For Real | Lando Norris

𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏.

Ophelia
I'm so nervous. Did I thank you already for this?

Lando
Several times. You'll be great, I know it!

Lando
I'm sorry I couldn't be there to see u.

Ophelia
That's okay. I don't think I can handle starting an internship at a million dollar company and meeting you at the same time anyway

Lando
I would've loved to see u tho.

Ophelia
Than you shouldn't live in Monaco

Lando
That's not fair 😢

Ophelia
I'm sorry, I don't know how you behave at the moment 😣

Lando
U better behave well, otherwise they may not give u the position

Ophelia
Now you're stressing me out. BYE

Lando
Goodluck! ❤

***

I put my phone in my bag and tug a little at the bottom of my blouse. I am a ball of nervousness and try to supress my stress a little. I walk towards the glass entrance and see a middle-aged woman in front of the doors.

"Hi I'm Kathline, but everyone calls me Kate. I'm a media generalist and the intern trainer here at McLaren Technical Centre and I'll be your guide today." She smiles at me and I mirror her expression. "You must be Ophelia?" I nod, "Yes, nice to meet you."

She gestures to the door and I follow her inside the glass building. We step into the entrance hall in which all sorts of vehicles are standing and there is a bridge above it that seems to lead to office rooms and other chambers I can't directly see. I can't help, but let out a little 'wow' when I look around me.

"That was also my reaction when I stepped in here for the first time." Kathline remarks and laughs at my curiosity. "I'm not that good with cars but I presume Formula one cars through the years?" I ask, pointing at the collection in front of me. Kathline nods, "These are a couple of them, and some other cars we use in other races. We switch them sometime when important people are coming or just for the change of scenery. Let's go upstairs."

I follow her to a glass elevator that is built next to a winding white staircase. "Stairs or elevator?" She asks. "Stairs, they look so shiny." I walk to the staircase and start climbing them. She laughs a little and follows me up the stairs. We walk through the corridor while Kathline tells me about MTC's history.

"Alright, here we are." she says while unlocking a door on our left. "This is our wing. All the news, press and social media things are covered here." She walks through the door and I follow. When I step into the media wing I see a broad corridor with on the right a coffee corner with a high table and some chairs and on the left are four doors that lead to conference rooms. At the end of the corridor is a glass wall with another door.

"This is our break area and those rooms are for meetings and stuff." She points to the area when she is talking and walks to the glass door. "This is where our magic happens." She smiles and pushes open the door. It looks a little like a call center but nicer. It's a big space with a lot of desks with walls around them and they are divided in blocks of six throughout the whole room. Most of them look empty but there are people here and there, typing away on their keyboards or having a call.

"It's not that full yet because it's early and Wednesday is a popular day to take off. In general we all work on the same floor, but have different projects. The goal is to stimulate the web design personnel to share with the people from socials for example." She points to two women in one of the corners chatting and discussing a topic. "That's how our news gets the best coverage."

I nod and try to take in all the information Kathline is telling me. She walks to the back of the space and points at yet another door. "This is Tim's office. He is the head of our department and oversees everything to do with media, communications and our brand. He will be your in-direct internship supervisor if you decide to intern with us." She whispers the information so quickly I can barely follow. "We don't want to disturb him, you'll meet him eventually."

"That's basically it. The specifics of your internship will be discussed with you if you agree to the terms and tell us you want to come intern here. You could end up here or maybe traveling with the team and working on the grid. You're lucky that Lando put in a word for you, most of the time our waiting list is quite long." She smiles and starts walking back to the main area. I feel a smile come onto my face and make a mental note to thank Lando again when I get home. We walk in silence to the coffee corner and when we go through the glass door I take a little breath trying to regain my composure.

"You want a coffee before you leave?" Kathline smiles and I nod. I follow her to the coffee corner and when I look at the area I see someone sitting at one of the high tables. He looks at me and seems to take me in. Then a smile cracks on his face like he recognizes me. I am stunned to see him here and feel proud that I recognize him as well. I smile back, gather my courage and walk over to the table.

"Ophelia, I presume. He was right, you are gorgeous." The man stands and stretches out his hand to me. I feel a blush creep up to my cheeks but try not to pay too much attention to it. He is long with a kind face and a million dollar smile. "I don't know what he's told you, but thank you. Daniel right?" I ask, while shaking his hand. He nods. "Please sit," he offers and pulls up the stool beside the one he was sitting on. "This is a little strange." I admit when I sit next to the Australian. "What is?" He asks.

"Well I haven't met Lando for real, but now I've met you? It doesn't seem like the right order." I laugh and he nods understandingly. "Why aren't you in Australia?" I look at Daniel who is finishing his coffee. "Important meeting that needed to be here. I have a house in Woking for when I need to be at MTC. I fly in a couple of hours. And that I meet you now and Lando hasn't yet is just a fact I can rub in on him," The last part he says laughing, "I don't mind that at all." I laugh too and at that moment Kathline returns with our coffee.

"I haven't asked you what you want in it so I brought you cream and sugar." She gives me the cup and I smile in a way of thanking her. "So you've met Daniel I see."

"Hi Kate," Daniel says and Kathline gives him an annoyed face. "This one is impossible to work with, just a heads up." she informs me. I laugh when Daniel makes a face at her comment. "You know you love me." He says and winks at her which results in her rolling her eyes at him. 

"But I need to go, I'm sorry. I have a plane to catch home. It was lovely meeting you and I will say 'hi' to Lando when I see him later." While Daniel walks away with a wave a reality check kicks in.

 That was Daniel Ricciardo, famous racing driver, friend of the boy I've been talking to for the last few months and whom I haven't met in real life yet. But now I have met his teammate. And colleagues. But not him.

This realization gives a weird feeling of wanting to meet Lando. Maybe I should've said yes to going to Australia. I know it's too late to go now, but I can't shake the feeling that I should've gone.  

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A little filler I'm sorry, but I'm exited for the upcoming chapters... ;)

Lots of Love