Nala wakes up from a nap to the luxuriousness of her room. The super king-sized bed was dressed in white linen, and golden furnishings were placed around the massive bedroom, with plants as well. The room also had a walk-in-robe and an ensuite bathroom that was simply magnificent, with a kitchen and loungeroom through a double door.
Nala stood up from the bed, stretching her arms out and checking her phone for the time. 8:00am. Nala was supposed to be at the track at around 10:30 that morning, so she still had some time. Considering that she could see the track in the distance from her balcony that looked over the city, she knew it would only be a short drive to get there, so she just had to get ready.
Shortly after, Nala's phone started to ring, and picking it up, she sees that it's her dad.
"Hey dad. How was you plane ride?" She asks, and quickly after she hears the accent of her fathers voice from the other side of the line. The call ends not long after, and she decides to have a shower quickly.
She undresses and dips her painted toes into the showers water, checking the temperature. When she finally finds the correct temperature she steps in, letting the water run down and drip off her body. How relaxed she felt as she stared out of the bathroom window and looked out to the city, and seeing the circuit in the background isolated away in the desert. She felt chills run through her even though she was under hot water, thinking about how she was going to be at that exact track soon.
Nala got dressed one of her three outfits she bought for the paddock, and today's was a cute green plaid skirt with a slit and a nice white crop top that's tied in a bow at the front. Although it's not a team outfit, she was still able to wear what she wanted as long as it was nothing from another team.
"Watchya doin Nala?" Asks a voice behind her when she is putting on purfume as she stares out the window. It frightened her, so Nala whips around with her high ponytail following her. As soon as she sees it's only Marley she grumbles and turn back to the window. "What the hell Mars. You scared me" She says. Marley laughs a little, pushing Nala's shoulder in a jokingly way.
"Anyways, we should get going soon. It takes like 35 minutes to get out there and it's 9:30, you know? Jaidyn and me will be out in the loungeroom when your ready" Marley blabbered as he left the room.
Shortly after, Nala emerged from the doors of the bedroom, all ready for her first race weekend as an actual F1 driver. She was so excited. She gathered her things, slinging her paddock pass to get in around her neck and her white backpack over her shoulders. She was ready.
The hire car for Nala, Marley and Jaidyn was prepared downstairs at the valet and a person in a black suit stood next to it with a set of keys. Nala decided that she was driving, so she politely took the keys from the man and lowered herself down into the car. It happened to be an Audi R8 that they were driving, of course being Audi because she was in an Audi team. The interior was leather, and the seats were quite comfy. It had a big screen in the middle and paddle shifts for the gears.
Nala started the car up, the low rumble of the car underneath them. She and the others were already relishing in the car they had been given, so they soon set off for the track.
Around 30 minutes later, Nala could finally see the lines of thousands of people waiting to be let into the venue for the weekend. She went down the road right in the middle of the path, sectioned off by barriers so people could get into the paddock. As soon as the fans heard the rumble of the car, they turned toward the noise and cheers could be heard from every direction as they noticed Nala. She waved with a massive smile on her face. Never in her life had she been given this much attention by others, and she enjoyed hearing her name yelled in a cheerful and excited manner.
"Nala! Nala Cameron! Nala!" Fans squealed excitedly as she passed. As soon as she got into the car park for the paddock, it was instantly quieter. But she knew that wasnt going to last long as she heard happy cheers from up ahead at the entrance. Her, Jaidyn and Marley walked slowly toward the noise, gathering all their courage to face the day ahead of them.
When the finally reached the gates leading to the entrance, fans were everywhere. Screaming. Squealing. Shouting.
"Nala! Please sign this! Nala, can you sign this?" She went along the line, autographing everyones things they had and giving them handshakes or hugs. And when she finally got to the entrance where no one was, she let out a relieved sigh that was half giggles of happiness. Going through the gates, she swiped her pass for the very first time, jumping around when she made it through.
"We made it in!!" Nala said to Jaidyn, shaking her shoulders in excitement. Jaidyn smiled warmly at her, nodding her head at Nala's excitement.
"I know Nala! Now we just need to head to the team's hospitality area now, so you can meet everyone", Jaidyn says, checking the schedule she has on her phone. Nala smiles up at her, knowing just how lucky she was to have her manager with her.
The trio walk down the paddock until they are stopped right in front of the big Audi hospitality. It seemed like a dream almost. Nala stopped and stared at the building as people came and went as they pleased, minding their own business. She couldn't stop looking at the giant sticker on the window that said 'Audi F1 Team'. She loved it. And she couldn't believe it either.
After a few moments of just standing there, Marley pipes up. "Uhh, can we just go inside already?!"
"I'm just enjoying this Mars! Come on!", Nala says irritably to her trainer, but then laughs as both her arms are taken by both of her friends and she's dragged inside.
When she gets inside, the team principle is already there waiting for her. Mark Webber is the principle of Audi, very nice guy as said by others and former F1 star known around the world. His deep laugh fills the room as he sees Nala, striding over and giving her a friendly embrace.
"Amazing to finally have ya' here darl! I bet your super excited to get racin' already but first we have to do some things" Mark says in his heavy Australain accent, waving his hand in a gesture to follow him. Nala, Marley and Jaidyn follow closely behind the principle as he leads them into a large office space with about 7 people already in there. Mark sits down on a dark leather chair at the head of a long table, telling the trio to find their seats among the others placed around the table. As soon as everyone's seated, Mark begins.
"Well ladies and gents! Welcome to the first race weekend of 2022, glad to have ya. As for our drivers, Ollie Bearman and Nala Cameron, welcome to the team lads! You'll be spending copious amounts of time together over the season, so get comfy", Mark says, then continuing his little speech. Nala sneaks peeks over at the other driver, Ollie Bearman. She only knows very few thing about him; he's only 17 and a half, he came from Prema, and he's pretty damn good. She secretly adds that he's kinda cute as well.
"Well! Ollie and Nala, you have your first press conference in 30 minutes, but other than that, everything is sorted!" Mark said enthusiastically. And just like that, Nala had met her new F1 teammate and team principle, and learned about some of the things happening throughout the season. She was pretty satisfied with that.
Outside the office in the hospitality area, she found that Ollie came up to her and actually introduced himself to her.
"I'm Ollie. Nice to meet you!" He greeted Nala kindly, outstretching his arm for a handshake. Nala returned the shake, replying with, "I'm Nala. Nice to meet you too, Ollie!" The two got on instantly, talking as they were lead by their new team principle down the paddock to where they would have the press conference.
"Right, since it's both of your first time at a press conferences, just try and answer honestly and don't let it get too over the top. We want happy, smiling faces and honest answers ok?" Mark whispered in Nala and Ollie's ears as he ushered them inside. Then he stood up straight, smiling at them and nodded as he turned and walked away.
"Ollie Bearman, Nala Cameron, Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon", a speaker called, then someone was suddenly pushing Nala onto the stage where the others were already getting their seats. She was sat in between Ollie, her teammate, and Mick Schumacher, the golden boy and son of legend Micheal Schumacher. With a smile on her face, Nala turned to look at the cameras pointing straight at her.
"Right, first we'll start with a new recruit to Formula 1, Nala Cameron. First woman to have a multi-year contract and youngest ever driver to be starting a race...", the reporter read out Nala's information as if she were a book. Then came the question she was to answer.
"Nala, you are breaking many records already in Formula 1 and you haven't even raced one race yet. How does it feel to finally have the chance to hop into the seat of the sport's newest team?" Nala thinks for a second about the question she is asked. Why do they have to be so long?
"Well, I've always had racing in my blood, I grew up around everything racing and I absolutely loved cars. So when I recently had the chance to sign my deal, I jumped on it and now here I am. And I'm so happy this has come true, it's been my biggest dream since I was little!" Nala concluded with a smile on her face, earning smiles from other people around her including her teammate.
Wow, she had just answered her first press conference question of many to come. Tick that off the list of things she's always wanted to do.