Love, Eternal

Eerie Silence

Nola and Pierre headed to the track after breakfast, Pierre had already had a phone call making sure he was in and attending the emergency briefing this morning so breakfast was faster than planned.

It's a weird concept for a monarch to pass away, particularly after such a long reign. To Nola she was the Queen of England, and other countries including Australia, she wasn't the queen of Monaco, Italy or France, but she was still an important figure. It was a very weird atmosphere when arriving. They were in Italy, but plenty of people were from across the entire globe and treasured such a person. Nola was asked to sit in on this meeting, which she found particularly odd. So when they arrived at the track, Nola slipped on her sunglasses to hide her tiredness and walked into the paddock with Pierre, heading straight for the Alpha Tauri trailer.

It became clear that any guests present for teams today were included in this unusual meeting, Nola listened as they spoke about the recent events and the fact there would be a minutes silence for everybody to mark their respect for the Queen before the first practise session was underway. Nola was included in that, she wouldn't be at the forefront with the rest of the team, but still be paying her respects. Upon the end of the meeting, Nola walked outside after a text from Lando caught her attention. She walked up the paddock and stood outside the McLaren trailer where Lando was waiting, with Daniel and George.

"What's wrong?" Lando immediately stood straight and took Nola's shoulders in his hands when she was in front of him. Nola had her sunglasses on top of her head and although she had tried to hide the tiredness with makeup and a smile, it was obvious. Lando was concerned immediately.

"Nothing?" Nola shrugged, after a look from Lando that almost made her run away and hide she huffed "I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired. We'll talk later" Nola said, although she liked most of the drivers, she didn't feel like sharing her anxieties with everyone would be well received. Lando got the message and nodded. "Are you guys okay? Must be a bit odd" Nola said, directing the conversation elsewhere

"It is a bit, not sure what to say or do" George said, his British accent was thick and posh and it always made Nola laugh at how well spoken he sounded compared to a lot of people round here.

"Very strange" Lando added. "Shall we go?" He directed his question at Nola and she nodded and the left the other two waving goodbye. They both went into the mclaren trailer and grabbed a coffee before they sat down.

"Now, tell me what's up?" Lando asked. Nola looked around but no one else nearby was listening. She let out a sigh

"It's nothing really. I'm just drained, exhausted and anxious. Pierre wasn't well, but he's fine now but I haven't slept properly and my mind is in a fog and I keep feeling like I'm on edge, and I don't feel well now" Nola said

"You think you've caught whatever Pierre had?" He asked her

"I don't know, but where I haven't been sleeping I feel run down. I'm okay, I'll be back to normal in no time, I just need to sleep. But the atmosphere is weird today obviously and it's just putting me more on edge" Nola said

"Why don't you go home?"

"No no, I'm fine. I'll stay here, I would rather stay anyway, I just need to give myself time" she said. Lando nodded, he always worried about her. They chatted a little while before Lando had to get back to his job, so Nola walked back towards the Alpha Tauri building to find Pierre.

As Nola walked alongside Pierre into the garage, he handed Nola his phones, which she slid into her pocket to look after it for him while he would be in the car. She took her seat away from the commotion alongside Pyry as she watched him speak with his engineers before practise on what they would be aiming for and testing. Nola watched him and smiled, she was glad he was feeling better, but he was certainly more cautious than normal, the doctor had cleared him but told him to take it easy and keep up his fluids, which he normally did anyway. Once everything was settled, Pierre came over and wrapped his arms around Nola.

"You okay pea?" He whispered quietly to her, only Pyry could hear them. Nola nodded quickly and leaned into his side. "It's time to do the silence" he said. Nola nodded and he made his way out to the front of the garage where the rest of the team had started joining. Nola was standing with Pyry off to the side, she could see every team up and down the pit Lane doing the same. It was a very eerie and bizarre act, Nola had not experienced something like this since the silence that was held for Anthoine before the Belgian Grand Prix the day after he died.

Pyry put his hand on Nola's shoulder in comfort, seeing her slightly tense and she appreciated the gesture, it calmed her a little before a noise was sounded and the entire pit lane fell silent. Mechanics stopped working, fans in the grandstand stopped cheering, reporters stopped speaking towards their cameras, and cameras stopped clicking, it felt like everyone had frozen. Nola bowed her head and kept silent. Her thoughts with the people this had directly affected. Losing someone, no matter how old they are, if they were ill, or in good health, whether it was expected or not, it was never easy. It certainly never got easier either.

Emotions flooded back to Nola, relating to the very traumatic day, with her head still down, Nola looked up the pit towards the Ferrari garage in the distance. Charles and Carlos were representing a special livery this weekend for the teams home race, marking 75 years of Ferrari, the yellow stood out against the blues, blacks and whites of most of the teams colours. Charles caught her eye and gave her a smile, which she returned before the klaxon sounded again and everyone applauded. Nola turned on her heel quickly and headed for the bathroom to have some privacy, feeling faint and weak. Emotions, memories and the off nature of today wasn't helping her, she didn't feel well mentally or physically and she didn't want Pierre knowing, not to hide it from him. She couldn't, he knew her to well, but she didn't want him worrying.

Not that it mattered what Nola thought, Pierre had already noticed her quick escape, and with a look shared with Pyry, he darted after her, knowing he had approximately two minutes before he had to properly suit up and get going.

"Nols?" Nola whipped round at the sound of her favourite persons voice, but it didn't help, she turned back and was instantly sick into the toilet nearby, she certainly wasn't well and Pierre's concern only grew.