All the Way - an F1 story

1

FIVE MONTHS LATER

27 March, 2021
📍Sakhir, Bahrain

"Calina, mi stai ascoltando?"

She refocused on the computer screen in front of her, the image of her exasperated-looking psychiatrist in front of her, on the zoom call.

"Che é successo?"

Russo sighed heavily. "Capisco che questi appuntamenti sono fastidiosi, ma ho bisogno che tu presti attenzione. Ho chiesto come ti senti per questo fine settimana? Per la gara?"

Calina thought for a moment. She didn't know how to say how she felt. "No lo so. È come un pasticcio di emozioni," she decided on.

"Puoi dire quali emozioni risaltano di più?" the older woman asked her.

"Mi sa che io sono nervoso, ma allo stesso tempo, so che non ho bisogno di essere, perché non è la mia prima gara, e tutto dentro la testa." Calina replied. Russo seemed satisfied enough with her answer.

"Ti lascerò, Calina. Nel frattempo, io vuole che tu non ti preoccupare, okay. È una ordine!" the woman said half-jokingly, and Calina couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Grazie, Dottore. Parliamo dopo." and with one final smile, Calina ended the call. The bathroom door in the hotel room opened immediately, as if the person inside was waiting to exit. Elara emerged from the bathroom, already dressed in her outfit for the day, consisting of the team's uniform: black golf pants, the black-and-red polo shirt, emblazoned with the teams logos and various sponsors, and the all-black low top sneakers, provided by the team's title sponsor, Prada. She had done a light layer of makeup, very simple, and pulled her brown hair into a neat low bun.

"You good to go?" Elara asked. "I heard you talking, and I didn't want to be a bother."

"You're all good," Calina answered, shutting the laptop in front of her. She turned to her luggage now on the floor, the bag open, showcasing its contents. "Want to help me pick out what to wear?"

Elara was good with fashion, and putting outfits together, while Calina was slightly less skilled, so she let her best friend explore her bag, watching as she pulled out clothes and tried to find something.

"Well, you don't have to wear the exact same thing as me, but it would be nice if you did match with the team," Elara mumbled, and she threw a shirt exactly identical to hers towards Calina. "Maybe just go with black track pants."

Calina nodded in agreement, walking over and taking the pants from the bag, along with a sports bra and underwear. She disappeared into the washroom, getting changed, then proceeded to wash up, doing her skincare, brushing her teeth, and making sure her hair wasn't a complete mess. Calina decided on leaving it down, before exiting the washroom.

"You're uncle wanted to see you, by the way. Before we go," Elara told her, while staring at her phone. "He said you weren't answering your phone, so he texted me."

Calina grabbed her own phone from the nightstand beside her bed, and sure enough, she had five missed texts from her uncle.

"Fuck, I forgot to tell him I booked with Russo," she mumbled. "Tell him we'll be down soon."

Calina scanned her other luggage, this one containing some shoes she brought from home, about three pairs. "Which ones?"

Elara came beside her, looking at the shoes. "I'm thinking these," she finally said, pulling out the pair of Bloodline Jordan 1's that Nike, Calina's main sponsor, had gifted her.

Calina agreed, slipping on a pair of socks, then the shoes.

A knock was heard at the door, and while Calina scanned over the roller bag containing all her equipment, Elara went to open it, revealing Calina's trainer standing there, with all her stuff.

"Are you seriously not ready yet?" Lella asked, sounding very exasperated. "We need to go!"

"I know, Lella, I know!" Calina sighed, making sure her laptop, charger, phone charger, wallet, and earbuds were all in her backpack. Just as they moved to leave, one last thing came to mind.

"Shit, wait!" Rushing over to her luggage, she dug through her clothes, a soft sigh of relief escaping when she pulled out the small match box. She slipped it into her pocket discreetly, before closing her luggage. After one final scan of the room, Calina slipped her backpack on, leaving to meet Lella and Elara at the elevators. She had to make sure the black face mask was secure before leaving, seeing as it was mandatory.

Calina opted to hold her pass, phone and sunglasses in her hand as they walked through the hotel, and as soon as she reached the outdoor patio, she put them over her eyes, the bright Bahrain sun obscuring her vision.

It didn't take her long to find the empty table-for-four her uncle was sitting at. Bastien Gaspé was looking down at his cellphone, most likely scrolling through his emails, a shot of espresso sitting in front of him. He looked up as the group approached, shutting his phone off and placing it on the table, beside his cup and red face mask.

"Enfin! Je me préparais à partir," he exclaimed in a playfully annoyed tone. Calina rolled her eyes at the goofy grin on his face, a smile breaking out on her own.

"I'm sorry you had to wait, like, five extra minutes," she replied, matching his tone. "Was it too long?"

"I'm joking, Calì. How was the session with Russo?" Bastien asked, watching as his niece sat in the empty seat beside him.

"I got an email from her not too long ago," Lella interjected, looking accusingly at the teen as she sat down across from her. "She says you keep zoning out while she's talking."

Calina opted not to comment, while she received a look of slight disappointment from her uncle. "I'm sorry I have a short attention span," she tried to reason. "But it's not like I don't want to pay attention. It gets boring!"

Bastien held that look of disappointment, but it flickered to one of sympathy, as he understood how much Calina hated her therapy sessions.

"We gotta go soon," Elara said, taking a glance at the time. "We can start loading everything into the car."

"I'll be there in a bit, alright?" Calina asked. Elara simply nodded, grabbing the roller bag at her feet, before she and Lella took off to their rental car.

Once they were gone, Bastien turned his chair slightly, so he was facing Calina. "Tu vas bien?"

She shrugged in response, not knowing how to put thoughts into words. "Je vais bien."

"Calina, ne me mens pas!"

"I'm not lying, Bastien," she huffed, but when she realized how harsh she sounded, her expression softened a little. "Pardon. C'est tout ce que tout le monde me demande. C'est épuisant."

"I worry for you, Calì," Bastien said. "After everything that's happened, I worry for you. I worry for you, for Mathis and Sebbie. For the past 13 years, not a day has gone by where I haven't worried about you three."

Calina looked at him, feeling disappointed in herself. "I know," she replied quietly. "And I'm sorry for being harsh."

Bastien sighed sympathetically. "Don't worry, Calì. Now go. You don't want to be late, and Lella is going to kill me if you are."

Notes

First chapter is up!!! I'm super excited to finally be able to share this, and I do hope you enjoy it!

Please, please, PLEASE leave comments on things you like, or don't like. I love reading people's feedback, and I'm open to adding in things you guys may want to see!

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Peace out, and stay tuned for more updates!