Racing For Love

Chapter Ten

It's race day in one of my favourite cities in the world, and I can barely contain my excitement. I try and push the events of last night out of my mind as we head to The Paddock - we've got a busy day ahead, and I can't afford to be distracted. I'm travelling out this evening so need to make the most of the build up to the race today, especially as the drivers will mostly be busy doing interviews post-race, so our time with them will be limited.

As we walk in, I see other teams starting setting up. There's so much buzz around the track, I'm grinning from ear to ear when I run into Jono.
"What's got you smiling?" He asks as I blush - somehow wondering if he's guessed something happened between Lorenzo and I last night.
"Just race day" I reply nonchalantly. "And how are you this morning? How's Charlotte?" I quickly add - the reaction to the clips we posted of the two of them together went down well and i'm hoping that we're over the worst of it now. Certainly the narrative has shifted from the "mystery woman" to "when will Jono Campbell propose to long term girlfriend" and i'm glad of the fickle nature of the media.
"All good I think. Thanks for all you did yesterday" he says as he pats me on the shoulder, his hand lingering just a little more than expected, the warmth of his touch a welcome distraction from my own inner turmoil.

I pull away from him as I see Lorenzo, not wanting the situation misconstrued again. I also need to get ahead of any awkwardness with Lorenzo quickly this morning after what happened last night.

I needn't have worried as he smiles across and embraces me with double kisses before looking into my eyes "how was your meal last night?"

"Good. Delicious" I reply, his question taking me back to the heated kiss we shared. "Thank you again - you didn't need to-"

"De nada" he replies, brushing it off, and I'm thankful that we can continue as normal - he needs to focus on the race ahead, and I need to focus on doing everything I can to resist him.

After a busy morning, we're frantically editing videos as the cars go out onto the track. We're all trying to get as much done pre-race as we can so that we're able to at least watch a few laps, scheduling additional content to go out over the course of the afternoon. Race excitement is all around us, and we make it back to the pit as the cars complete the formation lap and pull up to the start line having warmed the tyres - Lorenzo and Jono looking good in P1 & P2, and the rest of the field line up behind them - it feels like everyone holds their breath as we wait for lights out.

After what feels like an eternity, they set off - the cars are immediately jostling for position as they leave the grid. Lorenzo has started fast and is leading the pack, but Jono gets pushed down to P6 after jostling round the first corner, so he has some ground to make up. By the end of lap 2, he's slipped to P8, but I know he'll make it back. Our cars are fast - the engineers have worked tirelessly to produce a new car for the season, and by the 50th lap, both cars are back at P1 and P2 ahead of the nearest competitor by a second.

The pit crew are excitedly watching as they witness our cars leading, but the Davide Romano, the principal is struggling to keep Jono and Lorenzo from fighting each other for P1. The strategy was clear, and Jono is supposed to be defending from the pack, but his style is aggressive and he's going slightly faster than Lorenzo, which doesn't bode well as they head into the next straight. The team radio is frantic, Jono saying he is planning to use DRS, Lorenzo trying to tell the team he needs to stick with the initial plan but as they round the corner, Jono makes it past Lorenzo and leads.

Matt, James and I reconvene, knowing that we need to be clear on how we proceed - there's going to be a lot of criticism on how our guys are acting between themselves, and there's still 8 laps to go - they need to concentrate on defending rather than racing between themselves. We all watch closely as Lorenzo makes it back round Jono with two laps to go - the cars coming dangerously close to ending up in the gravel. Luckily, the cars both stay on the track as the chequered flag comes down - the pit crews are jumping around, cheering that we've got a double podium again after the disaster in Singapore - Bianchi is back on top.

We get down to the finish line, camera out ready to capture some shots of Lorenzo and Jono with their teams - this a win for them too as we've got some more points in for the constructors cup. The crowds are wild, waiting for the guys to get out of the car - it's a sea of red shirts and caps, Italian flags waving for Lorenzo and Union Flags for Jono.

As the cars pull up, the crowd roars - seeing the podium winners for the first time. Lorenzo is straight out of his car and is immediately grabbed by his chief engineer - he's nearly dragged over the barrier and into the crowd by his enthusiastic pit crew. Jono gets out and stands atop his car as the crowd shouts and cheers - I catch his eye as he beams, his grin permanently plastered over his face. He jumps down and into his team - they cheer as he hugs them all.

Whilst they celebrate, Lorenzo catches Jono by the shoulder and whispers something into his ear - a frosty look exchanged between them as Jono brushes him off. Their fight is far from over, but they get pulled back in with the teams and both are smiling again. An arm wraps around my shoulders as Lorenzo pulls me in to the celebration - after all of the stress of the last few days, I feel relaxed, taking in this moment of pure joy before reality pulls me back. I just hope the guys can keep it together for the post-race interviews - we need a strong driving partnership to get through this season, and we don't need them at loggerheads...I try and think of how I can help to keep them on good terms as I extricate myself from the celebrations and go back to the motor home.

I've got another hour before I have to head off to the airport - enough time for us to get some podium footage and then I can get to work with scheduling content as I wait for my flight. I'm checking the socials - sharing and retweeting memes from the race - chuckling to myself as Andrea walks in.

"Hello Mr Bianchi. Congratulations on today's success!" I smile as he comes across to my workspace, handing me a glass of champagne.

"A team effort from everyone. I think this will be a great season. Cheers!" he says as he clinks our glasses and bends down to look at my computer. "This is what the internet is saying of our team, yes?" He asks me - his face way too close to mine for comfort.

I try and move away as I show him some of the more favourable tweets, wondering why he's here with me and not celebrating with everyone else. "It looks good, you are doing a great job, Annie" he says before tapping my hand with his - a gesture which feels strangely intimate, and I shiver.

"Thank you for the drink, but I have to fly soon, so just a sip" I say as I stand, busying myself with sorting out the papers surrounding my laptop, trying to get some distance between us.

He wishes me a safe flight before heading off again, the whole interaction lasting barely a few minutes, but in that time, I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I reason that it must be the champagne, and the excitement of the win, I'm not prepared to think what this means if it isn't just a simple misunderstanding.