Rise Up

Chapter 14: The M in the word Media stands for Mess

Lando :) : Isn't it strange that I already miss you? I mean we saw each other just 3 days ago.

Me: actually, it was 4 days ago

Lando:) : oh, stupid numbers. Anyway what's your plan for today?

Well, after days and days spent thinking at every possible scenarios in my head, I came to the realisation that giving myself an opportunity like this one, would do only good. So here I was, proudly in my team wear, in the paddock, ready for the Dutch GP.

When I called Franz, he was even more euphoric than me. To celebrate the big news, as he kept saying, he organised a dinner in Faenza with the whole team and after a long time, I found myself in a good position with them: they made me feel appreciated and wanted- one of the best feeling I've ever experienced.

The news was that fresh, just spread out on the official accounts of the team, that nobody really knew about it, neither Lando. However it was about minutes before everyone would have found out.

I didn't tell anything about the big change to Lando, not because I didn't want to share the news with him, but just because I wasn't that sure to do it in the first place. So I took my time that basically was a lot of time to decide and one thing took another and here I was already in Zandvoort. In other words, I didn't have the chance to tell him. 

In fact he was convinced that I was somewhere in Italy, doing random things, like staying with my family or studying for the next exams. We didn't even text that much during these weeks as I was extremely busy with my own head and he was back at the factory for work.

"Hello team!" I yelled as soon as I entered the AT hospitality.

I got greeted by some colleagues, mostly from the media team and then I walked directly to the garage, in order to catch everyone's attention just for a minute.

"Ehm, sorry to interrupt you but I need a minute." I said, getting on a little step that a mechanic was using to stand close to the upper part of the car. "Hey guys, good morning everyone! As I'm now officially part of the amazing Alpha Tauri team, I thought it would be nice sharing some of my habits with all of you, so here it is- I brought breakfast!"

Everyone started to cheer my name as if I was their biggest idol. Some of them came to hug me too, making me feel like a little kid at Christmas. Seeing them so happy for such a little thing, made my heart full of pure joy.  So they all got something to eat and drink, taking a short break, before going back to work.

"Hey, are you trying to be their favorite now? That's so unfair of you!" My teammate said when he noticed the amount of people around me.

"I think I'm already am, after this."

Pierre and I chatted a bit before being called for some interview with the other drivers. While walking to the press conference, Suzanne explained me how the interview would work.

"Ok girl, you'll be with Max, Carlos, Mick and Lando. I don't have the full list of the questions but of course you'll be asked about the big news, so just answer straight away but don't say too much. No arrogance, no bad words, no malicious comments on RedBull or Horner, please. I don't want to spend the whole weekend fixing your image, ok?."

"Copy, boss." I said chuckling and moving a hand towards my forehead like the little soldier I was.

"Yeah, you better laugh. I know how much you'd give away to miss this thing as you dislike the media." She said.

"They're just so annoying."

"I know, but consider yourself lucky to have me as your media manager. I'll be stand on your right, next to the door. If you need me, just point your eyes at me and I'll try to help you somehow."