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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I'd always loved the exhilaration of Qualifying day.
People buzzing around, engines roaring from garages and the track, but most of all the thrill of following how milliseconds on the screen decided the position of Sunday's race.
Jin's hand found my shoulder as I watched Phoenix pull out of the garage for his final lap in Q3. He was in second place right now, right behind Connor, meaning he had to improve his lap time to gain the pole position.
"It's two hundredth of a second, Flo," Jin said, the hope in his eyes just as bright as it was in every other Azure Racing mechanic lately. These guys were counting on Phoenix to make up for hundreds of hours of work we'd put into his car.
"I know. He'll make it." I shot him a wink before putting my headset on, redirecting my gaze to the pit wall where the screens showed our data and live-feed images of Phoenix rushing down the track.
With my hands behind my back, trying to hide my nervous finger-pulling from the cameras and engineers, I listened to the radio rumbling through my headphones.
"The car feels good. Anything on your end?" Phoenix asked.
"Nope," Chris responded, "Numbers are fine. Make sure to hit the apex at turn 1 to save some time. Other than that, you're free to go."
"Gotcha. Let's do this."
And holy fucking shit.
Did Phoenix do this.
He raced down the asphalt like he was born to do just that, coming down the start-and-finish straight with an advantage of unspeakable nine tenths to Connor, who was now closing his own lap.
We all anxiously waited for Connor to finish his lap, hoping to hell and back he wouldn't improve his times... And he didn't.
Phoenix was on pole.
The entire garage erupted in cheers and applause, my mechanics pulling each other in hugs to celebrate this milestone of a victory. I barely heard Chris as he gave the message to Phoenix, who was just finishing his victory lap. "Alright, Phoenix, I'm sorry but you only—"
"Don't you fucking say it, Jojo."
I snorted at Phoenix's frustration, but nudged Chris's shoulder to encourage him to clear the air. No need to torture the guy much longer. "Just fucking with you, mate. That's P1. Pole position for the one and only Phoenix McCoy! Great job."
Silence lingered on the radio, but the live-feed showed the cockpit of Phoenix's car as he came down the main straight. He hit his fists on the steering wheel before raising one of them into the sky, his head falling backward for just a split second.
"Oh my fucking god... Fuck. Damn, that's never felt this good. Holy shit." His laugh seeped straight into my bones, and I couldn't help the massive grin on my face as I watched him pull into parc fermé, where he stopped his car in front of the sign with a bold 1. "The car was amazing. Thank you so much for that. What a miracle."
