Daniel came up with the idea we would try to implement into reality right now. Lando and I were spending a Wednesday evening at Daniel's place close to London and I decided to cook for them. The Aussie then had the idea to cook together on a live stream and donate the money we would get in the stream donations to a charity working closely together with the McLaren Racing team. The charity we chose was called Mind and provides information and support for those with mental health issues. The charity meant very much to both Lando and me, as well as Daniel since we were in positions where we all experienced these problems ourselves and we got the right support. Now we wanted to help other people get the same support we were able to get.
"All right, we are almost ready to get started.", Wyatt stated and looked up from the computer. He was accompanied by Stacey, who was the first one to agree when I came to her with the idea. She even expanded it a little more. Now we were just about to start a full-on cooking duel between the McLaren drivers and the McLaren team bosses. My role was to moderate the entire thing, to read some questions that came live in the chat to the participants and to be the judge together with Stacey and Wyatt later on.
I was still standing behind the counter in my kitchen, leaning on it with my arms, when Lando came up behind me. His hands wrapped around my waist and he rested his head in the crook of my neck. I giggled a little.
"What's up?", I asked him.
"Nothing.", he answered. "Just wanted to hug you one more time since I can't do that for the next hour or so." I turned around without him releasing me from his hug.
"Aw, you can be so cute sometimes.", I said and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled when I looked at him again.
"You guys are pathetic.", Daniel said while walking by but he had a bright smile on his face.
"Thanks, Danny.", I said. "I'll remind you of that when you have a girlfriend."
"Ouch.", he said and raised his hand to where his heart was. Lando let go of me but stayed close to me.
"You ready?", he asked. He knew I was a little bit nervous about this event. I knew I should be looking forward to this and enjoy the time I can spend with my friends but I just didn't want to make things public between Lando and me by accident.
"Yeah.", I said. "Just remember if a question about us will come up, I will say that we are just friends. Don't be mad about it."
"Yeah. I know. But it's definitely better if you answer the question then. I'm just a horrible liar."
"I know, babe. I know." My hand patted his cheek gently before I left the camera frame. We had announced that this live stream would happen, but Lando and his team didn't say that I was involved, too. They only said that a special guest was also taking part. The plan was that Lando and Daniel introduced the live stream and then welcome Zak and Andreas. Lastly, I would come in the frame and start to moderate the entire thing.
"Okay, are you all ready?", Stacey asked all of us and got head nods as an answer. I was standing next to Zak and Andreas, but we stayed silent since Wyatt turned on the live stream already. Lando and Daniel were now behind the camera with Wyatt to wait for some viewers before actually starting. Lando set up some things as well since it was his channel the stream was streaming on. Some minutes after, Lando and Daniel just walked into the frame behind my counter and smiled. They had a phone sitting down on the counter where they could see the stream and the chat.
"What's up, chat.", Lando greeted the viewers in the stream naturally. He knew exactly how to do these things since he loved to stream on Twitch. Daniel waved with his usual smile on his face.
"Welcome to this very special stream today. I'm sure you all heard what this is about, but just to make sure: This stream will all be about a cooking challenge between Daniel and myself and our bosses Andreas and Zak. The donations that we are getting today are all for the mind charity that McLaren supports for two years now. Daniel, how are you feeling about this."
"Very nervous.", the Aussie answered. "I'm not a specifically good chef, so I hope you will carry the team." Lando laughed.
"You know I'm not good either."
"Yeah, I know. We're doomed." Both of them laughed. "But now let's welcome our bosses, Andreas and Zak to the kitchen." I watched Zak and Andreas walk into the camera frame with a smile and greet their drivers with a hug, even though they have seen each other for some hours now for the preparation.
"Lads, how are we feeling?", Lando asked.
"Actually, very well.", Zak answered. "I'm pretty confident that we will smash your asses."
"Yes, agreed.", Andreas added.
"Alright, we'll see about that.", Lando said and turned to the camera.
"Well, chat. You see that we are in a different setting this time. This isn't my house. This also isn't the Daniel's house. And especially not Andreas's or Zak's house, because it looks way too nice to be their home." Lando got some giggles from his teammates.
"We do have a special guest today that will assist us during the stream. Maybe you can guess who it could be.", Lando encouraged the chat to be involved and the four men started to look down on the little phone in front of them to read some of the guesses in the chat. I also walked next to Wyatt, who was still sitting behind the computer and watched that everything was still working. I read some of the chat.
"Charles.", Daniel read out loud. "Nah, we don't want him here.", he then joked. Lando laughed a little, Zak and Andreas as well.
"Maybe Max Verstappen, someone wrote.", Zak then read and shook his head. "Nope, not him either. He's too busy with focusing on winning the championship to join us." I had already read my name several times and I knew that the boys just don't read it yet. They continued to read out some other names and deny them. At some point, Lando looked up at me. I nodded, giving him the sign that it was time to reveal the special guest.
"Alright. I've read the right name a couple of times now. And I think it's time to get her to join us upfront.", Lando then said and looked over to Zak, who was supposed to introduce me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Tia Gauvin.", the CEO then said and the four men in front of the camera started to clap. I walked into the frame with a big smile on my face and stood between the two teams after hugging everybody quickly. I watched the chat on the phone go a little crazy in the corner of my eyes, but I tried not to focus on it too much.
"Hello, guys.", I greeted the viewers and waved.
"Yeah, this is the part where we give over to Tia because we four" Daniel motioned to himself and the other three men standing with us. "have no idea what the hell happens next."
"That's true.", I said and thereby took over the moderation of this stream. "You guys do know that it's a cooking challenge, though, and that you're competing in two different teams. It's the drivers against the bosses. But you have no idea what we are cooking today, do you?"
The boys next to me shook their heads.
"I have sat down with Jon and Michael before this stream. For everybody that doesn't know, they are Daniel's and Lando's performance coaches. Because it is still in the season, we need to watch Daniel's and Lando's weight. So the meal we agreed to is not only low calorie but also high in protein, so a perfect meal for an athlete. And what the boys will be cooking today is high protein chicken rigatoni."
I turned my head a little to both sides to see the reaction of the boys. They looked rather worried about their upcoming task than anything else. I giggled.
"You guys look excited.", I stated.
"Yeah, it's easy for you to laugh. It sounds difficult.", Daniel complained.
"It's not that hard, I reckon.", Andreas joined and I smiled.
"I like the confidence, Andreas. Keep that up." Then I gave Stacey a sign to give me the recipe I had printed for both teams before.
"So, here's the recipe. Look at it, read it carefully and then I'll start a timer for 20 minutes.", I explained to the boys and they grabbed the sheet of paper from my hands. While they scanned the recipe, I turned back to the cameras.
"Now, so while the boys will be distracted by cooking, you guys can send some questions into the chat, that I can ask the boys during their cooking to keep it a little more interesting. And don't forget to donate in this stream, because all of the donations will go to the mind charity." I then turned back to the boys who were still preoccupied with the recipes.
"You guys done? Can we start?", I asked them.
"Sure.", Zak and Andreas said and I looked over at the two drivers. They didn't have the same confidence as Andreas and Zak but they nodded as well.
"Alright, all of the ingredients are either in the fridge or on the counter over there. The pots are down here. I'll count down and then we'll start cooking."
For a moment, I let the boys scan the kitchen some more to be familiar with where everything was placed. Then I started to count down. It's way funnier when they are stressed.
"Three, two, one, go!"
I laughed a little as I watched the four boys start to rumble around the kitchen. They looked like a bunch of ants, having something in their hands here, then dropping something elsewhere. They reminded me a lot of my brothers when we were little. One day, our parents were out of town and my oldest brother Adrien was supposed to cook us dinner. The twins decided to help him, and told me I should be sitting down and let them handle it. Long story short, it was a complete mess and we ordered take-out later that night. It was a miracle that the kitchen hadn't burned down that night.
The memory made me smile sadly as I watched Daniel try to cut the chicken into little pieces. Just in this moment, I realised how much some of the Formula One boys reminded me of my brothers. They were just as silly and funny most of the times and they always made me smile and made sure I was feeling well. Well, my brothers didn't do that anymore and I knew I missed them very much. But right in this moment, it had hit me harder than before. Whatever they did that hurt me before, they were still my brothers, my family, and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them.
We had always been close before and went from there to not speaking at all. I knew it was my choice but they could at least try to reach out to me, couldn't they? I hadn't hesrd from them since I found out that they all knew what my mother had arranged with my management and Lucas.
Lando's movement close to me brought me back into reality. I turned my eyes back to the phone in front of me and read some of the comments quietly until I found a good one. I thought it would be better if the first questions were for me and I could answer them alone, without disrupting the boys. I figured they needed the time to get used to the cooking.
"Here's a question for me: How's your night going so far?", I read out loud and then raised my head to face the camera again.
"The night's going very well so far.", I answered. "We had fun setting everything of this up and now I'm really excited to try the food later." My eyes went back to the screen in front of me.
"What celebrity would I like to meet soon?", I read and had to think about it for a second.
"That's a tough one. There are so many great artists and actors out there. But I think if we say collaboration wise, I would really love to meet and work with Harry Styles at some point. I love how great of a songwriter he is and he seems like a really fun person to hang around with. If I had to think personal-wise, I would say maybe the Queen? I think meeting her or the entire royal family in that case would be absolutely mad."
"Alright, one more for just me.", I said after a short pause. My eyes scanned the chat for an interesting one.
"Someone asked if I'm into video games.", I said then.
"I tried to get her into it, but she doesn't really like them. I'm sorry, guys.", Lando answered before I had the chance to. I giggled as we made eye contact and he grinned.
"You heard him.", I agreed. "I tried them and I see why people love to play them. It's just not for me.", I explained further.
I looked around the room to see if the other boys were ready for answering questions yet. They seemed a little calmer now, so I thought they might be ready for some dual-tasking.
"Alright, we have some questions for you guys.", I said and got their divided attention. "We'll start lightly. Favourite food?"
"Anything chocolate. Even though I can't have it often.", Daniel answered right away.
"I agree.", Lando added without taking his eyes from the boiling water in front of him. "Maybe that's the reason, though. That we like it that much."
"Zak? Andreas?", I asked the other team.
"Probably a good old hamburger with fries.", the CEO answered. I saw Andreas nodding slightly.
"That's good, but I have to go with some traditional German food. It's great to have that every time I'm back home after being on the road for so long."
"Some good old Sauerkraut, then?", Daniel asked with a big smile on his lips. We all giggled as Andreas agreed.
"For instance.", he said with a grin on his face. "Have you ever had it?"
"Yes. Not really great.", the Aussie answered.
"Then you don't have good taste." I slightly shook my head with an amused smile on my face as Daniel and Andreas started to fight a little over which country had the better food. I tried to ignore them for the most part. I continued the questioning of the two teams as they continued to cook. At some point, Lando was walking behind me and stopped behind my back.
"Are you okay?", he asked me quietly and I nodded.
"Yes, why shouldn't I be?", I asked back just as quietly. In my mind, I was praying that the microphone didn't catch our conversation. Just to make sure, I covered the small microphone on the collar of my top with my hand.
"You looked a little sad at some point.", he remarked and I shook my head.
"I know. But I'm okay.", I promised.
"Having fun?", he continued to ask.
"So much fun.", I answered and turned my head a little more in his direction. His eyes scanned my face cautiously but I gave him a genuine smile. I really was enjoying this stream. He seemed to notice I wasn't lying to him and nodded, then went on with the thing he wanted to do before.
The stream was a full on success. We had collected an incredible amount of money for the charity and we all had fun. The food was surprisingly good as well. Especially Daniel and Lando surprised me. Still, they will not cook in the newr future, that was for sure. After the stream was uploaded on my YouTube channel to be watchable later, I went through some of the comments that had already been posted. Appearantly, there were moments were Lando and I were pretty obvious and people wrote they knew that we were already dating. I panicked a little, but reminded myself that just because we looked at each other in front of a camera, it didn't mean we were dating. Some people actually assumed Daniel and I were dating, so everything was cool. Still, the discussion about if and who I was dating on the internet didn't quiet down for the next few days.