Enjoy The Butterflies - English version

4.

Here it is, the decisive moment of the weekend arrives, the race starts in 5 minutes. The engineers and mechanics are still with the cars on the track so I take the opportunity to film one or two images for Lando's insta account. I see Margot Lafitte and Franck Montagny starting to leave the track to join the paddock or the Canal+ office. So I tell myself that it's maybe time for me to do the same thing but when I start to head towards the exit of the track, I hear Oscar calling me. I approach his car and wish him good luck. Today, he starts on the second row, he is 4th, his teammate, Lando, is pole man. From what I understand, this year, Lando is capable of fighting with Max and Charles for the title. The year before, Charles won the championship against a very fierce Max. This year 2024 has been very competitive between the Ferrari driver and the Red Bull driver. This year, McLaren is wreaking havoc and the three drivers most present on the podiums are still Max, Charles and Lando. The winning triple.

My brother starts this grand prix from 7th place, Max from 3rd place and Charles from second. The race is going to be tight once again.

I finally reach the McLaren garage and sit next to Lando's parents in the special area for guests and staff members who are not part of the engineers and mechanics. Lando's mother, Cisca, asks me what I work in and what brings me here.

- I am your son's new community manager and I am in this environment because my brother is Pierre Gasly, from the Alpine team.

- Oooh, but I didn't know that Pierre had a little sister! The genes in this family are very good, your brother is already very handsome but you, my dear, you are resplendent!

- Oh, thank you, that's very kind, but I'm not that pretty.

- My dear, if you saw yourself as I see you, you would see that you are magnificent.

- You are really adorable Cisca! I can tell you that you have created a very handsome son, I know that all the girls would like to tear him away, you only have to see the exit of the hotel where we were, it was on the verge of them jumping on him.

- These girls will not make him happy, he needs someone to settle down with. But, well, I'm not going to bother you with these stories more than that, you're not interested.

I smile at her politely, not knowing what to say to that. This lady reminds me a lot of my own mother in her way of expressing herself, they are both very calm and composed in their speech but know how to get the right messages across. For example, there, I understood very well that she is eagerly looking for a new girlfriend for her son so that his breakup with the Portuguese influencer gets out of his head and he stops screwing everything that moves. With my mother, I have become a pro at deciphering implicit messages. Mommy Gasly is the best at all that, so I was able to learn well, I had the best teacher. But the least well-hidden message in the few sentences we exchanged is that she found me just perfect for her son and that if it was up to her, I would already be marrying Lando. Except that I have only known Lando for a week and that well... he is handsome, but not really my style actually.

***

The outcome of the race is unequivocal, Lando wins with a 5-second lead over Charles. The last person to complete this magnificent podium is Pierre. After a collision between Oscar and Max and after overtaking his teammate, he arrives in third place and signs his first podium of the season. Seeing my brother on this podium gives me extreme joy, I am so proud of him! I start jumping around in the McLaren garage and I see Lando's mother who smiles seeing me so happy for my brother. Her smile also clearly means "you will be my son's wife, I will fight body and soul for that to happen". This lady makes me laugh even if I find that she is still getting on her high horse. I am only there to manage Lando's networks, not to fall in love with him.

The podium ceremony is magnificent, Lando bursts the bottle of champagne which makes the whole assembly laugh. This guy really has the character of a best friend who tries to make the whole world laugh like in books. Lando has a very very good vibe and I think that even if I work for him, a bond of affinity can be created between us but not to the point that the driver's mother hopes. He is very nice but nothing will ever happen between us.

***

The drivers are having a huge party right after the grand prix to celebrate Lando's victory. I prefer to go back to the hotel and sleep a little because tomorrow my plane leaves early and I don't necessarily want to go back and found like a zombie at 6am at the airport.

At half past one in the morning, I hear Lando come into the room. Given the noise he makes, I guess he must be a little drunk but I hear a second person behind him. He didn't do that, did he?! He didn't bring a girl to sleep with her?! But even if it was only for three seconds, the second person shakes me by calling my name, what is certain is that it's not Lando, I recognize my brother's voice by the way. What is Pierre doing here?

- Pierre, what the hell are you doing, it's late and I'm trying to sleep here! I have an early flight tomorrow morning!

- I told you she wouldn't be happy if you woke her up dude!

- Shut up Lando, you're making a lot of noise too!

I hear Pierre openly making fun of him.

- Okay Pierre, go ahead and tell me why you're waking me up so early!

- I wanted to suggest that you come to Milan with Kika and me for the week before going to Monaco.

- Pierre, I would have loved to but you know that I have to go back to Paris, I have to give my boss my report on this first week. And I have no other choice. And anyway, I'm going to have to go back to Monaco on Wednesday and since I have a lot of work tomorrow and Tuesday, it will be too complicated but if you want, we can do it later, like before the Monza GP or something like that!

- Ok...

I apologize again to my brother and go back to sleep but I hear Lando suggest that we go to his place when I'm in Monaco to avoid losing a crazy amount of money at the hotel, I tell him that I'll answer his suggestion later because I'm not thinking clearly and that it's better that we go to sleep.

But just before I fall back asleep, I hear him mumble something that I think I understand as "you're really beautiful Addie". So of course, I'm flattered but I'm pretty sure it's the alcohol talking for him. I ignore it and almost fall back asleep following because I'm so exhausted. But this sentence keeps looping in my brain all night, I even dream about it. The last compliment of that kind I received from a man was from my ex-boyfriend. Which means it was in 2018. And then, even if it's the alcohol talking for him, maybe he meant it. There it is, I start asking myself a whole bunch of questions again and my alarm goes off at the same time. What's it going to be like on the plane, honestly? So I get up quickly to finish my suitcase and go to the breakfast room and leave for the airport as quickly as possible. But I don't have time to leave the room before Lando catches up with me, of course, he had to wake up.

- Wait, before you leave, I wanted to give you my number, so we can keep in touch during the week and then, like that, I'll give you my address in Monaco!

- Oh yes, thanks, I'll send you a message when I'm in the breakfast room so you'll have my number too!

- Perfect! Well, see you Wednesday then!

- See you Wednesday!

So he was planning on getting up to give me his number, how do I not get carried away now, huh?! I don't feel anything for him but, I'm sorry, a guy who gets up earlier than he should to give his number, that's how romance books start. But it's not possible, the guy is so famous, he wouldn't be interested in his community manager. Damn, I feel like I'm one of his girls who always puts herself down to get attention when frankly, I know my worth and I would never do that, it's just that I see him more in a relationship with someone as famous as him, like a model or a singer.

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Here is the fourth chapter, I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think about Lando and Addie. What do you think about their future?