Anti-Stall

Apologies, pleas, amends.

The race was over, guests started leaving the center. Everyone was praising Ferrari's performance this race, both the drivers were on the podium. I asked Becky if she knew the race results.

"Yeah! Lewis Hamilton is the race winner, Arthur Leclerc second and Charles finished third!" She continued, "Everyone is surprised that Charles' brother outperformed him. Someone's going to get a lot of media attention today!"

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" I said with fake enthusiasm.

Tim explained to me that I will have five minutes before the press conference to meet Arthur at Ferrari's center and apologize to him. I let out a sigh, what was I supposed to say to him? 

Now I had something new to focus on, coming up with an apology and rehearsing it in my head. Another thing that was bothering me was his arrogance, he should have apologised to me too! He was beyond mean to me. 

Good evening Arthur, I would like to apologise for the way I spoke to you. I am extremely sorry, I didn't realize how rude my tone was.

 I'm new to this whole thing but that's no excuse and yeah, I hope that such things don't happen in the future. 

Maybe I could add a little something, I hope you too in the future are little more considerate towards other's emotions and not lash out at them. 

PERFECT! This is it, that's what I'm going to say. Sometimes my genius scares me. Replaying this apology in my head multiple times, I entered the unit. 

I walked into the seating area, there were so many armchairs and tables and seats, I didn't know where to sit. 

"Hello! You can come join me." A kind voice assured me. It was Lorenzo.

 I didn't really know him but I knew he was Charles' and Arthur's older brother. He was sitting at a round table with his laptop in front of him.

"Thanks!" I grinned taking a seat. "I'm Natalie, the girl who put Arthur in a bad mood."

"I'm Lorenzo Leclerc, Arthur's cute umbrella girl, manager and older brother to Charles and Arthur" he beamed. 

"So what are you doing here Natalie?" he asked. 

"I am here to apologize to Arthur." I sighed.

We had a good conversation about life as people working behind the scenes of the most luxurious sport and laughed at incidents that had taken place. 

It had been quite a while, he noticed me glancing at my watch. 

"He's taking quite some time at the media pen isn't he?" 

"Yeah! I have to get back to my unit soon, I have a tent to take down!" I joked.

"I would love to stay and chat! But I have to get some work done. Lovely meeting you Natalie!" He chimed before leaving. 

"Toodles! See you around!" I cheered back at him. 

He was such a pleasant person! Thanks pops, I wouldn't have met such lovely people if it wasn't for you who pushed me to take this up.

I checked in on my parents, Erica, Becky and Elena. I even went through my emails! Arthur was nowhere to be seen, it had been an hour since Lorenzo left. 

I was getting a teeny bit frustrated. Even the people at Ferrari were getting uncomfortable with me just sitting there. My phone buzzed.

Timothy Beaumont: Where are you?

You: At Ferrari's.

Timothy Beaumont: You're taking an awful lot of time! Are you both on a date? When I said they are not your buddies, I did not mean you can date them!

You: OMG Ha ha ha ha. You are so funny Tim. I just wanted to apologize to him but he hasn't even come back from the media pen yet.

Timothy Beaumont: Oh I see. Come back, no point. We can send him cookies and deduct the expenses from your salary. Or flowers? Nice idea no?

 You: Fantastic! I'm out of here.

I popped my phone into my pocket and was walking towards the door. I walked out of the door still lost in thoughts and collided into someone, the person held me up to stop me from falling flat on to the ground. 

"I am so sorry! I just seem to not be able to get  anything right toady!" I ranted. 

I looked up, it was Arthur. Great! Just fucking amazing. I rambled my apology, dropping the last bit. I was honestly so done with this day.

"I am sorry too! I shouldn't have lashed t you like that. It was very rude of me" he replied. 

He really did mean it, his eyes had softened. I felt bad because I didn't genuinely mean my apology, Gosh! I was going to hate myself for doing this but I did it anyway.

"That's really nice of you. I guess you've figured out by now my apology was pretty half assed..." I confessed," I'd like to make it up to you. Is there something I can do? Because I'd die of guilt if I don't genuinely show you I'm sorry!"

"Yes! There is. You seem like an interesting person. I've been meaning to find out who exactly you are since the race in Melbourne."

 "Ah how sweet of you! I guarantee you, you will run away after spending 5 mins with me." I exclaimed, this made him laugh even more. 

"We don't have a race next weekend. Hang out at a small place with me and a couple of my friends next week?" He asked. 

"Bring along a friend if you feel awkward." He added.

Was I finally making friends? I don't want to jinx whatever this was. I politely accepted his invitation, we exchanged Instagram IDs and went our ways. 

I was greeted by extremely tired but happy Erica, I reached for a hug and she just collapsed in my arms. At the post race team meeting Erica's efforts were applauded, Tim was praised, chefs and all the other staff was given the credit they were due.

We drove back to our hotel, tired and hungry. This time we watched crappy movies and had a little dance party in Erica's room. We laid down in bed and started talking about random things. 

I felt like my bond with Erica was growing stronger, where was she all my life? I wish I met her earlier. I told Erica about the whole Daniel incident and she said that she  didn't know if she should laugh or cry.

She was just so easy to trust! I went rambling on about how I first came across Arthur and what happened today. 

"Wait! Girl what!? How do you just befriend all of these people? I've been working here 2 years and the only interaction I've had with all of them is greeting them good morning!" 

"Well, Tim doesn't call me chatty Nattie for no reason. I'd talk to trees if I had no one to talk to." I laughed.

 "Okay love, coming back to this situation, are you looking forward to hanging out with them?"

"Oh about that, he asked me to bring along a friend... Will you please come?" I said giving her puppy eyes.

"Of course I am! But what about your friends back home?" she asked. I didn't feel so good anymore. I felt a little sullen, friends back home.

 I told her about how pretty much every friend I had never stuck around, they used me and left. How my friend group in university just used me to get into clubs and when I started focusing more on education, they deserted me. 

She gave me a tight squeeze and that she wasn't going anywhere and I was stuck with her forever. It felt nice, for once in my life have someone apart from my parents telling me they'd be there for as long as I needed them.

"Where are you meeting up? What time are you meeting up? Has he said anything at all?" 

"He said he'll send me a message with all the details once he gets a little bit of time. Media attention you know?" I said in a playful tone.

 We continued having conversations late into the night, I don't even remember when I fell asleep. All I know is, I definitely had a smile on face as I fell asleep.