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“Oliver and Edward’s are especially hilarious,” Elizabeth added with a warm smile. “Now, Georgia and Luca, we’ll have you post yours this evening. The teams will work with you on what photos are best to share with the caption. I’ve sent them some ideas.
Lily and Henri, it’s best that you only comment on these social media posts. Posts from your teammates and brother might look like we’re being too defensive, so we’ll take that day by day. Henri and Lily will drop some comments into their conversations with fans because you will be asked about it this week, but otherwise, let’s not make a big deal about it.
Georgia and Luca, I’ve emailed you some comment ideas to post on the various posts if you so wish. Don’t need to comment on all of them, but definitely do comment on some. It was very kind of the other drivers to do this. You have some good friends.”
I nodded and smiled at that.Indeed I did.
“Our strategy boils down to the following: we’re going to make the Daily Report feel so stupid, they’ll never dare pull another stunt like this again. Now, any questions?” I had to chuckle at that, to be fair to the Daily Report – they had written a somewhat truthful story, and yet somehow, as I sat there, staring at Luca’s face on the screen, the story didn’t feel truthful anymore.
Before I could speak up, I heard Luca’s voice come over the speaker. “Yes.. um… you mentioned bad news?”
“Oh, right, yes. Obviously, you’ll need to extend this relationship timeline. Isabelle said there was chatter about a break up after summer break, and then it was moved to December… let’s make sure it’s pushed out to the start of next season, hmm?”
“Oh noooo,” Luca interjected sarcastically, pretending to be upset, “another couple of months dating the mostbeauuttiiiffullllwoman in the paddock, what a bummer for me.” My cheeks began to heat up as they turned a bright shade of red. I couldn’t help but notice a sly look between Isabelle and Fiona, although neither of them said anything. Lily, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
“Don’t be silly, Luca,wearen’t dating,” Lily laughed into the camera. I shook my head, chuckling at Lily’s antics. Luca and Matteo were laughing on the other end now. “Well, I think this sounds great,” Lily concluded, “any chance to make a journalist look like an idiot is a fun day for me.”
Elizabeth nodded at Lily’s comment and turned back to me. “Any questions, Georgia?”
“What about the sponsors?”
“Ahh, good question. We emailed them all last night,” Isabelle responded. “You’ll be pleased to know Maison de Klotho got back to me this morning with the following response.” Isabelle took a pause, putting on her reading glasses before pulling up the email on her phone.
“Dear Isabelle, thanks for the heads up. We aren’t concerned. After spending the day with Luca and Georgia, I think it’s pretty easy to see the genuine connection those two have. I’d be happy to set up another photoshoot to help squash this nonsense.” I let out a sigh of relief. This had been my biggest concern, but with the sponsors still in play, we had a chance to survive this storm.
“I, of course, let her know that we’ll happily set up a photo shoot during summer break for the two of you.” Lizzie looked pleased with this arrangement. She had been dying to do another shoot, and this time she was set on coming with me.
“Okay, well, if that is all, I’ll let you get back to your day.”
After the meeting, Lizzie approached me and told me that we would get together at lunch to go through my posts and Instagram comments. The team would get them all up for me over the next twenty-four hours. I asked Lizzie if I could read the article, but she insisted on giving it a little more time, begging me not to read it yet. I appreciated that she had my feelings in the forefront of her mind, but the more the lady protested, the more I wanted to read the article. Still, I agreed to at least wait until Wednesday. Tuesday was about learning the upgrades.
It certainly wasn’t about Luca's blatant eagerness to keep this going – now that I didn’t have time to delve into it.
* * *
Fortunately, the Valkyrie F1 factory was close to Monaco, so I was able to wake up in my bed Wednesday morning before we took off for Austria. Lily had decided to stay at mine since her home base was in London. I woke up Wednesday morning to the sound of pings out in my living room, likely from Lily’s phone. As I walked out into the hallway, I saw Lily and Henri chatting away, casually drinkingmycoffee frommymugs.
“I see you’ve both decided to make yourselves quite at home.” They both flashed me a teasing smile before going back to whatever they were doing.
As Lily sat on my couch, scrolling through her phone, I noticed Henri watching her. He was pretending to read a book, but I could see his eyes glance up at her every so often, as if his thoughts were a million miles away.
They’d make a good-looking couple, I mused to myself as I began to make my coffee. I was quickly brought out of my thoughts and back to reality when I heard a screech from Lily.
“They’ve posted! They’ve posted!”
I immediately knew she meant the Instagram posts. I saw Henri pick up his phone, likely adding in his comment as he was instructed to. Lily turned on my TV and immediately began casting her Instagram on the screen.
“Look how cute!”
And there I saw it: up on the screen was my Instagram post that Lizzie and I had written yesterday.
Lily continued to scroll down, showing Luca's social media post. I had seen the photo he was going to use, and I was a tad annoyed that Edward had even taken that photo, but Lizzie was right – it was a good, natural photo. The fans would love it, even if I hated it.
Lily then pulled up the social posts from the other drivers. Since several of them had posted on Monday and Tuesday, the comment sections had exploded with fans laughing and making fun of me and Luca. The comments were overwhelmingly positive, with other drivers chiming in on the funny photos, much to fans’ delight. As I went through the other drivers’ responses, I couldn’t help but laugh. I felt relieved – honored even.
For them to do this for a relationship they all knew was fake was touching in an inexplicable way. The posts seemed so genuine. It was almost as if everyone, for a moment, had forgotten that Luca and I weren’t actually dating. But I had to admit, on camera, we looked so real – therelationshiplooked so real.
Maybe I did deserve an Oscar.
