Finally, it was qualifying day. After Alex and Franco finished the final practice session in P8 and 9 respectively, things were looking up for the Williams team. As much as Evita hated to admit it, Franco seemed like he was fitting in well.

Things changed at qualifying. Franco exited Q1 in a measly P18. Thankfully, Alex picked up the slack, dragging his car to finish with the ninth-fastest time.

"Aren't you going to ask me how I feel about qualifying?" asked Franco, jogging to keep pace with Evita's quick strides.

"Fine," said Evita. "How did qualifying go?"

"Terrible," said Franco. "That could not have gone worse."

"You didn't crash," said Evita. "That would have been worse."

"I suppose."

"Don't tell the reporters you were bad," advised Evita. "Spin it so it seems like you didn't do your best. People don't want negativity, but a desire to improve."

"Is that what you used to tell Logan?" asked Franco.
The statement stunned Evita so much she had to pause for a moment to process. This was the first time someone had brought up Logan's departure from the team to her, instead of her mentioning it. It stung to hear Franco, his replacement, talking about Logan.

"Don't talk about him," said Evita. "It's not your place."

"Is that why you hate me? You don't like that I replaced him? If it is, don't hate me for it. That's how this sport works, Evita," said Franco.

"It's not that," said Evita.

"Then what is it? Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't-"

"Bullshit. You don't like me, we all know it, and I'll figure out why," said Franco. "Though I will say, arguing's more fun, isn't it?"

"Whatever," said Evita. "Come on, you can't be late for your first post-qualifying interview."

They entered the media pen, attempting to find the reporter who would be interviewing Franco first. Once they were in the right spot, Evita stood behind the camera, waiting to step in if needed.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Evita reminded him.

"How do you feel about your first qualifying session?" asked the reporter.

"It was quite frustrating, of course," began Franco, running his hand nervously through his hair, looking everywhere except the man interviewing him. "I was expecting more after FP3, we had a really good pace, and I had a lot to prove after lap one in Q1. I think I was expecting Q2, it was very possible, and of course that little mistake that I did cost me a lap. A lot of things to keep learning to understand the tires, and it's a lot of things going on. I'm getting used to it and I'm adapting quite quick, but I still need to understand better many things."

The reporter seemed a little taken aback by how much Franco was speaking. Typically drivers gave their thoughts and that was it, but it was almost like Franco couldn't stop talking. Though it wasn't a terrible first post-qualifying interview. Franco wasn't too negative, thankfully. Evita felt like this media training would be an easy task.

That was until Franco had his interview with one of the Spanish networks. As soon as Evita and Franco approached the reporter, he seemed much more at ease.

"I know her," he said softly to Evita. "This will be so much easier."

"Well Franco, first of all, congratulations," said the woman, smiling fondly at the young driver. "You must be on Cloud Nine right now."

Franco grinned. "Yes I am. Thank you for talking to me, they've told me you're very fun and kind so I definitely wanted to come over here."

His tone was different with this reporter. He'd seemed nervous with the English man, but this woman seemed to keep him more confident. It was almost like he was flirting with her.

"Thank you. The truth is, I've seen a lot of your interviews and I've said 'I think I'll like this guy."
Franco turned red, rubbing his face with his hand, hiding his face from the woman. "What interviews have you seen?" he asked, leaning forward in what looked to Evita like genuine interest.

"I'll tell you later because I don't think we can record this," teased the reporter.

Franco laughed at the joke.

The two exchanged a few more words, but Evita had lost all ability to pay attention.

She wanted to smack him. She knew he was more confident speaking Spanish than English, but she was not expecting him to be that bold. As soon as he'd joined her on the other side of the camera she grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of the media pen.

"You know, Beautiful, if you wanted to hold my hand, you could have just asked," teased Franco once the two were out of sight of prying eyes. "No need to be so aggressive."

"What the hell was was that?" she hissed, ignoring the blatant flirtations. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"What was what?" Franco asked innocently.

"The interview," said Evita, attempting in vain to hide her frustration. "You flirted with the reporter for half of it. It was childish and unprofessional."

"You wish that were you," said Franco, smiling playfully at Evita. Upon seeing her unchanging stony expression, he changed tactics. "Come on Ev, it was harmless. I know her well, she's easy to talk to. What was I supposed to do? Be boring?"

Evita wanted to scream. "This isn't a joke. Do you realize, that with all of these shenanigans, you're my entire career into a jest. It's my job to make you look good, not clean up your messes."

"I wasn't trying to cause any problems, it was just a little fun."

Evita shook her head in disbelief. "We're not here to have fun, Franco. You're here to race and represent Williams. Keep the 'fun' outside of the paddock."

Franco nodded. "Fine. I'll try to do better. Where should we meet for the media meeting?"

"The small conference room by Anthony's office," said Evita. "Go eat something. And please, take a shower. You're all sweaty, and you smell. And don't be late."

"You're quite the charmer, Evita," said Franco. "Try not to miss me too much."

Evita forced her face to stay neutral, her cheeks burning as Franco disappeared, jogging towards the Williams motorhome. She sighed and followed after him.

Franco would be one difficult project to fix.