You Look Lonely - F1

IV

Jeddah, Friday

As I stared out the window, my gaze remained fixed on the bustling cityscape. The week had been a whirlwind of work, spent working on multiple articles for the blog and reviewing notes, all while preparing and practising for the approaching weekend.

After our night out, Daniel tried reaching out to me a couple of times, but I was too busy focusing on my career. I didn't want to be swept away from work by his attractiveness. And friendliness. And good looks. And contagious laugh.

Calm down Lila. I scolded myself.

"Girl, you're all over my TikTok page" Sara exclaimed during one of our video calls "There's tons of conspiracies about you being Daniel's new flame!" I shook my head, chuckling at the absurdity. Tabloids have always been so dramatic.

We were simply having a wild night partying and drinking our asses off, nothing more, nothing less.

I bit the inside of my cheek, aware of the importance of maintaining a good reputation.

Concentrate on your job. I reminded myself, like a mantra.

The driver dropped me off directly in front of the security leading to the paddock entrance and I closed my eyes for a second, savouring the heat of the sun on my skin. Stepping out of the car, I adjusted the sunglasses perched neatly on my nose, clutching documents and a black bag as I scanned my pass and greeted the staff members with a radiant smile.

My phone rang and I read a message from Jane, my new favourite person in the paddock. She had sent me her location and was already seated in a nearby café.

She was a kind soul I had met at a work dinner earlier that week, where we celebrated the start of the season with all of the SkySport F1 crew. She's part of the technical crew and mainly works right behind the cameras, making sure everything is broadcast properly on live television. We immediately clicked.

Goosebumps made my hair stand up as I walked down the Paddock, surrounded by team buildings and members. I was yet to get used to my new workplace and it was an incredible sensation. A truly dream come true. First Bahrain, now Jeddah....then Australia! I would be visiting half the planet within a year from now, new places, meet new people.

Suppressing a smile, I turned the corner to see Jane waving eagerly at me.

"Good morning, sunshine!" she exclaimed, planting kisses on both my cheeks in greeting. The waiter immediately approached us and I ordered an espresso macchiato while she got a cappuccino. "How are you doing?" I asked her as we both dived into a conversation about how intense the first race week had been.

With the start of the season came loads of articles, news and reports that had to be released. Plus we both had to schedule practically a month's worth of interviews with drivers, team principals and engineers.

"And guess what?" asked the girl "What?" "One of our main goals for Sunday is to catch Will Smith!" my eyes widened in surprise "That's brilliant Jane!" she jumped in her chair and the biggest grin appeared on her cheeks "Can you believe it? I will be directly in front of fucking Agent J!"

Minutes passed and it was soon time to start collecting our stuff and head back to the day's tasks. Just a few more instants of relax... well, at least until we were interrupted.