Something Gained

Chapter Thirty-Five

We were in Italy for race 14. After the last race and the disappointment we had all picked ourselves back up to go again.
Daniel, Lando and I were headed to the Sparco factory first thing Wednesday morning. Sometimes there commitments weren't just about shooting content and racing. Sparco is one of the teams sponsors and they make the race suits so both the guys were quite excited and they were good with these kinds of things because they took a genuine interest.
They looked around the factory, talking to everybody and finding out how they're race gear was made for them, it was also being filmed for the McLaren YouTube so we had a camera following them around.

Currently I was walking the track with Lando and Daniel, they were both goofing off and winding me up today. My phone buzzed which took my attention elsewhere, Hannah was texting.

You'll never guess what???!!!!!!

I replied back instantly, and waited for her response but it never came. Was it good, bad? Was it Liam? Daniel came up behind me and put his arms round my waist.
"There's cameras everywhere" I stated
"Mhm" he said in my ear. "Keeping it private but not a secret" he said. I smiled, his low tone sending shivers down my spine.
"Come on concentrate on work" I said
"I love it when you tell me what to do, ti voglio bene" he spoke before letting me go. I turned to look at him
"Did you just speak in Italian?" I asked, he smirked.
"Why? Did you like it?" He asked, I blushed a little and he smiled. Of course I liked it "I'll keep it up then" he winked.

We walked the rest of the track and were heading around doing some bits and pieces with some people that were in the paddock. It was such a big weekend and it was so busy it didn't stop. Lando had Netflix interviews to do later, so Daniel headed back to the hotel and I went with him to do that. We pulled up to the hotel where we were doing the interviews and there was loads of fans
"Can I say hello? Sign some things do we have time?" Lando asked
"You've got 7 minutes" I said, he nodded and we got out the car and he went over to some of the fans chatting and signing things for them. "2 minutes, we've got to head inside and get you set up" I said. This was the worst part of my job, having to pull the guys away from fans and things but we had schedules to keep to, particularly on weekends like this where it was rammed from the minute we woke up to the minute we went to sleep.
"How do they even know we're here do they just sit around and hope?" Lando asked as we walked in
"Some might, some might hear a tip off, but the other drivers have come here for Netflix this week so they definitely know now" I said. He went into the room and sat with the journalist.

Before I knew it we were back at the hotel. We went up in the lift to the top floor.
"What a day" Lando said, I looked at my watch and it was 9pm already.
"We've got more to come tomorrow. Get some sleep, we need to be at the track for 10am tomorrow" I told him. He nodded and we got out the lift and walked to ours rooms. I let myself into my room and dropped my bags down by the door and walked into the room. Daniel was laying on the bed watching tv
"Hey" he said, "you look shattered"
"Brilliant. I look that bad" I said laughing and sitting on the end of the bed taking off my shoes and pulling off my McLaren hoodie
"No you don't, you can tell by your eyes that's all" he said. He come up and sat behind me and put his hands on my shoulders and started massaging them, he kissed the back of my neck. "Have you eaten dinner?" He asked. I shook my head
"I'll order something" he suggested
"No it's okay, I'm not hungry. I just want to go to sleep" he put his arms around me and I leaned back into him feeling comfortable
"Come to bed then" he whispered in my ear. I got changed and climbed into bed and into his arms. It didn't take me long and I was out for the count.

The next morning I woke up before Daniel which was a weird occurrence. I got in the shower, got cleaned and then got dressed in my McLaren top and black jeans and vans. I made a cup of coffee and sat down with my laptop at the table checking through my emails and things for the weekend. Today we had practice and then three lots of qualifying to determine the grid positions for the Sprint grid that would go ahead tomorrow, before the second practice and then the actual sprint. It was going to be hectic.

I am so sorry I forgot to reply, been a mental week. Anyway, I bumped into Liam yesterday and he said my text made him laugh and he does want to go out with me. I told him that I was very drunk and that's the only way I got the courage to ask him and then that made him laugh. But yeah, I've got a date!!!!

I looked down at my phone that has just gone off and read the text from Hannah that flashed up on my screen.

Oh my god exciting!! We'll talk at work and make sure you look super hot!

I typed back a reply and went back to my work. I heard Daniel stir and he sat upright suddenly in bed and looked at me.
"Morning" I said
"You scared me, I didn't know where you were" he said in his deep morning voice
"Right here, don't worry" I said. He come over and gave me a hug
"I love you" he mumbled into my head.
"I love you" I replied. He then walked off and into the bathroom to get ready.

An hour later I got out the car followed by Daniel, Lando, Michael and Jon, and we walked into the paddock and towards the McLaren trailer. Hannah was literally in the doorway waiting for me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me through where the whole team was sitting and straight up the stairs to the office.
"Erm, hello to you to" I said. She closed my office door and turned to me
"No time for that. What do I wear? What do I do?" She asked
"Well when are you going?" I asked
"Tonight!"
"Oh god, okay let's not panic. If you haven't got anything I've got options we can work this out" she was literally pacing the room at this point. "Hannah stop, calm, breathe" I said grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Plan; we'll go to my room later, we'll find an outfit, I'll help you with your makeup and your hair and you'll be good to go" I said
"But I also will have to see him before when we go to the garage" she said
"Right? You look hot"
"Thanks Alex" she gave me a hug and let out a deep breath it made me laugh. We finished up and headed down to the garage together, as we walked up the paddock I heard Daniel
"We've been replaced Lando" I heard them both laughing, I rolled my eyes and carried on chatting with Hannah
"Just breathe, you look good. He already knows you look good" I said trying to boost her confidence. Walking into the garage I'm pretty sure she would of fallen over if our arms weren't linked, Liam was the first person we saw. I decided to break the ice
"Liam! You okay?" I asked
"Hey Alex, yeah all good. It's mental this week isn't it" he said, he was barely looking at me, just at Hannah. That was enough for me.
"It certainly is. Anyway, I'm gonna go do some.. stuff.. I'll leave you guys to it" I said and darted away. Hannah shot me a glare but I laughed it off