Julia Erin Wolff is daughter of Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes. As a result, she grew up mostly in paddocks or travelling with her parents and always felt a certain connection to driving and F1. Now, when it's time to be on her own, she deci...
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After twenty minutes long conversation with Max, during which we caught up on the five years we hadn't seen each other, the clock struck three in the afternoon, reminding us to begin our preparations for FP2. George and I headed back to the Mercedes garage, and we bumped into a couple more drivers on the way.
"Well, this is where my journey ends, but thank you for your guidance and wishing you best of luck in practice." I said and flashed a thankful smile at George.
"Of course. And seriously, apologies for the misunderstanding about your job. I'm sure you'll do just great." he reciprocated my wishes.
-☆-
After finishing my first day, which included interviewing the fastest driver of FP2 and my long-time friend, Carlos Sainz, I returned to my hotel room. My evening was dedicated to thorough analysis of Lissie's old interviews, which was quite tiring, so I decided to call it a night and went to bed early. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard three distinctive knocks on my door. Normally, I would ignore such knocks, completely terrified to open the door, but these were unmistakably his knocks. Carlos' knocks.
"Carlos! What are you doing here at this hour?" I asked, surprised, as I analyzed the Spanish driver standing in front of me.
"You mean 11PM?" he chuckled, "I thought I'd swing by to say hi to an old friend. I was quite surprised to see you today."
"Well then, come on in," I responded, gesturing for him to enter, completely unaware of the untidy state of my room. As he stepped inside, he accidentally tripped over my dress lying on the floor, and we couldn't help but burst into laughter. Finally, we settled down, sitting against the edge of the bed, ready to chill and hang out.
"So, how did my favorite Wolff become an F1 reporter?" he asked and his deep, dark brown eyes met mine. It felt different from earlier, like we were sharing a million thoughts in just a few seconds through this intense eye contact.
"Oh, I had just graduated and wasn't really sure if joining Dad's team right away was the best decision," I explained, "but then, a few months ago, dad mentioned FIA was looking for an additional reporter, so I decided to take a chance, and well..."
"Well, I'm glad to see you again," Carlos blurted out, "Monaco, Canada or Spain haven't been half as fun without you."
"Just those three?" I teased him.
"And Austria, and Bahrain, and Netherlands... it's almost unbelievable how things have changed since."
"Wow, this got deep real fast," I chuckled. "But it's true. You're rocking that red suit at Ferrari, and Max is absolutely killing it in Red Bull. You and Max definitely aren't those two young boys from Toro Rosso I used to sneak out with anymore. Even Toro Rosso itself doesn't go by the same name."
"Hey, am I really that ancient in your eyes?" Carlos gasped, shooting me a mock-offended look as he playfully punched my shoulder.
"Maybe?" I responded, with a chuckle.
"Man, but you're right. It's crazy to think about how much has changed," Carlos replied, with his usual look of confusion in his eyes. "But speaking of changes, you absolutely have to meet my teammate, Charles. He's awesome, you're gonna love him. And actually... any chance you're free on Sunday night?"
"Why? Do you want to ask me on a date?" I continued with the jokes. Instead of reciprocating my still-playful mood, Carlos remained serious.
"Well, there's this afterparty and I was wondering if you'd like to come?" he nervously asked. It was kind of cute, but thoughts like these were totally off limits, so I let the thought drift off immediately.
"Earth to Juli! What do you say? Want to join me, Ms. Wolff?" he said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "And no, it's not a date-date, no worries. Just consider it as a little 'welcome-back' hangout, alright?"
I had to think it through, considering the potential impact on my reputation. However, deep down, I could hear a voice inside me whispering, "Why not live a little, Julia?" And with that thought in mind, I decided to go for it.
"Alright. Count me in! So what's the dress code and when should I be ready for you to pick me up?" I exclaimed. Carlos happily grinned at me, but for a brief moment, I could swear there was a hidden excitement lurking beneath his grin, something more than he was letting on.
-☆-
A/N
Hey, hope you like the story by far! <3 I was really stuck, writing this chapter, but very thankful to Selcouthlol for helping me with it, you're truly a life-saver!
