I'm Tired

chapter 2

Once inside the building, I followed Arthur into the meeting room, where I was informed the team was waiting for me. At this point I am a sweating mess, Why? I don't fucking know, it's not like I've never met Rene. I think I'm more scared of meeting the drivers, considering I'll be working more with them than anyone else.

As we start walking into the room, I can feel everyone just stop talking and immediately start looking at me. I hope I don't have anything on my face, I really should've looked in the mirror before entering.

"Andrea! I am so happy you are finally here with us. It's so nice finally being able to meet you in person." Rene says as he pulls me into a welcoming hug.

"The pleasure is all mine! I haven't been able to stay still since I started my plane ride." I reply as we pull away from the hug and he leads me to a group of people who I assume make up the rest of the social media team.

"Andrea I would like for you to meet Aspen, Liam, Xander, and Maya. They are who will be working with you. Guys this is Andrea, your new lead photographer, and graphic designer."

"Hi Guys, I am so excited to be able to be working with y'all in person finally," I say as they respond with compliments and extensions of the same saying.

After speaking with the team for a little, Arthur comes over to me and starts pulling me to a group of very handsome-looking guys around my age.

"Guys, this is Andrea. Andrea, these are the drivers." Arthur says as he points toward them.

"Hello, I'll be your new lead photographer. I'm so excited to start working with you all." God even saying that out loud makes everything seem so real. I might need to have someone pinch me.

"Im Paul," A tall blonde says, "this is Jak and Oliver," Paul tells me as he points towards them. Being this close to them feels so surreal, I've never in a million years thought I would be able to work with them this early in my career. As I look at each of them I can't help but look at Oliver for a bit longer than the rest. Something about his eyes has captivated me, I can't help but try to decipher them and all the secrets they hold.

"Hey," Jak says to me. "I'm Jak, like Paul said, I can't wait to start working with you. Having someone on the social media team our age is so cool."

"I'm Oliver, but you can call me ollie." He says. "When Rene told us we would have someone our age working with us, other than a driver we all became so excited."

"Well thank you for all of this, I truly can not wait for you all to see what I have planned," I say.

As we talk a bit more, Rene comes over and tells us we have mandatory team bonding today.

"Guys, we have rented out a karting track, so that all of yall can have some more time together without the pressure of all of us." He says. "Andrea, I've heard you have some karting skills under your sleeve. I expect a victory."

After Rene sends us the address, we all get into one car, Arthur ends up being the one driving since I still have no clue how the others drive on a regular road. Once we make it to the track, the guys immediately turn on their more competitive side of themselves. As we start to find our gear, I start to warm up a bit, even though I only did karting for 5 years before my parents could no longer afford it, I still was able to learn a few things. Hopefully, it's enough to compete against them.

Who are you kidding?! You are racing against professionals, there is no way you will make it out of last place.

   Sometimes, I hate you

"So.. Andrea, is it true you have karting experience?" Ollie asks me. I take a bit longer to respond considering I again feel lost in his eyes.

Those stupid gorgeous eyes

Can you stop distracting me?

"Huh? Oh uh yeah. I started when I was around 6 years old. I guess you could say I was decent. I won some races and some small local championships but nothing so grand as all of you." I say while adjusting my racing boots.

"If you don't mind me asking.... Why did you stop?" As I look up, I can see curiosity filling his eyes. Almost showing me that he can be trusted.

"Well...um... once I was around 11 years old my parents could...uh.... no longer afford it, so I had to quit," I say. Even though something is telling me that I can trust him, I think it's too early to let him in.

"Damn, if I had to quit that young, I don't think I would have been able to find something else worth my time," Jak says joining the conversation.

"True, but luckily I found photography, so I'm happy with how my life turned out. I mean I'm 17 and already working my dream job."

"That is what I call destiny." Arthur joins in.

"Guys," Paul yells. "The karts are ready! Let's get this race started."

"Well you heard the kid, let's get this race started," I say as I put my helmet on and walk towards where Paul is waiting with the karts.