Legacy Project

8

"We're meeting Daniel and his team in the lobby in ten minutes. Please tell me you're ready to go!" Emma shouted at Piper from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yes, I'm just putting lip balm on. God, woman, calm down!" 

The girls had flown into Melbourne two nights ago, and to say it had been a whirlwind two days was an understatement. As soon as Piper walked out of the arrivals gate at the airport, she was met by so many fans. They were there, especially for her. She had never had that sense of importance purely just for her, not for the team. The amount of Kiwis she had met and the gifts she was given were overwhelming. The F1 media team had set up five days of appearances and press and media occasions before heading to the track on Thursday.

Piper and Daniel were carted into a conference room in the hotel where F1, Williams, and Mclaren had set up a few different sets for youtube videos.

"So today, we're going to have you two doing Australian vs. New Zealand foods. Then Mclaren have set up a quiz type thing based around Australia and new Zealand. F1 have set up a surprise challenge that will happen at the end of the day." The Williams media officer announced. The Williams video consisted over Daniel and Piper fighting over the origin of Pavlova, with New Zealand food coming out the overall winner. The Mclaren video ended with Piper coming out on top, knowing way more about both Australia and New Zealand, than Daniel knew about either.

F1 surprising fans was F1s idea, however certain celebrities surprising Piper was entirely Daniel's idea, with help from Emma. They had organised some famous New Zealanders to surprise Piper once all of the fans had cycled through. The first were Marcus and Liam, which made Piper very excited, laughing that the boys were obviously her biggest fans. The boys stayed to watch the next part.

"OMG JACINDA!" Piper squealed as she rounded the curtain.

"Hello Miss McLaren. It's lovely to finally meet you!" Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister laughed. Piper was instantly in tears.

"Mrs Ardern. I mean Madam Prime Minister, what are you doing here?"

"Well I came to see you of course. You're doing amazing things for our country, plus you're doing remarkable things for women so I obviously women in power must support women in power."

"I think I'm going to faint!"

"You can't faint before the final surprise, Speedy! Prime Minister Ardern, it's an honour to meet you, by the way." Liam yelled for out of shot, before waving shyly.

"There's more!" Piper exclaimed, shocked.

"Well duh! Someone had to thank you for supporting the All Blacks on internationally television." A masculine voice said from behind her. Piper immediately recognised that voice, and sat on the floor with her head in her hands.

"Richie McCaw!"

"RICHIE MCCAW" Someone screeched off to the side. Marcus went flying past, nearly tripping on Piper. He launched himself at the rugby player, hugging him.

"Marcus, he's not here for you." Liam wandered over and pulled Marcus away, once again waving shyly at Richie. 

"Piper, can I help you up?" Richie said, leaning down and extending his hand. Piper nodded shyly. "On behalf of the All Blacks, I would like to offer you this shirt as a token of gratitude, and to make you an honorary member." Richie offered the younger girl the official All Blacks team top, except it had her name, and her race number, 30, on the back. 

"Wow, thank you so much! I will wear it with pride!" The young girl beamed. 

"Oh, well if we are giving gifts now, I also have a small gift for you Piper." Jacinda said stepping forward. The young girl quickly whipped around. "This is some pounamu fashioned into a necklace, blessed by the local iwi in Waitangi. We hope it will keep you safe in your races, and bring you prosperity in life." It was a small necklace, with a gold chain, with a small piece of jade (pounamu) hanging down. It was subtle but so special.