Nothing New
F1 X female!driver!reader
" ~ oh , Baby I could build a Castle, out of all the Bricks they Threw at Me " .
*Make no mistake, what you see is not always what it really is*
Words count : 2.8k .
Warnings : angst, online harassment, manipulation, manipulative behaviour, physical assault, violence, threats, panic attacks, triggers.
*read with caution .
She's Spoilt , She's Rude :
The pair of earrings caught and reflected light as our driver posed in a picture , her black dress complemented by the shiny jewellery along with the classic up do she decided for the night . But all eyes were on the teardrop diamonds , she adjusted a strand of hair off her face revealing a matching bracelet on her wrist , it's simple design was breathtaking to say the least and that didn't sit well with some people.
Comments kept on coming under the post she uploaded of her trip to France during summer break , flooding with questions about the set she was wearing and how she managed to get her hands on it , but in a not so friendly way , she was called not so appropriate names to put it nicely . Another tide came accusing her of getting a cheap copy of a rare custom made jewelry despite having enough money, commenting about how showing off knockoffs wasn't a good look for her . Others called her even worse names , flaunting her money around and accusing her of desperation, showing off what she have to compensate for what she lacked. Her only reply was " honey , it's you who's compensating for what they lack , if you don't like what you see , cry about it then move on , cause I could care less of what you think "
°°°°°°°°°°
Her Nana's bedroom remained the same as she remembered , tidy and clean , warm sunlight peaking through the curtains and the smell of her perfume drifting around the space , her vanity stayed as marvellous as she remembered years ago when she sat down and got her hair done by her Nana one of the many summers she spent there .
The warm smile her Nana sent her meant the world as she kept on doing her hair like she used to when she was young , way younger than now , pausing to see any flyaways before brushing her hair then she started to braid , gathering it in a firm yet gentle braid before grabbing one of her silk ribbons to fuse it at the end of the braid then woven it into a bow , "all done " her Nana announced let it fall back with ease before she turned to one of the drawers of the vanity, taking out a box setting it on the top before taking a seat beside her " your grandfather used to say : " one day this girl is going to shine , she'll make herself something, whatever that is she'll do it right and she'll be a force no one saw coming " our driver leaned and hugged her Nana " I miss him " her Nana agreed with a sad yet loving smile of her own " me too love , always do " both looked at the framed photo on the vanity, a black and white picture her nana stood in an elegant long sleeved dress , her hair up with few pieces falling to frame her face , her look was complemented with a set of fine jewels , a necklace framing her neck and a pair of earrings in the same design , her smile was breathtaking as she looked up at the man facing her , he stood tall board shoulders and a charming smile capturing heart from miles , her husband, clad in full uniform , his medals shined proudly against his chest , but nothing could shine as bright as their eyes as they stood frozen in time .
Her Nana held the box and gave it to her , a startled noise came out as she shook her head " I can't! , grandad gave it to you ? " Her Nana shook her head " he made them himself , and I know for sure he'd want you to have them " she then added " I know so , i asked him " ," but " , her Nana denied any protests and put them in her hands " they'll be collecting dust in here , he wouldn't want that , neither do I " , she then added " he always wanted to make something to pass down, not just something pretty to be shown once then thrown away , his work carried a piece of him and he wanted to be remembered through that , so he made it for me to pass down, given to remind of the man who loved and did what he loved most " then turned and held her hand above the box " and i want you to have them , to remember him and to remember me " .
Never Grateful :
She stood on the 2nd place podium beside her teammate on the 1st , who was trying to get her to say anything but she chose to keep her words to herself , she gave him a small nod and turned to look at the crowd below, her team stood proud with their principle in the centre of it, she gave him a long look which he returned with a smirk as the ceremony took place , she stood bored and waited patiently for it to pass before collecting her trophy then made a move to get off the stage but not before someone grabbed her arm to halt her , she looked back to her teammate who was about to say something but she stopped him with an annoyed shake of her head , pointing out before stating something to which he argued back with his own statement, she gave a sardonic laugh before taking her arm out and clinked her trophy with his in a cheer before getting down , handing her trophy to one of her team's engineers before she disappeared .
••••••••
She was supposed to win that race , she actually was going for it 2 laps before crossing the line , leading with her teammate tailing her in second , nothing could ruin her day , absolutely nothing, but the radio cracking with news have it's own say in it .
" Team's orders came in , slow down " she made a confused sound " Eh! , why ? " , the reply came " Lewis is 5 seconds behind " , she paused then asked again " okay, and ? what does that have to do with me slowing down? " , the other end gave a sigh " to let him through " , she gave a laugh then asked " and why's that ? " , " team's order " came the short answer , to which she again asked simple " why ? " , after a moment came Toto's voice " make way " , she hummed and then replied " well if he wants the spot then he's more than welcome to try " Toto's retort back " give up the lead or you give up the seat " she sneered " are you threatening me! " The reply that came was " it's a three years contract, I'm only giving you choices " then taunted " well , you've always whined about not being given any , so now is you chance . I offered , now you choose " . Her end remained silent until she called out " F##& you Toto " then she disconnected her radio as she slowed down for her teammate to take the lead .
Always Cruel :
A footage of one of the inner circuits hallway's went viral after one of the staff members ' accidentally ' posted it online, sparking outrageous reactions across the media, fans and journalists were eating every piece of it up , speculations and rumours on top of the black lash of the spread info given by unofficial staffers, it was ugly.
The footage showed our driver standing with a fistful of a Merc staff member shirt , face stoic as she gripped the members wrist in her other hand while pinning them against the wall in a firm grip , both looked at another member who was getting off the floor, her face full of tears as she shook her head quickly at something our driver said as she turned to look at the member she was holding onto, she then pushed them away as her media officer and other people came rushing to diffuse the situation going on . The footage got cut off just as they separate them , three long weeks of backlash and hate on top of threats shoved her way wherever she went , the loud screams of disdain and the thrown insults were barely registered compared to the cold shoulder her own team was giving her through the time , treating it as an inconvenience up to the point of where one driver's parade turned into a full fledged stoning. Her bruised face and back were enough for the FIA to take matters into their own hands .
A week of torture ended with a half assed apology as her friends called it , and attempt to save face regarding the whole 'incident' as it was repeatedly mentioned regardless of the obvious assault against her and the involved staff member .
°°°°°°°°°
She returned from the first Media swarm for the day , taking a break between interviews and putting up a plan to get the rest of the day sorted, she made way to her team's next strategy meeting ahead of time in order to review some data letting her engineer and assistant catch up after their well deserved break .
Down the hallway was mostly empty save for the few staff members roaming around so she enjoyed the quiet up until she took a corner only to bump into someone, a young girl who she came to notice was one of the new interns who she saw around a couple of times, now what caught her off guard was the panicked look on her face as she held her steady , asking in concern " you alright there ? " The panic amplified at the question and she looked back as another voice called out " get back here ! " .
Our driver took notice of the girl attire, hair messed and her team's shirt rumbled and crunched at the collar, a red mark on the wrist she held to steady her and the panic summsed it all , so she squared her shoulders and gently guided the girl to stand behind her as she stepped out, coming face to face with a seething staffer , who reached blindly before noticing who they were grabbing for , and with the realisation a scoff came " move " that earned a raised eyebrow from the driver who asked " and why would I do that ? " , the irritation grew as they gritted out " move or you'll regret it" .
She made an unimpressed face at the threat and called out " harassment against younger staff members and threats, and you want me to move ? , yeah I would like to see you try " her words landed and the staff member didn't waste time to push their way through, slamming our driver against a wall and lunging at the young girl in fury , making her shriek in terror and fall back , meanwhile our driver pushed herself off the wall and grabbed the back of the offender's shirt , planting her feet before dragging them off the terrified girl and into the opposite wall away from her .
She pinned their arms around their back and held them against the wall in a tight grip around the wrists and looked back at the now crying girl , our driver asked her gently " are you hurt anywhere!? Can you stand ? " The girl shook her head frantically and stood up , trying to wipe away her tears as our driver tried to comfort her the best she could " hey , it's okay, you're okay now " the girl nodded the best as she could and turned in alarm when footsteps sounded closer and closer , she shouted at the approaching figures " help! " And in a second they came running in full speed .
A Crybaby , Attention Seeker , and Always a Fool :
A hunched figure was all anyone could see of her from the video a fan managed to record , shaking violently as she sat on one of the benches leading to the driver's rooms , her race suit was still on even an hour post race, but her hair was tossed and hanging on a hair tie by a miracle . The oddity was her bare feet, one bent awkwardly and the other was shaking along with her rapid sobs . A paramedic was examining her foot as one of the security guards tried to get her to speak, asking in irritation over and over resulting in her shaking in panic, her assistant and media officer stood to the side as another security was talking to them , pointing accusingly between them before turning to aim some words at our driver who was now covering her head with her hands over her ears as her assistant stood up to block the guard's view .
Our driver tried to move , her foot wobbled as she hobbed on the other and turned to leave , the guard talking to her tried to block her way but earned himself a scream as she backed away and tried to move around him , he then grabbed her arm to get her back but she flinched and tore her arm out of his grasp with a loud sob , before anyone could interfere she stumbled back but fell due to her foot and that opened another get of hell .
Few minutes later a group showed up , their footsteps slowed as they surrounded our driver , Max kneeled and tried to get her attention , try as he might it only resulted in her flinching Eve more , before he took her head between his hands , voice firm as he got her attention away from the looming figures and on him , she shook her head and turned to look at the door of her trailer making him turn her around before Carlos blocked her sight of it , beside him was Charles who was speaking with Daniel , both turning to the door as a bang came from within , startling her into further panicked attempts to leave .
••••••••
Our driver made her way to her room in attempt to get the remaining champagne off her hair, her assistant beside her along with her media officer who tagged along before heading for the briefing ahead of the the post race duties. The three made it to the motorhome before our driver got ready to hit the shower, undoing her shoes before grabbing a change of clothes then turned to the bathroom .
She unlocked the door to get in but was yanked forward with a a hand grabbing her arm , forcing her to stumble and slip on her feet, landing with a thud on one of her feet , she made a startled sound as she was dragged up , her wide eyes met the intruder, a man trying to grab her around the neck before she pushed back and landed a punch on his face , angering him further to reach his hand blindly to yank at her hair, all in the span on a few seconds.
Her companions were trying to get him off of her to no avail, kicking and screaming as he pushed them and tried to lock the door on them , but a beat of silence was followed with a loud crash of a glass cup breaking as it made contact with his head , a chance that gave them time to yank our driver out and lock the door, blocking the handle and making a run for the door , where the media officer waste no time to run to fetch the closest security guard they could find .
Our driver was stunned, hair messed and feet bare against the concrete with one foot swollen and bent in a way it shouldn't be, her eyes remained on the locked door of her trailer as she let everything sink in, then her eyes stung , burning with tears that came with her rapid breathing as panic gripped her chest .
