Checkmate - [F1 - Pierre Gasly / Lance Stroll]

10

Authors Note: Enjoy! I hope you love this chapter as much as I do :) 

Being in the Silverstone paddock was completely unbelievable to Rose. She was walking from the FIA building back to the Aston Martin motorhome. The buzz on qualification day was different from race day, it was a little more intense.

She quickly pulled out her phone and FaceTimed her dad. The time difference was only 5 hours so, she figured her dad would be awake at least.

Her dad picked up and smiled. "Rosemary!" He said excitedly.

"Hi, Dad! I figured you'd like a quick tour of the Silverstone paddock!" Rose beamed.

"Of course, I still can't believe you're at every race. I'm not at all jealous," he chuckled.

Rose flipped to the front camera so her dad could see where she was walking. She watched her dads face grow into a huge smile.

"This is incredible Rosemary, what are the chances you will run into any drivers?" He laughed and took a sip of his coffee.

Rose checked the time, "Well... it is close to Quali start, we could probably see some rushing by," she joked.

She looked up from her phone screen just to see a familiar face heading towards her.

"You must be a psychic Dad," she laughed.

Esteban came over and waved. "Hi Rose," he smiled.

"Hey, Esteban! Say hi to my dad," Rose pointed the phone in his direction.

Esteban laughed and waved. Then came to stand beside her. "Let me say hi!" he said as he pressed the flip camera button.

Her dad almost spat out his coffee. "Oh wow, hello Mr. Ocon," Andrew sputtered. Rose laughed at the shock on her dads face.

"Hi, Mr. Jenkins," Esteban smiled. The kindness he showed to her father made Rose almost tear up. "Your daughter is a great person, it has been fun getting to know her," Esteban continued.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Her dad said, as his face got suddenly serious. He gave Esteban a stern look.

"DAD!" Rose exclaimed, burying her face in her free hand. She shook her head, wanting this embarrassing moment to pass. Eteban clued in a little later.

"Oh my god, no sir. My apologies, just friends... I didn't mean to insinuate anything. I promise," Esteban stuttered with his French accent peeking through, as panic spread across his face.

"Don't worry Mr. Ocon, just giving you two a hard time. She's my only daughter, I have to embarrass her twice as much. And be twice as protective," he laughed. The laughter turned into a coughing fit.

"Dad, are you okay?" Rose held the phone closer to her face.

"Yes Rosemary, I'm fine," he said as he wiped his face with a tissue.

"Okay, take care of yourself. And I think Mr. Ocon needs to get to his garage," Rose nudged him in the ribs playfully.

"That I do!" He laughed and turned to head down the paddock.

When he was out of sight, her dad piped up, "So when were you going to tell me, you made a friend," he joked. "And a friend that is a driver," he smiled.

"Honestly, I didn't really get a choice in the matter. He just accepted me as a friend. It's been nice to have a friendly face in this crazy world," she smiled. "Some drivers can be pretty moody..." She flipped the camera back around to show Lance Stroll walking by. Lance looked at her. His brown eyes were stone cold. He didn't smile, he just carried on past her.