Her grandfather's death had been both sudden and expected at the same time. He had been rushed into hospital Friday and passed away during the early hours of Sunday morning.
Today and tomorrow would be the wake. People from far and wide came to pay their respects to a well known businessman and founder of Williams Racing Formula One team.
It had been 8 years since Katie was last at a wake and it too was in this very house being the one of her grandmother Virginia 'Ginny' Williams. Katie was 15 at the time and handled the situation very differently.
She had been in the middle of taking her GCSEs when her grand mother passed and instead of giving herself time to mourn properly, Katie had dived into studying 24/7 for her exams as a way of coping and when she finished her exams every emotion she had been holding in was released and she spent days in her room crying.
The wake opened at 2pm and was open til 9 that evening. By 4pm, they had already started to run out of supplies like teabags and coffee so Katie volunteered to take a trip to the shop to restock.
By the time she had returned the sun had set and the lights along the drive of the house illuminated the walk to the front door. More cars were here then before when she got out of her own car and walked back towards the house.
"Thank you dear." Claire Williams kissed her daughter on the temple as Katie lay the things down on the kitchen worktop.
"No problem." Katie smiled in replied as she made sure nothing would fall onto the ground before she turned to walk away.
"Oh Katie." Claire called out causing the brown haired girl to turn back around. "George is here."
George Russell had become a driver at Williams during Claire's time as deputy team principal and it was safe to say that Katie and George had gotten along very well, very quickly after first meeting.
Any race weekend Katie had been attending she would spent majority of her time with the driver and even went as far to accompany him on any trips he made over to Mercedes in order to see Toto.
Katie made her way to the old living room which was where Frank spent most of his time. It was like his and Ginny's special room. A place George had been a few times with Katie in the past during hai visits.
There she found George and his girlfriend Carmen looking at old pictures of her grandfather that had been laid out specifically for the wake.
"Hey you two." Katie spoke causing the pair to turn around at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hey Kate." George replied as he walked towards the Williams girl with open arms. She quickly accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around his waist as his went tightly around his shoulders.
George knew how hard everyone in the world of motorsport and Formula One were taking the death of Frank Williams so he could only imagine how Katie was feeling especially with being incredibly close to her grandfather.
"Thanks for coming." Katie said as she pulled away from her hug.
"I'm so sorry Katie." Carmen told the girl she considered a friend since being introduced to each other by George shortly after they started dating.
"Thanks Carmen." Katie replied with a smile as the two girls hugged one another. They pulled away as Katie took a seat on the arm of her grandfather's chair.
"Are you okay?" George wondered looking at the girl. It was clear that she hadn't slept in a few days, probably since Frank had been admitted to hospital.
"I'm fine." Katie assured him with a soft smile and nod of the head. Deep down she was both emotionally and physically drained but she had to keep a strong face for her family especially her little brother, Nathaniel.
"Katie. You don't have to pretend with me. It's okay if you're not." George told her as he reached to give her arm a reassuring squeeze.
"George I'm fine. Honestly." The brown haired girl said with a not so reassuring nod but George didn't want to push her.
"How about we go see Claire?" George asked looking at his girlfriend.
"Sure." Carmen nodded in reply. George was the first to walk our the door an Carmen gave Katie's hand a reassuring squeeze before following her boyfriend into the kitchen.
Katie took a proper seat in her grandfather's chair once she was alone. She reached over to grab a picture that was next to his chair. It was a picture of Frank, Claire and Katie at Silverstone last year. The media team had called in the three generations of Williams, saying how Katie would be doing Claire's job eventually.
But before that time came, the Williams team was sold to an American investment group cutting any person ties the Williams' family had with the F1 team.
lol It was a sad time for the family but something that had to be done for the benefit of the Williams team and for the family itself.
Katie held the frame in her lap as she continued to stare at it before she felt tears running down her cheeks and one eventually falling onto the frame in her hand.
She quickly wiped the tears from the frame and her face before placing the picture back in its place. The Williams girl stood up from her seat and walked towards the mirror on the wall.
Once she was happy with her appearance and it wasn't clear she had been crying, Katie walked towards the kitchen and the main living room that was bustling with people there to pay their tributes and condolences to Sir Frank Williams.
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YOU ARE READING
Supermarket Flowers // Lewis Hamilton
FanficThe death of her grandfather brought Katie Williams' world crashing down around her. The days after his death brought stories and reminiscing of the good times and a visiter who would change everything.