August 2024

"She's high

She lives in the sky

Tonight, she's satisfied

Rolling back her eyes"

Cecelia grabbed her phone from her kitchen island and pressed the green answer button, silencing the sound of her Chase Atlantic ringtone. She winced as her fingers left flour across the screen.

"Hello?" she asked, pressing the speaker button.

"Good morning, is this Cecelia Rosenqvist?" asked a man's voice.

"Yes sir," said Cecelia. She turned away from her phone to continue to add almond extract to her bowl of cookie dough. A little extra couldn't hurt.

"This is Rob Edwards," said the man on the other end of the line. Cecelia paused mid-pour, spilling an extra splash of extract into the bowl. Oops. "I'm calling to inquire about a potential opening on our Indy NXT team."

Cecelia almost dropped the spoon she was holding.

Rob continued. "As you might already know, Jamie Chadwick injured her hand during an incident at today's race. We are unsure if she will be able to participate in next week's race in Portland. Obviously, this isn't necessary, but we thought it would be best to give you some experience in the car again, considering how long it's been since you've last been in one."

Cecelia stared at her phone, completely dumbfounded. She was already working on a contract with Andretti's Indy NXT team for the next season, but hadn't anticipated getting the opportunity to test early. "I'm flattered, Mr. Edwards, honestly," she said, careful not to trip over her words. "And I'm very interested."

"Fantastic," said the Andretti Global team principal. "We can handle getting you a flight here, how does Wednesday out of LAX sound?"

"That sounds perfect," agreed Cecelia. She had long since abandoned her baking, instead, hanging on to every word that left her phone's speaker.

"Will you need just one ticket? Or are you bringing your daughter with you?" asked Rob.

"I'll have to check with my roommate," said Cecelia, referring to her best friend Serafina. "But she should be able to care for Emmy for the weekend."

Cecelia could hear the sounds of keyboards clicking as Rob typed something into his computer.

"I just sent over the information to our travel coordinators. You'll receive an email later today with your flight information and accommodations. Will you be needing a hotel or a motorhome?"

"A hotel," said Cecelia almost immediately.

Just because she would be racing for the weekend didn't mean she was ready to be as immersed in the sport as she used. She feared that staying in such proximity to the other drivers, so close to the track, she would only be reminded of James and her past. This would be a short weekend, just race and then leave again. She could focus on herself and coping with media appearances and interactions with the public next season. Her poor therapist.

"Cecelia, do you have any questions for me?" asked Rob.

"Not right now, but I'll send you an email if something comes up," promised Cecelia.

"Perfect, thank you so much," said Rob. "We're happy to have you on the team."

"Thank you," said Cecelia, before hanging up.

As soon as her phone was turned off, she squealed, unable to conceal her excitement. She was careful to not make too much noise. Her daughter Emmaline was napping in her room and Cecelia didn't want to disturb the toddler.

Cecelia needed to tell someone about the news. She washed her hands and opened her phone, her finger lingering over the keypad. She wasn't sure who to call first. It would be close to the race in Illinois, so she couldn't disturb Felix or David. Serafina wouldn't be home from work until later, and her parents were asleep. Cecelia sighed and returned to her work on her cookies.

As she rolled out the dough and cut it into heart shapes, she thought about the events that would transpire in Portland. Thursday was media day and her seat fit. She'd have to bring her old race suit and helmet to have them checked for any imperfections. She was a little concerned about her suit being too small, especially after having a baby and taking two years off of racing. Thankfully, Andretti had resources. Cecelia would be in good hands.

The aspect of the weekend that Cecelia was most nervous about was the media. After James's death and her subsequent retirement, Cecelia had privated all of her social media accounts and unfollowed most accounts related to motorsports. The constant reminders of the two loves she had lost were too much for her to handle.

Cecelia supposed she could work with the media team about her dilemma. Surely, they would be understanding about her situation. She would participate in interviews surrounding the race and that would be it, at least for this one-off weekend. Assuming she would sign for Andretti as planned in 2025, she could work with their PR team on media training and her comfortability with interviewing.

Everything was going to be okay, she told herself as she put the cookies in the oven. She had a fantastic support system, always able to confide in her friends and family. She'd been through worse, she could handle this.

...

a/n: she's baaaack! eeeeee i'm so excited for this, this was not part of the original plan when this fic was under a different name, so i'm really excited for cecelia to race again! hopefully it will be good, i'm a little nervous that i'll be bad at writing the race scenes, but oh well. -willow <3