OVERDRIVE| CHARLES LECLERC

Chapter Two

Arriving at the gala on time was much easier said than done when your chauffeurs were that of Alexander Albon and George Russell which was surprising considering the fact that both men were Professional racing drivers. It had taken them exactly nineteen minutes past seven to even arrive at Alessandra's apartment building, a quick text telling her to hurry up was what led her to stumble out of her front door with her hair still in its silver pins.

She blamed the three full glasses of Chardonnay she had been gracefully sipping on for her lack of punctuality. After a few words of lecture from the British men —and a few accusations from the Portuguese woman— they were finally on their way to the gala, which just so happened to be where everyone and their mothers were headed. A few traffic stops and frustrated beeps from George, and they had finally arrived just a few minutes shy of eight o'clock in the evening.

"We made it, that's all that matters." George flattened down any creases in his suit as they made their way up the red carpet stairs, trying to diffuse the ever growing complaints from his two companions.

"I think my grandma could of made it here before us and she's dead." Alessandra snapped.

Maybe it was the flashing lights of the strange photographers or the gut wrenching feeling that something horrible was going to happen to night that made her so easily frustrated. Perhaps lando had been waiting for her for so long that he no longer wanted her to be his date. She stopped walking at the thought.

"God, I'm gonna be sick."

"So dramatic." Alex laughed, noticing the girls shift in demeanour. Of course he knew this wasn't about George's driving; Alex always knew. He leant down closer to his friend, out of ears reach from any lurking reporters. "Lando's not going to hate you for being late, you know. The idiot's probably not even here himself yet."

The possibility was high. Throughout the last six hours since she'd seen him last, Aless had text him a total of five times, all of which hadn't even been read. She wondered what was so important about the meeting that lando couldn't reply to her. Typically, he would of responded before she'd even put her phone down as if he had been waiting for her to text him.

"I'm not worried about that." She coughed. A terrible liar as always. Alex just shook his head at the teenager as the two sped up to George, who was holding the door open for them impatiently.

"What is wrong with you people tonight? If you walked any slower I think my arm might of fallen off." George rolled his shoulder back and forth, exaggerating the subtle aching he was experiencing.

Aless scoffed, turning towards Alex. "But I'm the dramatic one?" These boys were gonna be the death of her.

The trio let the music surround them, loud chatters filling their ears from family and friends alike of just twenty drivers. It was crazy to Alessandra just how many people were in this one room —from mechanics, to engineers, to the mothers and fathers who raised the best drivers in the world— and amongst them all, she could not pinpoint her Lando anywhere. She could see Jon and Zak chatting with some mechanics by the McLaren table, and even Oscar Piastri hiding in the back of the room with Lucélia Colapinto —the McLaren reserve driver— but not a single sight of her favourite British boy. Alessandra could always spot Lando in a room of people.

The McLaren Driver had already told her that his family would not be attending and that they would be sitting at the McLaren team table which she didn't mind at all. Since she spent most of her weekends amongst the team, they had all become close acquaintances of hers. Will would occasionally let her get on the radio during practices to wind Lando up while the mechanics often asked for her assistance in heating up the tires which ultimately she knew nothing about but was just happy to be involved. Despite all of that, Alessandra didn't know if she had the confidence to just walk up to the McLaren table alone. It's not like she was Lando's girlfriend. Though almost all of the McLaren team (and other teams) thought of her as such.