Two Faces || Lando Norris

Prologue

"Dear Lord, I cannot wait for this internship to be over," Mabel sighed and sat down on a stool. Her eyes fell on the teacher of the class. "I can't handle my life anymore, I just want to quit. If I knew this study would end up like this, I would have chosen another study."

Fridays were the return days at college from the internships. And today was Friday. It was the only day Mabel and Amelie saw each other since they lived far away from each other. The two girls were best friends since the start of the study, and they were inseparable.

Amelie hung her coat over the back of the chair and sat down next to Mabel. She could see Mabel was more struggling with the situation than herself. "It can't be that bad, May."

Mabel snorted. "Oh, sweetheart, it is that bad. You just have an internship you like, I don't have that."

That was true. Amelie looked at Mabel and pressed her lips in a thin line, she felt terrible for her best friend. "I wish I could change it."

"No, don't worry about me," Mabel shook her head. "It's just that I had to do more research before applying. Tea after school?"

"How late does the last lesson end?"

"At three."

Amelie nodded. "Yeah, sure. But oh my good-" A smile grew on her face when she grabbed her phone.

"Ladies in the back," the teacher suddenly said. Amelie and Mabel looked up, both blushing on the sudden point out. "Attention to the lesson, please. I get you to see each other once a week, but head in the game," Jude said and focussed on the rest of the class again. "So today we will discuss interviews. This is your third year, and I hope you now know how to give interviews as journalists. This may be new to you, I hope not, but I will explain it to you once again..."

One look was shared between Amelie and Mabel: this was gonna be a long day, and this was only the first lesson of the day. They grabbed their books and notebooks and started to force themselves on focussing and writing important topics down.

The class ended after an hour, but it felt like a day. It was an hour full of essential tips and tricks on interviewing, but it was quite clear to Amelie and Mabel how to interview someone, so it was a waste of their time. They could have slept longer, for at least another hour.

"I have to say something to Jude," Amelie mentioned when packing her bag. Mabel nodded, letting Amelie know she would stay. "Jude."

The man turned around and looked at Amelie and Mabel. "Ladies, how can I help you?" Jude wasn't only the journalist of the study, but also the mentor of the two girls. He was young for a teacher, but he enjoyed teaching.

Amelie took on her coat. "Friday is the return day," she began. "But in the following next few weeks that will be quite an issue for me." Jude nodded curiously. "My internship needs me on Fridays. For the first few weeks, it will be every other week, but there will be weeks it will be every Friday."

"Hmm-hmm, where do you intern again?"

"Sky Sports F1," Amelie softly smiled.

He took a sip from his cup of tea. "Oh, that's right. And why will it be a problem?"

"I will be joining the presenter's group every race, so that means I have to travel with them to every F1 race across the world. The week starts on Thursday, until Sunday. And I can't be there on a Thursday, fly back for school on Friday and be back when the first practice starts in the morning on Friday."

Jude softly laughed. "No, that's impossible. But amazing you get the chance to be part of their team," he said fascinated. "Are you having fun?"

Amelie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's a wonderful job. We had to do a lot of preparations over the past few weeks, the season is starting next Friday in Melbourne." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm glad you like it," he replied. "If you will email me the details, I will send it to the board. How important is it for you?"

"It's kind of urgent. I'm leaving on Monday, so if I get approval for it before this evening, it will be amazing." It may sound arrogant, but it was important for Amelie to get approval on this as soon as possible for Sky.

"If you email me now, I will send it to them right away," he said and left the classroom. The girls were following him. "And if you don't get approval, call in sick for upcoming Friday," Jude winked. "Don't tell it was me."

Amelie smiled. "I won't."

"But an amazing internship. I'm sure we will figure something out, what we will. Don't worry about that. We will keep in touch. Have fun and good luck, Amelie." They walked towards the canteen. "And you, Mabel, how is it going at your internship?"

Mabel looked up from her phone. "It's alright, I'm happy I'm back to school for a day."

"Is there something I can do about your situation? It isn't going great, is it?" Jude was a teacher who cared about his students, and he was willing to give them all the help they needed.

She shook her head. "It is not, but I have to push myself to get through it."

"Will you let me know if things get worse?" Mabel nodded. "Don't wait until it is too late. Amelie, we will have contact later today. Mabel, if I don't see you anymore today, have a nice weekend and email me when things get worse."

"Thank you," Amelie smiled and walked to the staircase.

"I will," Mabel said and followed Amelie. Jude walked away to the teacher's room. "I have so much respect for that man, he deserves more than be a teacher of this crap study," she said when Jude was away.

Amelie nodded. "I know, right."

★

"School approved my request for Friday, but I have to talk to them in person the week after that with Sky to discuss the options for the following weeks," Amelie said when she put away her phone. She took a sip from the cup of tea. "That will be fun," she sarcastically said.

"At least they approved your request," Mabel replied and took a bite from the chocolate cake. "But how about the classes you will miss?"

Amelie took a bite of the red velvet cake. "Powerpoints. But I know you will send me the notes."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "I might call in sick because school without you just sucks."

"You are really done with everything, aren't you?"

"Yup," Mabel sighed and looked outside. The view of the cafe they were at, was the square of the centre. A lot of people passed the cafe, it was interesting to watch people. "But what have you done for the past few weeks? It's not that there was a race or anything."

Amelie nodded. "There were a lot of developments, testing weeks, getting to know the new drivers, checking articles. I don't know," she answered. "It's just, when you're working it all makes sense but when someone asks what I do, it just doesn't make sense anymore, and it doesn't feel like I do a lot, but I do a lot."

"New drivers?"

"Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon, last years top three in F2, are now the rookies of F1."

Mabel smirked. "Oh right, they're in F1 now. I still think they're in F2. But once there is a race in England, you will get me passes, right?"

"Of course, I will show you around then," Amelie immediately replied. "First I have to see how it is, actually being at the track as press and not a supporter. But what are your tasks?"

"Check the articles on mistakes, make coffee, digitalise old articles, be an assistant for a manager and call all day," Mabel told uninterested and ran her hand through her brown hair. "Lots of fun."