Anti-Stall

The First Day

Melbourne, Australia

I woke up before my alarm went off, still trying to figure out if it's from dread or nervousness. The clock on the night stand showed it was 6:30 am, Thirty minutes to properly wake myself up. I stepped out into the balcony of my room, Gosh the sea was beautiful. I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe, the air was salty.

 My brain was flooded with thoughts, Can I do this job? What if I mess up? Am I even capable? All of my thoughts were interrupted by my buzzing phone, who other than my dearest pops.

 I told him I was awake and that he should go to sleep now. He said to me that he was very proud of me and wished me all the luck in the world for my first day, he added that mom was very proud of me and couldn't wait to meet me once we both got back to London. 

I showered and put on the clothes I had laid down the previous night. My hair just wasn't cooperating today, It looked brown fuzz without its usual waves.

 I combed it into a neat top knot, grabbed my ID card, bag and put on my shoes. There was quite a spread for breakfast. I could have sat there eating more but it was 7:30 already. The car to pick me up was here. 

I was at the circuit at 8. The paddock was already bustling with people. A man at the gate wearing the same shirt as me, I figured he worked Formula1 too. I said good morning to him.

 "Ah! You must be the intern. I am Timothy but everyone calls me Tim, good morning to you to miss...." his voice trailed off.

"Natalie Periwinkle!" I said sticking my hand out for a handshake "But you can call me Nat." I said with a smile.

"American..." he said judging my accent.

 I explained to him that I had actually lived in London since I was 10.

 "Doesn't change the fact you were born an American. Chop Chop! We have a lot of work to do at the center." Tim said. His accent was definitely French but I didn't want to comment on that.

 Tim wasn't lying. My morning was a blur! arranging tables, changing the seating chart 20000 times, etc. Gosh it was exhausting. After working tirelessly for a long time I finally decided to look around. 

The paddock was actually a really cool place! I was just sitting on the chairs outside when I saw him again. There he was. Dan, Daniel, the honey badger. His curly hair neatly tucked under a cap, sunglasses covering his warm, bright, honey colored  eyes.

 I waved to him but got back no response, He just walked passed without even noticing me. Rude! I couldn't talk to him yesterday and today he just brushed me off. oh he was definitely getting a piece of my mind. 

"Excuse me sir, this is no way to treat people."  I said as I walked up to him. 

He looked confused and was squinting at me.

 I rolled my eyes,  "It is I, the person who rained on your parade yesterday by wearing the same outfit as you."

He looked a little lost but then beamed instantly "Oh! Baggy shirt girl! Why is it that whenever we meet, I can't stay for a pleasant conversation. How about we catch up between free practice and quali? I didn't catch your name." 

"That's because I didn't say it. I'm Natalie but you can call me Nat." 

"I'm Daniel but you can call me Stacy, you can call me love..." and he started singing the rest of the lyrics, I couldn't help but laugh and just like that he was once again walking away from me, he gave me a quick wink. 

Butterflies. Gosh he wasn't making it easy for me.

I didn't even get to watch the free practice, the whole of free practice I was asked to carry messages from one end of the center to another, making coffee for everyone and hearing Tim say feisty things to everyone. 

At last a break, I made my way out of the center. No sight of Daniel. I decided to lurk around his team's hospitality center. 

There it was, more orange than I could imagine. It looked pretty though. Another guy wearing the same stuff as him glared at me,  weirdo. I left. 

I came back again a little later and no sight of him. Why was I behaving like this?  I found myself walking towards there again. 

"Hey! Is there something I can help you with? Seeing you just constantly walk around here is a little creepy." Said the guy wearing the same stuff as Daniel.

 I didn't know what to say "ummm....I er...-" I crashed into someone as I was walking backwards, they held me to prevent me from falling. 

"There's no need to feel so threatened dude. She's wearing hospitality staff clothing" the person said. 

The dude accusing me of being a creep threw his hands in the air and walked away.  I finally turned around to see who has saved me from making a fool out of myself. He had piercing eyes. They were a beautiful blend of  blue and green.

 "Thank you so much! I would have made a complete fool out of myself." I mumbled a little embarrassed. 

He let out a little chuckle "You look new, the least I could do is help a fellow rookie." 

his voice was deep and soothing "I'm  Arthur, welcome to the paddock!" 

I stretched my hand out and give him a firm handshake "Natalie Periwinkle. I'm with F1 hospitality." 

"I'm with Ferrari" he said. 

He was wearing a polo shirt with the Ferrari logo and jeans, Definitely a fellow hospitality dude. I heard my name being called once again I thanked him before running back to my team, yes we're a team. We don't race that's it. I had to seat a few people and more good host things. 

The whole of qauli too, I spent working myself to the bone. I actually liked it. playing your role in a team is fun when your team is coordinated. After all this work I was tired but satisfied. 

I felt contempt. Once again, my brain was preoccupied with Daniel. I needed to get to know him, gosh he was cute. The whole team assembled at the center, we discussed the game plan for tomorrow, the race day. I sent my parents a message about my day. 

I fell asleep in the car on my way to the hotel. The job was cool but Daniel is all I could think about. If only there was a way to have an actual conversation without  interruptions with him. I kept replaying the wink in my head, before I knew it I was smiling ear to ear like an idiot.