A girl chasing her dream. A boy looking for the light.
When Florence Nyx started her internship at a Formula 1 paddock, she expected a lot. Fast cars. Exclusive impressions most people could only dream of. An entire array of skills she'd acquire...
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It was Sunday morning and Florence and I sat at the hotel café, enjoying our breakfast before we headed to the race in Monaco. This was one of my favorite race tracks, so saying I was excited to be here would be an understatement. It's turbulent enough in an F2 car, but seeing the live action in a Formula 1 setting was just undefeatable. The thrill was insane.
Florence was scribbling something into her notebook while I ate the rest of her blueberry yogurt, which, apparently, was too sweet for her.
I've gotten to know more about her tastes over the past days and noticed that she paid meticulous attention to what she ate and drank, but not in an unhealthy, calorie-counting way. She wanted to be cautious about what she gave to her body. It sounded like something I should do more often too, admittedly.
My trainer had a meal plan for me during the time I raced Formula 2, but at the moment I was living day by day, enjoying what I could before I hopefully needed to get back into the seat.
The church bells ringing outside of the hotel reminded us of the time, and Florence glanced up with a groan. "Fuck. Now I can't even finish my notes..."
"What the hell are you even writing in there?" I raised a brow before I got up and packed my bag. "We've been here since Thursday, and you still haven't finished your notes on the workshop?"
"It's not just the workshop. It's about Qualifying, too. I barely had the time to make notes of anything with how hectic it was yesterday."
Hectic was an understatement. Monaco was always unpredictable and adventurous, but our Qualifying day had topped everything I'd seen before. From engine failure to tyres bursting and sudden rain showers, we've had it all. It was a miracle we were able to start in the top ten today.
"Do you really learn that much from just watching them?" I asked, interested in her train of thought.
Florence got up and followed me out of the cafe, straight onto the road adjacent to the paddock. I loved that this race track was literally right next to the hotel, but hated that it meant I'd had to spend yet another night with Connor in one room. Salim said it was the last time, but with Monaco being Monaco, it was impossible to find a room on such short notice.
"Well, obviously." Flo's shrug pulled me out of my thoughts. "And I don't just watch them. I ask questions, too. I work on the car. I work with the engineers. It's a whole process."
And even though I knew all of that, I sometimes forgot just how much she did already, given that she was just an intern, after all. The staff didn't treat her as such, though, not even at the security check before the paddock. They let her in without hesitation, which is a privilege some drivers didn't even get.
Most of the employees knew her — and liked her, too — which also stated how much work she must've put into her reputation, only four weeks into the whole thing.
