It is the day after Lando and I arrived in Monza and I am excited. I am a little annoyed that I woke up early but at the same time, I get the feeling that Lando will be early. Oh well. I soon start the process of getting ready. Thankfully I don't have to do much since I only wear makeup and stuff like that during formal events. I head to the lobby with the hope that Lando is also early. I checked my watch to see how early I was. It turns out I was half an hour early as was Lando.

"Lando you're early," I say as I join him at the restaurant.

"I woke up too early. So I thought I'd get breakfast for us," Lando remarks as he pushes a plate towards me. That was considerate. On the plate is a cheese toastie. I get to work on devouring the food but I pause. I have remembered my conversation with Jacques. He is probably just being overprotective so I don't think I should worry. Even then I can feel my anxiety levels rise as I finish my breakfast. Lando and I soon leave.

"Niki are you alright?" Lando asks.

"It's complicated and I just want to enjoy my day," I reply. I can feel the awkwardness between the two of us. We soon made it to the town centre.

"Would you mind if I get some coffee from a cafe quickly?" Lando asks. I was hoping he would ask.

"Sure. I don't mind. In fact, I'm going to get a hot chocolate," I respond. I spot Lando's stunned look. It makes you giggle. I assume that was because both Lando and his former teammate Carlos Sainz are coffee drinkers. Even though the thought makes me smile I can feel myself glaring at Lando.

"What?" A bemused Lando asks.

"You are giving me a look that says you don't drink coffee?" I explain. It is one of those weird quirks that I have. Plus I have never understood people's desire to start their morning with something bitter. I put it down to the fact that I have a sweet tooth. We enter the cafe to be greeted by the stares of people trying to work out if Lando Norris and Niki Girard have entered the cafe. It is a sensation that I have to get used to.

"I'll buy the hot chocolate for you," Lando whispers.

"No. I'll get it myself. The F1 fans in this Cafe will get the wrong idea," I reply. Still whispering. I don't think I would be able to handle the pressure of the gossip. I already have a lot to worry about with my first season in Formula 1. The good thing is the barista is quick. We soon start sipping on our respective drinks as we walk down the main road. I am suddenly struck by an important question.

"Lando, why are you doing this for me?" I speak up. I feel stupid for asking but the answer is something that I have to know. It is due to the fact that I feel like I am being too quick to trust Lando.

"Because I want to see if we can... be friends off the track," Lando responds. He hesitated which means there is more to the story. Well, I told him my biggest secret so I think I can call him a friend.

"There is more to it but I'm not going to pester you about it," I say. It is the least that I could do. After all, there is no need for me to know the truth just yet. After four hours of exploring we made it to a restaurant. The good thing is the dress code isn't strict otherwise Lando and I would have made a U-turn.

"Are you hungry?" Lando snaps me out of my thoughts. We wouldn't be here if we weren't hungry.

"Yeah. Let's go get something to eat," I perk up at the sound of food. Again it doesn't take long for the stuff to arrive. The thing is I am feeling a little guilty about having a cheat meal. I guess I know what I will be using my free time this afternoon for. After an hour of socialising over a nice meal, we make the short trip back to the hotel. I am glad that Londo showed me around since Monza is a nice place. It will be ruined tomorrow when the media stuff begins. It is the day after and to my surprise we are doing the track walk before the media stuff starts. I have decided to ask my second best friend about my issues.

"Hey Yuki, do you mind if I join you?"I ask as I catch up to Yuki Tsunoda. I am a little surprised that he is ahead of his engineers.

"Sure," Yuki responds. The thing is I need his advice on something but I am not sure if he is the right person. There is only one way to find out.

"I need some advice," I kick start the conversation as the pair of us get to work on getting around the track. I soon explained that I have a problem with Lando. Well, it is more of a problem with me, not Lando.

"And the last thing is I don't want to ask him about it directly till I'm sure," I complete my small rant. It turns out there is a lot more to my issues than I thought. I know exactly who put me in this situation and I am hoping he stays at the back of the grid where he belongs. I can tell that Yuki has to think about his response. He is hesitating.

"You have secret right?" Yuki finally comes up with something. I nod since I see where this is going.

"If you've told Lando then you should trust him," Yuki concludes his advice. He is right but the last guy that I decided to trust turned out to be an utter asshole and we were together for a while. The part of me that wants revenge is glad that he spun out in the first lap. He can't even remain loyal. I shake the thoughts out of my head. After ten minutes of walking, I made it to the garage. I have decided to kill the time before the press conference by seeing if my mechanics need help.

"How is the car looking?" I ask just in case.

"Well we have some things that we need to get sorted but it shouldn't take long," My lead mechanic replies. After a five minute conversation, I am happy with the progress that the team has made.

"Let me know if you need me to do anything for you," I say just before leaving. Since there is nothing that I can do to help, I head to the media pen for the official F1 press conference. I am praying that I am not paired with Mazepin. I can feel the anxiety flare up as I overthink things again. Dammit. I really need to get my thoughts under control. There is not much that I can do about who I am paired up with for the press conference. I am relieved to find out that I am being paired up with Lewis Hamilton. That provides me with a different challenge. I have to avoid being a fangirl. Watching the battles of his was what kept me motivated while I recovered.

"Are you ready?" Lewis checks on me while we get ready.

"I think so," I reply as our PR officers make the final adjustments to our microphones. I take a deep breath as I head out onto the small stage. As soon as Lewis and I take our seats the reporters get to work on asking the questions.

"Niki, how do you feel being the rookie with the best debut?" one of the reporters asks. So I have the annoying questions straight up. Oh well, I can't control the types of questions that get asked.

"I feel happy that I was able to get a podium finish but I don't like dwelling on past races," I find myself going off the script that Jacques suggested. It is not the first time that has happened. Something tells me that Jacques wouldn't be particularly happy with my answers.

"Oh I forgot to find you then but congratulations," Lewis jumps in and adds his opinion. I cannot believe that Lewis is casually talking to me.

"Lewis, how do you feel about someone like Niki joining the grid?" Another reporter asks. I am not sure if he is asking that question because I am a woman or because of my reckless attitude in Formula 2. We shall see how Lewis responds.

"I think it is great for young girls who watch F1 to finally have a driver to look up to. Plus if Niki keeps performing like she has she may even have a chance to get a win," For some reason, Lewis decides to encourage me with his answer. I know for a fact that I am only going to get the win if something happens to Lewis. The Mercedes car is just too good. We may be enemies but I understand that I cannot be reckless otherwise Zak will throw me out. I find myself caught out by the fact that Lewis' answer is honest. I am glad that I have someone like him on my side. After fifteen minutes of questions, the press conference has come to an end. I am quick to get rid of the microphone. I sent Lando a quick text thanking me for yesterday. It meant a lot to me. I guess I should just trust Lando. It's not like I have been hurt before.