My Best Mates Sister

4.

Bahrain
Rosie

Here we are at the second race of the season and I cannot contain my excitement! "George we are here" I say with a massive grin on my face "are you excited for the race or because you are seeing Lando again?" He asks me and I feel my cheeks going red, we have been talking a lot since our date in Melbourne. I genuinely think he meant it when he said we would have more. I smack George's arm "stop being mean" I can hear the whining in my tone but I don't care "I'm only messing Rosie" we wander through the airport out to the waiting team car and I immediately spot Soph "SOPHIA" I shout and she runs over flinging her arms around me "I've missed you" she yells, we climb into the car. I hadn't seen her as she worked from home for the last week due to her dog Patch having an operation "was really odd without you around the office" she grins "dinner later?" she asks and I nod without hesitation "shall I invite Ella and Emily?" I ask her these two being press officers like her but for Lando and Charles "girls night!" She says and I notice George rolling his eyes "I will never understand why you love a girls night this much" he comments "well luckily for you I won't ever be inviting you" he sticks his tongue out at me just as the car pulls up at the hotel. "Are we sharing this weekend?" I ask her she nods enthusiastically as we make our way over to check in "You still haven't updated me on your date in Australia" she gives me a pointed look, I haven't talked about it with anyone as I'm not sure where this is going.

We arrive at our room and immediately she messages the other girls "perfect they are excited to come" it's going to be really nice having time with them. I dump my case on the bed "sooooo how was your date?" She asks me and I know I'm blushing again "it was really nice, he said it is the first of many which I took as a good thing" her whole face lights up "I'm so happy for you guys, after all of that shit you went through with Josh I'm happy you are dating again" my heart sinks thinking about my ex boyfriend "I never thought I would after that Soph" she wraps her arm around me "I know but Lando seems like a sweet guy and I'm sure George would've said something if he thought he wasn't any good" she reassures me and it works "Thanks Soph now let's get ready!" I say noticing that we have around an hour to get ready to meet the other girls downstairs. I brought a couple of options with me "are we doing dressy?" I ask across the room "why not!" She responds and I grab a super cute dress out of my suitcase before sitting down and straightening my hair. About 45 minutes later I'm ready and Soph insists we take pictures "you look absolutely stunning, imagine if Lando could see you now" she jokes and I decide to post one of the pictures onto Instagram

@rosierussell63 First night in the dessert, had to be ladies night!
@georgerussell63 behave please @sophia237 make sure she does
@alexalbon when did you grow up?
@charlesleclerc stunning mon ange

I pop my phone away after seeing some of the comments "ready?" I ask Soph and she links her arm through mine "let's go meet Em and Ella" she says picking up her handbag as we wander through the door. I spot the girls waiting across the reception "Hey Hey Bitches" Soph shouts as we approach "don't you both look fantastic" I say as I stand next to Ella "as do you! What happened to being one of the lads Rosie" I laugh of her comment "I guess I grew up!" I joke causing everyone to laugh "I take full credit" Soph claims as we walk out of the hotel towards the restaurant. We are all laughing and joking as we make our way and it hits me that I've really missed the girls "I've missed this" I say and Em squeezes my hand "we have the whole season!" She reminds we as we walking into the restaurant "table under Russell" I say and the waitress looks confused "sorry I was expecting someone else" she tells us and I smile "that would be my brother" a wave of understanding washes over her features "I see! Right this way" we all sit down and I immediately focus on the menu "ahhhh I forgot we are in a dry state" Em complains "oh well we are fun without alcohol" Soph reassures us and I can't help but laugh "of course!" Ella agrees. We all decide on food and then the conversation turns to me "so I've heard you went on a date" I look up a Soph she seems as confused as me "I did" I confirm trying to end the conversation "Lando can't stop talking about you" Ella tells me with a bitter tone to her voice "yeah we went for dinner" I try to shrug it off "well he said it was a date" she snaps back and I'm not sure why but I'm surprised that he's been telling people and I'm surprised she sounds so offended by it "I suppose we agreed it was" I give in still trying to act casual about it. "I just thought it was weird when Ella mentioned it! Since when did you start talking?" Em asks this time and I don't appreciate her insinuating there is no reason for him to speak to me "did you forget who my brother is I practically grew up with most of the younger drivers" I remind her trying to keep the conversation light "How could I forget that you are the girl best friend of the elusive group" her tone is really condescending, I'm confused what is their problem. I decide to focus on my food to avoid any more questions. They are taking about clubbing and I can't imagine anything worse "I'm gonna head back" I tell Soph and she looks concerned "you okay?" She asks as we wait for the others to get back from the toilet "yeah Soph, just need to be on it tomorrow" she doesn't look convinced "say goodbye to Ella and Em for me" she nods and I hug her goodbye. "Call me if you need me, otherwise I will see you in the garage tomorrow" she says as I turn and walk away.

I walk out of the restaurant. I can feel my eyes welling up, I felt really attacked at dinner. I'm barely paying attention and I manage walk into someone who's arms steady me "I'm so sorry" I mumble looking up to see Charles, I feel relief that somehow it's him I've managed to walk into not just some random stranger "Rosie? Are you okay?" He noticed my tears "sorry just a weird night, I'm on my way back to the hotel" I explain "I can walk with you" I nod my head "can I ask why you were crying?" I give an attempt at a smile "just some harsh comments about the date I had with Lando from Ella and Emily" I explain "first you had a date?" I nod "FINALLY!" This makes me jump "what do you mean?" His expression turns playful "he has liked you for years, but you know Lando he is usually too shy to make a move" he tells me "I never knew!" He shoots me a smile "you have always been one of the boys so he managed to hide it, being in Formula one seems to have boosted his confidence" this makes sense "and Ella and Emily the press officers?" He asks me "yours and Landos" I confirm "they are jealous, Emily has tried it with me before but I won't date someone I work with and I can imagine Lando has a similar view" my heart sinks "so he wouldn't want to be with me anyway?" I sadly ask "he doesn't work with you though" Charles tells me sounding confused "well kind of, I mean we work in the same paddock every weekend" he shakes his head at me "only being in the same team would possibly cause an issue" I suppose that makes sense "he really likes you Rosie, he never stops talking about you" my heart skips slightly "thanks for this Charles I really needed a friend" he grins "I've always wanted you to think of me as a friend Rosie, if you need me I'm here" I give him a quick hug stopping us just before we enter the hotel "don't listen to what those girls have to say, you have plenty of people in the paddock that care about you" and I know he is including himself in that.

I'm up early and at the garage well before anyone else this morning, Lando had messaged me last night asking how my girls night went and I didn't have it in me to tell him. Instead I ignored the message and replied this morning blaming jet lag for me feeling tired early and being asleep. He hasn't replied yet as I'm sure he isn't awake this early. I enjoy the peace of the garage this early in the morning and it helps me to get considerable work completed before anyone arrives and disturbs my flow. I need a coffee, I push away my chair and walk quickly across to the hospitality to order my usual vanilla latte. The lovely barista that travels with us most weekends is working "morning Kelly" I say approaching the counter "Hi Rosie, your in early" I laugh "I was here at 6am, but you guys don't open till 7.30" I say and she seems surprised "that's early!" I nod my head "I get more work done this way" she turns around handing me my usual order "I suppose that makes sense" she tells me with a smile, I've always liked Kelly "are you finished before 3?" She nods "yeah just the early shift today why?" I smile "fancy joining me for lunch?" She seems surprised "I would love that" I think last night made me realise that I might need new friends "perfect, meet you here around 3? I might be a few minutes late" I let her know "yeah, no problem" I grab my cup "cool, see you later" I walk out feeling happier than I did this morning. I dash across the paddock back to the current peace of my garage. I've only got about half an hour till the other guys will start arriving. I start pouring over the data from last weekend and the last time we were here and hope to start drawing some comparisons that can help us this weekend. "Morning Rosie" this snaps me out of my little data filled bubble "oh hey Marcus, you okay?" He nods "you arrive early again?" I smile "struggled to sleep so decided I might as well make myself useful" I say handing over some graphs I sorted earlier which shows preferable strategies from the past with the high tyre degradation of this circuit "oh wow thanks Rosie" I give him a smile before turning back to my computer.

The mechanics have spent the morning putting the car together and it's now 3pm "I'm gonna grab some lunch" I let Marcus and Jacob know "want some company" Jake asks "I'm actually meeting Kelly from the coffee counter" he seems surprised "look at you making new friends" I smack him gently "I can only handle so many boys in my life" he chuckles knowing I am referring to him also "well have fun, could you bring me back a sandwich? I'm not fussy" I nod grabbing my backpack as I wander out of the garage and over to the hospitality building. I see Kelly waiting outside and I give her a wave as I weave through the people wandering through the paddock. Suddenly a hand captures my arm and I look up to see Lando "Hey you" I say when I realise it's him "Rosie, are you okay?" I give him a soft smile "much better, how's your day going?" He links his fingers in mine "better now, sorry I didn't reply to your message I saw it before I left the room but I managed to leave my phone behind" I jokingly shake my head "what are you like" he blushes "I wanted to ask if you wanted to watch a movie with me in my room later?" My heart flutters like it did earlier "I would love to, meet you at 6?" He nods with a massive grin on his face "I need to go I'm meeting Kelly for lunch" I gesture to her waiting "look at you making friends, I won't keep you! See you later" he lets go of my hand giving me a quick hug and I quickly walk over to Kelly "sorry I wasn't expecting Lando to appear" she shakes her head "don't worry about it, are you together?" Now it's my turn to shake my head "no but I'm not too sure what we are"