Once Upon A Time In... | Toto Wolff x Reader

Chapter Seven: Austria

THURSDAY PM

Having flown into Vienna that morning for sponsorship meetings and now barrelling along the autobahn towards Spielberg at 300kph, you couldn't help but feel excited for the impending Austrian Grand Prix. You'd sat it out last year as you'd had media commitments in London and had had a strong case of FOMO when the team returned home with tales of their weekends. From what you'd heard it had been a weekend of debauched celebrations, something that seemed to bond the team like nothing else.

A week had passed since Silverstone and again you'd hardly seen Toto. He'd left almost immediately after Silverstone for his place in Vienna, in a bid to spend some rare time with his children in their hometown. Although you were disappointed that you hadn't yet made it to your official second date you were pleased that he finally had some downtime. He was stressed and as far as you knew, hadn't taken a down day since the beginning of the season.

He'd continued texting you every day, sweet morning and goodnight messages that surprised you every time. He was good at separating business from pleasure and had continued to channel everything business related through Lara and Sophie, something that you were thankful for. You were looking forward to seeing him on the Friday and hoping you might get to spend some time together at some point over the weekend.

Glancing out of the window, you could appreciate the beauty of the Austrian countryside. Vast expanses of rolling green hills, almost mountainous, with swathes of dark forest and pretty houses dotted around, it was picture perfect. You smiled knowing that this was Toto's home Grand Prix, one that he always looked forward to.

It wasn't long before your driver pulled into the track-adjacent campground that you'd be calling home for the next three days. You'd only stayed in a motorhome once before, in Zandvoort last year, as you'd joined later in the season and the travel team hadn't been able to secure you a hotel room. As you were new to the team they'd eased you in and tried to keep the motorhomes to a minimum but this season Toto had made it clear that he wanted you nearby, cutting down commuting time. Trackside motorhomes were normally reserved for the drivers and anyone likely to work late. The only saving grace was that you at least had your own private space. The social team and the press team had to share their respective motorhomes and you didn't envy them and their tight bunks in the slightest.

As your car rolled through the entrance you spied plenty of familiar faces wandering around. Sometimes Formula One felt like a travelling circus and when half the paddock were camping together the feeling was amplified. Soon enough you spotted Lara and Sophie, chatting away with cups of coffee in their hands.

"Can you please stop here?" you asked Frank, your driver.

"Of course ma'am," he said, coming to a gentle stop and jumping out to open the door for you.

"Good afternoon ladies," you said brightly, "How are you both?"

"Good, thank you, how was Vienna?" asked Sophie with a smile, Lara nodding with a strange look on her face.

"Everything went as well as it could have," you said, raising your eyebrow at Lara.

"Glad to hear it. Do you know where your motorhome is?" asked Sophie, seemingly oblivious to her colleague's standoffish behaviour.

"No actually, that's why I asked Frank to stop when I saw you both," you explained.

"Ah no worries, I can show you." Sophie said kindly, "It's just a bit further down, maybe I can ask Frank to drive with your luggage?"

"Sure, that would be great thanks." you said, continuing to look at Lara with a puzzled look as Sophie went to direct your driver, "Everything okay Lara?"