Connections (F1 story)

Chapter Five: Judgment day

Rebecca and I got done what we needed to do, and she praised me for my email responses and taught me how to go about an official press release.

After we finished that she then gave me a few different scenarios involving Daniel and I had to figure out how to tell him to respond to the eagerly awaiting media. They included rumours about the team and responses if he had a collision or caused one. There was a lot to remember but Red Bull made it clear that the statements had to be to the point and not wishy-washy like other teams. If a question was asked, within reason, it had to be answered as truthfully as was acceptable for the team. No PR stunts. No pissing around.

Some considerable amount of time later we ventured down to the canteen to grab coffee. I hadn't eaten anything all day apart from an apple. It was paying off though.

"Hey, Saskia." I heard a familiar voice and I looked up in the direction that it came from to see who it was.

"Sam." I greeted. I was pleased to see him.

"Did you get any sleep in the end?" The glint he had in his blue eyes was mischievous.

I let out a little chuckle to myself as my brain had a flashback to last night. "Yeah in the end..."

Before Sam could reply Rebecca tapped my arm and said she'd go and get the coffees and told me to meet her in there.

"I gathered. I was still waiting for a reply at 6am." He sniggered. Thank god he was joking.

"Y'know, I'm a very busy person now." There was a hint of sarcasm to my tone. I was playing his game too.

"Sure you are. Too busy to go for a drink one night next week, then?"

"Well I'll have to check my diary but I just might be able to squeeze you in, possibly...maybe." I raised an eyebrow and walked off in search of Rebecca.

My legs had gone slightly wobbly from the tension, they felt like jelly. God I was useless around people I found even the slightest bit attractive. It didn't help that my back was throbbing either. And yes, I did just call Sam attractive...

---

Saturday marked three days until we left for Bahrain but first of all, I was going with Daniel to Birmingham for an interview and photo-shoot with a big Motorsport magazine.

I was on tenterhooks as I stumbled around my flat, splashing cold water on my face twice to try and make me snap out of it. Thankfully, I had a fairly long drive to Milton Keynes to prepare myself.

A company car picked me up at 7am, still the middle of the night as far as I was concerned. I hadn't slept much and I was still tired from the nights of broken sleep that I had been receiving. My back was playing up and I'd been on paracetamol since Thursday, I had tried without it but the pain was unbearable. I went to the gym in hope of easing it but it had just made things worse.

I jumped into the back of the car rubbing my eyes, I wasn't aware that windows could be this blacked out, no one could ever see in.

The driver said hello to me but respected that I was still researching and preparing for the interview so left me to my own devices. London was quiet at this time so the roads were a breeze- traffic frustrated me on the average day, let alone when it's my first big job with none other than a Formula 1 driver. I quivered at the thought. No matter his status he was just a normal guy beneath his high profile exterior, even if had just moved to Monaco!

Approximately an hour and a half later we were on the edge of Milton Keynes and the driver was paying full attention to the road signs. No doubt we were nearly at Daniel's apartment which he rented out whilst in the town. Pretty handy I suppose, why pay for hotel after hotel when you can have your own space, for a week, for half the price?