„You are great but you would be amazing if you would sing in Japanese."
~•~
Saturday came faster than Mira and Lily expected. They arrived on Friday just after seven in the evening, and Oscar picked them up at the airport. Mira was naturally feeling like a fifth wheel because the couple kept talking to each other, and they were perfectly successful in ignoring the girl in the back seat.
Did it bother the girl? Not at all. She was tired from the trip and maybe preferred not to be asked anything, as she wasn't sure if she could respond normally. They could have spared themselves the romance scattered all over the car.
Throughout the flight, Lily talked to her about people in the Formula 1 world. The blonde tried to tell her everything she knew about everyone who interested her, and Mira listened because she genuinely needed to find out this information - sometimes she had minor anxiety attacks when meeting completely unfamiliar people, so she hoped that this information about them would help her feel closer to them.
It wasn't far from the airport to the hotel, so within twenty minutes, she was already sitting on her bed in the room she had reserved just two weeks ago. It wasn't a large room, but it was sufficient for one person. A large double bed occupied over half of the room, but who would complain about that? Large beds are always the best.
She wanted to lie down, thinking that the next day would come quickly, but instead, until two in the morning, she sat on her tablet trying to jot down every idea she got.
She was preparing an album for this year. She wanted twelve songs, but so far, she only had six. Other ideas just didn't come to her. She couldn't come up with any idea. The worst part was that not only could she not figure out what she wanted the song to be about, but she also had no idea about the music itself. Notes seemed to vanish from her mind, just like her ability to write lyrics.
She was lost. She struggled with a block that she hoped she wouldn't get for several years. How could she feel burnt out four years after she started singing? Especially considering that she took a year off, otherwise it would have been five years.
In the end, she fell asleep with the tablet on her chest and a pencil in her hand. She was awakened by the alarm at half past seven, saying that she and Lily were leaving for the track at eight, where they were supposed to meet Oscar and Lando, who wanted to meet Mira first.
The girl left her hair down because that's how she liked it best, and she wore a simple black tank top with black shorts, which she accessorized with a white belt to avoid being all in black. She didn't take any bag but rather wore a black hoodie, thinking she would leave it with Oscar, and if she got cold, she would come for it.
She was ready and standing in the lobby. She was waiting for her best friend to finally finish her morning routine and decide to show up. She even saw a few Formula 1 drivers heading to the track, but most likely, no one recognized her - she didn't even know who they were. She recognized Fernando Alonso, but she certainly didn't need to run after him asking for a photo. She just observed him from a distance, admiring how calm he was with fans in the morning. That's something she needed to learn.
"I hope you haven't been waiting long," Lily smiled at her, coming from the elevator, pulling her out of her gaze at Alonso.
Her hair was also down, and she wore pink dresses with white flowers and short sleeves. The dresses ended at her knees and looked really beautiful on her. Mira knew they were a gift from Oscar because when she got them for her birthday a year ago, she called Mira in the evening to show off.
"You look beautiful," Mira hugged her when the blonde reached her, "Oscar can't take his eyes off you."
"From me? You steal everyone's attention absolutely," she smiled. Mira blushed slightly when her friend flattered her - don't get her wrong, Mira liked compliments, but she couldn't take them. Whenever someone flattered her, she just chuckled and her cheeks turned red. She had been like that since she was little. She didn't know why it was like that, but it just was.
"Okay, enough compliments, and now let's go; otherwise, you'll have little time with Oscar," Mira grabbed her friend by the arm and walked out where an Uber was waiting for them to take them to the place.
Bahrain was truly a beautiful country, and Sakhir was a beautiful city. It was just too hot here, considering it was only the beginning of February, which meant they were still in the middle of winter.
Mira lived in Italy, so she was used to the heat, but she was also used to temperatures getting back to normal in winter, with it being around 15 degrees Celsius every day. But here in Sakhir, the weather was definitely different from Italy - it was hotter here.
The car stopped in front of the paddock gates after fifteen minutes. There were all sorts of people everywhere - fans, guests, workers, and even drivers. The girls thanked the driver and got out.
They passed through the turnstiles, and Lily was already pushing her friend towards the McLaren Motorhome, where Oscar was waiting for her. Lando was sitting right next to Oscar and smiled when he saw Lily. Mira realized that the pair must know each other because Lily went to races quite often.
"This is my friend, Mira," she introduced her to Lando. Mira smiled at him and shook his hand. Lando looked at her hand and raised an eyebrow. The girl didn't understand what she had done wrong until her brunette friend trapped her in an embrace with laughter. It surprised her a bit, but she returned the hug.
"Nice to meet you, Mira. If you need anything, just let me know, and I'll try to arrange it," he said with a smile and stepped away from her so she could breathe and enjoy her personal space.
"We'll show you around a bit," Oscar smiled, interlocking fingers with Lily, and headed out. Mira followed them right away because she didn't want to miss the paddock. Maybe she didn't even want to come here, but now that she was here, she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. She wanted to make the most of it.
They walked through the paddock, and Oscar showed her every Motorhome. As Mira found out, it was a building where each team had its offices. There were ten of them, one for each team, and as she learned, they were arranged according to how well they had done in the previous season - the worst ones were at the back, and the best ones were at the front.
The girl was fascinated by how things worked here. Engineers and mechanics were everywhere, pulling things around. Sometimes someone appeared shouting at someone else because they needed to bring or arrange something important. It also surprised her how friendly everyone was here - she didn't expect to see someone from Ferrari laughing with someone from Red Bull, but she saw that.
And then something happened that Mira didn't want to happen. Lily even promised her that it wouldn't happen. But it happened anyway.
They apologized to Mira and left the girl alone in the middle of the paddock, saying she didn't know anyone here. Confused, she began to turn around, hoping to see someone she knew. But she couldn't find anyone because besides Lily and Oscar, she only knew Lando, and that's just because she said a silly hi to him.
When she accepted that she was alone, she decided to take a short walk before returning to McLaren and waiting there for the pair so she could scold them properly for leaving her alone there just because they wanted some time alone.
She was just passing by the VisaCashRB when someone shouted at her.
Mira turned around confusedly at the voice. There sat a brunette in a blue cap and a white shirt, which upon closer inspection she realized was his team's jersey.
The girl made eye contact with him and pointed to herself to make sure the shout was directed at her. The brunette nodded, indicating with his hand to the empty chair for her to sit.
Suddenly, it was as if a wave of nostalgia washed over Mira, buried deep within her for several years, and she graciously bowed. She hadn't done that in a long time because she hadn't been to Japan or any other Asian country for a long time - her Asian fans were raging because she hadn't toured there yet, but it wasn't easy to do a tour there. However, she was trying to have a concert there this year.
When she sat down on the empty chair, she noticed that the brunette wasn't alone at the table. Next to him sat an Asian guy who was enjoying something that looked like an egg roll with salad. The Asian looked small, but Mira wasn't surprised because being small was normal for Asians.
"I can't believe Mira Hashimoto is sitting with me at the table," the brunette began to chatter to the small Asian, who finally looked up from his food and glanced at the girl. She was surprised at how cute and attractive the boy was.
"Japanese at heart and soul or just on paper?" he asked the girl in Japanese. Mira had to smile when she heard his Japanese because she hadn't heard that language live for a long time. Her parents spoke to her in English because they wanted her to learn the language she would have to speak every day. The only ones who spoke Japanese to her were her grandparents, but they were very old and didn't call her as much as they used to. So now she only heard Japanese in songs and in movies and TV shows.
"I'm trying both, heart and soul, but I've been living in England since I was three, so I don't know if my Japanese is good," she replied with a smile. The Asian looked surprised.
"You have excellent pronunciation," he told her, "I'm Yuki Tsunoda."
"Mira Hashimoto," she introduced herself.
"Would you like some?" he asked her, gesturing with his hand to the egg roll on the plate in front of him. It looked really good, but Mira was aware of all the comments that appeared on her social media. All those comments appeared before her eyes. It was as if all those people were talking to her.
"Thank you, but no," she declined his offer. She would like to have some, but she knew that any food could bring back what she didn't want. She didn't need the comments on her social media that she had gotten rid of four years ago.
"Wait," exclaimed the brunette, who hadn't introduced himself yet, "Yuki offering food to someone? He never offers food to anyone; you must be really special."
"Yeah, she's Japanese," Yuki smiled, and Mira had to smile too. She's special because she's Japanese.
"I'm sorry, but I think I missed your name," Mira looked at the brunette. She wanted to change the subject of their conversation a bit because she didn't need to listen to how special she was just because some guy offered her his food.
"Daniel Ricciardo, but you can call me Danny," he introduced himself with a smile.
"Lily told me you're my fan," Mira told him. She didn't want to talk about it at first, but she wanted to change the topic of conversation, so she decided that she wouldn't hurt anyone if she mentioned it.
"A big fan," Danny said proudly, "you're incredibly talented and great."
"He listens to your songs almost every race," Yuki told her, "I only know you because of him."
"And?" she asked him.
"You definitely aren't among the worst singers. You have nice songs and a really great voice," he told her.
"But?" she asked him in Japanese.
"But it would be better if you sang in your native language," he replied in Japanese.
"Maybe someday."
~•~