CALL YOUR MOM | ln4

two.

{ jonesy }

Day 1.

Here we go.

With shaky hands, I reached for the door of the MTC and cursed Ruthie all at the same time. Sure, she'd hyped me up for my first day of work for Mclaren, but she'd also managed to get me nervous about seeing Lando again. It's been 10+ years since I've seen him – my childhood crush – there's no way he'll remember me. So, I'm not sure why I'm so nervous.

But here we are.

"Ms. Thomas?" A female voice asked as I walked into the lobby of the building. The tall blonde woman stood by the front desk, a tablet in hand, looking at me expectantly.

I nodded, reaching out my hand to shake hers. "That's me. Call me Jonesy, though."

"Call me Marta." She smiled before gesturing down a hallway, "This way."

We walked side-by-side down the hallway, walking through a display room for old Mclaren models and I legitimately had to control myself from freaking out. This was a dream.

"Mr. Brown had our media team come up with a list of photo ops we need before you all leave for Bahrain next week. You'll be set up in one of our studios; the list is already in there for you." Marta explained as she continued to lead me down the hallway.

Only a minute or two passed before Marta opened the door to a room, it opened up into a pretty large and decent photo studio. Multiple backdrops, plenty of equipment, it was like a photographer's dream.

I held onto my backpack straps as I followed her into the room. "The Drivers will arrive in the next half hour and will come in wearing their teamkit – or they should. Sometimes, they forget." She gestured to the far wall, "That rack has an extra team kit for both of them as well as their racing suits and any other outfit changes they might need. Any questions?"

My eyes drifted around the room, taking it all in. The hanging racks were stocked with clothes – we could be here for hours if I really wanted to. I then spotted a sheet of paper lying on a table filled with a few other things, that was probably the list of photo ops.

"No ma'am."

Marta smiled at me, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Good. And, feel free to take all the time you need with them, you're the only thing on their schedule for the day."

"Thank you!" I smiled back at her.

I want to make a first impression here. I don't want to forget to use my manners and then be labeled a bitch or something and have them regret hiring me. That would not be good.

"No problem, sweetheart." Marta reached out and squeezed my forearm, tapping on her tablet right after. "Feel free to call the front desk with any questions, there's a phone in the corner. Oh, and make sure to find me before you leave, there's some paperwork I need you to fill out. I assume you would like to be on the payroll as soon as possible?"

"Yes, please." I laughed as she bid me goodbye and left me alone in the room.

I spun on my heels.

30 minutes.

I've got this, right?

Thinking about everything I needed to do in that time, I realized that, maybe, 30 minutes was crunch time. Shit.

I was anxiously working to get myself ready, cursing myself for letting Ruthie convince me to wear my hair down today and not in my signature braided ponytail – my hair was getting everywhere today. After pushing it out of my eyes for the fiftieth time – a bit of an exaggeration, oh well – I was able to get the last of everything ready.