Heard it through the grapevine

Chapter 2

The next few days in Maranello passed quickly, mostly due to the heavy workload that Flavio had been kind enough to bestow on Helena. She liked it though, being busy was how she managed the best. She got off on having lengthy to do list and unanswered emails for days. It was exhausting, but it was also rewarding to know that she was coping with the workload, and she knew that Flavio, although he didn't always say it, also appreciated her ability to always stay on top of things and that she prioritised her work.

But it was finally Friday.

On Wednesday, she had gone to dinner with some of the others from Maranello like she had agreed to. It was a big crowd, around fifteen had ended up joining the birthday celebrations in the small Maranello restaurant. They had ended up staying at the small authentic restaurant until closing, and the poor owner had insisted that he could stay open for them as long as they wanted. He had insisted, claiming that he was always happy to stay open for Ferrari employees, as long as they could guarantee a few wins in the upcoming F1 races.

It was an offer that the rest of the crowd happily accepted, but Helena had been awake for way too many hours to keep going, and she knew that she had an early wake up call tomorrow. She decided to call it a night to much disappointment for the rest of the group.

"Noooo, are you leaving already?" André, the birthday boy, yelled to her across the table as she got up and grabbed her purse and jacket. He pouted and looked at her pleadingly, his eyes asking her to stay with them. "But its my birthday!" 

Helena chuckled. "Yes, I'm sorry André, but Flavio needs my help going over some press work early in the morning. I need sleep. But happy birthday, and thank you for letting me join tonight." Some of the others also chimed in with boo's at her reply, but said their goodbyes nonetheless.

"Of course, you're always welcome." He smiled at her sweetly. She didn't know André very well, but she knew that he was good friends with both Giovanni and Thomas, and she assumed that he had probably heard about her through them. She smiled and waved her goodbyes before leaving.

Since Wednesday, she had not had time to socialise much with her friends in Maranello. Thursday had been chaotic which meant that she had fallen behind on some of her regular tasks. She had spent the afternoon in the office trying to get on top of it, but hadn't succeeded, so she had also ended up spending most of the night in her hotel room trying to catch up on it, not going to bed until long past 04:00 in the morning. Helena was relatively young to be in her role, and she didn't want to make the decision to hire her a question mark on her superiors minds. She knew that she was already at a disadvantage being a young woman in this field, and she desperately wanted to prove that she belonged there as much as everyone else.

When she had gotten the job less than a year ago, she had recently graduated university. She was in a different marketing role at a marketing firm in Monaco, when Ferrari had called her for an interview. At first she had questioned their reason for interviewing her, knowing that she did not have extensive professional experience within motorsports to prove her capabilities. But they eventually let her know that it had been her cover letter which had convinced them to call her for an interview. She'd mentioned how it was her dad that had initially taught her everything she knew about cars. Now, she wanted to prove to him that she was capable of achieving what he always imagined for her. A job within the industry that they both grew up loving, for the car manufacturer that they both supported.

Although it did not amount to any professional experience, the recruiters at Ferrari had appreciated her dedication to the company, knowing that she held the exact kind of mentality and drive that they looked for in future employees.