Life In The Fast Lane Chapter 9 - Tarmac and Diamonds
Rating: Teen & Up
Warnings: None apply
Pairings: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s); OFCs & OMCs
Work Tags: Re-write of a previous work; Mentions of IRL current and past F1 figures; Eventual romance; friends to lovers; found family/work family; actual family; racing drivers and their various shenanigans; how to handle pressure (and how not to); with a sprinkling of the power of friendship; tags will be updated as work progresses
Chapter 9/57
Word count: 6.7k
Summary: Sophie finds herself in the French Riviera, as F1 lands in Monaco
Wednesday 24th May – Monaco
Monte Carlo. The so called playground of the rich and famous. With its glittering marina, luxurious hotels and casinos, it was nicknamed by many the jewel of the F1 calendar.
But to James, for the past seven years, it was home.
He turned the key to his apartment door with a firm twist, locking it tight, before securing the keys in his backpack and made for the nearest stairwell.
The race weekend schedule was always unique in Monaco. Custom meant that Friday was a rest day, so free practice one and two took place on Thursday, with Wednesday being the track walk and media day. Not that James was really looking forward to either, since he knew the circuit almost like the back of his hand. And it seemed that McLaren’s early upgrades had only bared fruit in Shanghai. When the rest of the teams had brought their upgrade packages to the previous race in Valencia, McLaren found themselves back where they were, languishing between the front runners and the midfield, in a lowly 8th and 9th place.
“Morning” James’ trainer Mike greeted him at the bottom of the stairwell, brown aviators over his eyes and his auburn hair looking freshly washed. As living space was at an extreme premium in Monaco they lived at opposite ends of the same apartment complex.
“You’re sure you want to walk in today?” James asked with a small frown as he led the way out onto the street.
“We’re going cycling on Friday, remember?”
“Right, Friday” James nodded, and took his own Ray Ban sunglasses from the front pocket of his team shirt and put them on as they walked out into the warm sunshine and began the fifteen minute walk down to the marina, where the team motorhomes had already rolled into town.
Another twist of the Monaco Grand Prix’s strange charm, was that the paddock was effectively split into two. The team motorhomes and engineering trucks were down by the marina, an almost ten minute walk away from the pitlane (which was even more unusual, as the team’s pitwalls were situated above the garages, as there simply wasn’t space for them in the pitlane).
James was long used to all of Monaco’s quirks, as long as he’d be able to drive the car on Sunday and hopefully score some points, he wasn’t really fussed at how jumbled the weekend was.
The walk to the paddock was quiet at least, one of the things James did like about living in Monaco was that there were no paparazzi anywhere to be found, as they were completely forbidden from the principality. (Exceptions were made during the Grand Prix weekend for the officially licenced photographers, of course). Occasionally a few other drivers or team members would walk or cycle past, but apart from that, James and Mike were free to talk amongst themselves the whole way.
“So,” Mike’s cheery voice cut through the warm air as he clapped a heavy hand on James’ shoulder, almost forcing him to turn his head to look at his trainer. “How are you feeling?”
“About what?” James asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Anything” Mike shrugged, still keeping a hand on his driver’s shoulder. “Thoughts for the weekend, the season so far, if there’s…” He paused to take in a small, sharp breath “…any problems with you and your team mate”
“I am not having any problems with Sophie…” James scoffed, and rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses for good measure. “And I’m fine mate, really”.
Mike hummed, but finally dropped his hand from James’ shoulder.
“Well, as your confidant slash personal trainer, I am allowed to worry about you. Especially after… you know”
After James and Petra had ended things for the second time right before Abu Dhabi last year.
Carrying on with their walk James took in a long, deep breath of now slightly salty air since they were almost at the marina, and let out an even longer exhale in the hope it would take as much of last year with it as possible.
Mechanical failures had been the main reason why neither he nor Nathan had been involved in the title fight last season. And McLaren had come through on their promise of fixing those gremlins over the winter break, though it seemed they had sacrificed a significant chunk of speed in the process.
Which meant that when the paddock entrance came into view, James rolled his shoulders back and had his best smile ready to go just in case (because some journalists really did take the look on a driver’s face alone as serious indication for what state their team was in).
As they approached the familiar turnstiles, James and Mike found themselves saying good morning to more and more paddock members. James even spotted Richard, who was stood a few metres away from the last turnstile on the left, talking with a shorter blonde woman who like almost everyone James had seen so far was wearing sunglasses over her eyes. She had a green paddock pass around her neck, and wore a peach coloured blouse with dark cotton slacks, with her curly blonde hair ever so slightly drifting in the breeze coming in from the harbour.
“Morning Rich” James smiled brightly at his colleague, who half waved back as the woman he was with checked her watch. There was something in the way her shoulders sunk with a sigh that looked somewhat familiar. So James looked at her again, and took in the gentle sweep of her nose, and somewhat sharp curve of her jawline, and the penny finally dropped in James’ head as he veered away from the turnstiles. “Good morning Mrs Knightsbridge”. His bright smile was completely genuine as he tentatively held out his right hand.
“Oh... Good morning” Her handshake was firm, but polite. “But please, call me Mary” Her accent was the same as her daughter’s. Very stereotypically English, but not posh. They even had the same hint of warmth in their voices. “It’s lovely to finally meet you James”
“Yes you too… No Sophie?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. Richard had seemingly been inseparable from his driver at every race so far this season. And from what James could gather about the Knightsbridge family, they didn’t seem like the kind that would travel to the circuit separately.
“Her and Vanessa decided to cycle in, so we walked down from the hotel. But the chain on Vanessa’s bike went so they’re running a little late” Mary explained.
“Ahh right” Mike, who had stayed a few steps behind James, quietly cleared his throat. “I uh… better head in, but don’t worry you’re in very safe hands” James gestured to Richard who gave a small smile in return as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “We’ll see you in the motorhome” James gave a slightly awkward wave as he made for the nearest turnstile, scanned his pass, and waited for Mike on the other side.
“I am allowed to be friendly you know” He scoffed at Mike once he was happy they were out of earshot. “Heaven forbid I try to make Sophie and her family feel welcome around here”. It was true that Formula 1 had changed a lot in the past decade, both in the way it presented itself to the world, and the people that helped make it. And while there were more women and people of colour employed by teams, the FIA, or even F1 itself, there were still some people from the old status quo that weren’t exactly happy to roll out the red carpet for Sophie in Australia. In their minds, no matter what Sophie did or would ever do would be enough to earn her place in F1.
And Mike had been James’ trainer for the past five years, he knew the paddock well enough by now.
“You were turning on the charm a little too much” Mike teased as they reached the last of the engineering trucks, and made a right for the tightly packed together team motorhomes.
“Oh piss off!” James scoffed. Mike just laughed as they made their way down towards the McLaren motorhome, which thankfully for James wasn’t that far away as he was becoming increasingly tempted to chuck his friend into the sea.
“I mean I know, it’s really difficult being a very handsome very charming bastard, but don’t whip out the megawatt smile before ten o’clock in the morning!” James rolled his eyes and didn’t take off his sunglasses until he was safely inside the McLaren motorhome, and tightly hit Mike on the shoulder.
“Oh come on what was that for?” He winced as they climbed the stairs to the first floor.
“Being an idiot!”
“Maybe we should have just walked in like everyone else… uh good morning!” Sophie winced as she wheeled her bike past a small huddle of Mercedes engineers. One or two of them said hello to Sophie as she passed, and she rushed to return the gesture before they were out of earshot.
While it wasn’t Sophie’s first visit to Monaco, having raced in Formulas 2 and 3 the past few years, the scenery of the principality always seemed to take her by surprise. From the dramatic cliffs near the French border, to the yacht filled marina, and the ribbons of road and pastel coloured buildings that were crammed in-between. As pretty as it was, Sophie wondered how anyone in Monaco had room to breathe, let alone live.
While Richard was leading the way to wherever McLaren had managed to find space for the motorhome, Sophie and Vanessa were more concerned with trying not to hit anyone – or each other – with their bikes.
“Yeah, we’re definitely walking in Saturday and Sunday” Vanessa groaned as Richard made a sudden left, with Mary quickly looking behind her to make sure their little group hadn’t gotten separated.
“You okay Mum?” Sophie asked with a slightly restrained smile. Mary just nodded as she tried to keep everyone together.
“Almost there, I promise!” Richard cheerily called out amongst the maze of team personnel, journalists, and team engineering trucks.
After what felt like an eternity of walking through the very crowded marina, the first of the team motorhomes came into view. And Sophie couldn’t help but gawk at what was very clearly Red Bull’s and Alpha Tauri’s base for the race weekend.
The regular motorhome she had seen at testing and in Valencia had been replaced by a barge that featured a smaller version of the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri shared motorhome atop what looked like the team’s own private pool deck. And if that wasn’t enough, images of all four Red Bull drivers were printed on tarpaulin that was stretched around the base of the barge. It was certainly one way to make an impression.
McLaren by comparison, had a downsized version of their motorhome for the Monaco Grand Prix. It was two stories high instead of three, and was a more solid cuboid shape. The reflective windows had been swapped for tinted ones, but the monochromatic colour scheme with hints of papaya remained as Sophie, Vanessa, Richard and Mary finally walked up the small ramp that led to the main doors. And Sophie finally let out a long exhale once she was inside.
She would never admit it publicly, but she very much considered Monaco to be her bogey track. She had the grand total of one podium finish in her three attempts at the circuit, and that was only due to the on-track winner being disqualified. Monaco was always an intense race not because of any actual racing, but because driving around the narrow streets was like threading a needle in a hurricane. It didn’t take much for a driver to accidentally or otherwise end up in the barriers. And that was before Sophie had considered the fact she would be doing the full race distance of 78 laps, as opposed to the measly 42 laps in the previous year’s F2 sprint race, where she’d finished in fifth.
“Morning Sophie!” She almost jumped out her skin as she reached the top of the stairs and saw James by the door of his driver room. “Rough time getting in?” Her team mate asked with a tilt of the head, clearly noticing he’d startled her.
“Something like that” She sighed as Vanessa entered the code to unlock the door to Sophie’s room.
“Ah well, just the journalists to worry about now” James replied with a grin as he clapped Sophie on the shoulder, and the pair looked at each other for a few seconds longer than normal. “See you later”
“See you” Sophie flashed a small smile at James before lugging her bike down the small corridor and into her driver room, and propped it against the wall next to Vanessa’s.
“You good?”
“Nope” Sophie sighed almost immediately, and flopped down onto the small sofa that sat opposite the massage table, slightly resisting the urge to bury her head in her hands. “I’m just…”
“Terrified of putting your car in the barriers tomorrow” Vanessa finished Sophie’s sentence as she sat down next to her driver, and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. Sophie just hummed in reply and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “You do know that if all you think about is not crashing then-”
“I’ll end up crashing anyway… I know” Sophie huffed as she looked over at the person who was her personal trainer, friend, and emotional support all in one. “Believe me, I’m trying to let it go I just… can’t” She buried her hands in her hair as she took in a long, deep breath, and slowly exhaled. “I’ll feel better after my track walk… probably” Sophie pulled her hair out of her low ponytail as she stood up, and re-tied to so it sat on the crown of her head. “And we should probably go before my Mum drags me downstairs… assuming she hasn’t texted you already”
Vanessa hummed as she stood up and quickly checked her phone with a relieved smile as Sophie opened the door.
“She hasn’t, but there’s still time” Vanessa chuckled as she followed Sophie out the door.
Friday 26th May
“Mon Dieu Sophie, how long does it take you to grab things you’ve had organised since last night?” Nico scoffed as he looked at his watch with an overly dramatic sigh.
“Well I’m not even close to being late so ha!” Sophie screwed up her face at her friend as she handed him her garment bag without asking. “Hi Dana”
“Hi Sophie!” She beamed and eagerly embraced Sophie in a bone-crushing hug. Dana’s work as an architect and increasingly in interior design meant that she didn’t have as much time to attend races as other driver’s partners. They had last seen each other back in April, after Nico and Dana had taken Sophie out to dinner to celebrate her podium finish.
Dana and Nico had met in 2020, when the company she worked for had been invited to the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes to do some renovation work, on the same day that Nico in his then-duties as Red Bull test driver had been at the factory for a run in the simulator. They had started dating not long after, which meant that she had also known Sophie ever since. “It is so good to see you!” Dana said with a bright smile, squeezing her hands on Sophie’s shoulders. “And we finally have someone sensible to talk to” Dana grinned with a wink for Nico’s benefit.
“It’s about time” Sophie chuckled before looking over at Nico. “We love you really”
“Oh yes, of course you do” He jokingly rolled his eyes before going to check his watch. “But we really are going to be late at this rate”
Dana led the way out of the hotel lobby as Nico returned Sophie’s garment bag, and the trio walked out into the late afternoon sunshine for their walk over to the Grimaldi Forum.
Over the years the powers that be on the commercial side of F1 had found ways to fill in the traditional rest day of the Grand Prix weekend. Sophie, like a handful of other drivers, had spent much of the morning doing a sponsor photoshoot, before being freed to train with Vanessa, have lunch with Nico, Dana and her Mum, before squeezing in a quick shower to get ready for her final engagement of the day – The Amber Lounge Fashion Show.
No one in the paddock could quite pinpoint the exact moment it became a traditional part of the race weekend, but as the fashion show and accompanying gala was for charity, no one really seemed to mind. Around a third of the drivers on the grid were in attendance each year, as they even had their own slot during the show. Which was why Nico and Sophie’s garment bags contained some of their more finer outfits.
“I’ll be in the crowd, and Nico will be with you the whole time” Dana said to Sophie with a gentle hand on her shoulder. She had already changed into her ankle length navy chiffon dress which paired beautifully with her deeply tanned skin, and her dark golden brown hair was curled and styled in a half-updo.
“It’s not the fashion show I’m worried about” Sophie sighed, half-lying. Her main concern was ensuring that her ankles would survive a night in heels incident free, because there wasn’t going to be anything more embarrassing than having to pull out of the race because of a shoe induced sprained ankle.
When Sophie spoke with a sadder sigh than she intended, Nico stopped in his tracks, screwed up his face, and let out a small sigh himself.
“Habibi what is it?” Dana asked, looking between her boyfriend and Sophie.
“The date” Nico frowned, before handing Dana his garment bag so he could hug Sophie round the shoulders. “I’m so sorry ma amie”. Sophie let herself rest her head on Nico’s chest as Dana eventually placed a hand on Sophie’s arm when she realised what Nico was referring to.
That had Sophie not broken up with Tom after telling his parents they’d gotten engaged, today would have been their eight year anniversary.
Not really a day she felt like getting dolled up to be presented to the masses. If the fashion show wasn’t for charity, she would have twisted Vanessa’s arm into helping her pull a sickie so she could hide in her hotel room instead.
Nico and Dana had been the second and third people after Vanessa to help take care of Sophie after the fallout of her very brief engagement. She could still remember that week in mid-December last year clear as day. Signing her McLaren contract on the Tuesday, Tom taking her out for dinner to their favourite restaurant in Northampton and proposing on the Wednesday night, telling Sophie’s family over the phone on the Thursday morning… and then Saturday happened.
Tom’s parents were on the above average side of wealthy, his mother was the head of an estate agent, and his father a property developer. They had never sent Tom to a private school despite being more than able to afford it, because they wanted him to be ‘normal’. So he ended up in the same year as Sophie when they started High School. He never laughed when Sophie told him she wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, and he even went two a couple of her karting races before they got together. He had finally asked her out when Sophie won her first single seater race.
Tom had decided that it would have been best to tell his parents face to face, so when he and Sophie arrived at the five-bedroom Berkley family home, he had hoped that his parents would be over the moon to see the gold set emerald cut Diamond on Sophie’s ring finger.
But instead his mother’s face went white with shock.
“What are you thinking? Throwing your career away to follow her here there and everywhere” Tom, like his younger sister Alice, hadn’t went into either family business, and instead worked in IT. Even while Sophie had been sat alone in the large living room, she had heard every word Tom’s mother had yelled at him from the next room. Maybe it had been intentional. “I don’t care how successful she might be…” Sophie’s breathing had become more and more ragged as she heard Tom’s mother suddenly say all manner of things about her. That she’d never approved of Sophie being a racing driver, that she’d assumed Sophie and Tom would fizzle out either due to the increased amount of travelling Sophie did, or that Tom would find someone more ‘suitable’, whatever that meant.
Sophie still remembered biting down on her bottom lip as tears began to fill her eyes, and her engagement ring started to feel heavier and heavier on her left hand. Seeing Tom’s sister walk in with two cups of tea had been the last straw, as Sophie pulled the ring off her finger and left it on the coffee table. She would never force Tom to choose between her and his family.
“I mean, what was I thinking, getting engaged at 23?!” Sophie shook her head as she sat down on the nearest bench, with Nico and Dana joining her on either side. She’d found herself thinking about the end of her relationship on the odd moment throughout the year. She had loved Tom, completely. But there were times that she wondered if she’d said yes to marrying him because it felt like ticking the next box after securing her F1 drive. They had never really, properly, discussed getting married before he got down on one knee.
“You’ll be okay Sophie” Nico said softly as he took his friend’s hand in his.
“I am okay I just…” The fact that the most she currently felt was a small ache in her chest, and that she had been able to think straight in first and second practice yesterday, was a testament to that. “I’m making peace with it all I guess”. As was starting to be the case with every time she thought about Tom, she felt more and more at ease with the fact she definitely didn’t want to get married anytime soon. “I want to move on. I don’t know if or when I want to start dating again, especially since all the people I see these days are from the paddock”
Nico and Dana both chuckled.
“I’m sure that one day, you are going to meet someone who just… makes you so happy you’ll want to dive right into the deep end. So long as he respects you for who you are of course” Nico smiled, briefly glancing over at Dana. “And if that’s something you really want, then it’ll be okay… even if they do end up being from the paddock” He added with a small smile, and squeezed Sophie’s hand before letting go. And after letting out one final exhale, Sophie and Dana got up from the bench, and the trio carried on their journey.
Once they arrived at the venue Nico and Sophie showed both their F1 accreditation passes and passports to one of the people on the reception desk, and once Dana had gotten her guest wristband, a member of staff led the two drivers to the backstage area.
Vanity mirrors and chairs took up an entire wall on the left, half of which were filled with models, make-up artists, hair stylists, and one or two drivers. The rest of the space was filled with temporary cubicles, rows upon rows of clothes rails, and small sofas and armchairs wherever there was room for them. To the right, a large black curtain separated the backstage area from what Sophie assumed was the catwalk.
“When I told my parents I wanted to be an F1 driver, I never imagined it would involve anything like this” Sophie gulped.
“Ah, I don’t think any of us did” Nico sighed as he clapped Sophie on the shoulder.
“You’re Sophie Knightsbridge, yes?” A brunette woman in her 40’s approached Sophie almost out of thin air, catching her by surprise. Sophie just nodded. “Ah, you’re right on time. Come with me” She spoke with a French accent and walked a few hurried steps away before turning around. “Are you another driver or her boyfriend?” She asked Nico, completely straight faced.
Nico tried and failed to suppress his laughter before replying. “Driver, I’m Nico Dumont from Alpha Tauri”.
“Ah, good” And the woman turned round again, marching towards a pair of free vanity tables, as Nico let out some more repressed giggles.
“Of course you’re already more famous than me Cherie” Nico shook his head and hung his garment bag off the back of the make-up chair he was directed to.
“My name’s Marie” The woman finally introduced herself, and gestured for Sophie to sit down. “I’ll be doing your hair and make-up for the show” She explained while trying to peer through the small plastic window on Sophie’s garment bag. “What style is your dress?”
“Rose pink satin, it’s strapless” Marie just hummed in reply while she examined Sophie’s hair and hands. She frowned at how short Sophie’s nails were. “I can’t wear false nails when I’m in the car” Sophie huffed somewhat defensively. She had always kept her nails short out of necessity for both practicality and comfort, filed down to just past the tips of her fingers.
“That’s okay, we wouldn’t have had the time to put them on anyway. Can we paint them at least?”
“Sure” Sophie nodded, and Marie sprinted off to get something, saying that someone would be along to work on Nico shortly. Sophie pulled her phone out of her pocket to quickly text Richard that she had made it to the event safe, sound, and crucially on time. He texted back, both wishing her luck and saying that James was meant to be arriving soon as well.
“Ohhhhh no way!” Nico exclaimed, looking at his own phone with a wide smile.
“What is it?” Sophie asked cautiously, putting her phone into her backpack before turning to look at her friend. Nico gleefully passed over his phone, which was opened on the memories page of his Facebook account, and Sophie audibly gasped at the picture.
“No, you’re kidding!” The picture was of Sophie and Nico, both aged 14, stood on the podium with another driver (Nico had won, with Sophie in second) at the first international karting race they had both competed in together. Incidentally, they had only met each other for the first time the day before, when Nico had rescued a 9 year old Will from picking a fight with another kid who wasn’t exactly keen on being out-qualified by a girl.
Nico had eventually reunited Will with the rest of the Knightsbridge family, and Mark and Mary were so relieved that they offered Nico and his family to join them for dinner, once they found out the Dumonts were staying at the same hotel. Sophie and Nico had been friends ever since. “What do you mean I’ve been enduring you and your nonsense for ten years?”
Nico threw his head back and laughed as Sophie handed back his phone with a smirk. She was joking of course. Truthfully, she had no idea where she would be if she didn’t have Nico to turn to for advice, or to fight her corner. Something which Sophie gladly paid back in return without hesitation. She remembered Nico calling her on the eve of his F1 debut last year, as he tried to shake off any remaining nerves. He’d ended up dragging his Alpha Tauri into 9th place.
“Ah,” Nico grinned, reaching out for Sophie’s hand to give it a tight squeeze. “I love you too”
Eventually, Marie returned with a toolkit of make-up brushes, and goodness knew what else in a large pouch with more pockets than Sophie could count tied round her waist. She got to work on Sophie’s nails first, painting them a shimmering gold, before putting Sophie’s hair in large rollers. Much to Nico’s delight, as he took multiple pictures and videos of the entire affair to post on Instagram later.
“Have you ever been in a fashion show before?” Marie asked as she finished Sophie’s make-up with a few coats of mascara.
“It’s not something racing drivers normally do” Sophie sighed and pressed her lips together (though not too hard as to smudge her lipstick).
“Ah well,” Marie paused, taking a step back to look over her work. “You are certainly beautiful enough for it. Charlotte!” A younger woman, much closer to Sophie’s age, with strawberry blonde hair tied in a high ponytail shot up from one of the small sofas, and made a beeline for Marie and Sophie. “This is Charlotte, she’ll be your dresser”
“Oh, I’m done?” Sophie asked hesitantly, slowly reaching down for her backpack.
“Yes, all done” Marie smiled and handed Sophie’s garment bag over to Charlotte. Nico had left a few minutes ago, since he had less hair to style into place. Sophie politely thanked Marie for taking care of her and followed Charlotte’s hurried footsteps to one of the cubicles. The show was still a couple of hours away from starting, but the drivers were required to walk the red carpet first.
“It’s so nice to meet you” Charlotte smiled at Sophie brightly as she held open the curtain to one of the cubicles. “I had no idea women could be racing drivers until this year, I know you haven’t won a race yet, but I think what you’re doing is amazing”
“Well…” Sophie blushed, not really knowing what to say. Charlotte was far from being the first woman Sophie had met this year to be wowed by her presence. “I’m not the first, not in F1 anyway”
“Yes, you’re number six!” Charlotte replied excitedly as she closed the curtain and unzipped the garment bag, revealing Sophie’s strapless, calf length satin dress. "Oh what a beautiful dress! What label is it?"
"H&M" Sophie blushed as she toed out of her espadrilles. If Charlotte thought any less of it, she didn't show it as she slid to dress off the hanger while Sophie quickly undressed. "I didn't know being a professional dresser was a thing"
"Yes! Fashion shows are always so busy" Charlotte replied as Sophie stepped into the dress, and held it up as Charlotte zipped up the back. "Ah, perfect fit. Though I'll use some tape, just in case" Charlotte produced a roll of body tape from a bag at her hips. "Don't worry, it won’t damage the dress" She smiled reassuringly as she attached two pieces to the top of the dress, and gently pressed them down. "Any jewellery?"
"Uh yeah, in my bag" Sophie walked over to her backpack, and pulled out a shoebox, and a much smaller black velvet box. And as Charlotte took out Sophie's shoes, she audibly reacted when Sophie opened the small jewellery box, revealing a pair of small teardrop pearl and diamond earrings. "They were my grandmother's, on my Dad's side"
"They're very pretty, let me get your necklace" Both pieces were set in gold, and the necklace featured five small rice pearls scattered along the chain. Charlotte fastened it so it sat just on Sophie’s collarbone. "All done, you look beautiful" Sophie had avoided looking at the full length mirror in front of her out of fear at what she'd see back. It turned out that in all the time since breaking up with Tom to now, she'd forgotten how pretty she was.
Rose gold eyeshadow enhanced the swirls of brown in Sophie’s eyes, her cheekbones had been accented just enough to bring them out and add a small bit of definition to her face, and her lips had been painted a rosy nude shade that complimented her skin perfectly. Her look had been finished off with a blush of soft pink on her cheeks, and her hair that had been styled into large loose curls framed her face perfectly.
"What's wrong? Do you not like it?" Charlotte asked suddenly as Sophie’s eyes dropped to the floor. She wasn't sure how to reply.
"No, no I just... it's been a while since I..." Sophie glanced into the mirror again, noting that the rose satin dress gave her figure more of an hourglass shape than what she naturally had. "I don't get to dress up that often" She blushed, stepping into her suede nude heels. Charlotte had seemingly read between the lines, as she gave Sophie a knowing look.
"Well, you should. Oh, one more thing. Can you hold your hair back?" Sophie did as she was told, and felt a small dab of something wet on the back of her neck. "Eyelash glue, it will hold your necklace in place when you walk down the runway" Sophie felt the necklace clasp being pressed against her skin. "There, now you're ready" Charlotte said with a triumphant smile. "Your things will be put in a locker, just come and find me once everything's wrapped up" Already she had pulled back the cubicle curtain, and Sophie found herself rooted in place. "Own it" Charlotte said, tilting her head towards the backstage area. “No one has the right to make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin”
And after taking in a deep breath, Sophie stepped out of the cubicle, realising that Charlotte and Marie had put too much effort into Sophie for her to just hide in a corner. So she walked over towards where the drivers were supposed to wait, in the hope Nico would be waiting for her as promised.
James couldn’t remember the last time he’d been at Amber Lounge, it might even have been as far back as when he was still driving for Aston Martin, but he wasn’t sure. Normally it was an event saved for the rookies and younger drivers. But the team had convinced James into going by saying how great it would be for their most recent world champion and most recent podium finisher to be seen together at the same event. Especially since McLaren were starting to think about gearing up for their 60th anniversary celebrations.
Plus, it was either the fashion show or a yacht party, and James hated yacht parties. At least this way he’d be with some of his fellow drivers, as he found himself catching up with Aaron Jones.
The dress code for the fashion show was formal, but not black tie, so the male drivers had a small bit of leeway in what kind of suits they could wear. James had opted for a three-piece charcoal and navy check suit, with a white shirt and burgundy tie – formal, but not completely bland.
“Is that Sophie?” Aaron asked out of the blue as he looked over his shoulder. James turned his head to look in the same direction and did indeed find himself looking at his team mate. He’d found himself noticing her a lot more than usual so far this weekend. But not in a ‘she was always the first person he saw’ kind of way. No, Sophie was the person he’d spot as he glanced round the room, then he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Oh wow” James said without realising. “Look at you!” He said louder, in a more affectionately teasing way, as Sophie walked over towards them. She blushed as she clasped her hands behind her back. “You look great Soph”
“Thanks… you haven’t seen Nico have you?”
“I think he went out to make a phone call” Aaron interjected before pulling his own phone out of his pocket, and asked to take a selfie with the two McLaren drivers. Sophie’s face lit up with relief when Nico arrived, in his pale blue suit, white shirt and black tie, and the two friends teased each other about how well they scrubbed up. James happily obliged when Sophie asked him to take their picture, and he couldn’t help but notice his team mate’s first genuine smile of the evening.
A few minutes later the drivers were eventually shooed off to the red carpet, which passed by in a blur of flashes and slightly forced smiles, and they found themselves seated on the front row so that when the time came for the driver’s slot they wouldn’t get in anyone’s way as they left. And for publicity purposes, of course.
As James sat down he smoothed down his tie, and as he inhaled he smelt the faint whiff of something sweet and floral. He took in what he thought was a subtle deeper breath, but it caused Sophie to quietly grown.
“I knew I put on too much perfume” She muttered, rapidly tapping her fingers against her leg. She was sat in-between James and Nico, who was chatting away to Marc Pavard in French.
“Oh no it’s fine really, I just wanted to know what it was. That’s all”
“You’re just saying that so I won’t get embarrassed” Sophie scoffed and looked down at the floor. “Orange blossom, for what it’s worth” She said quietly as the lights dimmed and the opening segment of the fashion show got underway.
After about half an hour or so, the drivers were quietly led backstage, and filed into order by one of the directors. It didn’t seem like the drivers were in a particular order – until James and Sophie were left until last, arguably being the most high profile of those present.
“You alright team mate?” James half-turned to look behind him, and saw Sophie looking blankly into the distance. “Hey” He reached out to gently place a hand on her forearm, and it worked in getting her attention without startling her. “Just… take a deep breath in and pretend you’re walking over to me to say hello”
“Uh huh…” Sophie hummed, pressing her lips together.
“Or, think about how happy your Gran would be to know her jewellery was getting shown off in Monaco of all places” He remembered Nico saying something about Sophie’s necklace and earrings when they left for the red carpet, and that netted Sophie’s second proper smile of the night.
“Thanks, don’t break a leg” She replied back.
“I’ll try” James chuckled, and turned round right as a group of models rushed backstage to change into their next outfits. There was a brief pause before the drivers segment was introduced to feverish applause, and a slick guitar riff started playing over the speakers, followed by a steady beat as Nico made his way onto the catwalk.
When it came to James’ turn he flashed a bright smile for the crowd as he walked down to the end of the catwalk, paused for a few seconds, then turned around. Only to be frozen in place. Sophie wasn’t just smiling as she walked out, but beaming – making her look absolutely beautiful.
And that terrified James beyond all belief.
Maybe all the long days at the track were starting to pile up, maybe it was because they genuinely got on with each other, or maybe it was because Sophie was exactly James’ type: friendly, smart and gorgeous, that he realised he maybe didn’t just like her as a team mate.
Shit, he’d told himself that wasn’t going to happen.
Working on automatic pilot, with his smile still fixed into place, James walked back to the top of the catwalk to stand in formation with the other drivers. And as she walked past Sophie, the pair briefly smiled at each other, the way good team mates did. Eventually when Sophie re-joined her colleagues as the music ended to more than polite applause, James put a hand on her shoulder and smiled for the cameras. And all he could smell was orange blossom.
He could start burying his feelings in a panic, but maybe with so many races to go until the summer break that wouldn’t be the best idea. Maybe if he just acknowledged it for what it was, a fleeting attraction at seeing her glamorously dressed up for the first time. After all, they’d known each other for four months now. Surely, if James really was attracted to Sophie, he would have felt something long before now. And maybe tonight was just a blip, a lock up on an out lap. Maybe if James registered what he felt, it would go away just as quickly.
Because he really, really, didn’t want to think about the consequences of the alternative.
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Alrightie, as the one with the most votes we've got Babe on deck! Fun fact, their chapter and Angel's chapters were the ones that gave me the most trouble when I was plotting lol. And if you have someone you wanna see next let me know! I’ve still got Darlin, Angel, and Sweetheart left! I hope you enjoy! (I didn’t tag babe tho since IOS has banned the word T^T)
Pairing: mentions of Asher/Babe
WC: 1.7K
TW: Anxiety
Genre: Bodyswap au!
Chapter 1
This was wrong.
Sure, sleepwalking wasn’t something that had ever happened to Babe before but there is always a first time for everything. The bigger concern was the fact that APPARENTLY they had decided that sleep cooking was a good idea too. Which was extremely dangerous, they could have burned the damn house down and they wouldn’t have known
What was really confusing them was, Asher usually woke up if they left the bed. He was an extremely light sleeper and would whine if they tried to leave him before it was time for work. It was an almost daily struggle to leave if they were ever scheduled before him. Of course he never actually made them late, he just liked putting on the clingy act and Babe thought it was cute so they had never really fought against it. So…where was he? If they had gotten up to cook in their sleep there would be no way that their mate wouldn’t have either woken them up or supervised them in the form of recording them and laughing.
It all felt wrong.
So quickly they went to turn off the burner, deciding that whatever they were cooking wasn’t worth it. Yet when they went to reach for the burner it was in the wrong place. The oven in their apartment was located at the back of the oven but this one, the knobs were on the front right above the oven door. One more strike on how confusing tonight was becoming.
Leaving the pot on the burner, they turned on their heel to return to their bedroom only to find a completely unfamiliar kitchen before them. None of the layout was correct, the fridge was on the wrong side of the room and the sink had no dishes left over in it, and the room itself seemed smaller and more confining. Or maybe that was just the concern and confusion making them feel like they were being trapped. They couldn’t be too sure.
Hesitantly they took steps outside of the room, examining the other rooms that belonged in this apartment. It was smaller than the one they shared with Asher, one bedroom and one bathroom, but it was a lot tidier than their home. Did they accidentally break into someone else’s home? If they had then they were…an amazing lock picker because there was no one here besides them.
Entering the living room, they noticed the only mess they had seen in the entire apartment. Books, and from the looks of it they were college textbooks. So Babe decided to continue snooping around this stranger’s home. Silently they lifted one of the heavy tomes to read the cover.
‘Energetic: Electro - An Anthology’
Energetic? Like the games Asher and the Pack would be watching over soon? So…this person was an Energetic? Well that was certainly concerning, especially if they found out that Babe had been snooping around their house after breaking in and trying to cook something in their sleep. At that, Babe decided it would be best to leave and attempt to find their way home.
Quietly they paced over to the front door, fully prepared on escaping and leaving this place behind. All while hopefully not getting charged with trespassing, since most apartment buildings have cameras of some sort. Only to stop theirself in front of a stray mirror.
The face staring back at them…unfamiliar. They had never seen this person before and yet the image in the mirror moved as they did. A strange feeling sunk into their gut, a fear they hadn’t really felt since being trapped in that Elevator the first time they met Asher. Anxiety pulling at their gut like a tiger locked in a cage, waiting for them to let the panic loose.
Then the front door opened and it felt like a thread snapped inside of them, followed by the sound of electricity and shattering glass. In surprise they let out a scream.
“Lovely? Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” The voice of a stranger filtered into their ears, as the sound of footsteps brought him closer to them. They didn’t fight back when this man’s hand gripped their shoulder, gently turning them to face him as he muttered soft words of comfort at them. His hand a gentle caress on their cheek, his lips pressing a soft kiss to their forehead. His comfort brought them back to a relative state of calm, though how calm they could be with so many unknown variables wasn’t all that good.
“So, Little One, did something happen? Did you want to talk about it?” The man said, a soft smile still on his face as he watched them. Babe couldn’t stop the confused look that plastered itself onto their face as they looked at this man. He was so comforting, and he obviously knew them…or well, whoever they were at the moment. It made them question everything.
Was this some sort of magic thing that they just didn’t understand? Did they have amnesia of some sort and just…forgot this man despite obviously being with him? And if that was the case…what happened to Asher. Their heart ached at the thought of breaking up with him, the thought had never even crossed their mind. Hell, they had never told him because they thought the concept itself was silly but they thought he was their soulmate. They honestly couldn’t see a future for theirself if Asher wasn’t in it.
And if this was their future then they didn’t want it.
“We don’t have to if you’re not up for it,” The man continued, cutting off the trail of thoughts circling inside of Babe’s mind. “We can just head to bed and cuddle until you fall asleep. If that would be easier for you, but…it has been helping when you talk about these things instead of bottling them up.”
“I don’t know…who I am. Or…who you are.” The words slipped from their lips before they could stop them. This person, the face of a stranger that they had seen staring back at them. This wasn’t them was it? They knew what they looked like, what they sounded like and this wasn’t it. Right?
The words seemed to spark a concern in the male before them, they could practically see the cogs of his brain turning as he processed their confession. After a moment he nodded, a solemn look on his face as he mentioned taking them to the living room to sit down so they could talk.
Sitting on an unfamiliar sofa, they realized they didn’t like it. It wasn’t as comfortable as the one they had bought with Asher for their own living room. But maybe that was just their anxiety talking, their longing to be back with their mate.
“Okay, let’s start small. My name is Vincent. Can you tell me what you do know right now? We’ll work through this together okay? I’m not going to leave you, I promise.” Once again this man was showing them nothing but comfort and concern, almost as if he had dealt with this before…or at least a similar situation. His patience seemed to be unending.
Babe nodded, telling him the name that they were sure was their own but the longer they stayed here the more uncertain they became. They told him about Asher, and how much they missed him and wanted to be with him right then (no offense to him). But they left out things about the magical world. They didn’t know if this man was a part of it, or if he was an informed unempowered like they were. Sure they could assume that he was at least that since the magical textbooks had just been left about on the coffee table, but they didn’t want to take any chances. Especially knowing the trouble Asher had gotten in for not going through the proper channels before telling them about the pack.
The more they spoke, the more confusion seemed to be evident on the man’s face. The look of recognition he once had slowly slipped away until it seemed like he was staring at a complete stranger. Which wasn’t too far from the truth. A stranger wearing his lover’s skin.
“Well…it looks like you have a pretty good grasp on who you are, but you’re definitely in the wrong place.” He muttered, keeping his hands to himself as he tried to bring back a small smile. They could see the concern still in his eyes, though they knew now that it wasn’t directed at them, “I’m not sure what could have happened, but like I said before we can figure this out together. Now, you said the last thing you remembered was falling asleep with…Asher? And then you woke up in the kitchen here?”
Babe nodded, their leg bouncing as they tried to contain their anxiety at the whole situation. Vincent let out a sigh, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck as he scavenged his brain for anything that could possibly explain the situation.
“I’m about to be breaking a lot of rules here if you’re unempowered but, I might have someone who might know something. But i’ll need you to trust me, okay? It would be easier if I took you to him and had you explain what happened, less to be lost in translation.” He began to explain, his eyes locked onto them as if searching in their own eyes for the one he wanted to speak to, “His name is William, he’s been alive for a really really long time and he might have heard of a situation like this.”
“How can I know you’re not going to lead me into someplace dangerous?” They questioned, eyes watching him as if they would be able to tell if he were lying. They didn’t want to believe he would, not with how kind he had been to them so far, but there was always the chance.
Vincent smiled, placing a hand on the top of their head and giving a small reassuring pat.
“Because you’re in my Lovely’s body, and while you seem nice, if there is any way I can get them back then I’m going to do it. Besides, I’m sure your Asher is missing you just as much as I’m missing Lovely.”
A silence fell between them, Babe knew he was right. They wanted to trust him and so they would, it was their only real option right now. They could only hope that Asher was okay.
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