The driver, The Girlfriend and Me

First day on the job

Jerez testing day 1

I think the only reason I woke up is because of the knocking on my door. I didn't care how I looked, I just got up and went over.

All I saw was black. It looked rather like the New force India drivers suits. There was just one. There was a white shape
quite far up the top of the thing. I unlocked the door to Nico. He looked down at his watch.

"Where have you been and what are you doing?" He asked, looking annoyed.

"Oh god. What time is it?" I asked, suddenly realising where I was.

"9:30"

"Crap...give me 5 minutes!"

I closed the door and ran inside. I grabbed a cereal bar and very quickly ate it. I threw on my T-Shirt and jeans then tied my hair up in a high ponytail so it was out of the way. I ran out and joined Nico. My pass was in my jeans so I quickly slung it around my neck so I would be allowed access.

"Sleep well?" Nico teased.

"Too well. We're only an hour ahead of England so I can't even say I'm jetlagged"

He laughed a little but that was it. I had to seem confident but I was worried I sounded arrogant.

As we were walking I was taking in the sights. Not that there were many. I'd never seen the track before so it was amazing to see the little bits of it. I was getting mixed up on where to go. As I went to turn left, Nico took me by the shoulders and turned me to the right.

"It's this way"

My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"No need to look embarrassed. It happens a lot. You'll get used to it after a while"

"It's ok I just get easily embarrassed"

"Before I forget, we need to swap phone numbers"

"We do?" I asked, confused at his statement.

"Did you ever do this in BTCC?"

"No we just emailed each other"

"Ah right. Well here, we exchange personal phone numbers so that way we can get hold of each other when we need them"

"Ok then" I said with a smile. I took my phone out and we gave each other our numbers.

"Great. Now I'm due in the car so I need you to take me to the garage"

I finally figured out where I was going as I walked down the pit lane with Nico behind me.

"For a small girl your fast"

"For a tall guy your slow"
I could feel his eyes on me as I walked towards the garage. Looking at every detail of me. I knew which one Nico's was as I turned into it. Vijay was there.

"I knew she'd do it! She made it with no help?"

"Nearly ended up in the paddock but I sorted it out" Nico said with a cheeky smile.

That smile was amazing.

"Lads! Cars! Now!" The race engineers called.

"Speak to them simply and they'll do the job well"

"Where should I go?" I asked.

"You can sit in the back if you want. I see you've brought your laptop. Sit on the back of the cabinet and do some work" Vijay told me.

I walked off to the back and tried to do some coursework.

I had to write a day by day of what I was doing. So I started off simple and bulked it out. It was the whole 'day 1 - I met the driver and had a bonding session. Day 2 - I got a chance to go to the track and watch him drive...'

I must have been really getting into it as Nico tapped me on the back around 4 hours later.

"Sophie? Helloooo? Debrief time and you've got to come"

"Was I that into my work" I asked, rubbing my eyes lightly.

"Probably"

One thing I was starting to notice about Nico was how short his answers could be. He didn't always seem interested.

Oh well. You can't change personalities so I'll have to put up with it.

I followed him to the debrief room. Once inside I wasn't really needed but was told to go in anyway. All they did was look at the car data and say what could be done better. Our car wasn't amazing. We were nearly last and Nico wasn't happy.

He was silent as we walked back to the motorhome.

"Are you going on a track run tonight?" He asked me.

"Yeah I am"

"See you there then" he said as he walked a different way to me. He was off to the paddock. I was off to the motorhome.

I took off my makeup and changed into a sports bra and running shorts. It was way to hot to even walk but I needed a run. As I arrived at the track I threw my hair into a half pulled through ponytail and set my music on shuffle.

I kept at a steady pace into the first few corners but after that I sped up. I passed Jenson and Sergio. Up ahead was Nico.

He was slowing off a lot so I sped up. We were running at the same pace until he noticed me and slowed off again. I carried on running as my hair fell out into a ponytail. I could feel it all the way down my back, swinging and jumping as I ran into the next corner.

I could hear footsteps behind my as my music stopped for the next song. It was Nico. I just ignored him and kept my pace. He slowed off more as I came into the last corner. I stopped at the start/finish line and did a cool down. I was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, making my bronzed skin look shiny in the bright lights of the Jerez track at night. Nico was doing a cool down near me. He was watching me closely.

I finished up and climbed through the hole in the pit wall. Nico followed me. I ran back to my motorhome with my hair flowing behind me. I was developing a really nice tan. I hopped into the shower to get rid of the smell of BO.

I dried off and got ready to sleep. I was just settling down when Nico sent me a text

You're a good runner x

Thank you! Sleep well x

Night x

And with that I fell asleep.