Chasing Nico || Nico Hülkenberg

Chapter 1: The Pen

Okay, he must show up sooner or later… right?

Olivia checks her watch for the thirty-sixth time. It’s around 2 o’clock in the morning. at the moment, so it can’t be long before people come back from the track. She fails to stifle a yawn. Gosh, she’s tired and there’s nothing she wants more than a comfortable bed, which is waiting for her upstairs in her hotel room… Yet, she has to stand here waiting for some stupid driver to show up. A brunette girl looks at Olivia disapprovingly as she yawns for the second time. Oh, come on, the girl may be fresh and willing to wait, but Olivia isn’t.

The other fans (there are around 15 people standing with her in the hotel entrance) look pretty enthusiastic, which she can’t understand. They are waiting for a racing driver, for the love of God! Why bother? It’s different if he’s a Nobel Prize winner for example. But she’s also stuck here… She has her reasons, though.

The night air is still nice; it isn’t chilly, but isn’t too warm either. Singapore is amazing so far. Olivia loves everything—apart from waiting for him. Oh, if he still doesn’t show up in five minutes she’ll leave and try her luck tomorrow—well, later today in fact. She’s thinking about another yawn, just to annoy the brunette girl, but the girl doesn’t seem to notice her anymore. She’s busy watching a car that stops not so far from them. Everybody else does the same; even Olivia can sense their excitement.

Does it mean that he’s here? Oh, please let it be him—so she can get her mission done and sleep.

Three people get out of the car. Two guys and a woman. The fans around Olivia go crazy and start swarming the trio, wanting to be the first one to get some autographs. Olivia tries to get as close to him as possible without pushing the others.

Nico bloody Hülkenberg. He’s the reason why Olivia is here in the unearthly hour. She doesn’t have any problem with him, no. She just doesn’t understand why Claire is so crazy about him. To be fair, yes, he’s tall and cute. But, that’s it.

Nico patiently signs the various things that the fans asked him to sign—from caps and magazines to posters and flags. Someone even asks him to sign her iPad. Wow. Just wow. And where do all these people come from? She swears that there were only about 15 people earlier, and now it looks like the number has been multiplied by ten. Olivia notices that the other guy, who is wearing the same team t-shirt is merely standing a little bit behind. He must be one of the mechanics or something like that. On the other hand, the woman grows more and more impatient as the time passes. Olivia can relate to that, because if people keep coming, it’ll be 5 o’clock before they finish.

But, no, you can’t take him away now! Not when I’m so close of getting the damned autograph.

As if she could read her mind, the woman touches Nico’s shoulder, nodding at him. Then she says to the crowd, ”I’m sorry guys, Nico is tired and needing some rest.”  To Olivia’s horror, she begins to steer Nico out of the fans.

No!

This isn’t happening…

She has to do something. But what? Anything! Call him out or something. But the others are loudly buzzing their disappointment, and she can’t be heard even if she yells. Oh, bloody hell!

Olivia only had a split second to decide, and in a mixture of desperation and panic, without she realises, she throws her marker pen at him. It hits the left side of Nico’s back—quite hard, to be honest.

Ouch! Please, don’t try this at home.

He stops and turns around—so do the guy-who-is-probably-a-mechanic and the woman. Just as Olivia thinks that things can’t get worse, the fans immediately stop talking. The silence that follows feels very unpleasant.