Rise Up

Chapter 58: Never Settle

And so we did escaped the whirlwind of papers, notebooks and presentations that got me obsessed in these past weeks, to get a huge ice cream as promised and to stretch a bit our legs, after spending the whole day laid on the floor of my living to study every word of the material my professor sent me last month.

I tried my best to keep up the pace with both the races and the studies, but I have to admit that it wasn't easy at all. The last few GPs were real challenges, consisted in wrong strategies, hard conditions on track, useless and not working updates on the car and also some mistakes from my side, dictated by the hunger of showing off everyone on the grid how much I'm worth a try on their team. I knew mine was an useless attempt of catching some team principles' attention to get me a seat but I couldn't just give up before the time, even though, on the other hand, I was also trying to keep my feet on the ground, reminding me everyday of the possibilities of not being in F1 next year.

In the meantime my books and laptop became my new best friends, always under my arms, following me at every conference or meeting with the team, in order to take advantage of every free minute to fill my brain with as many as possible notions about aerodynamic, motors and engine. While the other drivers took ice baths or long walks on the track to get focus or also for chilling before a race, you could spot me somewhere secluded with my head low on hundred of papers about engineering stuff- or how Lando used to call them, "nerdy things".

The last exam I had went very well last month, also because of the big help the engineers and mechanics from the team gave me, as it was a quite practical one. Fred sent me tons of good material to study from and the guys taught me a lot as well, showing me in person the things I didn't manage to understand, directly on the car or the monitors spread in the garage.

However I was totally convinced that I was doing the right thing, sometimes the tiredness mixed with a big dose of worries, destroyed my mood, making me feel exhausted and a bit emotively upside down. I was lucky though to have a handsome boyfriend by my side that even if didn't understand neither a word of what I was saying, kept listening to my nonstop annoying voice for hours and hours, over the same topics, for a few days, keeping me company in my apartment after the bad decision of isolating myself to get fully focus on the test- not listening to my wish, he knocked at my door with a bag full of my favorite food, ready to give me also a  tons of much needed cuddles in the between.

"So tomorrow is the big day. I know for sure that this man will love your thesis and will accept to publish it in a time record. I also know for sure that this exam will be even better than the others, cause- let's be honest- you're one of the smartest person on this planet, believe me. I've never heard anyone talking about such a boring subject as you do, with so much passion that I've almost got curios about it."

I laughed by heart at his little speech- and also at his hilarious face, as he had a little chocolate spot on his nose. "You're the best motivator I could ask for, you know this?" I said, wiping off the ice cream from his face.

"I'm trying my best here, girl. Glad to be useful." He passed an arm around my shoulder, and I was glad to be cuddled up at his side, also because the chilly air of the late evening was hitting us.

"Even if you were mute, you would be precious right now. The fact that I'll find you outside the university tomorrow, it's already enough for me."

"I'm going to wait for my successful girlfriend, take her to her favorite fast food to eat a huge cheeseburger and then, as I'm the perfect boyfriend, I'll take her home, to share a few days of pure relax on the beach, enjoying the last glimpse of summer." He shared with me his perfect plan last night, when cuddling in bed, he told me how he wanted to spend a few days before the next race, in Monaco, just the two of us.