Oh dear, what was today's race?
I still think about the time we found out Seb was leaving Ferrari and we all were disappointed... now it seems like the best thing for him!
Anyways, thanks for your lovely words and for all your votes on this book! Much appreciated!
HB3112 x
The feeling Valeria got walking through the paddock in Abu Dhabi was the same feeling she had in school, on the last day. She couldn't believe how much her life had changed in the previous months.
'Did you use to do water balloon flights in school on the last day?'she asked Pietro, as she wrapped her arm around him; a habit she had picked up in the previous months as their relationship grew.
'Yeah, I used to hate it' he replied, laughing.
'It must be because you come from the mountains. Us sea people love to be wet' she replied.
'That's what she said' Giorgio interjected, joining them as they walked to the motorhome.
'you are a child.' She laughed, playfully punching him on the shoulder. 'as we are staying a few extra days for testing... do we get a party or something?' Valeria asked. 'because if we don't... can I organise anything?'
'there is usually something from F1, like... different games for the crews the night after the GP if that's what you mean'
'yeah, that could do' she replied, holding the door open for her friends to walk in. Valeria spotted Britta, Seb, Charles and Silvia at a table, deep in conversation. She grabbed her work phone and joined them.
'I can't believe this is the last time I'm saying this in 2019. And maybe forever. Welcome again to race week!' she started. She had tried to make her "briefings" a bit more interesting , since giving them all information about appointments and media duties over and over again was going to be mind numbing. 'Seb, Britta and I got you a couple of extra bits with the Dutch TV as you love it so much' the German gave her a small smile, even if he was trying to look annoyed. 'Charlie, as Sil and I know you love it too, I got you in the press conference with your fave Magnussen, who we know is and always will be stupid.' The Monegasque smirked. 'now, for the last time for 2019... please behave yourselves. I don't want to shout at you again' she smiled. The drivers looked at each other, a guilty look on their faces. They had both spoken to Mattia after the incident and seemed to be on good terms with one another. 'now, I have to go do some work, apparently. So, I'll see you boys and girls at the press conference.'she concluded. 'Arrivederci, Au revoir, Auf Wiedersehen' she said, waving her hand at the group.
'Do we know if she's got a job next year? Because I love her.' Britta said, watching her walk off.
'not sure, I think she mentioned she had a meeting with Mattia and Louis at some point this week' Seb shrugged. 'I believe she's being so extra in case she doesn't come back next year' he concluded. 'worse comes to worse, I'll just get her around the garage anyways'
The paddock had already started filling with people, Valeria zigzagged her way through through a crowd of journalists, to get to her meeting. She sat down, politely chatting to the other PR people in the room. The classic 'can't believe it's over, it felt like yesterday we were in Australia' was being shared around the room.
Valeria nodded along to what was being said, she was just happy the season had drawn to an end. She walked out of the room to join Silvia and Charles at the first of the press events. It must have been the feeling of the last week at school, but every appointment she had in her calendar seemed to pass really quickly and before she could realise she found herself out of the paddock again, Seb holding her hand and telling her a story about his first time in Abu Dhabi.
'Are you even listening to me?' he asked her, as they walked into their room.
'of course' she replied, giving him a guilty look.
'And what was I saying?' he raised an eyebrow.
'uhm..' she turned around to face him. She lifted herself on her tiptoes to kiss him 'that you appreciate me trying to pretend I was listening and that you forgive me because I'm cute?' she asked, sweetly.
Seb's lips curved upwards. 'idiot' he kissed her. 'it's fine, don't listen. Preparing me for when we're married'
'Isn't it usually the other way around? The man never listens?'
'Sorry, what did you say?' he asked, with a smirk.
'ha ha very funny' she told him 'can you believe you survived a whole season with me?' she asked.
'I don't think I would have survived it without you' he replied. 'do you know anything about next year?'
'Mattia put a meeting in my calendar tomorrow... so I guess I'll find out tomorrow?' she shrugged. 'I don't even know what I want to do.' She knew Seb had decided to leave the decision to her and she had been toying with the different options, leaning towards a different one every time. 'I'll wing it tomorrow' she joked.
The following day
Valeria had just woken up, it wasn't even 6 am and she couldn't sleep anymore. She had an early meeting with Mattia and Louis and the night sleep hadn't brought her any kind of help. She quietly got out of bed, trying not to wake Sebastian up, she gave him a light kiss before she left the room to go to the gym. She jumped on a treadmill, turning her music up. 'A quick 5k should do' she told herself, turning the speed up. The rhythmic repetition of her shoes hitting the machine and her music had already helped her relax, she felt a lot better once the machine had started slowing down.
She moved over to a rowing machine, pushing her limits for another 20 minutes until her stomach let out a loud noise.
'Seb will kill me if he finds out I've worked out without breakfast again' she thought, drying her hair as she walked back to their room. She jumped in the shower, humming along the song that she had just paused on her phone.
'What time did you wake up?' Seb asked, walking into the bathroom. He had just woken up, his hair was all ruffled from the hours spent in bed and he was still scratching his eyes with his knuckles.
'6? I couldn't fall back to sleep so I went to the gym for a bit. I'm knackered now but I'm meeting Mattia in like.. 20 minutes'
'you could have stayed in bed and cuddled' Seb yawned.
'Next time, my love. We have a nice winter break for cuddling' she said, turning the water off. She quickly dried herself, changed into her uniform and walked out. Mattia and Louis were going to meet her at the hotel restaurant, for breakfast.
Valeria walked in and spotted them already at a table, Mattia waved to her, with a smile. She felt the nerves coming in again, as she directed herself to their table.
'anything for you, miss?' the waitress asked politely.
'nam, finjan qahwa, min fadlik' she replied. (Yes, a cup of coffee, please) the waitress looked at her surprised, as did Mattia and Louis. 'I studied Arabic at uni, I thought I'd brush it up' she said.
'wow, you have a lot of talents' Louis smiled. Valeria knew he was trying to make her feel comfortable but she still couldn't calm down. 'thanks for agreeing to see us so early' he added.
'Not a problem, I tend not to sleep much on race weeks anyways' she replied, as the waitress brought her her coffee. 'shukran' she thanked her.
'if you could describe this year with us, what would you say?' Mattia asked her.
'It's been a roller coaster of emotions and I'm still wrapping my head around it, even if this is the last race. I loved every minute of it, even the bad days. Even the days I wanted to leave this all behind and find a "normal" job.'
'your relationship with Sebastian is still going strong' Louis stated, matter-of-factly.
'Yes' she nodded.
'And do you think it would affect you if we were to offer you an extension on your contract? Maybe with a slightly different job?'
'not really, I mean, it hasn't really affected us this year.' She replied.
'we would like to keep you on for 2020, it would be another year contract but working more closely with Mattia, kind of doing what you're doing at the moment but with a lot more interaction with the other team principals and teams, and less questions from the public. What do you think of that?'
Valeria smiled widely. She was happy they would want to keep her on and that the job would be less public, but still with lots of responsibility.
'That sounds like something I'd very much like. Thank you so much for the opportunity'
'we'll finalise it in Maranello, but thanks for this year. Notwithstanding everything, you still shone' Louis outstretched his hand to shake hers.
Seb had just walked in the room and had seen Valeria shaking hands with Louis, the smile on both their faces could only mean she was staying with the team for a little longer. He couldn't say he was disappointed. Having her around the garage had seemed to brighten up even the worst days.
Valeria finished her breakfast with the two Italians and joined him and Britta for a quick catch up.
'staying next year, but basically working with Mattia a lot more... i guess they're trying to get me out of the public eye but it's nice they're keeping me on, you know?'she told them. 'and I think I'm also getting a raise, so you know.. win win!'
'I'm glad you're staying. I'll miss your briefings though' Britta said.