Two Faces || Lando Norris

0.2

The next day Amelie scanned her pass and entered the area again. Last night she worked out the interviews for Juniper and FaceTimed with Mabel to catch up with the newest gossip of the school. Today was a pretty standard day, at least, there was nothing planned on the schedule. Amelie was there to support Juniper on her first live interview and help her out. You could say Juniper and Amelie were the youngsters of Sky Sports, also the team of the background interviews such as articles on the website and for under an Instagram post.

"You are Amelia, right?" The man was a member of the Sky Sports team, he was wearing a shirt with the logo on it, meaning he was part of the production team.

"Amelie, yeah," Amelie corrected the man.

"Oh, right, my apologies, Amelie. But we really need you," the no-named man said and pointed behind him.

Amelie pressed her lips into a thin line. "Yeah, sure. For what, if I may ask?" She followed the man, he was walking on a quick pace like he had some kind of rush.

"Juniper is still having a migraine, so she won't make it today. You need to take all of her interviews over for today, she asked us to do that. You have an interview in five minutes with Lando Norris in front of the McLaren hospitality."

She stopped walking and looked at the man like he just told her she had to give a presentation she didn't prepare for. Excuse me? Her heartbeat began to race in her chest.

"Come on, Amelie, we have to go," he said when he noticed Amelie stopped walking. The girl kept looking at him with panic in her eyes. "Chop, chop." He clapped in his hands. "We have to go. Speed up."

"Yeah, yes, of course," Amelie said and started to walk again. I have to interview Lando Norris? Live on TV? While millions of people are watching me? Her eyes widened, and she took a deep breath. But Juniper didn't let her know about the sudden development, so she didn't mentally prepare for it.

When Amelie and the man entered the hospitality, many people looked at her. The TV crew of Sky were firstly looking at her, and then at each other. It was like they were surprised to see a young adult, but it was more like confused surprised. Amelie gave them all a polite smile; they all were new to her, and she was new to them. They saw each other once a week at the office, but they never had something to do with each other.

"Amelia, hello. Bruno just informed you, right?" A new face said. It's Amelie. "Let's touch up your makeup and hair real quick."

"Sure," Amelie said neutrally and grabbed her notebook to read all the questions and notes once again. She knew all the points Juniper wanted to talk about, they even practised the interview together.

After a minute, Amelie was fully prepared for the TV. The crew gave her a microphone, an in-ear and the sender. She had one last look in the mirror; jeans, white shirt, golden necklaces and a grey coat, her hair was wavy - it looked probable for TV. The camera crew and Amelie walked over to the McLaren facility. In the in-ear of Amelie was connected to the live show at the other side of the track, so she could hear when she had to begin with interviewing.

When standing on the right spot, the realisation began to hit Amelie. She took a deep breath and looked around. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around the microphone, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She could feel she was sweating, but she was cold. Her cheeks blew up with air and she in Bruno's direction, who was apparently the production manager of her crew.

"Hello," a friendly voice said.

Amelie looked up and saw Lando standing next to her. "Hey. I'm Amelie," she warmly smiled and gave him a hand.

"Lando, nice to meet you," he replied and widely smiled.

Amelie could hear her colleagues were wrapping up their conversation. Bruno held his hand up in the air to sign there were only a few seconds left. Amelie took a deep breath again and plastered a smile on her face. Her eyes were focussed at the camera and saw Bruno counting down. Bruno gave Amelie a nod.

"Thank you, Rachel," Amelie said when Rachel introduced her. "Good afternoon, everyone. I'm with Lando Norris, a new driver in this year's Formula 1 season. Lando, how are you feeling?"

Lando nodded and smiled. "I'm doing fine, thank you." Amelie nodded. "The free practices were positive, p13 in fp1, p8 in fp2 and p11 in fp3. I'm looking forward to the qualification..."

★

"Thank you for your time and good luck today," Amelie smiled to Lando when she wrapped up the interview after fifteen minutes. The beginning of the interview felt a bit uncomfortable to Amelie, but it quickly changed to a comfortable surrounding. Lando sometimes made a joke, other drivers passed who took their minute of shine, Amelie wasn't afraid to ask questions anymore.

"My pleasure," Lando said and looked satisfied with the interview.

She turned back to the camera, which was zooming in on her. Bruno was counting down again. "Thank you for watching. We will be back after a short break for the start of the qualification." The camera shut down, and a deep breath of relief rolled over Amelie's lips, but it also a sigh of satisfaction. She turned to Lando, wanting to thank him again.

"If you want some tutoring in Spanish, you maybe can ask Carlos nicely for help," he teasingly said and gave the microphone back at Amelie. He was referring to the FaceTime moment of yesterday where he heard Amelie talking.

She shared an are-you-kidding-me look, but couldn't help to smirk. "I was trying to say something back in Spanish, but that won't do it," she casually replied.

He laughed. "But at least you passed your exam," he winked. "I will see you around."

"Good luck with the qualification." A bright smile was curved on her lips because of the comment he made.

"Cheers."

Lando walked away, and the camera crew already grabbed their stuff to get back to the facility. Bruno did the same, telling Amelie they all were going back to the facility. Amelie told him she would follow him again but first had to call someone back. And 'someone' was Mabel. Amelie grabbed her phone and saw she had to messages from Juniper.

-

Juniper Langcaster 11:30
Hi Amelie! Unfortunately, the migraine got worse over the night, so I won't be able to work today as well. I've asked for you to replace me at the interviews, I hope you don't mind, but you know what to do. Good luck!

Juniper Langcaster 14:06
Just managed to watch your interview with Lando... You nailed it!!!

Amelie Deacon 14:09
Hey Juniper, I hope you're doing well :) Thank you!

-

It was a short message, but Amelie had to speak to someone else. She decided to would call Juniper later, but it was just a message to let her know she had read it. She went to the chat of Mabel; it was seven hours earlier in England than here in China... Voice memo it is.

"Mabel, oh, my God," Amelie began and strolled back to the hospitality. "You probably didn't see it, but I just interviewed Lando fucking Norris on live television and I..." She ran her hand through her hair and looked around. Tears filled her eyes out of excitement. "Holy shit." She removed the in-ear from her ear and giggled. "The beginning was awkward, but then...it was like Lando, and I were friends or something. It was just relaxed and...and comfortable. And oh, my goodness. He happened to overheard some bits of the FaceTime call with Vincente yesterday, and he told me today, a bit cheeky and teasing: if you ask Carlos nicely, he can tutor you. It was a joke, but still, Mabel. It means he remembers me, it means he...he...I don't know." Amelie smiled at a few people who passed her. "Alright, that was it, for now, FaceTime me when you are awake. I have to prepare another interview with some people. Holy shit, am I dreaming? Okay, bye, cheers."