Gasoline - [Charles Leclerc]

1.1

"I'm sorry I'm calling so late". Jomana whined in the phone. "I'm shot down by a serious fever and I'm laying in bed with a bucket at the moment". Edrice groaned in response. "You can't help getting sick, but I literally just ordered two latte's at the Starbucks and I won't walk out with two cups for myself". She replied to her friend. "Edrice, you know I'm sorry. I was thrilled to hear all about your week in Barcelona". Edrice moved from her seat and took the two cups with her, not wanting to throw away a whole coffee she had just paid six quid for either. "I'm about done editing the video, it'll be up tonight". She informed Jomana. "Everything for a special on BBC is arranged too". Edrice heared her coughing in the background. "Are we filming this weekend then? Lexus sent an email". Edrice pushed her sunglasses over her eyes as she stood outside.

"Only Saturday or Sunday afternoon, Charles is flying over and will be at my apartment Saturday evening till Sunday morning". It was quiet for a moment and Edrice was sure Jomana was about to come up with a dirty quote, but it was quiet on the other side of the line. "Saturday afternoon is fine. Friday isn't possible?". Jomana asked and Edrice became slightly annoyed as she had said a hundred times she had an Audi conference in Manchester with the Manchester United football team. "I'm in Manchester then". She replied curtly. "Oh, right". Jomana said. "I'll see you later". "Get well soon". Edrice ended the call and a frown furrowed her dark eyebrows together. The communications between her and Jomana wasn't going very smoothly and she wondered why.

Edrice made her way to the London underground station of Knightsbride, coming across a street singer who was making some music in the hallway. She smiled and left the coffee there for him, glad she didn't throw it away. He smiled at her in a thankful way before she continued to walk down the stairs. Although she had a new Maserati shining in her garage, Edrice rarely took the car out for a simple grocery shopping or a coffee meet up. The traffic was busy since tourists loved the English capital city all days in the year. It would probably take her longer to get to the center with her car than with the underground. The tube brought her to Oxford street, where she had an apartment above one of the many shops. Edrice loved London, it was a practical city. Living on Oxford Street got her close to the center.

Everything she needed was close, including the airport that was a half an hour drive from here. Was it the center of her world and all the desitations she travelled to? Absolutely not, but it was still a good, central place to stay. Edrice looked forward to the weekend. She was meeting Lucas di Grassi in Manchester as he supported the soccer team and also because he was the Brasilian Audi Ambassador. He'd give a small TED-talk alike speech before they were explaining some things about the new fully electronic Audi model that's reaching the world wide market soon enough. While Jomana and Edrice had those events, they were constantly contacting companies over the world to see if they could arrange anything with them. Like Jomana said on the phone, Lexus had replied to them.

Lexus was one of the candidates for their new car-testing video of the month and they were about to invite a new driver as well. Edrice was thinking about Nico Rosberg, retired F1 driver who was getting into the very modern world of vlogging and making YouTube videos. She figured he'd be open to collaborate with them. Edrice had thrown away her empty Starbucks cup and sat down behind her laptop when she got into the kitchen. She quickly typed an email back to Lexus on their shared email and searched for the management of Nico to sent an email to him as well. Edrice edited the last bits of the Barcelona vlog, where she filmed a part with Lando Norris and McLaren. Lando was a fun guy, it was clear that he was younger than the other drivers as he was playful, yet he was also serious.

They had a good chat about his new company car on their way to Barcelona's circuit. The rest existed of vlogs from her days on the track, zoomed in explanations of the Ferrari bolide and a track walk where some engineers explained things about the track and its corners. It was a great insider video for their viewers and Edrice was very curious to read the comments from them. It was quiet in the apartment as the video was uploading and she was in the kitchen to cook some dinner for herself. She loved living on her own as much as she liked meeting up with friends or going to events. It was great to have time for herself and let her mind roam free about things they could do in the future. And when you're living on your own, nobody can say you have to put your laptop and phone away during dinner.