No Going Back (Nyck de Vries X OC)

The first race

It has been a few days since Nyck and I arrived at Diriyah and I am currently getting ready for the day. It is going to be a long day since the event takes place over the span of a single day. I am looking forward to my debut since it will be in a different car to the ones that I am used to. I am in the hospitality area nervously sipping on a cup of coffee while I wait for the free practice session to start. At least I should have a small boost in energy. I would describe it like the fan boost. It's small but it's something. My only issue is it will be my first race hence why I am feeling nervous.

"Jess you will be fine," Nyck snaps me out of my thoughts as he takes the seat next to me.

"I know I will be but the wait is bothering me," I reply. I won't tell him the reason why it is bothering me. It is the part of racing that I have never liked but Formula E events take place over the span of a day not a weekend.

"Well, that is one thing that hasn't changed," Nyck replies. He has managed to get a giggle from me. He is right not much has changed about me. In fact, I reckon the only thing that has changed is the type of cars that we drive. After some different conversations, I have finished my coffee so I head to the garage where a small group of mechanics is working. I am finding it interesting to see how they assemble the rest of the car. I like how the mechanics are so engrossed in their work so much so they fail to notice that I am watching. After five minutes of waiting the mechanics have finished all of the work that needed to be done.

"Jess the car is ready," My lead mechanic informs me. I pull myself into the car. I take a deep breath as I gesture for the mechanics to leave the car. I quickly get to work on making sure I can get the required laps done. For some reason despite the fact that it is a street circuit I am finding this track a little easy. I suppose I will see if activating attack mode will make it tricker. As if reading my mind I hear the radio crackle to life with the voice of my new lead engineer.

"Jess, on the next lap we want you to try to go for the attack mode boost," He commands.

"I will see what I can do," I reply. It doesn't take me long to get back around to the attack mode activation area. I have a problem. I successfully get through the activation zone but I am a little too close to Jean-Eric Vergne for comfort. I narrowly avoided an accident. Crap. Well, I'll have to apologise later. Right now I need to focus on my work. After thirty minutes of practising, I feel like I have gotten the required data for the engineers. After fifteen minutes of just getting some more practice in, I find myself wandering through the paddock while I wait for the qualifying to start. I am hoping to find Jean-Eric so I can apologise to him.

"Jess," My attention is grabbed by a familiar French accent. I turn around to find Jean-Eric behind me.

"What can I do for you JEV?" I ask. I can hear the worry laced in my voice. The thing is I don't know why I am worried when I only made one mistake.

"I wanted to thank you for the challenge during free practice," He responds. Well, I was wrong but I still think that he is annoyed.

"Thank you but are you sure I didn't annoy you?" I find myself questioning his remark even though it is positive. I really should have accepted the compliment and moved on. Plus Jean-Eric is a veteran of the sport so I should be happy to get a compliment.

"Did you crash into me?" Jean-Eric responds.

"No," I timidly answered. I have no idea about what he is trying to get at but I assume his conclusion is good.

"Then why should I be annoyed?" He says. His question reminds me of something that my brother said to me. 'Make sure you provide a challenge for those around you but make sure you are fair' and I think I was fair and so did Jean-Eric. Hence why he complimented me. I find myself impressed that someone like Jean-Eric has complimented me. I put it down to the fact that all of the drivers are nice unless something happens on the track. After Jean-Eric and I part ways I am back in the garage waiting for the qualifying session to start.