Your way to the top

chapter nine

Today's a relatively chilly day at the paddock. We have a few interviews but not more. 
I wake up to see a good morning message from Charles. I can't help but smile a little. I take a quick shower before I make my way to the circuit. 
"Okay, you have an interview today at 11am and then it's lunch time. After that you have a small training session before you're free to go.", Camille says.
"Nothing else?", I ask her.
"Nope. That's all for today", she says and smiles at me. 
We walk into the garage together and I get straight to work. They give me some caps and shirts to sign. I do that, before I make my way to the interview. Since I'm new here and the only woman, a lot of people want to interview me. I sit onto a chair across from the man that interviews me. He looks really young, is tall, has blonde hair and some glasses. He asks me a lot of questions. One question surprises me though. He aksks me:
"So a lot of people are dreading to know, how's you're love life going?"
"I don't really have one", I say.
"Oh come on. You can't tell me that no one has tried yet", he says and smiles.
I look down and smile a little because Charles crosses my mind.
"Aha. So someone has tried. And do you like that person too?"
"Yes, someone has tried. And yes, I do like them too. They are very sweet and very kind", I say after I took a deep breath.
"Is it someone on the grid?", he asks.
"I'm not answering such questions", I say not really smiling anymore. What do these journalists always have with my private life? 
"Okay, we're of course respecting that", he says and smiles before he takes a look on his notes. I let out a small breath of relief. I don't want everyone to know, that the guy I've known for three weeks wants to take me out on a date.
The journalist asks me a few more questions before they let me go. I don't hate interviews but they make me very nervous. I just can't hide my emotions really well for such a long time. And sometimes you loose control and tell them something that only you should've known or your friends. It's tricky to be a celebrity sometimes. If you say one wrong word, you're out. You get a lot of hate and death threats. But if you show them what they want to see, then they're happy and you're biggest fans. That's just how it goes but I'm not bothered by that. I'm just honest in such interviews. I don't need the people to like me, I need to win races.
I walk into the mclaren garage and see my daughter with Lando. 
"Hello", I say with a smile as I walk in.
"Hey, how was your night?", Lando asks me with a smirk. I slightly punch him in the shoulder and look around to make sure nobody hears us.
"It was great. I have a date now", I say and smile.
"A date? With Charles?", he whisper shouts and I punch him again.
"Be quiet. Not everybody needs to know alright? Yes, he asked me out on a date"
"Oh my god. I'm so happy for you", he says and gives me a tight hug. I hug him back before I look down. Val is standing there. 
"Hello princesa", I say and pick her up. "How was your time with Lando?"
"Awesome", she says and laughs.
"We watched movies and ate ice cream right?", he says and she nods.
"Sounds like a great night", I say and laugh.
"Can I sleep over again today?", she asks me with the biggest puppy eyes.
"Of course you can", he says and smiles at her. I look at him with a serious look. 
"What?", he asks unsure what he's done. 
I put her down and tell her to continue playing before I look at Lando again.
"What did I do?", he asks.
"You can't just tell her it's okay. She's going to think that she can sleep over all the time now"
"And?"
"Lando, she needs to ask me first. I'm her mother and she has to learn that. She can't just do what she wants or always asks you. Definitely not when it comes to a sleepover."
"I'm sorry", he says. "I just thought it was okay"
"Don't worry it is. I just want her to aks me first because it is really important for her to learn boundaries and everything", I say and smile at him.
"Got it. Sorry", he says and smiles back.
"I didn't want to be rude. Sorry muppet", I say and take his hand.
"It's okay", he says and laughs. 
This is one things I really adore about Lando. He's never mad at me and always tries to understand my sight on things. He also tries to raise her the way I want to do it. He almost never doubts my parenting skills. He's a great help for me. 
"So a date with Leclerc? When?"
"I don't know. We haven't decided yet and I also haven't seen him today yet."
"He and Carlos have an interview together I think", he says and smirks.
"Oh and you know where right? And you probably want me to go there and talk to him"
"What I didn't say that", he says sarcastically. "But you definitely should". A smirk forms on his face.
"Alright. Where?"
"I show you", he says and takes Vals hand and starts walking. I just follow him around the paddock until I see them sitting on two chairs. We can only see their backs from our point of view.
"What do you want me to say?", I ask him.
"Just be yourself", he says and smiles. We watch them while waiting until they're finished. Suddenly they get up. I see Carlos whispering something in Charles' ear before Charles turns around. A big smile forms on his face and they start walking over.
"Hey Val", Charles shouts as she runns up to him. He picks her up and starts talking to her. 
"How was you're interview?", Lando asks.
"It was okay", Carlos says.
"They always want to know everything as if we wouldn't have a private life ourself.", Charles adds. He looks at me and smiles. I blush a little and look down.
"Come on Lando, we should get something to drink. I'm thirsty", Carlos says and gives him a strange look.
"Yeah me too. Come on Val. We're getting you something to drink", Lando says and takes her from Charles. "See you later"
Charles and I watch them walking off and I say: "That was strange".
We both start laughing and he says: "And totally not obvious"
"So how was your day?", he asks me.
"It was okay. Had an interview with a kind of annoying journalist.
"Me too. They just can't accept that we also have boundaries and everything. I mean, I love to update my fans on my life but not everything", he says and we start walking back towards the garages.
"They asked me if there was someone I'm interested in", I say and chuckle.
"And what did you say?", he asks me. I see the hopefull look in his eyes.
"I did say nothing at first because I didn't want to lie to anyone". I see the proud smile on his face.
"So about our date. What do you think of tonight?", he asks and looks at me with a smirk. It's not one of these self-concious smirks. It's more one of these shy ones.
"I don't know. What about Val? Where should she go?", I ask him.
"Lando?"
"She was with him last night. I can't just deport her there all the time"
"I think he's okay with it", he says and shrugs his shoulders.
"You already talked to him didn't you?", I say and he laughs. "Well it's decided then"
He stops and looks at me with a bright smile. 
"So you will go on the date with me tonight?", he asks excitedly.
"Of course.", I say and his eyes shine up. "It's cute how excited you are"
"Maybe I'm a little excited", he says and puts his hand in his neck.
We contine walking and talk about some details of tonight. He tells me to wear something fancy and that he's going to pick me up at six.
I don't want to lie. I'm hella excited too.