Diary entry no.15

Kind of hard to believe that was almost 8 years ago and yet I still remember it clear as day.

Some people might say I would be overreacting to say that was the worst day of my life, but they don't know the least of the awful things my parents put me through in my teen years.

You know, they even made me move schools the next year just so I wouldn't be able to see any of my friends again.

Ridiculous, right?

Anyway, as delightful as it would be to continue talking about my tragic childhood, I hopefully have some better things coming my way this year.

3 days ago, I had a job interview for the position as Daniel Ricciardo's race engineer at McLaren and I can't even begin to describe how much this job would mean to me.

Right now, I'm waiting for their call to see if I got the job or not and honestly it's probably been the most stressful 2 hours of my adult life.

And I studied mechanical engineering at University.

Evelyn tapped her pen against the desk as she paused to think for a moment.

Getting a job in f1 also means that I might be able to speak to George again for the first time in 8 years.

The thought of seeing him again in person is... A little overwhelming to be honest. He's been on my mind ever since we were separated so you can imagine how much it would mean to me to finally see him again after all this time.

If he even wants to see me at all.

Considering I just disappeared without a word for 8 years, he could very well hate me.

Evelyn stopped writing for a second as a realisation hit her.

"Maybe he won't even recognise me..." She mumbled.

"Hmm, I can't tell if that would be easier for you or not."

A voice from the doorway to her bedroom snapped Evelyn out of her thoughtful daze.

"Lilian! What are you doing here?" Evelyn smiled and stood up to give her best friend a hug.

"I came to see if you had heard about the job yet!" Lilian returned the hug and gave her a hopeful smile.

Evelyn let out an exhausted sigh.
"No, not yet."
She sat back down in her desk chair with a huff.
"Usually, I can be so patient when waiting for anything but honestly this is just killing me." She rubbed at her forehead in frustration.

"Awh mate." Lilian squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure you'll hear from them soon."

"If I don't, I might just combust."

Lilian laughed at her best friend's attitude.
"Come on, now that I'm here why don't we do something to distract you?"

"Sure. It beats just sitting here chewing my nails raw from the anticipation." Evelyn swung her chair around to face Lilian. "So what do you wanna do?"

"Well..." Lilian slowly pulled out a bottle of wine from her bag, that she had brought over as a gift. "I don't know about you, but this has definitely managed to distract me from my work problems a couple of times before." She smirked.

Evelyn laughed. "As great as that sounds, I think I'm gonna hold off on a drink for now. I don't really think the supervisors at McLaren need to hear my drunk voice just yet."

"Yeah okay fair enough." Lilian snickered as she sat down on the bed, placing the wine bottle down on the nightstand next to her.

"How long have you been sat here waiting for their call anyway?" She asked.

Evelyn looked away awkwardly. "Not... That long." She mumbled.

"Oh god Ev don't tell me you've been sat here all day."

Evelyn hesitated.

"Seriously Ev? It's almost 6pm! Have you actually done anything productive today?"

"... I built a pyramid out of my empty water bottles." She pointed at her creation with a proud smile.

Lilian did not look impressed by this.

"I'm sorry okay!" Evelyn exclaimed. "This job is incredibly important to me so I just can't afford to miss their call today."

"I understand that Ev... But you look like you've barely even moved in over 12 hours so excuse me for being a little concerned." Lilian fired back.

"Hey I have moved around today!"

"Besides going to the bathroom?"

Evelyn gave her an annoyed look. "For your information, I also went into the kitchen for food... so there." She stuck her tongue out.

Lilian held up her hands in mock surrender. "I stand corrected! You've managed to achieve a total of 50 steps today, congratulations."

"Why thank you." Evelyn knew full well she was being mocked but still grinned cheekily.

Lilian shook her head with a laugh and flopped back on the bed.

About 15 minutes had passed as the two friends sat together waiting for the phone call.

"... You can go home if you want." Evelyn said, feeling a bit guilty that Lilian had to sit and wait with her.

Lilian looked up at her with an eyebrow raised. "Are you kidding? Now that I'm here, I'm not gonna leave you on your own to sit here in absolute boredom while waiting for that call."

"Thanks Lili." Evelyn smiled in appreciation.

"In fact I can't even sit here quietly for any longer-"

"It's only been 15 minutes-"

"-So I'm gonna put some music on to lighten the mood." Lilian jumped up from the bed to connect her phone the Bluetooth speaker.

Evelyn groaned, knowing that as soon as the first song came on Lilian would be belting out the lyrics as if she were a famous pop star.

She may have the confidence of a pop star but she certainly didn't sound like one.

"Hey don't groan at me, I'm a fantastic singer I'll have you know." Lilian tossed her hair for dramatic effect.

"Lili, I've heard you sing before and I can strongly disagree with that statement." Evelyn gave her a pointed look

"Then you just don't have taste my friend." She pressed a few buttons on her phone and suddenly '22' by Taylor Swift blasted through the speakers.

"Ah! oh my god-" Evelyn almost fell out of her chair. "Why did you put it on so loudly?!"

"Because this song is a VIBE." Lilian yelled while dancing to the music.

"My neighbours must hate me." Evelyn laughed as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Yeah but did you really like them anyway?"

"... Fair enough."

Lilian pulled Evelyn up from her chair and spun her around while dancing to Taylor Swift.

"Stop you're making me dizzy!" Evelyn almost fell over as Lilian let go of her hand.

"Sorry." Lilian couldn't contain her laughter as she watched her best friend desperately try to regain her balance.

"Yes you look very apologetic right now."

Lilian just laughed harder. "Well you'd be laughing too if you were in my shoes."

"I'm sure I would be, now help me stand up." Evelyn said with a huff.

"We should probably turn the music down too before one of my neighbours files a noise complaint."

"Fair enough." Lilian nodded and went to turn down the music.

"I also wouldn't want to miss my phone ringing just because I can't hear it over the-"

Just then, Evelyn was interrupted by the sudden ringing of her phone

The two girls' eyes widened and Evelyn went to check the caller's number.

"Oh my god it's them! It's McLaren!" Ev almost dropped her phone out of panic.

"Okay okay just stay calm!" Lilian placed her hand on Evelyn's shoulder in an attempt to reassure her.

"What do I do?!" She asked in her state of panic.

"How about you answer the damn phone?" Lilian shoved the phone in her face.

"Right-" Evelyn fumbled with her phone and then finally answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Evelyn Wilson?" The person on the other line spoke up.

"Yes that's me." Evelyn gripped Lilian's hand nervously.

"Hi, we're calling in reference to the interview you had to apply for the position of Daniel Ricciardo's race engineer for the 2021 season."

Evelyn waited for them to continue.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Ms Wilson... but I'm afraid we've chosen someone else for the job."

Evelyn's heart dropped.

"Oh..."

"I'm so sorry Ms Wilson, but I wish you the best going forward. You're a very qualified young lady, I'm sure you'll go far in your career."

"Right... Um yes thank you, and thank you for calling."

"Of course, have a good evening Evelyn."

"You too." She said bluntly as they hung up.

Evelyn looked down at her feet in disappointment.

"They gave the job to someone else." She told Lilian as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

Lilian's face dropped immediately. "Oh Evelyn..." She wrapped her arms around her friend tightly.

Evelyn buried her face in her friend's shoulder. "I thought I did so well in that interview too."

"I'm sure you did Ev."

"Just not well enough to get the job apparently."

Lilian rubbed her back sympathetically. "I'm sure you did amazing Ev. It's their loss if they couldn't see that."

Evelyn sighed. "I guess..."

"Believe me-" Lilian pulled out of the hug momentarily to look her in the eye. "-you earned this job more than anyone. Those numpties at mclaren are the stupid ones for letting you go."

"... Thanks Lili." Evelyn smiled, blinking away tears.

"There she is, there's that smile." Lilian poked at her playfully which made Evelyn chuckle.

"Look I know how much this job meant to you but I promise you better things will come your way soon."

"Yeah. I hope so." Evelyn nodded while wiping her eyes.

"You'll be okay." Lilian smiled reassuringly.

Evelyn smiled back, she was so lucky to have a friend like her.

"Now come on."  Lilian suddenly pulled her over to her wardrobe and started rifling through her clothes.

"Uh what are you doing?" Evelyn asked confusedly.

"Looking for something suitable for you to wear in a nightclub." Lilian replied, still rummaging through the drawers.

"Okayy... Why exactly?"

"Do I really need to spell it out? I'm taking you out tonight!" Lilian exclaimed enthusiastically.

Evelyn groaned. "Seriously? I really don't think I'm in the mood for that right now."

"Pleeaase it'll cheer you up I promise." Lilian pleaded.

Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"... Fine."

Lilian whooped in celebration. "Awesome! You won't regret this." She grinned widely.

"Mhmm yeah we'll see about that." Evelyn smirked.

-

And the best friend in the world award goes to...

So what we thinking about these first two chapters so far? :)