A Walk to Remember - [F1 - Daniel Ricciardo]

Chapter 20

     A/N: Enjoy!  Vote! Comment! I appreciate the support you all have shown for the story! 💛

   A knock on her classroom door made her chest tighten as Mr. Garnier the principal and Mark Stevens her boss from her journalism job entered her classroom, looking rather serious.
     "Hi, this seems a little daunting, not going to lie" Scarlett chuckled awkwardly trying to break the tension in the room.
      "No, nothing bad" Mr. Garnier assured her. "I was just showing Mr. Stevens your classroom. I believe you have a matter to discuss." He smiled and left the room.
      Mark was a small man, with balding hair and always wore a suit that made him overdressed for the situation he was in. He currently sported a 5 piece suit and looked very out of place in an elementary school classroom.
     Scarlett sat down at her desk and offered Mark a seat on the other side, as a makeshift meeting table. "It has been brought to my attention that you have a bit of connection to some of the Formula One drivers," He said clearing his throat.
    Scarlett nodded. "Apparently I do" She agreed.
     "Well, the company thinks it would be very beneficial to get you to write an opinion piece about Formula One, especially since you may have an interesting take on it," Mark said.
     Scarlett tilted her head to digest what she was just told. "What would the website editor like, what kind of topic or subject should I focus on?" She asked, still curious about this opportunity.
     "Honestly, we are taking a big risk asking you to write this, we don't have any need for a  specific topic, whatever speaks to you as a journalist. You have done great work with the technical game analysis with hockey and golf, we want to see what matters to you as a writer who isn't bound to technical analysis." He said with an added firmness to his voice.
     Scarlett sat back in her chair, "I appreciate the offer, but I don't know how I will cover the race and weekend if I have to work here. I just want to be upfront with you. I do know this is a huge opportunity."
     "I understand that, and I knew that would be a concern for you. That is why I came in early to talk to Mr. Garnier. I am aware that this is the last week of school before summer break, but I did manage to convince him that this is a huge opportunity for you. He has agreed to personally substitute in your class for Thursday and Friday so you can attend Media day at the track and free practice days." He said.
     "Wow," Scarlett said as her jaw dropped. "That is so incredibly kind of you, Mark. I think I would need to be back here for the last part of the day Friday, They are moving to middle school, I can't let them go without saying goodbye." She added.
     "That shouldn't be a problem at all." He said as he reached into his bag and placed a large binder on her desk. It landed with a thud, and Scarlett looked it over.
    The binder said "F1 Media Handbook" in big bold red letters. Scarlett laughed as she leafed through the first of what seemed to be 1000 pages. "Looks like I have some homework" She laughed.
     "You do" Mark nodded as he stood up. "I'm looking forward to reading your piece on Monday, I need it in my Inbox, no later than noon. It will be published on the website after it is approved" He nodded at Scarlett and walked to the door. Before he left he said, "This is your big break, you never know what opportunities this could open up for you."
     Scarlett sat back in her chair again, all of the information she was given was running through her head. She had a lot to process when the bell rang and her students rushed back in. Ben and Jenny were walking in whispering when they walked by Scarlett's desk on their way to their desks. Ben stopped and pointed at the big binder on her desk.
     "Miss Fisher? What is that?" He asked, his mouth wide in shock.
     "Grab a seat, I will talk to the class about it," She said as she stood up and made her way to the front of the room. "So class, I have an announcement, I will be taking tomorrow and Friday off, as I have the opportunity to write an article for my second job, Mr. Garnier will be your substitute. But I will make sure I am back on Friday for your mini-graduation ceremony." She assured them.
     There were excited murmurs across the classroom. They seemed excited for their teacher. She finished the day with a fun year-end activity with them. She packed up her personal things from her classroom into a big box and walked to the bus to get home.
     She got back to her apartment and immediately pulled out the big binder to review it. She pulled out her sticky notes, highlighters and all the things she needed to make sure she knew everything she needed to know. 
     Next thing she knew the sun was streaming into her apartment and she had fallen asleep with her face in the binder. She sat up in her chair and had a sticky note stuck to her face. She checked her phone it was 8 am, she had just enough time to shower and get ready for her first day as a journalist in the F1 paddock.
     She decided on an emerald green silk blouse tucked into a pair of fitted and cropped dress pants, a pair of tan chunky heels and a belt to match. A brown leather messenger bag was her choice to keep all of her things for the day. She pinned her hair up into a half-up and half-down look and decided to embrace her natural dirty blonde curls.
     Her phone vibrated on the bathroom counter, she picked it up to look at it. A text from Liam came across her screen. She was going to text him back with the exciting news but decided against it. She was nervous about this opportunity and didn't want to tell anyone about it, just in case her article didn't get published and nothing happened. This was her dream and everyone knew it, she needed to keep a low profile this weekend.
     Scarlett arrived at the paddock and received her Media pass with the help of the instructions in the manual. She scanned the pass and with a quick beep, she was through the turnstiles. She found the media room and on her way in, something caught her attention. She saw Liam chatting with the Blonde from the night before outside the Paddock club entrance.
     Scarlett sat at the back of the press conference, with her notepad, binder and bag. She definitely had her hands full, she watched the first couple of panels of interviews taking notes on what the drivers had to say. Scarlett didn't have an idea what her article would be about, so she needed all the notes she could get. The last interview on the docket was with Ricciardo, Perez, Hamilton, and Gasly.
     This will be interesting she thought to herself as the drivers came in and sat down in their seats. She sunk lower into her chair to avoid eye contact with any of them. She checked her watch and noted she had about 20 minutes before she had to leave to get to her student's graduation.
     The questions that started the press conference were typical racing questions, that Scarlett was still trying to understand, she needed to study more to fully understand the technical aspect. She wrote notes furiously in the back as the drivers answered more questions about their pace and the cars. She scribbled more notes and checked her watch, she had to go, if she didn't leave now she would be late for the graduation ceremony.
     Then a question from a reporter caught her attention as she was gathering all of her things quietly. She stopped and looked up at the panel of drivers. "Daniel, Photos from your friend and former Formula 3 driver Kyle's wedding were released the other day. There has been a lot of speculation of who the girl in the photos is, Is there a new lady in your life?" asked a reporter.
     Daniel's face fell for a second as he thought about a response. "Well," he paused hesitantly.
     Scarlet was frozen in her seat.
     "A new lady in his life? More like ladies." Lewis piped up with a laugh giving Daniel a knowing look.
     The media laughed and Daniel had a grin spread across his face, it was an odd smile thought Scarlett and not the natural one she was used to seeing from him.
     Perez looked cluelessly between Daniel and Lewis. Obviously confused, and missing some information.
     "Woah there, Lewis." Daniel laughed awkwardly in response. "I'd rather not comment on that," He said to the reporter.
     "Well I think it's safe to say, Daniel is a little hurt from his time at the Wedding." Pierre laughed cheekily.
     Daniel shot Pierre a look and then looked down, his face turning a shade of red. "Let's just say, It taught me who is worth my time. Some people turn out to be not who you thought they were. I am happy with the lady I am currently seeing. That's all I say on this" He scoffed.
     Scarlett's jaw was on the floor as she took in what was said. She was frozen and wanted to make a retort, but she needed to get back to her students. She quickly stood up and walked quietly to the back of the room. She was getting closer to the door, when her feet found some power cords and she came crashing down and causing her big binder to fall and make a loud thud on the ground.
     All of the journalists snapped their heads in her direction. Scarlett turned red immediately and quickly gathered her things. As she was getting her things together, some murmurs started to ripple through the crowd. She heard the words ' That's the girl from the Monaco photos' from a couple of different areas in the room.
     Once all her things were in her grasp again she stood up and looked up at the panel. Through the sea of glaring and curious eyes, she made eye contact with Daniel, who instinctively stood up and a look of concern crossed his face.
     Scarlett was extremely embarrassed, she broke her eye contact with Daniel turned and once out of view ran down the paddock to get to her car.
     She slammed her car door placed her hands on the steering wheel, and hung her head to rest, accidentally causing her to blow the horn, she sat up in attention and put her keys in the ignition and drove out of the parking lot, not wanting to think about what just happened.