Mission Media - DR3 - Part 4
Hello everyone, I am super sorry for only uploading now. I was very stressed the last couple of days with work and Uni. I hope the next part won't take as long to get to you.
Please let me know what you think. It really helps me a lot.
Not edited as usual. Enjoy đĽ°
Words: 4.5k
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
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Mission Media â Part 4
âAre we all ready? Is everything set up? Can someone please check where the first driver pairing is?â Keep calm they said. Well, they never mentioned that your first time in front of the camera would be this nerve-wracking. It wasnât just the fact that there was so much to think about when filming a video for a YouTube channel like the F1 channel if it was only that you could actually maybe deal with it. No, schedules had changed last minute and the two pairings you were supposed to film today changed. The only problem was that you had no clue who would be walking into the room in hopefully the next five minutes. Julia just said that she would send the first possible pairing and thatâs all you knew. So you sat in your chair in front of the camera. Dylan and Linda smiling at you from behind it.
âItâs going to be great, Y/N. Most of the drivers already know and are quite chill around you. So no worries. This will be an easy thing.â And Dylan was probably right. As soon as youâd finish the first video you might actually feel a lot more confident in yourself and the idea. But until you had at least once done it with two drivers next to you and the camera properly filming you needed to freak out a little.
The door to the room you were in opened and in walks Charles with his media team following him. He looked very excited and his face even lit up when he spotted you sitting in your chair.
âI canât believe that I get to be the first one.â You were so thankful for him to be one of the first two drivers. The weight on your shoulders almost instantly got lighter when Charles hugged you and sat down on the chair to the right of you.
âI know it seems like yesterday I started all of this and now I sit here with you.â You had only seen Charles this morning when he and Charlotte arrived at the track. Charlotte had asked to meet for coffee when you both got here and nothing sounded like a more relaxed start to your day than coffee and snacks at Ferraris hospitality. The Italians do know how to make the perfect coffee after all. The door opened again and Pierre Gasly walked in behind a couple of people that you guessed were his media people. He came up to you and hugged you before waving at everyone else and greeting them. So far you had not met Pierre in Person. Last race in Zandvoort you had met his team colleague Yuki briefly when walking around the paddock with Brad and Max but Pierre wasnât around at the time.
âSo nice to meet you and thank you for taking the time to film with us.â You said when you both sat down on your chairs.
âNo worries. From what Iâve been told it sounds like a lot of fun.â He high-fived Charles. You knew the two of them were good friends and they both were super relaxed, that combined with the fact that they both seemed excited to film with you made you calm down a lot before the cameras were even rolling. And as soon as you had started filming all your doubts were long forgotten.
âHello everyone, welcome to our âDriver vs. Driver â Challengeâ where over the next couple of weeks we will have all the drivers compete against a driver from another team. In the end, we will add up the points from both drivers of the teams and the final episode will be a head-to-head of the two highest-scoring teams. Thanks to you guys we came up with this brilliant idea for the second half of the season as you send some pretty decent ideas to my Instagram.â The more you talked the safer you felt and the easier everything seemed. There wasnât much space for errors and you knew that but you had rehearsed this part millions of times over the last couple of days and your team made it very easy for you as the only thing you had to worry about was getting the text right. Everything else they dealt with.
âWith me here today is Charles.â You pointed at him and he waved at the camera. âAnd on my other side Pierre.â Just like Charles, he waited until you said his name to waved to the camera. You started explaining the rules of the competition.
âOk, so the challenge is super easy to understand. You, as in the drivers, will play three games against each other. Each game will be played three times. For the first game, because it is the easiest, you will get one point if you win, which makes a maximum of three points possible to collect in game one. Game two will be a little harder so two points per round will be rewarded for a total of six points. And in the last game, you can collect three points per round won. At the end of this video we will have a winner for the head to head but as I already mentioned your points will be added up with your team-mate and maybe we will get the chance to see you guys again in the final.â
You had told Charles in the morning that you were nervous and scared that you would mess up. The angel he is whenever he thought that you needed a little help he would make a joke or say something else that would make you instantly feel better and get back on track. Pierre was literally just following the lead and joined in on the fun. The half an hour you had with Charles and Pierre felt like only a couple of minutes. Game one for them were three questions of F1 trivia which Pierre won by getting two right while Charles only guessed one correctly. The second game you found they somehow enjoyed the most. Three rounds of âGuess Who? â F1 Editionâ later Charles had won two of the three rounds, Pierre was only able to secure the last round for him. This was also the verdict of the last game âBeer Pongâ or as the two drivers decided to rename it âWater Pongâ because obviously as drivers they couldnât drink and the game was played with water anyways. It ended with 11 points for Charles and 7 for his opponent Pierre. But way more important for you was that they had enjoyed filming with you. There is nothing worse than drivers not enjoying stuff like this and doing it with an âidgaf-moodâ and you knew very well that filming days like that would come up eventually.
âThank you Y/N. This was so much more fun compared to everything else on media day. I am really sad we can only do this once.â Pierre hugged you goodbye and paid you with the biggest smile ever. Thatâs essentially the best thing he could have said.
âI second what he said. Will I see you later?â Charles asked while hugging you as well.
âI am not sure. Max asked me to have dinner with him Brad and Checo but Iâll definitely see you tomorrow morning for coffee.â He nodded and together they left the room with their media teams. All of a sudden everything was quiet. You turned around to look at Dylan, Linda, and the rest of the team. Everyone was just smiling which was mirroring how you felt about this first video that you just managed to get done. Editing and getting it ready to be able to post it would be the larger amount of work but you werenât worrying about that at the moment.
âOk one down, another one to go for today.â Just as Dylan finished the sentence the door to the room opened again and before you can spot the driver you can see his trainer who is walking a little in front of him. Your heart jumped a little knowing that this second video you were filming for the day was going to be even easier.
âMax!â You almost instantly pulled him into a hug. If there was any stress remaining on your shoulders it would be gone now. It had warmed your heart to hear Max say that he treats you like a sister because thatâs truly how you felt about him as well. The dynamic you two shared and how you knew heâs always had your back was just like that from a brother-sister pairing.
âI canât believe that I will be in the first video. Seems like yesterday we sat on the rooftop terrace creating your Instagram account.â Max let you go just so Brad could have a go at hugging you.
âWell the fans will decide which video they want to see first but filming wise we just finished with Charles and Pierre and it went great.â Max sat down in one of the three chairs in front of the camera while his team took the sofa and chairs that were for everyone behind the camera.
âIâm glad. You sounded really nervous this morning in the voice message.â You had sent him a message this morning when you left the hotel just to rant and get things off of your mind. Sometimes heâd listen to them and sometimes he wouldnât which was totally ok for you. Youâd usually start with a simple text like ârant incomingâ or âmy brain needs to vomitâ so Max knew if it is important or just for if heâs got some free time on his hands.
âYeah, to be fair I had last night on my mind. Mixed with the millions of emotions from filming the first videos today it was just a moment of utter weakness. But as soon as I saw Charles and then had met Pierre I got confident.â
âWell, this video will be even better. Because I am here.â Everyone started laughing. âDo we know who I am going against or not?â To be fair I was as curious as Max. I didnât know either just like for the first video.
âThings got a little messed up with the schedules so we donât know who Julia managed to get on board last minute. Initially, it should have been Lando against Yuki and Sergio against Antonio today. I will be as surprised as you for whoever walks into that door.â Just as you finished your sentence the door to the room opened yet again. A crew of papaya walked into the room and on the inside, you were praying that following the handful of people would be Lando and Charlotte. You were not ready for Max to come into conflict with Daniel after last night. Although for yourself you were kind of hoping to see the curly-haired Aussie walk through the door. Soon enough you first spotted Harry then Michael and lastly the person who was entering the room last. Daniel.
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To say that the atmosphere was tense would have been an understatement. You had left Daniel standing outside in front of the restaurant and returned inside. The seating order had shifted and you spotted a free spot between Max and Charlotte. You greeted Maxâs girlfriend Kelly who was sitting to his left and hugged Charles who was obviously sitting on the other side of Charlotte. The other people who you didnât know as well you greeted with a wave. A little bit further down the table, you could make out Checo with his girlfriend or wife you werenât really sure and what you assumed was his child. Carlos was sat opposite him with his girlfriend. They were all greeting you as well before you finally sat down.
Seconds after Daniel walked into the room again. Max looked at you while Charlotte was sending Daniel non-friendly glares. âItâs ok.â you whispered so that only the two of them could hear you. Daniel sat down next to Michael who you hadnât even seen earlier when you arrived and Blake who was now sitting in the spot that was originally designated for you. And for the rest of the evening you tried your best to be civil about everything. Pizzas were ordered and eaten and the conversations with everyone were just like with your friends. By now you had met almost all of the people Max was regularly hanging out with so they had gotten used to you and you had started to get to know them. Slowly people were paying their bills and leaving one after another. You were so focused on your conversation with Charlotte and Kelly though you hadnât really realized most of the people leaving. Soon it was only Max, Kelly, Charles, Charlotte and you sitting together and laughing about random things, memories from childhood, school, and growing up in general. Overall you all had grown up around the same time, plus-minus a couple of years for sure but even though you were from different countries some things were actually pretty much the same.
âI am sorry to kill the mood but we need to talk about the, now not anymore, elephant in the room.â You knew what Max wanted to know. After re-entering the restaurant there was thankfully no time to talk about what had happened between you and Daniel outside after Charlotte and Max had left.
âI donât know what to tell you, to be honest.â You paused to put sentences together in your head that maybe wouldnât make you sound desperate. âI had hope. And it was stupid I should have not had hope after he kissed me. But it broke my heart. I really actually did like him and I am not one to easily fall for someone.â
âNot to be nosey but did he say why he acted stupid like that?â They were your friends and Max was almost like your brother, especially after what he had said outside to Daniel really warmed your heart so you didnât see why you shouldnât tell them. So you did tell them everything Daniel said and obviously your response.
âGirl honestly, good for you! No one should be treated like that. Thatâs disrespectful. He canât just kiss you, ignore you for two weeks straight and then think just because he confesses his apparently unconditional love you forgive him.â Kelly was right and after all that was exactly what you had told him but your feelings were still there.
âI know and as I said I told him that as well. But you have no idea how much it hurt me having to say that to his face and how it broke my heart to not be able to just kiss him again right outside that freaking door.â You looked over to the entrance and remembered how his eyes were watery when you walked past him and left him standing alone.
âLook what he did to you. That is not how you treat a woman. If he wants you he needs to work for it. Now even harder than ever before because I promise you he might be or might have been my friend but family before friends. If he wants to lay another finger, god, even only another eye on you he needs to go past me.â It warmed your heart not only that Max said words like these to you but also that Charles agreed and supported what Max had to say. Charlotte and Kelly both made a plan to distract you for a little bit whenever possible. Charlotte would invite you for breakfast, lunch, and races and Kelly would join whenever there was time for her to do so.
After another half hour, Max had graciously paid for all of your dinners and offered to drop you off at your hotel. So you had said your goodbyes to Charlotte and Charles and were now sitting in the car with Max and Kelly. You were casually chatting and Max asked for your hotel. He paused before turning on the car and driving off. It wasnât a normal pause. Thatâs how good youâve gotten to know him over the past few weeks. The pause was different than others that had happened during the evening. The radio was quietly playing some music when it hit you.
âItâs the McLaren hotel isnât it?â Max looked at you through the review mirror. Debating whether or not to say something. Nothing he could have said that would have made the situation any better.
âYeah, but some of your media crew is staying there as well, right? So no worries you are not alone this time and I donât think that heâs got big enough balls to come straight up to you to talk about it. He did look pretty hurt after all.â You didnât want Max to know but it did break your heart a little more that you hurt him. Ok fair enough he hurt you first. But your intention was not to do the same to him but to show him to not play with a female's feelings. Anyoneâs feelings for that matter. Standing outside with him you had carefully picked your words and you hoped that he had gotten the message. It was not an âI hate you and I donât want anything to do with you ever again'. Oh no. You could have never. You needed him to go even further express his feelings, put everything on the line, show you that he wonât just be too scared in the future. You wanted him but not without him going the extra mile. But you couldnât tell all of this to Max. He was really just like a brother and he would protect you from whatever, apparently, so you also had to behave like a sister and sometimes just not tell him everything. You hoping that maybe in the future you could give Daniel a second chance was one of the things that for now you had to keep to yourself. And also right now there was no reason why he should know. Daniel hadnât said a single word to you all night. There were a few occasions when you had talked to Michael and Blake as well, but there was a little bit of space between the three of you and you knew exactly that it was coming from you not knowing how much you could be and enjoy time with Blake and Michael without being too close to Daniel.
Max had stopped the car in front of the Hilton Garden Inn and gotten around the car to open the door for you.
âYou can call me if you need me ok?â You just nodded and hugged him tightly.
âThank you.â You let him go and blew Kelly a kiss before turning your back to them and walking into the hotel. It was almost midnight and there werenât many people walking around. The receptionist greeted you as you walked in but was quickly back to his work when he realized that you went straight for the lift. Your mind automatically had you remember what had happened the last time you had gotten back this late to a hotel that you shared with McLaren. You did hate yourself in a way for it. But you couldnât stop thinking about it. All the way to your room you somehow wished that it could happen right here right now again. You knew it wasnât wrong of you to tell Daniel off for what he did but somehow you wished you didnât.
Your room was dark and quiet. For a moment you debated whether or not it would be appropriate to just not get changed and go to bed with all your clothes on. Thatâs what this day had done to you. You turned on the little bedside table lamp and were just about to pick up your pyjama from underneath the pillow when a small neatly folded paper got your attention. You had not spent much time in your hotel room yet but you were pretty sure that this had not been here this morning when you had left the room for the day. You didnât have the time to come back and get changed after meeting a friend in Milan who you had met years ago at a concert in Munich in Germany and youâve been really close ever since. You felt confident with your outfit so you didnât see why you shouldnât wear it to the dinner as well.
You picked the note up. Probably just a note from the cleaning ladies. Sometimes they would leave little notes for encouragement which you really appreciated. It felt quite heavy as you opened it. That was because it was two papers. Neatly written in a messy but beautiful handwriting. You instinctively folded the papers again and put them aside. You knew who it was from and you could imagine what he had to say. You left it on the bedside table and went to the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for bed. When you came back the neatly folded papers were still laying there almost pulling you in with a magic power no one would believe you if you told them. You put your phone on charge, made yourself comfortable in your bed, set multiple alarms for the next morning, and then finally picked the note up again, unfolded it, and a little unsurely started reading:
Dear Y/N,
I know nothing of what I did will get better just by me saying sorry a million times (although I totally would if that was what you wanted me to do). I was an idiot and I do realize that now. My parents raised me better than that and my mum would really be disappointed in me if only she knew. I am not sure why I did what I did and please believe me when I say that I regret every single decision I made regarding you within the last two weeks since we met. I now know what I want and even though I donât think it will make things better I can now tell you right here right now that it is YOU who I want. No matter how long it will take for you to forgive me I will be waiting and trying to make it up to you. Let this letter be the first step. This is me telling you everything I didnât say.
The second I walked into the press conference room that day after the summer break I only had eyes for you. I didnât know what it was and I still donât know to this day but I was stars stuck by you which is something that never had happened to me before. I had talked to Max and Charles right after and they had laughed about me when I had told them that you were special and different from all the other girls I had spent time with over the last couple of years. They didnât take me seriously but Charlotte did and she told me to make a move. She said if it really was something special I would feel it and I would know right away. To be fair, she probably thought about something else and not a kiss when she told me to make a move â I could have also just started talking to you and I even tried in the car on the way back to the hotel but I was nervous and you had such a great conversation with Michael and Blake so I didnât want to destroy that moment of making friends for you.
Back at the hotel when you hugged me it just instantly felt right. It was like you were meant to be in my arms and oh god how your head just perfectly fit on my shoulder so I could lean my cheek against your temple. Let me tell you, at that moment heaven truly was a place on earth for me. Heaven is you pressed against my chest and me holding you tight.
When later that night you had come home with Blake and Michael, who had sent me the picture of you with Max, Brad, himself, and Blake on the sofa, a couple of minutes prior to you arriving back at the hotel, I just had to give it a shot. The plan was not to kiss you but when I saw you after you had opened the door to your room so cute in your pyjama and all ready to go to bed I just couldnât hold it back. I felt an urge that I had not felt before in a very long time. Actually, I am trying to be honest here . . . so I donât think that I had ever felt an urge like that night ever before to kiss a girl. Not with my Ex and not with any other girl I ever kissed. The kiss was the most perfect thing to ever happen to me and yet again I felt like heaven was a place on earth. I didnât want it to end and something in me just wanted to take you to bed wrap you in my arms and not let you go until the morning. I knew you were right though. I had to go back to my room. I needed the sleep for the next day. Little did you know that sending me back to my room, although the only right option in this situation, didnât change a thing. I was up all night feeling you still on my lips and every time I closed my eyes I could feel you still in my arms. My hand was so comfortably on your hip and the other fitting perfectly on the side of your neck, my thumb could reach your cheek so I could caress it.
The way you held me, I wish I had just thought more clearly about it and not projected something onto you before even saying a single word to you. I was wrong I admit, numb from your kiss, and while I was so worried about what all that meant to me you were slipping away through my fingertips. I wish that I could wake up now and someone would tell me that this is all a bad dream and we are still in Belgium. I wish I could rewind time back to the start of all of this. But I canât. Sadly. I know I am the only one to blame for all of the mistakes I made these past couple of days so please just know that I would sacrifice a lot, if not everything, to make this right.
I know me saying all of this wonât make what I did disappear, but I do hope that this is a solid start to my long road of redemption.
Love, Daniel (514)
Part 5
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Hope you liked it đ§Ą this was a little bit of flashback episode haha :)
Also a Cookie for the person who can first guess which song I was inspired by when writing Danielâs letter đ
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