𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄, o. piastri

xxi. friends

27th april 2023, afternoon
baku, azerbaijan

olivia stood waiting patiently at the paddock club for the barista to bring her her coffee and scone. the brunette had accompanied her best friend to the track that day despite it only being media day.

she reached into her purse, pulling out some change to had the girl behind the counter. she turned around, almost bumping into two girls.

"oh, sorry." olivia mumbled, her eyes trailed up to the two girls' faces and she immediately recognised them.

the brazilian girl was vanessa santos; the only female driver in formula 1, and max verstappen's teammate and girlfriend. the tall monegasque beside her was angélique auclair; model and charles leclerc's girlfriend.

"oh no, don't apologise. we shouldn't have startled you like that." vanessa waved her off with a smile.

"we just wanted to come say hi. you're oscar's girlfriend right?" olivia's eyes widened at angélique's words. she shook her head.

"uh, no. oscar and i are just friends."

"oh." the model looked slightly disappointed, "we just assumed because you come to races with him and you two seem so close—"

"yeah, we're childhood best friends." the two girls shared a look before nodding.

"do you want to join us?" vanessa blurted out pointing at a small table with some pastries and drinks. olivia was a little hesitate but agreed.

the three girls sat down, vanessa taking a bite of her almond croissant. "i can't beleive we forgot to introduce ourselves; i'm vanessa and this is angélique."

"you can call me angie."

"i'm olivia but you can call me liv. it's nice to meet you both."

"i'm gonna be honest liv, ange and i are fans of yours." olivia's eyebrows furrowed.

"fans of me?"

"yeah, angie sent me your song 'don't let me down' and it's amazing!" the brunette blushed. she was shocked that the two girls had heard her song and liked it.

"thank you. i really didn't expect it to blow up the way it did." she confessed.

"have you been a musician long?" angie took a sip of her frappe. olivia shook her head.

"no, i'm not a professional at all. i've been writing songs as long as i can remember but i've never actually released any music," olivia explained, "posting 'don't let me down' was just an impulse decision."

"but you're really good!" vanessa exclaimed.

"have you ever thought of pursing music before?" olivia thought for a second. of course she had dreamed about being a singer, like every other little girl once had, but she never thought she could actually make it.

"not really. music was always a pipe dream, you know?"

"not to sound cheesy but you can seriously make that dream into reality." angie stated.

"i don't know. what if i end up failing at it. what if i'm just one of those a one hit wonder's?"

"come on, liv. do you think i would be where i am if i kept worrying about failing?" vanessa questioned and the brunette shook her head.

"you have serious talent. don't let it go to waste."

olivia teeth sunk into her bottom lip to control the wide smile spreading across her face. "i'll think about it."