Flight K109 (#1 ¬ Aiello Racing Series )

Mia James

The week in Estonia with dad feels like a breath of fresh air after the tyre fire explosion with my mum. He doesn't know anything about the argument and me going to stay with Elliot, because obviously mum didn't bother telling him. I don't know what to expect when I get back to Taranto, I really want to just ask my dad to stay with him the rest of the summer, but I know the custody agreement won't let me and that it will just worry him unnecessarily. 

So I meet Elliot at the airport anyways and we get on the flight back to Taranto. I've still got that job to do with Elliot's team for the event on Saturday. I'm actually pretty excited about it, I finished my short story a while ago and I haven't really had anything to do other than laze about and occasionally hang out with Elliot or call my friends. This gives me something to do to feel useful, and I'm getting paid to do it. 

Mum isn't there to pick me up from the airport, and she isn't home when I get there after guilting Sandro to drop me off on his way home with Elliot. Fine by me. There's no trace of her anywhere in the house, no notes, no food in the fridge, not even a pair of shoes by the doorway. There's just an envelope with €300 marked 'food' on the counter.

The house is as quiet as it normally is when I put my bags down in my room and unpack them. And it's silent as usual when I go into the living room to doom scroll on my phone.

I know what she's doing, she's shutting me out. It's exactly what she used to do when she and dad got into arguments and fights, she removes herself completely, goes out early and comes back late, drowns herself in work until she's ready to talk to you on your own terms. She won't respond if you try to approach her before she's ready. This system works fine for her, not so much for the other person involved.

It's not like I particularly want to talk to her anyways, I'm still angry at her to be honest.

My first day on the job is Monday, Elliot and Sandro drop me off at reception with a 'good luck' and a 'don't fuck up' before heading there own way, leaving me to fend for myself. I take a deep breath and calm myself before making my way to the manager's office and knocking twice before entering.

I stand in the doorway for a second whilst the lady at the desk finishes typing up something before looking at me.

"Maria St. James?" she asks warmly

"That's me." I say entering and closing the door behind me, "But please call me Mia, only my mother calls me Maria."

"Well it's nice to meet you Mia, I'm Luisa, I manage most of the things around here. Take a seat sweetheart. We've got a lot to go over and more to do before Saturday."

I do as I'm told and Luisa slides a thick stack of papers to me across the desk.

"Alright." she says, seemingly bracing herself, "In there you've got an itinerary of the day, a list of vendors I need you to confirm with by tomorrow, a guest list that needs double checking and a list of things that need to be prepared by Saturday. Oh, and since I also cover PR management I'm going to need your help filming a couple behind the scenes videos and challenges with the boys to have prepared and out of the way for the next couple weeks." She pauses and takes a breath of air, "Think you can handle all that?"

"Yes ma'am." I nod eagerly, this is all stuff I'm good at

"Good." Luisa says with a smile, "Before I send you out there there are a couple things you should know, firstly, the engineers are some of the most unsociable people on the planet, don't even bother trying to talk to them unless you have something for them to help with. Secondly, I am always here if you need help, I know that you're young and have no experience doing this so I get it if you need assistance, we all did at some point. And finally, do not be lenient when you're dealing with those boys, Mueller can be responsible, if weirdly robotic at times, but the other two are mischief in a bottle, they will try anything to get themselves out of training or media, you have to be extremely strict with them, especially Ilves, he has a certain charm that can make anyone bend to his will."