Do you belive in forever? (Max Verstappen)

Chapter 1

I had just finished the last highlight summary of the day and left the recording studio of the building. It was already after ten o'clock in the evening and I still had a long ride home. But I was not tired yet, because my body had already got used to it.

In my office I got my jacket and my bag. Before I could say goodbye to the few employees who were still there, my stressed boss stood in front of me. As if I had his rescue, he came up to me in a hurry and was visibly out of breath.

"Good that you're still there, have you ever seen a Formula One race?" I looked at him confused by the questions. Slowly I started nodding, because I was kind of afraid of what was to come. Since my father and brother didn't miss a race, I had looked in and couldn't get anything out of the sport. I pushed this right after, but my boss didn't listen to me at all. Happy and relieved, he clapped his hands together and sent a prayer to heaven.

Overwhelmed, I tried to follow Mr. Schmidt: "You'll fly from Zurich to Melbourne tomorrow for the season opener of Formula 1. Temporarily you will have to do interviews and comment. At the airport, someone from the team will wait and take you to the hotel and the paddock. God has sent you to us, without you I would have been thrown up." Without even giving me the opportunity to say anything, he had hugged me and disappeared.

I was standing next to my work colleagues and had no idea what had just happened: "Congratulations, you may comment. That's what you wanted." Mechanically, I put on a smile, even though I was still trying to arrange myself inside. But my colleague was right, I had always said that I wanted to comment and not just make the stupid highlight summaries. But it was definitely the wrong sport, because I had no idea about the rules. I didn't even have the names of the drivers on it.

"I should go packing," I ran to my car in a hurry. As always, I connected my phone to the car, but I wouldn't hear any songs this time. Instead, I dialed my brother's number. Unfortunately, he seemed to have gone to sleep early that evening, or he was still on the road with friends.

I frantically dialed my father's number, but he didn't run either, so only the three chaots of Kloten remained. Greg was the only one who was also interested in motorsport, so I chose his number.

"You are my salvation! No one else has answered their phone. Tell me everything I need to know about Formula One. The teams, the drivers, the rules of everything!" I had probably overwhelmed my best friend.

Then a laugh rang out: "A nice evening. I'm fine and you? Always nice to hear something from you again." I twisted my eyes and started the engine to make me on my way home. In the background I could still hear a lot of voices, they were probably on their way home after an away game. But I didn't care, because I needed the help of my best friend.

"Yes, I'll tell you and now," I urged him. Which probably amused him a little, but he complied with my requests. The first thing he tried to teach me was the ten teams, which I was able to do with it a lot. Both drivers, on the other hand, would have preferred to have driven the car against the guardrail.

In the middle of our learning phase, of course, the others had to get involved: "Who are you actually talking to? Do you have an affair that you haven't told us about?" The first question I could still arrange Laurent, the second I could only hear. Then Greg briefly covered the microphone before turning to me again.

"Why do you even need to know?" asked Gian. Which annoyed me because I didn't have time for questions. So that I am not asked again, I would probably or badly answer them the question now.

After overtaking, I turned to the conversation again: "Because I was just sent to Melbourne by my boss for the season opener. I should do interviews and support the remaining commentator Ralf Schumacher." The air was drawn on the other line and then loud laughter rang out. I would have liked to have let my anger out at the ice hockey idiots, but I had to concentrate on the traffic.

"Of all the employees, they chose you? The person who probably cares least about motorsport. You don't even know what Safety Car is, let alone where the stern is," I heard from Laurent. He didn't have to make an effort to die, which only annoyed me even more.

"Yes, they chose me. Since when do ships take a race that there is a rear?" as only more laughter sounded, I had probably asked something rather stupid. Unfortunately, I really had no idea what was stressing me even more. Then there are these lame motorists, who should be given their licenses and never re-enter!

Greg tried to calm down with deep breaths: "The rear end of the car is also called the rear, I hope, nothing with ships." At least he tried to help me now, while in the background you could only hear more stupid comments. As best, I could, I blinded the others and just listened to my best friend. He had also informed his girlfriend, who in turn was my best friend. She would wait for me in front of the block and help pack. That said, she grabbed, and I would continue to try to memorize everything I needed.

Thankfully, When I arrived home, I hang up. The drivers, teams and their team leaders now had the names on them, only missing the face to the names. I'd probably take care of that as soon as Jessica and I were in my room. Impatiently the blonde had waited in front of our block, no wonder it was well past midnight and not exactly warm. I looked at her apologetically as I hugged her.

"Finally, you know how cold it is. I barely feel my feet anymore," she immediately scolded me. I briefly apologized, but immediately opened the door to the building. Impatiently, I pressed the button for the elevator several times, as if it were coming so fast. Jessica stayed calm and watched me grinning.

Asking my best friend, I said, "I didn't even see you so nervous at the final exam. Come down, I'll pack your suitcase, and you'll do the rest. In addition, you still have a 23-hour flight in front of you and as far as I know the first press appointments are only on Wednesday, so you have one more day on site. When do you fly?" Unlike me, Jessica was interested in such sports. Their interest was more ADAC GT Masters than anything else.

"At 8 o'clock in the morning", by then it was still a good 6 hours. This meant little sleep for me and the way I knew Jessica for her. She wouldn't go home anymore but stay with me. She will also insist that she drive me. The airport was less than ten minutes away by car.

Without asking me, she just opened my closet and started looking for things out: "Where do you have the bikinis? After all, you should fish a pretty Australian, if I can't, then at least my best friend." I could only shake my head. She and Greg have been a couple since high school, so for more than 7 years. They were as happy as they were then. Sometimes I envied them for their happiness because I wasn't really lucky in this matter.

I quickly pointed to the bottom drawer of my night box, then turned back to my laptop. There I had already found a page with the faces of all the drivers, which I downloaded for safety and then the Wikipedia page of the Formula 1 rules. So, I could read these things without the internet, after all, you could never know with an airplane.

I watched some videos from previous races on the track, so I got some idea of the track. Immersed in my laptop, I hadn't even seen my girlfriend pack up as much as she could after an hour and two nervous breakdowns.

Frightened, I almost fell off the chair when she tapped me: "Just missing the things you still need. We should sleep a little more if we want to get to the airport safely."

Less than four hours later we had breakfast together before I packed the last things like toothbrush, shampoo and co. Jessica hadn't helped me this time, but had gone home in between times to get fresh stuff and her car. She had the tick of just wanting to sit behind the wheel with her own car, no one else.

In my backpack I packed not only my mobile phone and laptop but also the charging cables and another book, you could never know. There would also be a return flight. Just when I thought I had everything; I got paled and sick. I hadn't packed my passport yet. First, I opened the first Drawers from my desk still relaxed. But when there was only one left and the pass was nowhere, a nervousness rose in me.

I frantically emptied every compartment in my room so that everything was on the floor. Even my wardrobe had been completely cleared out in search of my passport. Desperately I grabbed my hair, in less than two hours my plane went and there was no trace of my passport.

Like a hurricane, I raged in my room and destroyed my other orderly disorder. Frustrated and at the end of my Latin, I sat in front of mine in my pile of clothes. I let my gaze slide through the room again, hoping that somewhere the thing would still flash out.

A laugh rang out from the door frame: "Are you looking here?" My mother amused held up a red little thing, which I could identify as a passport. A stone, or rather a boulder, fell from my heart and I leaned exhausted at my bed. For a moment I had already thought that I would not fly.

"Huh what happened for that?" asked my mum. Mybest friend, who had appeared next to my mother in the door frame, was confused. When Mum showed her the passport, everything was clear for Jessica. Together with my mother, she could only laugh as I tried to find a safe way to get to them. What I had managed without stumbling.

With a long hug, I say goodbye to my family and had almost disappeared from the apartment when my mother's voice sounded, "Haven't you forgotten anything?" I quickly turned back to my mother and got my passport. I pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"Have fun and don't shame us. We have you in view and hearing, don't forget that" my brother only saw my middle finger in response. After that I closed the apartment door behind me. With my suitcase behind me, I climbed into the elevator to Jessica.

The trip was over so quickly and there wasn't much going on at check-in. So that I was faster than expected to get to the security checkpoint. Until the first check-up Jessica accompanied me, then it was time to say goodbye. It was for a little more than a week, which was an eternity for us. The blonde firmly pressed me on herself before releasing myself.

"Woe you come back without Australians," she shouted to me when I had already crossed the barrier. Laughing, I threw a kiss at her before I disappeared from her field of vision.

You know this fear of having something forbidden with you, even though you know that you have nothing. That's how I felt every time I had to go through security. All the more relaxed and relaxed I became afterwards. At a Starbucks, I had gotten my latte macchiato before I went to the gate. There I had taken my laptop out of my backpack and started to study the rules again. It was a pretty dry and difficult affair, but if I didn't want to embarrass myself, I had to go through it. As I couldn't allow myself to make mistakes.

Nicely, I had been booked a ticket in first class business. In addition, I was lucky that the other place next to mine remained empty. So, the start to the adventure was perfect, and I was able to concentrate fully on my work.