ALICE Ch 2

Feeling considerably more relaxed, Alice heads into the dining area, stopping for some sanitizer gel. As she rubs it into her hands, she halts in her tracks. F1 teams aren’t small; FUTA Racing has like a thousand employees. But the crew that travels and mans the HQ is pretty tight-knit, and Alice doesn’t know the blonde that’s staring at her.

She’s seated at a table by the window, looking cute in jeans and a white top. The light’s catching on her ponytail.

“Alice,” Glynda says, and Alice shrieks and jumps.

Glynda does this; she’ll leave a room and then double back in and scare everyone. She’s not really that frightening, but the way she dresses, wears her hair up all the time, and her old-fashioned glasses give her an air of sternness.

“She’s here for you,” Glynda tells Alice quietly. “Motorsport journalist. Make a good impression. Go introduce yourself.”

“OK,” Alice replies, heart pounding.

Embarrassed, she gets herself a coffee and a croissant and goes to that table.

“Hi,” she says.

“I saw her creep up behind you just now,” the stranger replies, looking sympathetic.

“She’ll do that,” Alice says, cringing slightly. She takes a drink of coffee. “I’m Alice Wilde.”

“I know.” The blonde smiles and offers her hand. “Erica Bruhl. Motorsport Media Group. I’m doing a profile on you.”

Alice has done lots of media in only the short time that she’s been with FUTA Racing.

“Like an interview?” she asks.

“Sort of. I’m going to hang around a bit.”

“Well, uh, welcome, I guess,” Alice tells her with a little shrug. “I’ll do whatever.”

“They said you’d be easy.”

Embarrassed, Alice just shrugs. “Look, I just drive the car.”

“Right.” Erica grins. “What are your expectations for the season?”

“That’s like a trick question, right? If I give a realistic answer, you’ll make me look like a pessimist and if I say something like really bold, you’ll make me sound super egotistical,” Alice says. “Right?”

“Wrong. This is a profile. If you tell me that you think an untested team would be happy to break into the midfield, that would translate to something like…” Erika leans back in her chair, crossing her legs and gazing at Alice. “Alice showed admirable restraint, giving a grounded view of what she thought FUTA Racing’s chances would be. And if you tell me that you’re going to be World Champion this year, I’d say that Alice has big aspirations and a lot of drive.”

“You wouldn’t say that I’m crazy?”

“I would not.” Erika’s trying not to laugh, and Alice is trying to place her accent, but can’t.

“World Champion then,” Alice tells her. “Let’s go with that.”

Erica snorts. “All right. But you’re only half of this driving team. Can I ask about your teammate?”

Alice sucks her breath in through her teeth and takes another drink of scalding coffee.

“Oh God,” she says.