on the Friday night... didn't anybody tell you?"
"No!" I exclaimed, my voice climbing up an octave.
"Right, okay, it's okay. What're you doing tomorrow?"
"Training, as usual."
"Well, I'll text Nick and tell him that I'm taking you off his hands for the day and we are going dress shopping instead."
"Okay?"
"I'll meet you at London Liverpool Street at... when's the best time for you?"
"Uhh, around 10, I guess."
"Cool, I'll see you there tomorrow. Bye, hun!"
She ended the call before I could respond anymore, and I trudged back into the living room.
"What was that all about?" my dad asked, his eyes still glued to the T.V.
"Katie just called me, I'm appearing at the Amber Lounge event in Monaco, and we're going dress shopping tomorrow."
"Sounds fancy!"
"Yeah... it does."
I texted Beth to ask if she and Lexi wanted to come with me, but they were busy and couldn't come, then texted Nick and apologised for not being able to go to training. He said that it was fine and that he was actually thankful for the day off. I called Lando before I went to bed and told him, he sounded excited for me, and mentioned that George was going to be doing the same event, along with Charles. We spoke about that for a while before we said our goodnights and hung up the call. I went to bed dreading the thought of all eyes being on me wearing a dress.  

"Right, so, the theme is 'ice white'."
"Right..."
Katie and I were walking down the highstreet, and she was talking about the fashion; which was going straight over my head. It wasn't like I didn't try, sometimes I like to look nice, I just have bad memories of dressing up for things. I did like to paint my nails every once in a while, or do some nice makeup, or put my hair up all fancy, and I did have a few properly fancy dresses, although I never wore them. I did point this out to Katie, but she insisted that we go shopping for new ones. She'd led me into a shop whilst I was still in my daydream, and I found myself inside of a large room that was bathed in golden lighting and had ordered rows of dresses at the sides, all properly labelled and sorted out. I woman approached us.
"Hello, how can I help you two ladies today?"
"Oh, hello, I'm Katie Forrester and this is Jessie Osbourne, I called up yesterday about a dress fitting for Jessie."
"Ah, of course! It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Osbourne. My name is Fiona, and I shall be assisting you today." She turned back towards Katie, "So, do you have a type of dress in mind? What's the occasion?"
"Jessie will be racing in Monaco next weekend, and will need a dress for the Amber Lounge event that she has been invited to appear at. The theme is 'Ice White'. Something elegant but not 'wedding dressy' would be perfect. Don't you think, Jess?"
"Uh, yeah, sure."
"Alright, let's go to the back and see what type of dress would best suit your figure," Fiona said with a smile. We followed her past the racks of expensive looking dresses and she, as if reading my mind, asked what my budget was.
"Um, I don't really know how much dresses cost on average, so I guess I'll just decide whether or not a dress is too expensive or not."
"Sounds like a plan." She unlocked the fitting room, which seemed about half the size of the main room itself, and it had a massive mirror at the front, with mirrors either side. At the edges of the room were benches and rails, presumably to hang dresses up on.
"Okay," Fiona said, closing the door, "if you would take your outer clothes, just down to your underwear, and I'll take your measurements."
I looked uncertainly to Katie, who nodded and mouthed that it would be okay. I hesitantly took off my light blue hoodie, along with my white t-shirt and black jeans. It was surprisingly warm in the fitting room, but just cold enough to be just right.
"Alright, arms out to the side, please, Miss Osbourne," Fiona said, standing in front of me with a measuring tape and a light smile. I did as she said and she put the tape around my waist, hips, bust, and from my waist to my ankles, jotting down measurements on the notepad she had taken out of her pocket.
"Perfect. Now, can you give me an idea of the style of dress that you would be keen on? With your figure, which is just beautiful if I must say, I recommend something that shows off your curves, but still flows."
"Um, I-I'm not too sure on the 'showing off my curves' idea, if-if I'm honest," I stuttered.
"Well how about I bring back some dresses that do show off your figure and some dresses that will tone it down a bit, and you can decide for yourself, would that be okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I suppose."
She left the room and Katie came towards me.
"I agree with her, you know. You have an amazing figure! I never realised because you always hide it with baggy clothes."
"Yeah, that's the whole point of wearing baggy clothes."
"But you have such a nice body!"
"And who do you think that will attract? The wrong people. You see it in the papers anyway, reporters commenting on famous women's clothing choices as if they haven't already got men to contend with when they walk down the street. I just, I find baggy clothes more comfortable."
"Okay, Miss Osbourne, I have a few here for you to try on while I look for some more," Fiona said, coming in and hanging the dresses up on the railings.
"Oh, thank you."
She left and I walked towards and looked at the dresses that she'd left. They all looked like the weird outfits that models wore on the runways, with feathers and sequins and strange shapes and it all looked very 'edgy designer'. One of them caught my eye, and I took it off the railing. It was a floor length dress with slits down the sides of the legs and embroidery around the bust and going up over the shoulders.
"Want to try it on?" Katie asked from the left of me. I nodded and showed her it.
"I think you might have to take your bra off for that one," she laughed. I turned red. "Don't worry," she continued, "I won't look. In fact, I'll stand outside and make sure Fiona doesn't come in either. Just knock on the door if you need any help."
"Thanks, Kate."
She left as well, the door clicking shut behind her. I took another look at the dress, before sighing and hanging up to unclip my bra and put it with the rest of my clothes. I unzipped the bag that the dress was in and then undid the clasps at the back with the lace embroidery and unzipped the side. I took it off the hanger, turned away from the mirror so as not to see myself, and stepped into it, pulling it up, over my hips, sliding my arms through the holes and zipping the side back up again. I managed to somehow do the clasps again at the back and I took a deep breath. It felt snug around my torso, but not too snug. The silky fabric was cool against my legs as it floated around. I turned around and looked up into the mirror. I stared at the woman looking back at me, my mouth slightly agape. My hair definitely did not match, and I still needed shoes, but it was perfect and was just modest enough to not give the paparazzi something inappropriate to write about. I wandered over to the door, enjoying the dress gliding around my legs, and knocked three times before running quickly back in front of the mirrors, facing the door. Katie peered inside and squealed excitedly, a massive smile lighting up her face.
"Oh my God! You look beautiful! Oh, it is just the thing to really 'wow' everybody."
"An excellent choice, Miss Osbourne. It looks as if it was made for you," Fiona added, stepping inside and closing the door.
"Have you got any shoes that might possibly go with it?" I asked, the little girl in me coming out. She held up a finger and disappeared again.
"Turn around," Katie ordered. I did so, and she hugged me as I turned to face her again. Fiona reappeared inside the room again and held up a pair of dainty silver heels. Katie took them and I bent down to put them on my feet. They were surprisingly comfortable, although I doubted that I'd be saying the same thing after wearing them for a few hours. I stood back up again and lost my balance slightly, but Katie grabbed my hand, helping me to stand straight.
"I'm going to need practice if I don't want to fall over in Monaco," I said, making the two women laugh.
"How much does this all cost?" I asked Fiona.
"The dress is £2,500, and the shoes are £750. Is that okay?"
"Yes," I said, thinking for a second before saying that it was fine.
"Alright, you get changed and let's get these checked out!" 

"Push, push, push, push, push, push, push, there we go. Well done, Jessie," Lando's trainer, John, said, patting me on the back as I got up out of the chair that helped in the torture of my muscles. I was training with the boys again today, and we'd pranked George twice; by 'we', I mean Lando, John, Nick, Aleix who is George's trainer, and me. George laughed it off, but we knew that he'd get us back at some point, and it would probably be at a race weekend.
"So, Jessie, you got yourself an outfit for Monaco yet? Lando mentioned that you were doing the Amber Lounge event with Charles and I," George said as we did our cardio cooldowns on the treadmills.
"Yeah, I've got an outfit."
"You know it has to be formal, right, Jessie," John mocked. I rolled my eyes at him and gave him my middle finger, making him laugh.
"What have you bought?" Lando asked.
"You'll find out in Monaco. Say, George, how much did your suit for the event cost you?"
"Too much," he answered. "But then again, it is a good suit. I think Charles' was more expensive."
"Well yeah, but Charles is Monégasque. He's kind of got to make a good appearance," Lando pointed out.
"You guys need to stop yapping and focus on what you're doing," Aleix said.  
"Will do," George said.