Valeria was driving through the streets of Maranello, nervously tapping on her steering wheel. She hadn't been so far north in a while, since the days her dad brought her karting. She used to enjoy it, as a child and teen but she never felt like it was her calling. She liked the speed, she liked the adrenaline, but felt like she couldn't make a career out of it, so she had decided to pursue other sports, never professionally, just as an excuse to keep fit.
Her dad would have loved for her to continue in the world of motorsports, being a big Ferrari fan himself. 'well, this is as close as I can get' she thought, parking up at the Ferrari factory and offices in the small Italian town. It was her first day and, as usual, she was over half an hour early. She had moved to Maranello a couple of days prior, she already missed Rome but knew that she was starting up a new life, following one of the most renowned teams of the world of Formula1.
She got out of the her bright red fiat 500 Abarth, the first day nerves pushing her stomach into her throat. She stopped off in the smoking area and lit a cigarette to calm herself. She inquisitively looked at the people walking in, wondering who out of the many employees she would work closely with. She nervously put a strand of hair behind her ear, inhaling the smoke in her lungs. She looked at her watch, she had 15 minutes left. She opened her front camera to check her make-up, fixing her lipstick. She took her sunglasses off and popped them in her bag, she took another deep breath and walked in.
'Good morning, how can I help you?' the smiley receptionist asked her.
'good morning, my name is Valeria Proietti, it's my first day. I'm here to see Mr. Galliera? I'm the new PR officer' she introduced herself.
'Sure, I'll call him now. Please take a seat' she smiled. 'mr. Galliera. Valeria Proietti is here' she said, as Valeria sat down on the sofa not far from the desk.
'Valeria? Valeria Proietti?' a man's voice made her turn around. 'it's Charles!' the young man exclaimed. She turned around to see Charles Leclerc in front of her.
'Charlie, oh my god! I haven't seen you in so long!' she hugged him. 'you were like... a child last I saw you. Look at you! I can't believe this! I mean, I knew you were here, but my god you've changed!' Valerie's dad, Federico, used to be good friends with Charles' dad and the families always used to hang out together when both the kids used to kart.
'it's weird not to see you in a racing suit, or jeans' Charles told her. 'what are you doing here?'
'Oh, believe me, I can't see myself in heels! I'm starting today, marketing and pr'
'Wow, we have so much to catch up on, but i really need to run now. My god, I can't believe this. Here' he scribbled his number on a piece of paper. 'Let me know when you finish today and we can have a coffee or something' he hugged her again.
'I can see you have made friends already' Enrico Galliera told her.
'Mr. Galliera, good morning. Charles and I used to kart in the same places. My dad was really good friends with his dad, we hadn't seen each other in ages' she explained, following him through the corridors.
'oh, wow, I didn't know you used to kart' he sounded actually impressed.
'Yeah, dad is a big fan so he always tried to follow his dream through me. I was never exceptional, so he accepted my passion for other things'
'Here we are. Deborah will take good care of you. She'll get your pass sorted, take your information and then bring you up to us to introduce you to the team. I'll see you in a bit' he said, leaving her with the HR lady.
Valeria left the HR office an hour later, having signed her name so much she wondered how celebrities did it continously. She followed Deborah into a room filled with uniform.
'this is what you'll always wear at weekends.' She passed her three pairs of red trousers. 'then you can choose between t-shirts, polos, raincoats.. according to the weather. Then of course, beanie, coat. I think that's all. This is your water bottle, it's personalised as everyone's is the same.' She joked. 'Would you like me to show you to your new office?' she asked. She had explained where marketing sat, so Valeria shook her head and thanked her. She could figure it out, she thought.
She walked out of the room with a massive bag. 'at least red is my favourite colour' she thought. 'so, second floor, to the left, then first room on the right' she repeated in her head, walking up the stairs and trying not to trip.
She saw a sign saying 'marketing' and followed it, thanking her lucky star that she had not got lost on her first day. She smiled at the many pictures of winning champions and cars around the office, Ferrari had so much history and was, notwithstanding everything, the pride of Italy. She felt so proud to be part of the history.
'Valeria, hi!' Enrico told her. 'I can see Deborah has sorted you out. Please come meet the team. This is Pietro, he's a marketing and pr officer as you are. This is Silvia, Charles' PA and Britta, Seb's one. You'll have to work closely with both of them to sort schedules, appointments and interviews.' He carried on introducing her to different people Valeria would not work as closely with.
In the afternoon, Pietro helped her set up her laptop and workstation. He seemed like a nice guy, roughly around the same age as her. She hoped their relationship would be smooth, they were going to spend so much time together.
'Carletto, I'll be done about 5. Can I please go home and change at least my shoes? My feet are killing' she texted Charles, as she was packing up after her first day.
'sure 🤣 I'll meet you here at 6?' he sent her a location of a close by café.
'can't wait' she typed, as she walked out of the office.
She walked through the corridors, following the rest of the employees. Suddenly, she realised she had forgotten her uniform under her desk. Deborah had made it really clear how important it was to always keep an eye on it as it wouldn't be replaced unless for wear and tear. She didn't want to disappoint her on her first day. She quickly walked back to her office, damning every second she spent on her heels. She grabbed her bag and walked out again. She looked at the corridors confused. Why did they all look the same once you had taken the people away?
'cazzo' she huffed, as she got to another dead end.
'are you lost?' she heard an amused voice ask her, in English.
'Yeah, damn corridors, they all look the same' she replied, turning around to see who was talking to her. She was sure she had heard that voice before. She found Sebastian Vettel and Britta in front of her.
'We're going that way too, follow us...'
'Valeria' Britta added.
'I'm Seb' the German said.
'Yeah, duh? I'd be silly working here and not knowing who Sebastian Vettel is' she said, before she could think it through. She bit her lip, damn her sass.
'yeah, fair enough' he laughed. 'here. You see? You need to follow the exit signs' he joked. Valeria knew he liked to poke people, that was his humour.
'Oh, that's what they left out of my induction today! I knew i forgot to ask something' she joked back. 'thank you, very much. I don't know how I could have figured it out without you' she could see him smirk and Britta smile. 'see you around' she waved, as she unlocked her car.
She got in, she could still see Seb and Britta chat in the car park behind her. She turned on the car and her stereo blurted out the last song she was listening to.
'(Zwei)
Hier kommt die Sonne
(Drei) sie ist der hellste Stern von allen
(Vier)
Hier kommt die Sonne'
She turned her volume down, as she looked in the mirror to reverse she could see an amused Seb look at her. She concentrated on remembering how to drive, and zoomed out of the car park.
'Valeria! Here' Charles, was waving at her from a table. She saw a couple of people stare at her, probably wondering why she was having coffee with a Ferrari driver.
'Hey' she sat down. 'what are you having?' she asked him.
'probably just a coffee, Andrea is on my case' he said.
'guessing your PT' she told him, as the waiter walked to their table. 'could I have an Aperol spritz, please?' she asked him.
'And for me a coffee, please' Charles added. 'so... tell me everything I have missed in the last... what? 10 years?'
'Jesus, has it really been that long? Yeah, it must be. I was 17 the last time dad tried to convince me to try racing again. You were what? 10? Damn. Your Italian has got a lot better' she told him. 'What did I do? I finished school, went to uni. I lived in London for a few years, mum insisted' Valeria's mum was British and she always insisted that higher education in the UK could get you further. Valeria hadn't really complained, as her parents had paid for the astronomical fees, as she worked part time to pay for her rent and expenses. 'Then, I went back to Rome for a while. Did a few internships, until I came here. But enough about me! Tell me about you, not the racing you, I know that. The rising star Leclerc, I always knew you were going to go far. Tell me about the outside Charlie, the one that used to wear his suit to bed' she remembered. It felt like a life ago, when she would go to Monaco with her family. 'how is Arthur? He's what, 18 now?'
'19 soon'
'Damn. I'm 29 at the end of this year. I feel so old'she sighed.
'you don't look a day over 20' he smiled.
'You need new glasses' she joked.
'I think I do!' he laughed. 'anyway, I'm all good. Second season in F1, I think I'm doing well. I mostly still live in Monaco, but have a place here in Italy for when I'm in Maranello and when I'm with Giada, my girlfriend. I'll introduce you as soon as possible, she'll be at the first team dinner of the year.'
'and I'll be invited to that? I'm the last minion' she joked.
'Everyone is invited! How was your first day?' he asked curious, as he stole one of her crisps.
'Excuse me? You're on a driver diet!' she slapped his hand, making him laugh. 'Yeah it was alright, so much to learn, but I'm well excited to travel around the world!'
'You're track side too? Great!' he smiled, as she finished off her cocktail. They carried on catching up about the few years they had missed. They left the cafe at closing time.
'Vale, it has been a pleasure. I still can't believe I bumped into you. Please say hi to your parents and Noemi.' Charles said, as they hugged to say goodbye.
'Same, say hi to your mum and Arthur from me. I'll come visit them when we're in Monaco' she told him.
'mum would be so happy. See you around!' they hugged once more.
Valeria walked through the streets of Maranello, a wide smile on her face. She had spent so much time in Monaco with Charles and Arthur growing up, she had met all of his racing friends. She wondered if Pierre was going to recognise her, she knew he had moved up to RedBull that year. Her mind wondered back to those summers spent running around Monaco, since Charles was so young. She felt a sharp pain, remembering Jules. He was only a year older than her, she used to watch him kart a lot when they were younger. She visited him and Daniel Ricciardo in Viareggio when they moved to Italy. Jules was her first love. They shared a whole summer of teenage love, years before and had stayed friends since. She remembered the pain of his passing and she touched her left wrist, where she had got a J and a 17 tattooed.
'he looks so much like you, Jules' she whispered, as she walked back into her flat.