Day 2 of the Jeddah Grand Prix weekend rolled around, and with it came the start of practise 3.
"Ok, last practise of the weekend, girl. Make it good", Alyssa said through Nala's radio. Nala drove out of the garage eagerly, down the pits and onto the track. She swerved side to side on her outlap, trying to warm the tires and brakes before her flying laps.
Nala slowed down as she went past the grand stands, admiring all the people who sat there and watched her go past in her car. Then after that, it was go time. Nala put in 23 solid laps over the period of the practise session, and at the the end, when she came back to the garage, she was surprised to find that she had finished P4!
"Ahh! My best result yet, guys, look!", Nala squealed in excitement to Jaidyn and Marley who were right next to her when she climbed out. They both gave her high fives, echoing eachothers, "Good job. So proud". Nala did a little happy dance as she took off her helmet, placing it over to the side on a bench. Happiness coursed through her as she was contantly reminded of her great result. Getting P4 in a practise as a rookie, in the second race as well, was a pretty good achievement to have had.
Practise finished and there was still 2 more hours until Nala even had to think about getting ready for qualifying, and she lazed in her drivers room with the aircon on full blast facing toward her. It was a very hot afternoon, around 35°c just at 3 o'clock. She couldn't be bothered to take off her racing overalls, wrapping the top half around her waist, but she did take off the fire proof long-sleeve she had underneath, revealing her bra that she wore. It was a normal bra, black in colour and a nice fabric, and she was quite curvy as well, but somehow Nala knew that if she went around the paddock like this, it would be more than likely she would get some stares. But at that moment when her stomach started to growl, she didn't care much.
Nala walked down the corridor and into the main area of the hospitality, where she found Marley and Jaidyn sitting on a sofa looking at an ipad.
"Hey, wanna go have some food? I saw some vendors at the main paddock entrance", Nala suggested, catching the attention of her two friends as she stood in front of them.
"What, dressed like that? Don't you think the media will be straight onto you? 'Nala Cameron wearing just a bra through the paddock'. Hmm, I don't know", Marley says, mimicking quotation marks at his attempted headline.
"Call me a slag, I don't care. It's so fucking hot right now and I'm comfortable so it's fine", Nala replied, pulling them up from seats.
"No need to call yourself a slag, but ok. I'm kinda hungry too", Jaidyn rolls her eyes as they begin to walk out.
On the way, they run into Ollie.
"Hey, Nala! What are you doing?", he asked with his signature smile on his face. Nala saw Ollie's eyes widen as he took her in, obviously surprised that she wasn't wearing a shirt, but tried his best to play it off as she silently giggled to herself.
"On our way to get some food. Wanna come?", Nala asked him, and earning a nod, he followed closely next to Nala and her friends. They arrive to the food vendors, and the smell instantly overwhelms Nala's senses. But Nala sees something that pushes everything else out of the way. A smoothie vendor, and a crepe vendor.
"Find what yous want, I'll be back", she says absent-mindedly as she walks over. She quickly orders her smoothie, banana and berries and while she waits, she goes to the crepes next door.
"This one please", she says, pointing to the sign to tell the confused looking man what she wanted. When he started cooking, an insane feeling of nostalgia washed over her, and she was suddenly reminded of the good old days.
When her mother and father would make her and her brothers crepes, especially on birthdays, and they were her favourite things ever. A vivid memory flashed through her mind. She sat on the bench as a small child, her mother in front of her as they decorated the crepes before her father would then flip them. It was her brithday and her 5 older brothers played around them, asking when they would be ready. The sound of laughter and happiness filled her ears.
"Miss Cameron? Hello?", she was called back by a voice calling to her. Nala turned to see the lady at the smoothies trying to get her attention, leaning over the side and waving her hands around. When Nala finally registered her, she breathed a heavy sigh.
"Miss, here is your smoothie", the lady said, handing Nala the drink. She quickly retrieved it, feeling a little embarrassed as she went back over to the crepes, just in time for when the shy vendor man finished making her food and held it out to her.
Nala quickly found where Ollie was sat at a nearby table, and she took a seat next to him. "Where's J and Mar?", Nala asked as she took a sip from her drink.
"Went to have a look for more vendors. Couldn't decide what they wanted", Ollie replied with a short laugh. Nala nodded, and then there was a few moments of silence as the two began to eat their food. But they were soon interrupted by voice above them.
"Cameron. Bearman. These seats taken?", asked Pierre Gasly in his French accent. Nala looked up smiling, seeing him, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris huddled around. She quickly counted the chairs, noting that there would be 2 extras when they sat down, perfect for when Jaidyn and Marley got back.
"Sure can, guys. Take a seat", Nala said, nodding her head as she continued to eat her food.
The six drivers sat in peace for a moment, all eating the food they had in front of them. She ignored their straying eyes as she tried to enjoy her favourite food, knowing exactly what they were looking at. Then Nala had a feeling she had known before. A familiar yet new feeling. She gazed up from her food to see those bright blue eyes watching her again. Lando sat across and then down one seat from her, but it felt as though he were right next to her from his intense gaze. Directly across from Nala sat Carlos, and he silently watched as the two exchanged glances, Nala's cheeks going red every time she looked up, and Lando having a contant cheeky smirk on his face. He knew what was going on. It was the same thing he had witnessed the day before at the press conference.
"Parece que Lando tiene un pequeño enamoramiento, eh?", Carlos says under his breath, yet everyone at the table hears it. Nala knew exactly what he had said, "Looks like Lando has a little crush, huh?". Her cheeks flushed slightly, yet the side of her mouth crept up into a smirk as she saw Lando understand, then laugh as his friends looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"En serio? Bueno, tengo mis ojos puestos en otra persona, así que tienes competencia, Lando", Nala said back, and everyone was suddenly looking at her in surprise. She had said, "Really? Well I've got my eyes on someone else so you've got competition, Lando". She knew of course that was untrue, she had no one, but it felt good saying it as all his friends started giggling to themselves. Meanwhile, Ollie, who was beside Nala, knew nothing that was going on. Everyone at the table seemed to know Spanish, seemed to know what the hell was happening, except for him.
Nala quickly reached her hand over to touch his arm, obviously knowing he didn't know, and in a way to say she would tell him later. A moment later, as if it was planned, Jaidyn and Marley arrived with food, yet they stood up.
"Nala. Ollie. Wanna go back inside, it's too hot out here. And I'm not just gonna take my shirt off", Marley said, sarcastically at the last point, but Nala acted like she was offended. She saw the guys eyebrows fly up at the comment and she rolled her eyes.
"Wow, saved by the bell- oh I mean saved by the bitch. You came just at the right time, but there is no need to throw shade, ok?", she says as her and Ollie stand up, Nala carrying her half eaten food and drink.
"Bye boys", Nala says, waving to them as they left and went back to the Audi hospitality.
Later Nala caught Ollie up on what happened at the gathering before, and a soft but desperate and almost jelous tone came from his voice.
"You don't like him though, do you? I mean, first your too young and he's a great guy but he is the competition-", Ollie started, but he was silenced by Nala putting her finger to her lips, making him go quiet.
"No, Ollie. We are just friends. Beside, it can't ever be more than that anyway", she said, clarifying it with a soft smile, earning one in return from Ollie across from her.
Soon it was qualifying. Nala flew around the track getting her through Q1, through Q2 and into Q3. She was so happy when she got back to the garages, she did a happy little dance in her seat before she set out again. Going around the track for her outlap, she went past Lando, who was going quite slow around turn 13. She saw him wave, so she waved back, a slight smile on her face and butterflies fly through her stomach, even though Lando wouldn't even find out about that. But it was time for her flying lap.
She sped around the track, getting great corners, meeting all the apexes then having DRS through every zone. The surroundings became a blur to her as she just focused on the track, determined to have a good finish.
When she went back into the garages, she anxiously waited in her car in case anything happened. But it was all good. Nala cheered as she climbed out of her car, receiving P6 for tomorrow's race. She was quite happy, feeling fulfilled that she was able to put her whole heart out there and get a decent result for the race. And in the back of her mind, she found a gimmer of hope that she would be able to improve that tomorrow,and hopefully she would be able to beat Lando, who was right in front of her in P5.