Pit Lane Persephone

Chapter 23: Lauren

They better not ask about me and Seb. They better not ask about me and Seb. They better not ask about me and Seb.

"Remember if they ask about you and Seb, just act coy," Nicola says like a goddamned mind reader as I sit next to her on this faux-leather couch wringing my hands and praying to avoid this exact topic. "You have been killing it with the social media impressions since yesterday and Ciao, Roma, which is the biggest gossip rag in Italy even picked up our little PDA session, so I think we've achieved what we wanted with that."

She sent me talking points for this interview last night and we've been going through it one more time this morning, but I still don't feel prepared. Maybe it's because I really can't wait to just get back to the track again. Or maybe because over the course of a few hours yesterday, my teammate and I had become friends with benefits without much of the actual benefits part.

So . . . like friends, then? Ugh. Why did things have to be this convoluted? I need to stop obsessing over one kiss.

I mean I've been kissed before. And while that moment with Seb was great—kind of incredible, really—it was also impulsive. Irresponsible, actually. A one-and-done deal, for sure.

With only two more races to go, the last thing I need is to be obsessing over my own teammate. And if he wants to save his season, Seb needs to follow my lead. So why am I constantly looking at him, sitting on the other side of the waiting room of this top-40 radio station? And why does he keep looking up from his phone back at me? He knows as well as I do that it would be an absolute shitastrophe if we continue to blur the line between us.

"All right. Let's just go through this one more time," Nicola addresses both of us, and Seb puts his cell away. "You'll only be on-air for fifteen minutes. Nothing is off the table, but most of the questions should be about the series and this weekend's race."

It's fairly straightforward, and we've heard it all before. We both nod and she continues. "Remember to keep your answers light. Listeners of this type of show aren't interested in anything too technical or serious. Feel free to mention the brand and sponsors, but only if you can work it in organically. This isn't a paid advert, so don't force it."

In a few minutes, a producer takes Seb and me into the studio. We make quick introductions with the thirty-something hosting duo of the morning show, take our seats across a large broadcasting table, and put on clunky headphones just as the commercial break ends.

"This morning we have one of our favorite guests, reigning 3Prix world champion and pride of Roma, Seb Bianchi from Cadmium Racing in the studio," says the DJ who calls himself Dano.

His co-host, Eddo, seamlessly takes over. "And as a special treat, Seb has brought along his teammate Lauren Dimas. So welcome to both of you," he says.

Apart from my answers, the show is completely in Italian. I have to wait for the delayed translation as the English equivalent of the conversation streams through my headphones, so Seb has already replied with a quick grazie while I'm still processing being called a 'treat.'

"In the previous segment we were talking about embarrassing moments, so how about we start off with that? Since we're gentlemen, we'll ask the lady to go first. Tell us Lauren, what's your most embarrassing moment?" Dano asks, turning to me with a grin.

"Oh, geez," I stammer, staring at the commercial microphone in front of me. I can talk day and night about racing, but Nicola didn't prepare me for this one. "Uhm, let's see. Well, last winter, I was getting ready to take my GEDs—that's a way in America to earn your high school diploma through a test instead of actually going to classes—so I had the test on a Saturday morning, and I completely overslept. I think I wanted to set my alarm for seven-thirty in the morning and ended up putting it on seven-thirty pm instead of am. So, anyway, I thought I was running super late even after I skipped showering, threw on some random clothes, and rushed over to the testing center. I get there when everyone else is already seated, ready for the exam and of course they're all staring at me like, who's this idiot? I'm making apologies while trying to find a pencil, when the supervising teacher walks up to me with this weird look on her face. Long story short, everyone who should have been there already was, and I wasn't even registered for that day. My test was the following weekend. To make everything worse, I'd gotten caught by a speed camera and the ticket for sixty bucks was sent to my house three weeks later."