The start of the second race weekend arrived, but this time in Saudi Arabia for the second night race in a row.
Nala got off her private jet, going through security and customs to get out of the airport. An Audi RS7 Sportback was waiting for her outside, a man in a black suit standing in front of it with a sign saying "Nala Cameron". When she walked over, he smiled, obviously knowing who she was as he handed her the keys and helped her put her bags inside the car.
"Thank you, kind sir", she said before she lowered herself into the car and drove away, headed for the hotel. It was called Shangri-La Jeddah, only a couple minutes from the track, and very nice supposedly.
When she arrived, Nala quickly checked in at the reception desk, then went out and put her car in the garage. She dragged her suitcase up to her room on the 56th floor, finding it was very nice indeed. A balcony overlooked the ocean and highway beneath it, and if you looked closely, you could see the pits of the track. Butterflies danced in Nala's stomach as she tried to comprehend that she was going to be racing there over the weekend. But she ignored them as she went to inspect the rest of the room.
Soon after, Nala had a warm shower in the luxury bathroom of the suite, and got dressed into a white mini dress with cute pink flowers dotted over it, and paired it with her Jordan 1 midrises, white and baby pink in colour. She quickly brushed down her long brown hair before grabbing her backpack and throwing in her things, getting ready to go to the paddock for the first day of the weekend.
Nala drove to the paddock in style with her Audi and cute outfit, getting cheered on by the passing fans who recognised her. She quickly waved at them with a bright smile on her face, stopping briefly to sign some things they held out for her. But then she soon had to go, driving through the gates and parking her car before making her way to the entrance of the paddock.
She walked confidently down to the Audi hospitality, walking through the doors to be met with Jaidyn and Marley's smiling faces.
"It feels like I haven't seen you two in forever!", she says, as she brings them into an embrace.
"We missed you too, Nala. But we're back now, so don't worry!", Marley says, earning a giggle from both Jaidyn and Nala.
The trio stood there for a couple minutes, talking about their weeks, before they were interrupted.
"Hey guys! Nice to see yous. Nala, we've got a press conference in 15 minutes", Ollie Bearman says politely. Nala nods, stepping forward to talk to him.
"Ok then, should we go now?", she asks Ollie, and he nods with a small smile on his face. Nala quickly waves goodbye to her manager and trainer before walking out the door with Ollie and going to the media area.
Cameras and reporter's where everywhere when Nala and Ollie arrived. But the chatter was put aside when Nala heard someone calling them.
"Nala! Ollie! Over here guys", said the voice. Nala looked around to see Pierre Gasly gesturing them over, standing in a group with Charles, Carlos and Lando. Nala's heart did a small flip as she saw Lando smiling at her. Ollie waved his hand at her, telling her to come, which she complied with as she walked side by side with Ollie to the small group of other drivers.
"Hey guys!", Nala said when they stopped. They all replied back with something like, "Hey". Nothing much, but still something. Nala felt very short when standing with the group of men as they all towered over her tiny 5'6 figure. As the group talked, Nala could sense something, she just couldn't figure out what it was. For a few moments, she tried to figure out what it was, until she finally looked over at Lando. He smirked slightly as she raised her eyebrows the tiniest bit at him. That's when she knew it was him. She could feel his gaze all over her. But not in a creppy way. More like a feeling that made her feel good about herself, safe even? She felt her cheeks go slightly red as his beautiful bright blue eyes searched her expression, the smirk ok his face growing cheeky.
In the meantime, Carlos Sainz had noticed, yet the others around them hadn't. Nala heard Carlos laugh softly as he said, "mantenlo unido hombre". Nala knew exactly what he just said in Spanish as that was one of the languages she had learnt growing up. He had just said, "keep it together man", to Lando, which in response, he rolled his eyes and nudged Carlos with his elbow. Nala slowly looked away, feeling slightly awkward now.
But moments later she was saved when they were all called over by some managers and ushered into the press room. Nala took her seat between Ollie and Charles directly in the centre, grabbing hold of her mircophone as tight as she could.
Her leg bounced and she she bit the inside of her lip as she listened to the media ask the other drivers questions. At some point during that, she zoned out and everything went quiet. It was peaceful and she felt as though she were alone, no annoying thoughts running through her head.
"Nala. Nala? Hello?", she was brought back to reality by one of the interviewers calling her name. She shook herself out of it, giving a shy smile as the others looked at her questioningly.
"Are you ok?", Nala heard Charles whisper, and turned to him and nodded with that same smile. She looked to her other side where she saw Ollie's questioning expression, yet she just gave him the smile again.
"Ok, Nala. It's your second race of your career, so who is your biggest support system? Have you made any friends in the paddock yet?", the interviewer ask politely.
"Um, I think I have a few great relationships between me and my trainer and manager, we've all been friends since we where small so...And I've met a few of the drivers and they are all very kind and supportive. Like my teammate Ollie, he's great", Nala responded with, earning a grin from Ollie beside her.
After that, Nala didn't have to answer anymore questions, and soon the conference was over. The group walked outside, Nala talking to Ollie and the rest following behind them.
They came to a stop outside the building, all chatting to eachother. But after a few minutes, Nala decided it was time to go. "Ok, guys. I'll see yous all in practise. Bye!", she said as she walked away with Ollie right beside her. As she walked though, she could feel eyes burning into the back of her, and she knew straight away they were Lando's.
Later, it was time for practise. Nala hopped into her car and zoomed around in the heat of the late afternoon for the first practise of the weekend. When she was in the car, it was like all her worries suddenly disappeared and nothing else mattered but racing. It cleared her head entirely, and it made the world seem peaceful, except for the roar of the engine underneath her. It was her favourite thing in the world.
Nala finished P9 after completing 14 laps around the track, the crappy conditions pushing her further away from the top spots than she would have preferred. But when she got in the car for the second time, this time under the sportlights, she improved.
As Nala raced around the track, she was determined to have a better result than last time. Going around every corner, she met the apexes perfectly and then sped down the straights uring all the DRS she had. In the end, the fastest lap she recorded was a 1.30.601, and put her in 6th place for the second practise of the weekend.
When she got out, she was met by Marley and Jaidyn with happy smiles.
"Excellent work today, Nals!", Jaidyn says with a happy smile on her face. She pats Nala's helmet proudly and Marley coppies the action.
"Yea, you did great out there today", Marley cries. Nala brings them into a group hug, happy about her results and how her friends were so supportive of her. A moment later, they all pull away and Nala sees Alyssa over in at the pit window talking with Mark.
Quickly, Nala took her gloves, helmet and neck brace off, placing it on a bench nearby before running over to the wall. She was met by Mark and Alyssa both saying, "Well done, Nala". She high-fived both of them happily and chatted with them for a few minutes.
When she went to walk back to the garages, she heard her name get called from somewhere down the pits. "Nala! Hey!", she saw Lando call from the McLaren garages that were right next to the Audi garages. He waved happily as he began to jog over to her, stopping in the middle of the pits where she was waiting for him.
"You know I beat you in both practises? Pretty good, aren't I?", Nala asked, a bit sarcastically at the end.
"Haha, yeah actually. Your very good, I think a better rookie than most drivers here were!", he said, and Nala whipped her head around to look at him in surprise. He saw the astonished look on her face and clarrified his statement with a nod to let her know he had meant it. Then, Nala broken out into a wide smile, and all of a sudden, she was bringing Lando into a deep hug.
They stood there for a moment wrapped in eachothers arms, the orange of Lando and the grey of Nala beginning to blend in with the other. When she pulled away, the smile still hadn't faded away from Nala, but Lando's cheeks were now slightly flushed.
"You don't know how happy you just made me, Lando. Thank you so much!", Nala said, holding his shoulders gently and looking into his bright blue eyes. They were warm, with good intention behind them, and Nala found that she didn't want to look away.
"I'll always be here for you when you need it, Nala. You should know that", he said softly, resting one of his hands on hers.
A few brief moments passed, and Nala finally said "Well I better get going. Gotta go sleep, you know. But thanks again, Lando. Your a good guy". She walked away without another word, just leaving Lando there in the pits by himself.