smooth operator - carlos sainz jr. [ discontinued ]

04.

wednesday meant training for elara. and a giant headache, which was soon drowned by copious amounts of coffee. she had grabbed some breakfast from the lobby and was currently waiting for leah to come down so the two could leave for the track. spotting the blonde, she stood up and tossed her coffee, which was now empty and headed over.

"good morning leah" elara said, stepping into the car.

"hi elara" she replied, milo voicing a quick bark, "hello to you too milo" leah added. milo wagged his tail as he sat in the middle of the two girls. "so, what's going on with you and carlos?"

"nothing, why?" elara said, looking over to her best friend.

"just wondering because i saw him leave your room last night," said leah.

"really, i don't remember anything except getting walked up to my room and then going to bed"

"meaning he probably walked you up to your room last night!"

"you're reading too far into this leah"

"i'm going to call it, you two will date this year" elara just scoffed at this idea, she thought it was silly that she would date someone that also drives. she just thought it wasn't worth the press and trouble between the teams so elara had promised herself to not date anyone in the paddock. "anyways, you meet with your new physical trainer today,"

"what else is on the schedule?" elara asked.

"nothing much, that's the main thing. maybe saying hi to fans but other than that you're free"

"okay, might take a nap then" elara replied, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes.

"not now!" leah said, emphasizing her words. elara tossed her a smile, before snoring very loudly, very fake snores too. leah cracked a smile at the girl, as elara opened her eyes and had the biggest grin on her face. "you're like a child sometimes, i swear i'm more of a babysitter than a manager"

"aren't they like relatively the same thing?"

"no!" leah exclaimed. "anyways we're here, so come on we must get going" the two girls plus milo hopped out of the taxi and made their way to the paddock.

reaching the mercedes garage, she saw the two cars being built and toto was talking to some of the engineers. "ah, elara and leah!" toto said, walking over to the two girls.

"hi toto," elara said, giving her new boss a hug. leah repeated the action before what appeared to be elara's physical trainer.

"this is henry, elara, henry" toto introduced the two, the physical trainer and driver shaking hands. "he'll be working with you on your physical strengths for driving, so i'll leave you two to get to know each other. and i guess i will see you three tomorrow for testing," with that toto bid goodbye, going back to his office.

"i'm gonna head out too, i have some meetings to organize for you el, but i'll be back for a late lunch," leah said, shaking henry's hand and giving elara a hug before she headed out as well.

"how do you want to do this, i can describe what i did back at red bull and go from there?" elara asked henry.

"sounds good to me, we can head over to a nearby gym?" henry suggested, elara nodded in agreement as the two left for the gym.

"so at red bull, they had like a set schedule i guess, for me to go off of. obviously based on what i need to work on, as well as the other normal stuff. but we had like a cardio day, a day where we worked on weights, and then the other days were just normal practices with a bit of everything" she began.

"okay, was there anything specific you did during these workouts?" henry asked the girl.

"i always did yoga before i worked out, kind of like a way to stretch. cardio was in the middle of the week, and we did weights twice a week" she explained.

"i see, so what i think we'll do is a bit of everything and increase cardio to twice a week. and instead of doing weights on a certain day, we'll do it every practice" henry said.

"so how does it normally look at mercedes, schedule-wise"

"what i'm thinking is, tuesday, friday, saturday, and sunday, are the normal-looking practices you can say. we'll do neck stretches, reflexes, weights, and the typical stuff needed to perform well. monday and thursday will be strictly cardio. and wednesday will be a yoga only day, in a way a rest day you could call it" henry explained. "during race weeks, we'll do a shorter practice with just some stretching and reflexes"

"okay that sounds good to me," elara said. the two had reached the gym and had already started a bit of yoga and stretching.

++

the rest of the day went by quickly, henry and elara had gotten to know each other as they worked out for the day. after a while or working out and some complaining from elara, it was time for lunch. leah had made her way to the gym and started talking to henry as elara kept working out. "this doesn't seem fair. i feel like i am doing all the work here" elara had stated at one point.

"well you are the driver el" leah said.

"that is a very good point" henry added, "finish this set and then you can start to cool down" 30 minutes later and the driver was lying on the ground trying to catch her breath. "you did a good job" henry applauded her, helping her up.

"yeah, thanks. that was brutal man" the girl said through heavy breaths.

"you'll get used to it"

"c'mon el, time for lunch eh?" leah said, grabbing elara's stuff. "you want to join henry?"

the trainer chuckled a bit, "no i think i'll pass. i already spent too much time with elara and i don't know if i can handle her complaining" a teasing smile on his face.

"i do not complain! leah tell him that i don't complain!" the girl fired back.

"i am not adding to this conversation, now c'mon let's get going," leah said, raising her hands in defense before ushering her towards the door.

"i don't know how you do it leah, but i'll see you lot tomorrow," henry said, waving goodbye.

"bye henry!" the two girls called out. "can i take a shower first?" elara asked, hopping in the car and throwing her stuff to the backseat, leah getting into the passenger side. turning the car on, the two girls pulled out of the gym lot and back to the hotel.

"yeah, then maybe some pizza?" elara nodded her head in agreement before she turned on the music.

++

wednesday afternoon came and went, elara and leah got pizza and then decided on watching a movie in the hotel room. elara insisted on watching ferris bueller's day off because it was a staple that she grew up with. once the movie ended, milo and elara headed out to walk around the area, finding a nearby park and running around in it. milo enjoyed every bit of it, even if it was a bit hot out. and after that the evening flew by, elara rewatched the harry potter movies until she fell asleep and the thursday morning sunrise woke her up.

media day was always elara's least favorite time unless it was natalie, ted, or crofty she was talking to. they always made the interviews more fun. especially natalie who sometimes hung out with her and leah during race weeks.

the girl got ready and made her way to the track, milo having to stay behind because it would be too hot for him. the drive to the track was quiet, elara just taking in the breeze and her light music playing and a bit later she was at the track. getting out of her she made a beeline to the garage to try and find leah and some coffee. finding leah and henry talking together she joined them, greeting them and asking leah when she was needed, then elara went to find some coffee.