Formula 1 One-Shots (II)

Valtteri Bottas [27]

A/N Wished by novaeblu3. Valtteri was difficult for me to write, but I hope you still like it  (:

WORDS: 1076

[27]-He has been flirting with you constantly, are you blind?
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Being a sports reporter was never my dream job, but today I couldn't imagine going back to my previous one. It started just as a substitute for a coworker, who then had an accident during her vacation and needed someone to fill in for her longer. Since I did a pretty good job during the time, our company offered me a permanent spot on this team, letting me do the interviews and write articles for some sports while my colleague does others. F1 is one of my tasks and I happily fulfil it on every race weekend.

Strolling through the paddock with one of my coworkers, who always accompanies me during the interviews, is the perfect way to start a morning. It isnt really busy yet and we could get some work done before it gets too busy around here. Sometimes I can even interact with a few drivers before interviews, catching them in a way more relaxed state than some of them are when a camera points directly at them. They know I would never write anything about them, they told me in private and not directly in an interview, making our encounters private.

"Good morning. You're earlier than usual." A familiar voice speaks up, ripping me out of my thoughts and I lift my eyes to meet the blue ones of the person in front of me. Automatically a smile appears on my lips when I see my favourite Fin. It's always pleasant to have an interview with him or even just casually chatting with him.

"Morning Valtteri. Yes, we want to film some stuff before we start the interviews with the drivers." I explain to him why we are here early today. Normally we would arrive later, not too early before the media day starts, because they tend to be really long and exhausting and neither I nor my coworker wants to stay an eternity on track. Especially when we still have to write articles in the evening.

"Looking forward to ours." Valtteri smiles one of his soft smiles and I can't stop myself from curling my lips upwards. Heart flutters because of his words, but I don't really recognize this, just feeling really happy that the normally a little bit shy Fin seems to thaw when he is with me. "Me too." I return the words that I am also happy to see him again later today.

"See you later." He gives me a small wave, before he turns his attention back to his physio who patiently waited for Valtteri to finish this short conversation. "Bye." I smiled a last time, turning around to face my coworker who watched us from a little distance.

"Oh, he likes you." She squeals as soon as soon as I reach her, making me blush because of her words, but I don't really believe them. Valtteri isn't overly nice to me, not at all, he is just friendly and nothing else. At least that's what I think.

"He is just nice and probably way too polite to act otherwise.."

"He has been flirting with you constantly, are you blind?" My coworker asks me, eyes widen in surprise. I frown at her words. Valtteri isn't flirting with me or is he? I am sure he didn't flirt with me right now since we only exchanged a few words.

"There is no flirting." I try to brush her words off, sure that Valtteri is just friendly and nothing more, maybe clicked with me a bit better than with others, but that doesn't mean that he really likes me.

"Valtteri has heart eyes when he looks at you and he doesn't look at anyone the same way he looks at you." She tries to convince me that Valtteri has some feelings for me that are not only friendly, but also involve a fluttering heart and warm cheeks. "Are you sure?" I ask, making sure there really is something and that she is not just imagining it because Valtteri is a little more outgoing when he is with me.

"Of course I am. If this man isnt in love with you I don't know what true love looks like anymore." Her words sound funny to me, so I need to laugh a little bit. "Now you are dramatic." I nudge her lightly into the side, because she tends to dramatise things and sometimes I have to remind her to come back to reality again.

"I know, but I still want you to end up with him." She giggles and I bite on the inside of my cheek, thinking about what she said earlier. That Valtteri likes me and maybe wants to go out with me. I could ask him, but I would be way too embarrassed to talk with him about feelings if there aren't any of them. There has to be a more subtle way to figure out if something could happen between us.

"Maybe I should give him my number?" I suggest with a questioning tone, not sure if this is the right way to approach this topic, but my coworker and at the same time my friend starts to nod, approving my idea with a bright smile.

"You definitely should do that!"

And with that the idea is set. Before going to the media pen where the interviews will be, I prepare a little piece of paper with my number on it, more or less ready to hand it over to Valtteri. I am glad that I have some other interviews before the Alfa driver, because it helps me to calm down, bring my head into work mode and fully concentrate on the things I have to do. When the interview with Valtteri starts I try to stay as professional as possible, asking him the questions with a smile and nod at this answers.

At the end of the interview, after thanking him I slipped the piece of paper into his hand. Valtteri glances at it and gives me one of his rare smiles, making my heart stumble, but it stops quickly when he just turns around without saying a word. My coworker reassures me that he just didn't want to bring the attention of anyone else to our little exchange and that Valtteri will write to me later.

And she was right because on this evening I receive a text from an unknown number:

Up for a coffee date tomorrow morning before the first practice session?"
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Votes and comments would be great <3