Page 6 of Not So Fast
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get your bag.” In a flash, he hopped out and opened the door for her.
Mia climbed out, squinting at the sun as she scrounged for her sunglasses. As soon as the driver wheeled over her tiny roller bag, a freckled, red-haired woman wearing a Mega Racing polo appeared. “You must be Mia Neal. I’m Isabel Terry. I handle PR and tend to our special guests.”
Special guest?Holy crap.Mia hadn’t expected such a prestigious descriptor for herself, and she’d only just arrived. What other amazing surprises were in store?
She eagerly shook hands with Isabel. “Thank you so much.”
“Here are your credentials.” Isabel pulled out a laminated pass with a lanyard and looped it over Mia’s neck. “Let me take your suitcase.” Isabel grabbed the handle. “We’ll get you through the swipe gates and stow this.” She led the way to the security checkpoint, flashed her pass in front of the scanner, and the light turned green. Isabel dutifully waited for Mia to do the same. “Can I get you anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“I’m good for now. Thank you.”
Mia was struggling to keep up, especially when Australian driver Preston Hubbard strolled past so close she could see the stubble on his face. She made a mental note to remember the details, which, fortunately, she was pretty good at. Still, everything around her seemed to be happening quickly and slowly at the same time. For the thousands of times she’d seen footage of drivers or photographers or VIP guests walking throughthe paddock behind the team garages, she’d never imagined she’d ever get there herself. It was further evidence that her podcast was taking her places. Finally, she was on her way.
Isabel led them inside a Mega Racing building, where a man appeared out of nowhere and took Mia’s bag. “We’ll dispatch that to your hotel, so you won’t need to worry about it. It will be waiting for you in your room when you get back tonight.”
“Wow. Great.” The next-level red-carpet treatment just kept on coming.
“Qualifying starts in a little under two hours as I’m sure you’re aware. Dirk would like to say hello in—” Isabel consulted her phone “—four minutes. You’ll have a few moments with him and then I’ll take you to the paddock club.”
“Great. Will I get to meet Xander Bishop, too?” Things were already going so well, Mia figured she might as well really go for it.
“I’m not sure. He’s incredibly busy.”
Mia was certain that meant no, she would not be meeting Xander. Perhaps that was for the best, considering the things she wanted to say to him about his comment in the press conference.
Isabel glanced at her phone again. “Dirk’s ready.” She directed Mia down a hall and into what appeared to be Dirk’s private driver’s room. There he was, lounging on a black leather couch and looking at his phone. “Dirk. This is Mia Neal. From theNot So Fastpodcast.”
Dirk practically launched himself out of his seat. “Mia Neal! My hero!”
Mia was beyond shocked by his response. She shook his hand, noticing how his face could be boiled down to threeelements—the whitest of white teeth, icy-blue eyes and shockingly symmetrical features. “Your hero?”
“Of course. You’re doing some hard work on my behalf. Getting into Xander’s head.”
Isabel cleared her throat.
Dirk slung his arm over Mia’s shoulder, which worked well since they were so close in height. “We should take a photo together.”
“We should?”
“So I can post on social media.”
Everything crystallized before Mia’s eyes. She really was here as Dirk’s pawn. Still, Jasmine’s comment about access rang in her head. This weekend could be a real boon forNot So Fast. Bigger social numbers. More listeners. Sponsors. Greater success than she’d ever dared dream of. She had to keep going.
“Awesome. Make sure you tag me.”
“Oh, I will.”
Isabel took the photo. Dirk rattled off a few things about how well his season was going, facts Mia was well aware of. “Right. Yes. Uh-huh,” she said about twenty times. Then he signed a Mega Racing hat for her and excused himself so he could prepare for qualifying. Mia donned the cap and was escorted outside, then upstairs to the paddock club situated directly above the team garages with an incredible view of the pit lane, starting grid and finish line.
“There’s an open bar. Anything you could possibly want to eat,” Isabel said. “You can watch qualifying on the TV monitors in one of the lounges or go out onto the terrace. I’ll come find you when it’s over. Just so you’re aware, your pass doesn’t allow you in the paddock without an escort.”
Mia was disappointed, as this severely limited her chancesof running into Xander, but she was still happy to be there. “Okay. Thanks.”
With Isabel gone, Mia checked out her surroundings. The club was just as glamorous and over-the-top as she’d thought it would be—hell, people paid tens of thousands of dollars to have a pass to it for a weekend—but Mia felt like she’d been placed in a golden cage. Probably so Xander Bishop didn’t risk running into her. Isabel and the team were protecting him from her, which she understood, but the truth was that she didn’t want a confrontation; she merely hoped for aconversation.
She found a quiet spot and checked her social accounts. As promised, Dirk had not only posted their photo everywhere, he’d also tagged her. There were already a zillion comments, most of them positive.
I love Mia’s show!
