A new beginning (F1 love story)

Chapter 2

By the end of November both of us had a date for the wedding and we were preparing everything. We decided everything together.

On the thirtieth of november we celebrated my birthday.

I was a bit hungover when I went into the office the next day. It was then that I got the opportunity to make pre-sales for a project. I hadn't gotten a lot of information about the client it was for. Apparently not a lot of people were allowed to know. Once my proposal was good enough I was allowed to know more about the client. It was the FIA. It was a project for Formula 1. I was so excited, if we didn't get the project, I would not have cared. I got the opportunity to go and sell the solution we had in mind.

After a month of preparing we flew out to Geneva. And with we, I mean my team lead, a partner of the company and a colleague who had his own solution but with different programs. And he is my ex-boyfriend from a few years ago. We still get along well but only professionally.

We stayed for three days. We got guided around the office and we had to listen to other companies' solutions. That one was very interesting. We were one of the last ones to present. I was the last one. My ex-boyfriend (current colleague) had to go before me. And he is very good at selling and yet again he also convinced me that his solution and the programs he was going to use, are the best ones on the market. They are very good.

And then it was my turn. From the 10 people we saw and presented their solution I was the only woman. I felt so small and so powerful at the same time. Weird combination, I know. I was stressed. Next level stressed, I went and threw up during the break because I could not handle this well.

But I proposed my solution, made arguments why the others won't fulfill their needs. What the downsides are for those programs. But then I have my secret weapon that works from time to time. And I took my chance. I talked about the downfalls for the programs we were using. And talked about all the fixes we did. About our response time when such incidents happened. No one did that. I guess that is one of the perks of being a woman in IT. Your ego is less of an issue.

So the last day they announced which company got the project. It's a project that will take up at least 6 years with all the implementations.

We heard the name of our company being said. A small victory because the company I worked for got the project. But I wanted it so badly. And they were gonna announce which one of us got the project. I felt sick because of the tension. This is not some eurovision song contest just say it. And they said my name. MY NAME.

I did it, I got the project. On the inside I was screaming. On the outside I just said thank you very much. We are looking forward to working with you.

I landed in Belgium, and there my fiance was waiting for me. I missed my man.

From the fifteenth of February I had to fly to Geneva every week for at least two days. Which is a lot. Leaving on wednesday evening and coming back friday late afternoon/evening. And we were expected to be at least 10 Grand Prixs.

But the project was a blessing. The first part had to be delivered by the summer. And we made it in time. The go-live went smoothly. I even got an offer to work full time for the FIA in Geneva. I had to let them know by the end of November of that year. I had plenty of time. I however didn't tell Noah about it. Because I first wanted to know what I wanted.

I took a week off in september. Because the wedding date was coming closer and closer.

It was 22th of September and we came back from some friends. We had a small BBQ and someone announced their pregnancy. It was wonderful. We both stayed sober. Noah never drinks when he needs to drive. And I didn't feel well for the last few days so no alcohol for me.