fan behaviour

•Reunited

"George mate don't mess with me like that , that's not fair" Pierre half-argued with his British friend over the phone. He had just come off the sim at Alpine HQ and answered George's 6 missed calls to this sick joke.

"Mate I'm not joking" George assured.
"She rang Carmen this morning. Jax's crèche closed for the week , she's on her way over with him right now"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes mate , I've been trying to tell you this for the last 10 minutes! Carmen took the day off to see her"

"Oh my God"

Pierre was dumbfounded. Ellie was finally emerging from her shell of almost isolation bar her family , and he was 2 hours away.
But it could be worse right , I mean he could be in Rouen.
When put in that perspective , he was only 2 hours away. Should he go? Should he see her , her nephew , her new hair? Or should he stay put , prevent overwhelming her , see her another time? When would that other time be?

"Do you think I could come over?" Pierre asked , hoping George would think it was a great idea for the pair to reunite and pick up where they left off last summer.

"Uhm... I don't know mate" George answered honestly , Pierre's high hopes kicked in the gut.
"Let me see what Carmen thinks after she sees her and I'll get back to you. I'm on my way home now anyways so it shouldn't be long"

So there was still a small chance.

"Okay , cool. Thanks mate"

"No problem Pierre , see you soon!"

"See ya"

And now Pierre was meant to get back to work knowing the one that got away from him was coming back around.
That was easier said than done.

At the same time , Ellie was standing outside Carmen's apartment trying to build up the courage to ring the buzzer to be let in. Why was she trying to pluck up the balls to see her bestfriend again? No idea. Maybe she was scared of the pity and the sympathy? Maybe it wasn't nerves at all , maybe it was excitement.
That's what she told herself as she pressed the buzzer labelled with Carmen's apartment number hoping to be let in.

"Come on up" The Spaniard's voice came through over the buzzer radio and the door clicked open , granting Ellie access to the apartment building.

Ellie found herself outside Carmen's door as fast as she found herself in the lobby of the building and , without wasting another second , knocked on the door to let Carmen know she was outside.

Carmen opened the door so quick Ellie thought she was standing on the other side waiting for her to knock.
She wasn't wrong.
Carmen was so delighted to see Ellie again that the minute Ellie rang her she left work , dropped her bag inside the door and stood there awaiting her arrival.
And as she saw the Irish girl she had grown to love over the summer , tears welled in her eyes as she further opened the door to let Ellie and Jax in.

"I missed you so much!" Carmen said the minute the door closed , turning to Ellie who had turned to face her too and gently encasing both her and Jax in a hug.

"I missed you too Carmen" Ellie said , taking one hand from Jax and wrapping it around her bestfriend as shoulders.
"You have no idea how much this means to me , I'm so sorry it was such short notice"

"Nonsense" Carmen assured her , pulling back from the hug and crouching to get a proper look at the infant in Ellie's arms.
"I am so excited to finally meet this little man!"

Ellie giggled.
"Carmen this is Jax , Jax can you wave at Carmen?" Ellie introduced them , carefully taking Jax's little wrist in her hand and waving it for him. Every move she made with Jax was made with the upmost of caution.

"Well hello there pequeñito , it is so lovely to meet you!" Carmen said giggling as she stood up straight again.
"How are you?"

Ellie had never grown so sick of a question in her life. Everyone she met seemed to ask her how she was , almost as if they wanted to pry and see if she would crack and shatter at their words.
She knew that wasn't Carmen's intention , but she couldn't help but feel a hint of annoyance at the question.

"Fine" she replied with a sigh and a shrug , Carmen getting the hint not to ask anymore.
"How are you and George? Does he live here with you?"

"Yes he does , he moved in about a year ago" she replied.
"He had an early morning meeting and did a couple laps on the sim but I think he's on his way home now if you want to say hi?"

Ellie checked her watch. It was 11:30am , she was meant to be at the studio at 9:30am. If she wanted to finish her collaboration with Tiësto today , she'd have to leave now. She was already two hours late and Carmen's apartment was a further 45 minutes from the studio by foot , 20 minutes if she took the Tube.

"I'd love to Carmen but I'm already two hours late to the studio. I might stay for a cup of tea later? Meet him then?" It was the best she could do.

At first Carmen was upset hearing she couldn't stay , but her offering to come back later meant Carmen could try to arrange something with their friends before the drivers left for Bahrain for testing.

"Of course! I think some of the drivers based around London might pop over later though too , as like a pre-pre-season testing type meet up if that's okay with you?"

Carmen almost felt as if she was pressuring the girl to meet up , and then worried that she might take Jax back and leave again , not to be seen for another six or eight months.
However , that was not the case.

"Yeah that's perfect!" Ellie replied , thinking that it's about time she socialised again and now was a better time than ever.
"Just don't let anyone post any picture with Jax in it or in the background you know?"

"Of course , no worries!" Carmen promised as she and Ellie made their way to the door again , Ellie on her way out.
"Have a good day and we will see you later" she said , taking Jax from Ellie's arms as if Ellie had almost forgotten to give him over to her.
She did almost forget to hand him over. She was so used to having him go almost every where with her that leaving him at a place that wasn't the crèche felt wrong. But Ellie could trust Carmen and so , she left Jax in Carmen's care.

"Thanks again Carmen , I really appreciate it"

"No worries , have fun!"

And with that , Carmen closed the door and Ellie was left to book it to the studio before she was anymore late.

She was excited for her collab with Tiësto , even though she was the feature. It was a proper nightclub song and she couldn't wait for it to be released.
Whenever that was going to be.
Because Tiësto was 'over' the song as such , it was really up to him to release it whenever he wanted.
But it didn't matter to her if it took him a while to release it , she had a new song of her own with an almost similar vibe to Tiësto's song and it really showed that she was maturing enough to look after Jax but not too much to say she couldn't have fun.

Carmen straight away got on to George and told him to arrange to have as many driver friends over as possible that night , because if nobody came over and Ellie arrived on her own the evening could get a bit awkward when there is nothing to talk about only Aishling.
And much to Carmen's delight , Lando , Alex , Pierre , Esteban , Daniel and Mick agreed to come , each bringing their respective girlfriends who conveniently all happened to be in the country on that one random Tuesday in the middle of February.

And the driver most excited to come was none other than Pierre Gasly.