Hopelessly Devoted ☆ Pierre Gasly

XXXIX

"It will be fine. Just walk and ignore everything, yeh?" Pierre gave Juliette a comforting smile when he could read her nerves off her face. "Just smile and wave."

"I know," she whispered and weakly smiled at his last comment.

"Relax." He gave her a wink and put on his sunglasses as well.

The three people walked towards the entrance of the track, facing some cameras. Pierre made sure all cameras were focussed on him, not on Pyry or Juliette. Daniil happened to arrive as well, so he joined the three with his crew, just like Pierre's race and performance engineer.

Pierre Hamelin, the race engineer of Pierre Gasly, observed Juliette. "I have never seen you before," he questionably said. "Are you new to our team?" He nodded at the team shirt.

"Oh, no. I don't work at Toro Rosso," Juliette exposed herself. Pierre was the leader of the group, so he didn't notice the ongoing conversations behind him. She gasped for air and pressed a smile on her face.

The man smirked. "How are you gonna explain this now?"

"Yeah," Juliette uncomfortably laughed. "I have no idea." How was she gonna give the man a solid explanation without actually telling who she was and for whom she worked? Did Pierre tell people about them?

"Happy birthday, Juliette," Daniil said out of nowhere and gave her a smile.

"Thank you," she thankfully replied.

"Happy birthday!" More people gave her a happy smile.

"Merci."

Everyone scanned their pass and entered the paddock. Juliette imitated the sound, just like the employees of Toro Rosso. Juliette smirked and looked around, to see if any of her colleagues were spotting her in the wrong team shirt. She was feeling uncomfortable, like she was doing a crime.

"I'll see you later," Juliette said when the group approached the hospitalities, facing the Mercedes hospitality first. "Thanks for the coverup."

"I'll call you later," Pierre Gasly said and widely smiled. He gave her a file, something that made her frown. "Open it later."

She nodded. "Sure. Good luck, everyone." Juliette walked away from the group and waved at them. She looked around her, just to be sure no one would see her entering the engineering truck of Mercedes with a Toro Rosso shirt.

Once inside, she picked up something to drink. Juliette doubted what she should do next: ignore everyone to show how irritated she was by the situation or be annoyed and show it. She bit on the inside of her cheek and sighed, it was difficult to pick one. Juliette grabbed her own shirt out of her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Show how annoyed she was, it is.

Juliette entered the office area, putting on her serious face. "Seriously, guys. Why in the croissants would you leave without me? You could've waited for at least ten more minutes-"

"Happy birthday!" Delilah sang and widely smiled.

"Bon anniversaire!"

The expression on Juliette's face changed to a small smile. "I'm trying to be mad," she chuckled and put her stuff on her desk. Her eyes were scanning the room; birthday flags were handing above her desk area and wrapped around her chair. "Oh, guys, you shouldn't have done that..." The smile brightened.

"What are you wearing?" James laughed and put his hands on his hips.

"Unlike you guys, some people are not leaving me behind," she replied and shrugged while looking at the shirt, but her face straightened. "You bastards."

Peter smirked. "We had to do something to prepare all of this."

"I literally told Pierre how annoyed I was and how much I was disappointed in you," Juliette chuckled.

"Small detail, he was part of the plan as well," he grinned.

"Ohlala," she breathed disappointedly and shook her head. "Well, I liked seeing him, so thanks. Anyway, be right back, gotta change."

Delilah amusingly smiled and sat down on a chair. "She really didn't know it, huh?"

"Woman always notices everything, but not today," Peter agreed.

"Because she's in love. I wouldn't find it sus if my boyfriend was the lifesaver either. You know how mad she was? She only replied with: ok." Peals of laughter filled the room. "She's adorable."

Juliette changed her shirt and walked back into the room. She opened the file Pierre gave her; there was a birthday with a birthday wish in it. It felt like everything had to be classified. A playful smile grew on her lips; it had something excited about it.

"On behalf of Mercedes: happy birthday," Lewis cheerfully said when he entered the room. Juliette looked up and smiled. "Have a great day, Juliette." He gave her a card.

"Thanks so much," she replied and opened the envelope. "Oh, my god," she snorted. On the card, there was printed a picture of Lewis, Peter, and Juliette taken in 2012 on it, how they were discussing something - probably something like the weather or about Italy. They were probably explaining something to Juliette. "I... How?" A laugh escaped her mouth. "This is embarrassing."

Delilah looked at it. "You all look so young, the heck."

"This is taken in 2012," Lewis mentioned.

"And even back then, this pal knew she would be part of this team," Peter widely smiled.