Crash and burn

Chapter 25

My mum had booked a table of 5 for my family and I at a local restaurant. It wasn't anything fancy, just a chance for me to speak to everyone after so long apart. My family and I were really close so it hurts living on the other side of the world for the larger part of the year.

I walked in with much more confidence knowing I could say tomorrow they could meet Lando. My mum ran over to me when she saw me and gave me a tight hug. When she pulled away there were tears in her eyes.
M: "oh I've missed you so so much darling!"
YN: "I've missed you too mum."
I walked over to my dad who was also standing.
D: "long time no see kiddo."
He wrapped me up the same suffocating way mum did but I didn't care, I had missed them too much.
The two boys lachie and harry stayed seated so I had to walk over to the seats to give them both a hug they pretended to not want but I knew deep down they did. I sat down in between them and picked up the menu.

L: "so... Lando Norris?"
He really jumped straight into it.
H: "yeah I mean haven't met the guy but from all the ones on the grid you picked him."
YN: "pick isn't exactly the right word for starters. It just happened. Besides he is an amazing boyfriend you should be happy for your little sister."
M: "exactly boys, I don't want to hear any of that nonsense tommorow when you meet him."
I raised my eyebrows.
YN: "the boys are coming to the garage?"
When they come to my races they usually socialize in the VIP section, not actually watch me.
D: "of course, we all want to come, it's F1!"
Dad was gleaming, the boys lost interest in racing and moved on to AFL and other sports when they went into the later years of high school so dad was always absorbed in my racing career.
L: "we will be on our best behavior."
YN: "sure." I said sarcastically, not whole heartedly believing him.
H: "have you made any friends with other racers? Like do you still talk to Yuki?"
YN: "still close to Yuki. He introduced me to Pierre. I've also gotten to be friends with Charles and Carlos at Ferrari."
L: "eww." I rolled my eyes.
YN: "as a mature person I don't base friendships off a persons job."
L: "ha ha."
D: "and how has training and all that been?"
YN: "tough. Working hard on race fitness which has gotten better already. Also got to work on my rain racing which I didn't really get a lot of in Australia." There had been a super long drought which meant rain especially in winter was hard to come by.
YN:. "Anyways enough about me what's going on back home?"

It was wild how much had gone on back home that I missed out on. Dad had to sell the farm due to the Bush fires and the drought which was heart breaking to hear. I was most suprised to see how much the boys had changed, Harry had a girlfriend for longer than 2 months and Lachlan had graduated from university and was working as a stock broker. With the two boys out of the house mum finally fulfilled her dream of moving from the city to the beach which made me smile. They were mostly doing well.

When someone recognized me and came over for a picture we decided it was time to depart before it got too hectic.
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Warming up for Q2 I was talking to lando about how my whole family was going to swing by for the race.
LN: "do I have anything to be worried about?"
YN: "mum already adores you. Dad is undecided. My brothers wish you were a redbull driver."
LN: "hmm so a bit of work with them then."
I shook my head.
YN: "I couldn't care less who they want you to be. There opinion isn't that big of a deal."
LN: "well it is to me." I grinned.
YN: "nawww."
LN: "seriously. Besides they kinda scare me from the pictures you showed."
YN: "they might look big and strong but I beat em in fights every time."
LN: "that doesn't help." We joked around as we practiced reflexes. We both really wanted to progress to Q3. It was different though, he already basically had the spot, I had to work a little harder. Our conversation was more to get my mind of the stress rather than for his benefit.
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Q3 finished also in the rain. I ended up qualifying P7 and lando P4. The car had improved leaps and bounds since last year and talks about pushing into a leading team over the next few years had began circulating in the media. The reporters post qualifying even acknowledged it.
R: "McLaren despite the rough time you had last week has really been able to consistently score double points and pull some speedy times, do you think in the near future you guys could really fight with redbull and Mercedes?"
YN: "ah I wouldn't get too content just yet, we have made so much progress over the break snd continuing to do so but there is still more things to figure out before we develop a stronger lead position ."
R: "George Russell qualified P10 today, the best Williams has seen in a long time. He commented he was aiming to overtake at least 3 cars, what are your thoughts on this."
YN: "I think he is being overly ambitious and making promises he can't keep. 3 positions is a lot especially for someone who hasn't scored any points yet this season." Ugh I hated George and even more so talking about him. I didn't even hold back, char once said she never wanted us to talk poorly of other drivers but he was an exception.
R: "all the best for the race."
YN: "cheers."

As I walked over to my trailer to meet my family George came in to my path. I tried to walk right past him but he moved to block me. Ugh this man exhausted me.
GR: "keen for the race?"
YN: "super." I tried one more time to past him but he wouldn't have it, grabbing my arm to pull me back.
"Touch me again..." I spat it out, letting him reminisce when I visited him in his own trailer. He let go immediately.
GR: "I wanted to apologize for my behavior. You see my PR is upset that you have so many unkind things to say about me in the press, she thinks I need to fix my relationships with drivers."
YN: "ha, should've known you were forced to, you have zero empathy or consideration for others."
GR: "seriously can we just drop this." I sighed. I honestly didn't care at this point, Lando and I were happy. And I could do most of the talking on the track.
YN: "fine, just as long as you stay clear."
I walked off, I would be civil with him but too much time around him and he would have the opportunity to say something to set me off. Besides, I didn't want to keep my family waiting anymore.