Away We Go • 2 • Formula One

Chapter 14

"C'mon, Lys, smile! Not only are you kicking off your twenties leading the championship, but you also get to spend the whole day with me." Damien grabbed me by the shoulders and shook my entire body. "Look alive!"

Once he finally stopped shaking me, I glared up at him. "Yipee," I said in the least enthusiastic, monotonous voice. Damien obviously wasn't impressed and smacked the side of his head. Whilst it didn't hurt, I couldn't help but frown at Damien and rub the spot of impact with the tips of my fingers. "You're buying me lunch because of that."

"I would've bought you lunch anyway."

"No, you wouldn't've," I pointedly replied.

He sighed in annoyance. "Fine, I wouldn't've. For calling me out, we can start heading to McLaren now. I'm sure the WTF1 crew would like an extra hand setting up."

***

"No we're actually all set up here," Jess reassured. I childishly stuck my tongue out at Damien, feeling relieved that I didn't have to do too much work. "Besides, we're not mean enough to make you do any physical work on your birthday."

"Thank you," I smiled gratefully. "So, why are you in McLaren?"

"We have ties to this team, and we've got some Lando and Carlos content to film later today. I guess it's just easier to have it all in one place," she explained, leading me towards an armchair in front of the camera. I took a seat and nodded my head in understanding.

"You should've seen some of the looks I got from the McLaren crew," I said with a chuckle. People like to stare at what's different to what they're used to. This just so happened to be me when I walked through the McLaren doors in my Mercedes merchandise. It was weird to me that if Mercedes hadn't taken me on, I would more than likely be driving for the orange team. I'm glad I'm not or else the world would've been denied the beautiful bromance that blossomed between Lando and Carlos. It rivals Max and Daniel.

"Okay," Jess looked down at a sheet of paper, "if there's anything you say that you want cutting, let us know and we will. We also tried to choose questions from fans that didn't sound like assholes. Some interviews were harsh and we don't want to be like that, you know? Instead of criticising the most successful female in the sport, we want to support you - no unfair judgement." As she spoke, she attached a small microphone to the top of my shirt, hiding the box and wires down the side of the cushion so that the cameras didn't see them.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much."

"Matt shouldn't be too much longer." Just as Jess said the words, the door to room 5 swung open. A grinning Matthew Gallagher bumbled in, taking the seat across from me after shaking my hand. The chairs were both pointed slightly inwards so that we had a camera on our faces at all times. He was already fitted with a microphone when he entered. After a couple of audio syncs and brightness alterations on the light box, we were good to start.

"Alyssa, it's good to have you here with us."

"It's nice to see you again," I said with a polite smile.

"The last time you featured on this channel was, I believe, Hungary last year?" I nodded my head in response to Matt's guess. "You hadn't even told people you were 'A' at that point and were recovering from that huge crash in the final practice session that saw you take out both Kimi and Charles because of a suspension failure. It's crazy how much can change in less than a year and it's an honour to be able to interview you."