Two Faces || Lando Norris

0.7

The whole night Amelie had been thinking about the words she was about to say to Juniper. How was she gonna tell Juniper this was possibly her last weekend here? Correction, her last weekend since she knew her school, and if the school finds a reason to stab you in the back, they will stab you in the back.

"June," Amelie said and cleared her throat. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Juniper smiled and closed her laptop. "Of course. What's up?" She pointed at the free chair on the other side of the table. It was noisy on the terrace of the hospitality of Sky.

Amelie had a seat and parted to lips, but then she lost all her words. The speech she prepared for Juniper to tell the bad news, was nowhere to find in her mind. "Yeah, well," she stammered and ran her hand through her hair. "I, erm, my mentor rang me, and he didn't have good news."

"Hmm-hmm." Juniper looked curious and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"This might be my last weekend." Amelie regretted the choice of words already. "My school wants me back on all the Fridays, which means I don't get the time and flexibility to be at race weekends anymore. It's not sure yet, but the chance is huge it will be." For a moment, she was distracted by the people who were walking around at the hospitality of Sky. "My school will inform you the upcoming week, but I wanted to tell you myself."

"Fuck," Juniper whispered disappointedly. "Why? What's the reason? Do they realise it is you about who they are talking about?"

"They need my presence, apparently."

It was silence. Juniper was processing the news. "Well, fuck." Her eyes found Amelie's. "This is just ridiculous. Is it alright we will talk about it when we're back in England? I need to process this. We have a busy weekend ahead, and we need to focus on that." She put her laptop back in her bag. "I'm so sorry for this, Mil."

A thin-lipped smile rested on Amelie her lips. "I know, but that is life."

"Forget this for now and prepare for the afternoon, you will be doing the interviews after the qualification." Juniper got up from the chair. "I'm so sorry for you, but I have to go now."

Amelie shook her head. "It's fine."

"If I don't see you anymore, good luck!"

"Thanks. You too."

Amelie looked in front of her, a part of her wanted to quit because this was her last weekend, so why do her best? But the other part wanted to give everything and show the school that she belonged here and that they were wrong. She blew up her cheeks and ran her hand through her hair again. It was Saturday, qualification day, second to the last day of the race weekend, second to the last day of Amelie's internship.

She was mentally preparing for a day with lots of interviews, it was the nerves that were still a small issue. 'It's something people need to grow in,' Mabel said a week ago, and that was true. Amelie chewed on the inside of her cheek and repeated some topics in her head. A white paper cup was placed on the table in front of her. Amelie straightened her back and looked around, there was no one around her. A frown came on her forehead, and her eyes glided over the people in the paddock street, but in vain, it was crowded with lots of people that is was almost impossible to see who gave her that white cup. She recognised some people, but there wasn't one who came to her mind to place the cup on the table. Amelie looked back at the white cup; it had the McLaren logo on it. A smile grew on her lips. Her eyes fell on a text what was written on the cup.

'Hope you're OK :)'

It had to be Lando. Amelie looked at the crowd, but she couldn't find Lando. She looked back at the cup, it was a simple cup of tea, but it showed care. A warm feeling entered her body, and tears filled her eyes. She got up from the stool and walked towards the crew of Sky while drinking the tea. Her eyes found Lando's, she mouthed 'thank you', and smiled. He smiled and gave her a nod.

"Amelia," Bruno smiled and pointed behind her. "It is showtime. You're interviewing Pierre and Romain at their garages. Good luck," he said, and the camera crew already went to the garage of Haas.

"Yes," she nodded and smiled. "Thanks." Amelie drank the last bit of tea and threw the cup away. It did her good, it gave her more motivation and energy to interview.

★

Rachel, Martin, Simon and Amelie were standing in front of the camera. Martin was wrapping up his talk. The race was finished, the interviews and analysation talks were done, and now it was all about finishing the weekend. It was Amelie who got the chance to close the show.

"Thank you for watching. We are going to say bye for now, but we will see you in two weeks the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in Spain, Barcelona," Amelie said. An exciting feeling spread in her body, she spoke the words in Spanish accent. Vincente had to be proud. "Have a great evening."

Bruno counted down, and the show was finished. Amelie looked around and gave her colleagues a satisfied smile, it went fantastic. People around her were satisfied as well, the whole weekend went smoothly and perfect.

"Nice work, everyone," Bruno said and clapped in his hands.

Amelie removed the in-ear and made a bun in her hair, that felt just better. The teams were already packing their gear, the guests left the track, some driver stuck around, and others decided to go as soon as they could.

"I have to say, Amelia, you have talent," Rachel complimented the young woman. "You're telling and interviewing everyone like you have been here for over twenty years of experience."

"Thank you," Amelie politely said. She decided to ignore the fact Rachel didn't say her name right. "I really appreciate it."

"You're an intern, right? One of Juniper's?" Rachel walked away together with Amelie, who nodded. "If you didn't tell me that you are in an intern, I would have believed you are a real journalist."

Interns can do nothing right, right? That just doesn't exist. How come it does exist here? "Thanks," Amelie said again. How do I respond to this? Someone help me.

"I have to take this one, but I will see you next race for sure. Have a nice week, Amelia," Rachel said and pointed at her phone, before walking away.

And the question was: will she be at the next race? And the answer was: no.