The Deception ~ LN4

5

The next morning, Mercedes woke to what felt like a hundred notifications. Her Instagram followers had somehow jumped from a modest 2,000 to over 50,000 overnight, and her DMs were flooded with messages from F1 fans, fellow pilots, and what appeared to be every tabloid journalist in Britain.

"Well, that escalated quickly," she muttered, scrolling through her phone. The photos outside Marco's had made their way to several sports websites, with headlines ranging from "Lando Norris' Mystery Woman Revealed!" to "Love in the Fast Lane: McLaren Star Dating Commercial Pilot."

SkySquadron ✈️

Today 08:00

Sarah OMG Cap, you're in The Sun!

James Does this mean we get paddock passes? Asking for Tommy (okay, and me)

Mike I knew that 'routine maintenance delay' in Nice wasn't routine! 😉

~~~

Before she could reply, her phone rang. It was Charlotte, McLaren's PR director, whom she'd met briefly during her first dinner with Lando.

"Mercedes, darling," Charlotte's voice was warm but professional. "I hope I'm not calling too early? We should probably have a chat about social media management and press guidelines. Nothing to worry about, just standard procedure when dating one of our drivers."

Mercedes glanced at her clock – she had three hours before her flight to Frankfurt. "Of course. Though I should mention I have to be at Heathrow by—"

"Perfect, I'll send a car in thirty minutes. We'll make it quick."

The McLaren Technology Centre was surprisingly busy for early morning. Charlotte whisked Mercedes into a sleek conference room, armed with a tablet and a sympathetic smile.

"First things first – how are you holding up? The initial media attention can be... overwhelming."

"I'm fine," Mercedes said, then amended, "Well, slightly terrified, but managing. Though I did have to turn off my Instagram notifications."

"Smart girl." Charlotte nodded approvingly. "Now, we don't want to restrict your personal life, but there are some basic guidelines we recommend. Nothing too onerous – just common sense about what to post, what not to post, how to handle press questions..."

The next forty-five minutes were a crash course in dating a public figure. No photos from private team events without approval. No commenting on race strategies or team dynamics. Assume anything posted online will be scrutinized by fans and media alike.

"The good news," Charlotte concluded, "is that the fans seem to love you already. The pilot angle is unique, and the fact that you met Lando without knowing who he was? PR gold."

Lando 🧡

Today 9:45

Hope Charlotte isn't scaring you too much!

Still on for dinner tonight?

~~~

Charlotte caught the smile on Mercedes' face. "He really likes you, you know. I've known Lando since he joined McLaren – I've never seen him this... centered."