Something Gained

Chapter Eighty-Three

Daniel POV

My alarm went off early the next morning, we had another day of full on stuff, but I was worried about Alex, she worked practically the whole day. No breaks, and from 7am until 11pm, she was shattered. I could see it in her last night, when I looked next to me she wasn't in bed. I got up and wandered through the house, I loved this house, it was a dream and to live here with Alex was the best thing in the world, I couldn't imagine a better scenario, except the fact she had worked a lot of the time in Monaco, flown back early and been working most days since, often long days.
I found her in the kitchen, she was dressed but she didn't look okay. Her hair, that was usually down and straight was tied up in a high bun on her head, she was wearing her glasses and no makeup which was very odd for her.
"Alex?" I questioned as I walked behind her, she was hunched over with a coffee and looking through her computer. I rested my hands on her shoulders and gently pulled them back to sit her straight, she would get back ache otherwise. She looked up at me and smiled weakly "what's wrong?"
"Nothing I'm fine" she whispered. Her voice was hoarse and quiet, she looked shattered.
"You don't sound fine?"
"I just don't feel 100%, I'm just tired. Got a bit of a headache but I'm okay" she said
"You're not going to work" I told her sternly
"Don't be silly Dan" she sighed
"You're exhausted"
"I'm fine" she said, I sighed. I never could win with Alex, she was so stubborn. I went about making her another drink and myself some food, which she tried to insist on making for me but I told her to sit down, I text Lando about it and he moaned that she should be staying home but even he knew what Alex was like. At 7:30am we were making our way to the MTC, yet another debate was had over who was driving, she didn't win this time either, I don't know why she was so insistent.

Alex POV

I walked into the MTC ahead of Daniel and straight up to my office, I'd drank so much water, or coffee, anything to help, but my throat was still raging at me, my head was pounding, my body screamed at me in pain, I felt too hot, I felt sick, I felt exhausted, but I had to push through. I was scared and took a covid test just to make sure, it came back negative, so I was just tired. I logged into my calendar and did a couple of bits before heading towards the meeting room to set up for the new press officers, Ben and Sophie.
"I'm going to get some coffee before we start Zak, do you want one?" I asked him
"Yes please, are you okay Alex?" He asked turning to me as I placed my laptop down
"Yeah I'm fine" I said, trying to gather strength, I didn't want him worrying or thinking I wasn't. I had literally just done my first big event, handled everything and thought I did pretty damn well, I couldn't understand why I was struggling so much. I've spent two years flying around the world, all different time zones and working constantly, and yet I couldn't deal with one long day. I was disappointed in myself. I walked out of the meeting room and down to the cafeteria to bring up three drinks for myself, Zak and Andreas who would be joining us.
"Alex?" I looked up towards the familiar voice
"Good morning, you okay? I asked Lando
"I'm fine, you're not" he said
"Yeah I am, what gives you that idea?" I questioned, thanking Jenny for the coffee
"Because Daniel said you weren't, and you don't look right" he said
"Lands im fine, but I've got to go okay? I'll grab you guys soon" I said to him, he nodded but before he could say or do anything further I had walked away with the coffees, I didn't want pity. I wanted to get on with it.

"Ben, Sophie, welcome" Zak greeted as the two newest McLaren personnel were guided into the meeting room by our secretary. In front of their seats were their uniforms and a phone each. My old ones, the one I used for Lando's interviews and the one I used for Daniels. "We wanted to give you a quick briefing, Alex is going to run you through the basics, and then she will show you around the building and do all the bits she needs to do with you. But first welcome to the team, you're officially McLaren press officers, Alex here is your direct manager, she's chief communication officer, she looks after the media of the entire f1 team, and the drivers, you will report directly to her, she will be with you constantly for the next few weeks, she will be your guardian angel getting you to grips with the job, and where things are. She will be with you for the first two races constantly, thereafter we hope you'll be able to do it yourself, if not of course she will always be there to report to. Herself and Andreas attend every race. Andreas is the team principle and will mostly be in the garage. Your soul priority is your driver" Zak explained, they both nodded along "I'll let Alex take over from here"
"Hello, as Zak I'll be with you today, and for the coming weeks, I want to say to both of you that we're extremely happy you're here, you were the perfect fit for our drivers, I will be with you every step and even in a few months time I will still be around to help you through everything, so please don't hesitate to ask me anything. Obviously Sophie you've done this before, but I still need to run you through things. In front of you, is your own company work phone, I do ask that you don't use this phone in your private time, and please do not use it for personal reasons, work only. I will contact you through this phone, but you will be expected to have it with you during working hours, it will also be what you use to record the drivers when they're doing their media interviews as we need a copy for our own files. While we're in England in the MTC, your new home, you will be working structured 9-5 days, I will be here also, when we're flying you won't be 'working' as such and this will be your downtime, you will fly with the team as and when, and when we're inbetween races, ones that are not back to back you will return to England and have the time off for majority until we fly back out, this is because you will be working from Thursday to Sunday all day and we travel most of the year as we have already discussed during the interview, you also have your uniform, while we're here and not in front of cameras you don't need to worry so much, but every race, and event and where cameras are present you must be wearing the uniform, it doesn't matter what you wear specifically as we travel through different climates so you each have all you need, so whatever is comfortable, the hoodie, the shirt or the polo, whatever is good as long as it's uniform, any footwear is acceptable as long it's comfortable, no heels and no open shoes as you will be around a lot of equipment, people and of course the cars themselves. I know this a lot to take in but we will go through it again if needed. You will be on camera and be seen by the media quite a lot, please conduct yourselves appropriately but most importantly have fun! You're entering an exciting world and you will have a first hand view of everything, I know from both your backgrounds you love the sport so I'm sure it'll be exciting for you. Any questions?" I asked, the whole time we spoke by Ben and Sophie were engaged, nodding along and smiling. They both were perfect
"What will happen with travel and things like that? How do you guys sort that?" Sophie asked
"It's all arranged for us, I will provide you with the details ahead of the first time we fly which will be soon, to Spain. We normally stay in the same hotels, Hilton, you will have your own rooms for the entirety of the stay, your travel as in flights, to and from tracks and things is all arranged and covered, and catering is done at the track in our hospitality. The only thing you will need to pay for is any dining you do outside of work, so if you went for dinner yourself or room service you will cover that cost, and any activities you do outside of work. Otherwise it's all covered. Alex will provide all the information you need as all of our travel and stay is booked well in advance, she will also provide you with the appropriate identification for the race, as you will need a badge to gain access to the paddock" Zak answered her
"I do have one, if it's not too forward. Do you know which driver we'll be with?" Ben asked
"I do, which brings us nicely along to meeting them" I smiled "Zak, Andreas do you have anything else?" I asked
"Only from myself, as Alex said please conduct yourself appropriately and enjoy it. But I want to just say that you'll be in the garage and at tracks a lot, please ensure you're not hindering anyone for example the engineers, mechanics and strategy teams, you will have your NDA's with me later which you will need to sign" Andreas spoke, I smiled and nodded
"Wonderful, now. Are you ready?" I asked them, they both nodded "first stop, my office" I said to them as the three of us got up.