Something Gained

Chapter Eighty-Two

Everything was full blast today. I walked into the MTC at 7am, and I knew I would certainly not be leaving until late. Daniel and Lando wouldn't be coming in until later, the luxury of being the drivers. I had drank so much coffee and done so much preparation, I had sorted everything ready for the launch and now I was walking the building with Zak, finalising some details with the journalists of where they were allowed to be, and what the schedule was.
"Morning sunshine. Iced oat latte" Daniel came up behind me at around 10am and presented the cold Starbucks beverage to me. I was the happiest I've ever been
"Yes!" I smiled, I turned and reached up and kissed his cheek
"Morning morning" Lando followed
"Morning guys, lots to do. Alex I think we're all good down here, can you go and sort these two out" Zak said. I nodded and he disappeared.
"Where do you want us?" Lando asked
"Right let's walk, we've got your seat fittings first so we need to head to the garage where you'll get the first look of the car, then suit fits and checks, final reveal, sneak peak of the cars with some of the team, then we've got a little private presentation, lunch then a fan meet and greet zone, we've got checks and a practise run for your unveiling later, signing some new merch, then we've got some interviews, then you can grab some dinner, then the official unveiling, an interview with Natalie and then questions from fans through a web link, and then we're wrapping up" I rushed through
"Wow, what a day" Daniel said. We made it to my office and he sat down on the sofa in there. I sat at my desk and sipped my coffee before looking through my emails.
"Honestly, madness" I laughed "but I've got some news as well" I said
"Pregnant" Lando blurted out. Daniels head snapped round to Lando and then back to me
"Lando" I warned "no, PR" I said
"Oooohhh" Lando said. Daniel appeared calmer and looked over with softer eyes
"We've got them. We've officially hired your press officers guys, and you meet them tomorrow" I said. Lando clapped excitedly
"Yess" Daniel smiled
"Are they nice? Who's mine?" Lando said
"If you ssh I'll tell you"
"Sorry" Lando chuckled
"Lando, you have a very lovely man called Ben, he's a year older than you so you'll get on really well, he loves golf as well. Daniel you have Sophie, she's really nice, really funny, shares your humour, she used to work for Williams. You'll meet them tomorrow" I told him. They both nodded
"Lovely! Ben it is" Lando said
"And behave, they're good people. You have no idea how many people we had to go through"
"We'll be good" Daniel smiled.
"Now, come on. Seat fits" I said, we literally had no time to spare today, I ushered them out the office and I walked ahead of them on my phone still replying to emails and things while they chatted behind me. They went off to their respective cars, admiring them. They looked different from last year. The colours had changed from bright orange and electric blue to the same orange but with a dark grey/black colour. They looked great. As they did their thing I noticed Liam over the other side so I went and caught up with him.
"I haven't seen you in forever" I greeted as we hugged
"I know, how have you been?" He asked, he continued working while he talked
"Been good, how are you? How is Hannah?" I asked him
"She's bored, and tired all the time. But otherwise good, baby is growing nicely. Not long to go" he smiled. After speaking to Hannah a few days ago, I knew Liam was worried about missing anything, but he loved his job so much. His biggest fear was being away while Hannah gave birth, but her due date was around the time when we should be back in England for the British Grand Prix, but it was never an exact science with pregnancy and babies
"I'm so glad, I need to go round soon. I haven't seen her in forever and we'll be off soon" I sighed, I missed Hannah like crazy
"Yes do! She needs the company I think" Liam said to me
"I will, I'll give her a call later though" we continued our chat for a while until Lando and Daniel were all finished up and seats adjusted.

"Will you two stop" I hissed at Daniel and Lando. They were such children, messing about right outside the door to the presentation where people were. Someone come out and told them to be quiet already. "Daniel don't you dare" I warned him
"Go on, try it" Lando laughed, Daniel lifted Lando up by his uniform and they both giggled again
"Stop it!" I hissed again, tapping them both on the arms
"Sorry" Lando giggled. They were then called in and I followed them in as they spoke to the team and select few special journalists for the first livery and car reveal.

The whole day was manic, the boys were so good for majority of it, listening and signing so many hats, cards and t shirts there hands must kill them. They spoke and answered all sorts of questions, some were just repeats of the last journalist but they answered it well. The guys were on lunch while I was in yet another meeting, this time with the media and content creators for the the next few weeks schedule.
"We've got an idea for doing an 'Australian slang' video with Daniel while in Melbourne we can then reverse and do the English version for Lando for the British Grand Prix" Matt told me, I nodded along making a note, I would have to put this all into a schedule for them beforehand, I was excited for the Melbourne Grand Prix, it had been a while and I knew Daniel would love to race at home again.
"What's your thoughts on doing a drive to survive react? Get the guys on the sofa and see?" Matt asked
"Sounds good, can do tomorrow? I think it'll be hectic otherwise"
"Tomorrow it is" I made a note of that into their day "morning?"
"Afternoon? Got bits in the morning" I told him, he nodded.

I gathered the team with Zak and Andreas and then set them both up to speak to the media before I went and got Daniel and Lando, both back dressed in their race suits, they walked out to a crowd of cheers from the fans that were here to watch them. Everything ran smoothly for the evening and the reaction was brilliant, I had our social media team tweeting and sharing things and it was brilliant. It wasn't until 11:30pm I walked in my front door with Daniel.
"Did you lock the garage?" I asked him, he nodded. "Did you lock the gate? What about the car itself"
"Alex you're tired, everything is locked. I promise"
"But"
"Alex I promise, I locked it all up. Please get to bed, you've been at work all day, and you're tired" Daniel said, he took my hand and pulled me up the stairs, he pulled out a t shirt for me to sleep in and I got changed and he tucked me into bed. I was absolutely wrecked, I had barely stopped, plus I was already up at 5am to get ready and then go to work, I worked through lunch and dinner and literally just had a snack, it was certainly a busier affair than last year, last year it wasn't big because of covid. It wasn't going to easy to get out of bed tomorrow. Daniel got into bed himself after a shower and i snuggled into him and was out like a light.