Way quicker than I had imagined, we arrived at a huge fancy club venue and I was a little starstruck when getting out of our car. To be honest, everything at this point was a little overwhelming to me after such an intense first weekend, so I was very glad to have Lewis, George, Mick and Olivia by my side to guide me through the chaos. It had been amazing, but I had many new first impressions and the first taste of my new life, so I was happy to just go with the flow and follow the rest without a thought. I felt heavily underdressed in my cute flowy black jumpsuit with a little plunging neckline, slightly puffy long sleeves and shorts and my platform dr. Martens to give me a few extra centimeters as some people were dressed as if they were going to the Oscars. Some photographers were outside taking pictures of everyone they found interesting enough to put in their papers the next day. I felt a little lost in this luxurious and chaotic world of clubbing I wasn't used to and I suddenly felt a hand on my back, which belonged to Mick. I apparently looked like a lost Bambi. He smiled reassuringly at me and guided me inside. I was grateful and smiled at him when we entered the building. I used to go out into weird local clubs, never anything this fancy let alone a place where famous people would show up and where the paparazzi were at every corner. Note to self, don't go outside if I'm drunk or else I will embarrass myself for the whole world to see. I still had to learn much about the world I had entered and had to get used to a lot of things, but with the right people by my side, I was sure that I'd get by just fine.
Inside the building, it was filled with important-looking people who were having a good time and we could blend into the crowd a bit while the air filled with smells of booze, expensive perfume, and sweat entered my nostrils. Some of the people I recognized from the grid, some were mechanics and other people that worked for the teams, but also a lot of influencers that I vaguely had seen before, probably on TikTok or Instagram. The influencers were all dressed up as if it was their last day on earth and I thought they looked absolutely stunning. I was happy that George, Mick and Olivia weren't too dressed up as well. Lewis of course was looking like a model, but that was also just normal attire for him. I felt underdressed, but also quite comfortable in my outfit and I was certain that many of those so-called influencers couldn't say the same thing, so win for me!
Olivia and I followed Lewis and George. Mick still had his hand on my back as he guided me through the crowd as we followed the rest. His big and warm hand felt comforting through the fabric of my jumpsuit. George was quite tall, so he could easily spot their racer friends, as another group of drivers had already started partying, with some more on the way. Even with my platform boots, I was still quite small, so I had no idea where we were going and was glad for George who seemed to know where he was going. I was really excited to have a fun night and get to know a couple of new people. George waved excitedly at his friends who appeared in the crowd and Lewis hugged Valtteri with a big grin. I recognized most of them from stories and pictures, but I hadn't formally been introduced to most of them, I only had met Valtteri and Charles. All eyes were on me. The loud club music was playing as Lewis introduced me and Olivia to everyone, but I was certain that everyone knew me by the way they were looking at me with full interest. It felt weird, to be known among famous people. I don't think it would ever feel normal, but it was certainly an experience. Lewis tried to introduce me to Charles, who was standing next to his teammate Carlos and his girlfriend Isa, who seemed very excited that two other girls had shown up as up until now she had been the only girl, but Charles smiled widely when he saw me and made a little cheeky laughing sound.
"We've met before." He said with his thick accent and I nodded with a smile and gave him a quick hug to make it a little less weird. His strong arms flew around me to give me a hug and his nice cologne entered my nostrils. He smelled so nice and warm - and also very expensive - it made me blush a little bit.
"Wait, how? I thought you only knew the Mercedes drivers." George questioned me, as he was clearly surprised I knew Charles and I shrugged. I also saw Lando, Esteban, who I just had introduced myself to, and Mick look a bit weird our way. They probably were asking the same, how on earth did I meet the Ferrari driver?
"We walked into each other this morning in the hotel lobby." I chuckled and George rolled with his eyes.
"Of course you did." He chuckled as well, looking back at Charles while squinting his eyes a little bit. I stood between Isa and Charles now. Lewis was chatting with Valtteri and Olivia. Mick was talking to Esteban and Lando.
"I'm going to get drinks and as I dragged you all the way here, what can I get you?" George moved his attention back to me with a dashing smile and I quickly looked around at what everyone was drinking. It seemed it was mostly cocktails and wine, but I knew I could get quite weary when drinking wine after a long workday and I would get too hammered if I would start drinking cocktails for the rest of the night and I wasn't planning on doing that. I bit my lip while I thought for a moment.
"Well, a beer would be fine I guess? Or if that's not fancy enough you can get me whatever you're getting." I brought out with a little laugh and George chuckled.
"Coming right up." He smiled, winked at me as softly squeezed my arm and asked Olivia, Mick and Lewis the same question and disappeared into the crowd.
"So, you're working for Mercedes, that's so cool!" Isa spoke, before her boyfriend or his teammate could speak up after George left. She grabbed my arm in excitement and I giggled at her excitement. She seemed nice and was radiating sunshine.
"Yeah, it's my first weekend at a Grand Prix and so far so good! It's chaos, but I like that. Though the media is something I really need to get used to." I smiled at her, god she was stunning with her tanned beautiful skin and gorgeous smile. Carlos was a very lucky man. I had turned towards her, so I felt Charles' presence behind me as if he was radiating some sort of energy, but he was only trying to follow the conversation over my shoulder and maybe needed a lesson on personal space if he'd do this all the time.
"If you're tired of hanging around the Mercedes garage, you are more than welcome to visit the Ferrari garage for a chat! I am glad to see that the amount of cool girls working around here keeps increasing every year. This sport needs more fierce women." Isa smiled excitedly and she literally radiated sunshine and flower fields.
"I will and I totally agree. You are always welcome at Mercedes as well if you need a moment away as well." I said excitedly with a grin. "I don't think that my father or our PR team for that matter would like it if I randomly started visiting Ferrari every weekend, so. But I might just do so to stir things up if I'm feeling bold." I giggled softly and went with my hand through my messy curly hair. Isa nodded and she giggled as well.
"You're Toto's daughter right?" Carlos carefully broke into my and Isa's talk and I looked up at him and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, but I grew up in England and have always lived with my mum..." I answered so that he wouldn't ask any further, hopefully. I could see in his eyes that he found it kind of weird that he hadn't seen me around before - as most of the drivers probably felt - but he wouldn't continue about it as he got nudged in the side by Isa, to stop talking probably. He had asked his question quite bluntly and Isa probably noticed that I wasn't fully comfortable talking about Toto here. I was here to have a good time and not talk about my until-a-year-ago estranged father who happened to be a billionaire F1 team boss and CEO and also my boss. It was a weird situation.
"Let's go dance. It was a fun first weekend of the season, many more to come! Also the first weekend for Teddy and we should celebrate instead of standing around here looking like we don't want to be here." Isa said excitedly, clearly ready to party, even though the two Ferrari boys seemed a bit hesitant, as they didn't have the greatest start of the season. I felt Charles' arm brush against me as he shrugged as an answer to Isa. George returned with the drinks and handed me my beer with a little wink and I was honestly glad that he had gotten me a beer. It may not be the most classy option, but I was not planning on getting hammered on my first weekend and start embarrassing myself completely. I immediately took a sip and got dragged onto the dancefloor by Isa. Olivia, George, and Lando joined just a couple of seconds later and we danced together and laughed. George and Lando were such typical British lads. Carlos and Charles followed us a song later, as they were first chatting about something, looking our way. Mick and Esteban were also dancing and I even danced with Mick for a moment. We laughed and he twirled me around on the beat of the music, almost making me trip as I got dizzy, he just caught me in time with his strong arms as we both laughed at how horribly that went. Some of the drivers drank quite fast and it was noticeable in how everybody started to act on and around the dance floor. It was real fun, but the three of us girls were really the ones who were dancing the most.
We enjoyed our night and chatted a bit about random stuff as we all got a bit tipsier and tipsier. I hadn't had to pay for a drink yet, which was very dangerous for me as I would lose track of the number of drinks I had had. Luckily I was only drinking beer, so I was in the clear of becoming extremely drunk at this rate. Lando had taken his camera with him and had started to take quite some pictures and I had posed in a couple with Olivia, Isa, Mick, George, Charles and Carlos.
We had been laughing and dancing and drinking for a while and I had gotten a bit overwhelmed and hot, so I tried to find someone who wanted to join me in finding a balcony or someplace outside where we can actually breathe for a second. Olivia and Isa kept singing and dancing and I couldn't get them to join me, because the DJ was just too good according to them. I was happy that even though I had randomly entered this F1 world, I felt so accepted by these people around me. I rolled my eyes at them when they tried to get me come back to dance. I couldn't find George or Lewis, Mick was talking intensely to Esteban and Yuki about something I couldn't understand, so I tried to get Charles' attention, as he looked a bit zoned out as well, in his own world with flustered cheeks from the heat. Maybe he wanted to get out for a moment, I also didn't mind chatting with him alone as we hadn't had the time to do so. We had danced together for a little bit, but I had danced with basically everyone at this point and I had caught his gaze on me a couple of times during the evening, but it also seemed that that was just way of looking around with a dreamy look in his eyes. The man could literally be a Disney prince or something with his big green eyes and dark luscious hair. I had put my hand on his arm and squeezed softly to get his attention and he looked back at me with a sly smile on his lips and a random cocktail in his hands. Clearly tipsy as well. I got lost in his dreamy green eyes for a moment and had to gather my thoughts again for a second. Damn, why were all of these drivers just annoyingly gorgeous? I couldn't think straight, might also be the alcohol talking.
"Do you want to go outside with me? Catch our breath for a moment. Nobody wants to join me." I asked with a pout as he brought his ear a little bit lower towards me so that he could hear me over the loud music. He put his hand on my back to hold me steady as people were bumping into each other on the dance floor, making me come closer to him with every bump. He nodded and started walking somewhere. I grabbed his hand to not lose him in the process, making him look back at me with surprise, chuckle, and walk on. I blushed, I always grabbed people's hands or arms when walking through a crowd as I would easily loose people and when I had a couple of drinks. Outside I let go of his hand and breathed in and out the fresh air, filling my lungs with fresh air. It was still very warm outside, but the fresh air was always better than the mixture of sweat, alcohol, perfume and smoke that was inside the venue at this hour.
"Do you have a good night, Teddy?" Charles suddenly asked and I looked back at him over my shoulder. God, he even looked handsome in the reflection of the moonlight. It was very unfair. I nodded with a smile at him as he walked towards me.
"It's really fun." I answered and we both leaned against the edge of the balcony. "I love meeting all of you, you are all so nice to me and seem such a nice bunch of people, nothing like the media portrays some of you." I smiled at him. He stepped a little closer to me and stood next to me, his arm brushing mine in the dim light.
"Good to hear that." He said softly with a genuine smile, his accent thicker than it did earlier due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He seemed a very nice guy. "Besides the obvious rivalry on the track and some small fights that sometimes could happen, we are actually good friends outside of the car and just mostly nice to each other. Most of us have known each other a long time so." I nodded, media always made them seem like they were horrible to each other and the worst enemies, even Toto painted the other drivers as some sort of evil spawns, but they were just friends and if you took away all the money they had, most of them were just normal lads. "Just so you know." He sounded a little bit awkward with his accent but giggled afterward, which was very endearing. I wondered if he always giggles like that or only when he had a drink. I bit on the inside of my lip and looked up at the man whose green eyes twinkled in the moonlight. Since the start of this race weekend, I hadn't really had any time to reflect on how massively my life had changed in a short while. My eyes glided toward the dark night sky that was filled with many gorgeous stars and I sighed deeply as I thought of the life I had left behind and how life would never be the same again. Did I make the right choice to jump into this life so quickly? It all seemed so fun right now, but will it still be like that in a couple of months? Should I go and talk to Toto soon about everything I hadn't told him? Was I ready to open up? What if the media found out about my life before, my life with a stepdad who manipulated me and everyone who I loved? That he kept me away from Toto?
I didn't know how long I stared at the sky, but when I looked back, Charles was looking at me with his dreamy eyes. My face heated and I looked away a little startled.
"What were you thinking about?" He asked, leaning onto the balcony railing towards me, his eyes set on me. His eyes were soft and dreamy, but his gaze was strong. He did not break it as I looked back at him.
"Nothing particular..." I said softly. "Just that I haven't had time to realize how this weekend is the first of my new life and I can't go back to my old life anymore. Not that I want to, I think, not right now at least." Charles stared at me in silence for a moment.
"Yeah, it's a big change." He reacted and gave me a sweet smile. "But you are more than welcome here, I hope you know that. If anything is going wrong or if you need to talk to someone about anything, I'm here for you." He rambled a bit with his thick accent and I felt the expression on my face soften by his kind words. Charles' eyes grew a bit larger at his own words and started stuttering, trying to find the right words, his accent growing thicker while rambling as he couldn't find the English words. "I mean-uh, w-we uh-the drivers are all here for you of course. Uh-I mean that we know how it feels to live the F1 life, so you are always welcome to complain about it to us at any time." He sighed deeply at the end of his sentence and giggled softly at himself. I put my hand on his arm and smiled reassuringly at him. He was really sweet. His gaze came back to me, damn those dreamy eyes.
"You are too sweet, Charles, thank you." I said as the corners of my mouth turned upwards, he found his confidence back with a stupid grin on his lips. "I don't really have anything to complain about, yet, but I'll let you know if something comes happens. You'll be the first one I will find to complain to." He nods with a chuckle and he went through his fluffy hair with his hand and licked his lip. Our bodies were turned toward each other, and my left hand was on his right arm which was leaning on the railing of the balcony.
"Well, I-uh was wondering if I could get your phone number so that you can complain to me at any time, not just on race weekends. Only if you want that of course!" He spoke and ended with a cheeky lopsided smile. A flush crept over my cheeks and I tried not to let go of his gaze. I didn't know if it was the alcohol in my system - I was known for getting more affectionate when I had been drinking, but the hand I had on his arm had traveled down to his hand. I only realized it because I felt his thumb caressing my hand now. Something with this Ferrari driver was pulling me more and more towards him and it felt so goddamn comfortable and welcoming to be around him. I hadn't really planned on getting a phone number from one of the hottest drivers from the competition on my first weekend at my new job, but here I was. I nodded as an answer before I could even think and got out my phone to let him put in his phone number. He beamed when I agreed and put his number in my phone. He immediately send himself a message so that he had my number as well. I watched him fidget with my phone with a smile on my lips. I couldn't stop smiling I noticed. He was taking a little while, so I got curious and tried to see what he was doing. He put my phone to his chest the moment he realized I tried to see what he was doing and he gave me a cheeky look with raised eyebrows and one corner of his lips curved up. I tried to grab my phone back with a giggle, making me step even closer to him, my hand only separated from his chest by my own phone as I had to look up to him with a playful smile on my lips.
"You have no patience, Teddy." He grinned and I pouted, but I couldn't suppress another giggle, keeping my phone in my hand as well, our hands brushing against each other. He seemed to enjoy the teasing as I felt his chest moving up and down as he chuckled. God, Olivia was right, he is so hot.
"Charles, what are you doing there?" An amused voice with a French accent sounded across the balcony and both Charles and I immediately took a step back from each other, startled by the voice. I let him go and was greeted by an empty cold void. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and looked over to where to mystery voice came from. I had somehow forgotten that we were actually at a big party for a moment and I think Charles did too, gathered by his flustered and slightly confused look, but he smiled again when he noticed who had called him.
"Pierre! Mate, good to see that you could make it!" Charles spoke excitedly and sheepishly handed me back my phone. I could swear he winked at me? The guy who stood at the door was Pierre, I recognized him as one of the Alpine drivers after Charles gave away his name. Pierre looked like he was trouble, smiling like the devil himself.
"Yes, but clearly you didn't need my company at all, Charles. I seemed to have interrupted something very adorable here." Pierre spoke with a wicked grin on his lips and he stepped towards us, his eyes on me, ignoring Charles who shook his head, and Pierre was holding out his hand. I shook it smiling sheepishly. "We haven't been introduced yet, I'm Pierre Gasly, I race for Alpine." The way he said it, I could swear he was flirting. I giggled, I seemed to do that a lot that evening and sober me would hate it, but I wasn't sober anymore, but also not drunk at all. Just tipsy and just living my new life I guess?
"I'm Teddy, I work for Mercedes." I gave him my name and he quickly realized who I was now.
"Ah! So you are the famous Teddy everyone on the grid has been talking about. Nice to finally meet you! I hope my little friend Charles here has been a good gentleman and that he's not been bothering you, I have been putting up with his arse for years now and I don't know how I did that. You can still run now you can. Blink if you'd like to leave him here." He grinned widely and winked at me. I heard Charles groan under his breath. I didn't know what to say for a second, as Pierre confirmed that my presence was the talk of the grid and he was incredibly flirty.
"Pierre.." Charles warned his friend with a grin. "Let's go back to the party, Teddy are you coming too?" I nodded and followed the two boys back inside, where we were greeted by some great bangers from the DJ. I was grabbed by Olivia the second she saw me walk back with Charles and Pierre. She gave me a weird look and an approving nod. I rolled my eyes at her, but couldn't help but laugh a little, it would probably be a weird sight to see me walk away with one hot driver and come back with two. I glanced towards Charles, who happened to be carefully watching me as well and I tried to hold his gaze for a few seconds, before I was pulled into the dancing group again and got twirled around by Olivia, after which someone carefully grabbed my shoulder. It was Pierre this time.
"Can I get you something to drink?" He asked with a sweet smile, leaning over my shoulder as he was taller than I was, and talking into my ear. His body warmth against my back and his warm breath against my ear made me shiver a little bit. I could smell his expensive cologne. His lips were almost touching my ear and I immediately smiled. I looked back at him over my shoulder, his hand now sliding down to my elbow and his face was close to mine. Again, I was known for being way more affectionate when I had a few drinks and the way this didn't bother me only solidifies that. My hand rested on his chest when I turned around to face him.
"A beer would be nice." I smiled back at him, and padded him on his chest softly. His smile was just wicked and his light eyes sparkled. Is it necessary for F1 drivers to be devilishly handsome? Does the car drive better when they look like a model? He nodded.
"Coming right up, Wolff." He spoke, winked at me again and disappeared into the crowd, his hand leaving a warm print on my arm. These men will be the death of me.
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Y/N: I hope you guys all like the story so far now that Teddy is meeting quite some drivers :) let me know what you think! <3