COMPLETED: The Kiwi to my Heart // Liam Lawson

Chapter 1

"Shit" I thought as I grabbed my paddock pass and ran out of the hotel room. I had been working for Sky Sports for the past 5 months and today was the first free practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix. Why was I freaking out? Maybe because I was running 20 minutes late and I had to interview Daniel Ricciardo. He had just taken Nyck DeVries' spot in Alpha Tauri 2 weeks ago and I got an interview slot with him. This was going to be huge for me if I could pull off a good interview.

I grabbed an uber and headed over to the track. In the car I went over my notes trying to prepare and calm myself down.

I finally got to the track and ran through the turnstile. By the time I reached the pen my hair was sticking to my forehead and my cheeks were bound to be read from this Dutch summer. I pulled my hair back hoping to control the fly aways. I found my manager Martin Brundle and he handed me a mic and earpiece. "Where have you been?" Martin asked as I ran up to him. "I'm sorry I got held back at the hotel. It won't happen again!" I said, out of breath. "It better not. This doesn't look good for us. You never want to keep a driver waiting." He said, impatiently. "I'm sorry. Where is Daniel now?" I asked. "He should still be in the press conference. Head over to the room and wait for him there." "Thank you!" I said and I began walking away when I hear Martin yell out to me. "And take your hair out of that ponytail! You look ridiculous!"

I turn around and shoot him a thumbs up and a tight smile. I pull my hair out of the ponytail and begin my trek to the conference room.

"So Danny, how does it feel being here in Zandvoort?" I begin to say under my breath as I run through the questions again. "When you came to Red Bull as their third driver, did you think gaining a seat was possible?" I ask another question out loud. "Well Y/N I'm so glad you asked me that question!" I turn around to find my best friend walking towards me. "Lando!" I yelled. "Hey Y/N! Where are you going in such a hurry?" He asked. He did a quick jog to catch up to me from where he was. "I'm headed to interview Danny right now." I told him.  "Ok well I'll wish you luck. Also, where is Martin?" He always wanted to know so he could avoid him. "He's down by the pen." I said.  "Thank you!" He gave me a kiss on the cheek and I felt my blush. He always did that and it always gave me butterflies. I watched as he walked hurriedly in the opposite direction of the pen. He was so excited when he heard I would be working for Sky Sports because a) we would get to see each other all the time and b) I'd be able to warn him where Martin was.

I got to the press conference and greeted Danny. "Hi Danny! It's great to see your smiling face on the grid again!" I said. "It's great to be here!" The interview was going swimmingly. I asked him about his future plans with the team and if he thought a future at Red Bull was in the cards. I also got to ask him about some of his pre race rituals. "So Danny, are there any habits you do before races that you picked up again after your time off?" I asked. "So, actually yeah! I'm a big music guy, so I love to throw on my headphones and jam out to some good hip-hop, rock, and EDM." He told me. "You have to share your playlist with me!" I told him. "Of course!" He chimed back. 

After the interview I thanked Danny for his time and he gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Those were some great questions!" He said. "Thank you! To be honest I was really nervous to interview you." I said. "Really? I couldn't tell at all! To be honest with you, you might be giving your boss a run for his money." He winked at me and I laughed. "Please do not tell him that!" Danny zipped his lips and pretended to lock it. "I'll let you go. Good luck during practice!" I added before leaving.  "Thank you!" I returned to the pen beaming with joy from how well that went. I had interviewed other drivers before, but this was a big interview.

I felt my phone vibrate and I saw I got a text.

Lando: Everything go well?

I look around seeing if he can see the goofy smile I had on my face. Low and behold he was standing on the track looking at me. I shoot him a thumbs up and I see him pump his fist in the air and mouth "you are the goat". I laugh and shake my head.

"What's got you smiling so much?" I frown immediately recognizing the voice. "Not you that's for sure." I say as I look up to face Liam Lawson. "That's no way to treat someone who just-"  I shove my hands over his mouth. "Shut the fuck up!" I half whisper half scream at him. I take my hands off his face. "Wow! I think I could get you banned from the grid for assaulting a driver." He said. "Reserve driver. Don't flatter yourself." I fired back. "Mhmm." He walked away from me and I headed off to the race track. I never liked Liam, but after what happened last year... Anyway I tried to stay away from him the best I could, which was a hard task as he was my brother's best friend.

I got to the track and found Lando hoping to put that conversation I had with Liam and what happened last night out of my mind. "What was that down there?" Lando asked. "What?" I asked in response. "With you and Lawson?" Ok, so clearly Lando was the wrong guy to go to. "Oh nothing he just was saying something about Yuki." I tried being nonchalant. "Hm." He hummed in a way that made me know he didn't believe me. "Hm?" "I don't know. Maybe I'm just jealous." He said.  "Jealous?" I asked, feeling my heart beat faster at his words. "Because.." He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. "He got to feel your soft hands on his face." He reached out to me. "You're so stupid." I push his face to the side so I don't have to look at his bright green eyes. "Oh my God! I am never washing this half of my face again!" He said pretending to fan girl. "Yeah and I need to bleach this hand." "You're so mean." Lando said making a frown. "You started it!" I said and we both started laughing.

We quickly tuned around at the sound of Martin. "Lando! Lando! How are you feeling about this weekend after your podium in Silverstone?" "Run!" I told him and Lando quickly walked in the opposite direction trying to be discrete, but also fast. Martin caught up to me and I got an earful. "Why did you let him get away?" He asked clearly disappointed. "I'm sorry." I said, but his attention was quickly grabbed when George walked past. "Oh there's George! George, how do you feel about not getting a podium in Silverstone?"

I walked around trying to get more interviews. After I felt satisfied, I went to the Alpha Tauri lounge to watch Yuki. Today was a good day aside from my run in with Liam. I knew that after last night I was going to have to see him even more and I did not like the idea of that.