invisible string | OP81

Chapter 4

I was awoken by the sound that I hate most in this world, my alarm.

I took another five minutes to officially get out and bed and start getting ready. Once I had finished, I went downstairs for breakfast.

One of my favourite things about travelling was the hotel breakfast. It was something that you could almost always rely on for some good food. I loved the wide selection of pastries and cereal as a picky eater. I could always find something I would like.

I had to be more healthy than I used to be after getting into Formula 1, but that usually didn't stop me from eating a lot of shit during race weekend. I knew that I would burn off the calories later.

So, I piled up my plate with food and went to sit down. I put my headphones on and started watching Gossip Girl. I was about to tuck in when someone sat across from me at the table.

Aella King was my race engineer. I had met her before during meetings and over the radio but never in an informal setting. It was always refreshing to see another woman in the sport and I could see us being friends from some of the interactions she has had over the radio.

'Hi, Blair'

'Oh hey, Aella'

'Good choice, I usually go with pastries but I thought I would try a full English today'

'I'm actually weird, I don't like full Englishes. I like most of it but there are some parts which put me off.'

'I have to say, that is weird,' we laughed. 'So, are you excited for race weekend?'

'Excited but nervous, I just want to do well.'

'You'll be fine, I've seen you drive and you have some serious talent.'

'Thanks, excited to have you over the radio as well!'

Aella had been Alonso's race engineer while he was at Alpine, she had lots of experience for being so young and I couldn't wait to start racing with her over my radio.

'Do you play Mario Kart?' I asked.

'Of course, it's the best game ever!'

'We still have a bit of time before we get to the track, wanna play?'

'Absolutely!'

We quickly finished our breakfast and then came up to my hotel room. I connected my switch to the TV and set it up ready to play.

We played a few rounds with the winner switching between the two of us, eventually we had to leave for the track.

I ended up being slightly late to the track which wasn't great. If I had left when I had wanted then I would be had a hit more time before my meeting, but now I found myself running through the paddock. I was dodging and weaving between the busy area before finally arriving at the meeting. I had just made it on time.

Once again, I had to mentally prepare myself for the long, boring meeting. At least today there would be new information rather than just refreshers of what had already been drilled into me. Besides this, I still found myself zoning out.

It was near the end of the meeting when I was snapped out of my peace by the person directing when he cleared his throat. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks and I shrank in my chair. At least there was only a little bit left to go.

The meeting finally finished and I still had a few hours to go until qualifying. I decided to repeat yesterdays lunch and find some food at the stands.

I was approached a few times during my walk to sign various bits of merchandise, I never found this a problem unless I had to be somewhere urgently and couldn't get past, however this wasn't the case today. I switched up the meal to go for something a bit healthier, I managed to find a pasta stand where I just got pasta and cheese, good energy for quali later.