ੈ♡˳ FOUR
the countdown

INSTAGRAM — MILAMARZ

tagged — marcomarziani, kimi.antonelli

tagged — avesharris

●○○○○

milamarz: just hot girl shit!

comments . . .

avesharris: pov youre me reading mimi's texts with ****** in disbelief
⤥ milamarz: the exposé and for what.
⤥ avesharris: girl theyre degenerate

user1: i want your life

francolapinto: 😵‍💫😵‍💫

francolapinto: diosaaaaa 😵‍💫
⤥ milamarz: franco!!!!!
⤥ francolapinto: what!!!!
⤥ milamarz: you forgot the mi :(((
⤥ francolapinto: let me make it up to you ;)))
⤥ user3: someone explain to me wtf i missed.

user4: why is no one talking about franco and mila like i feel like im going insane
⤥ user5: no literally did we miss smth
⤥ user3: like is this pr or
⤥ user6: franco AND mila AND pr have never been in the same sentence before so i doubt it

user7: i wish i looked like you
⤥ avesharris: real

paularon_: hot girl shit!!!!!
⤥ milamarz: says you!!!

user8: wait you ride motorbikes??
⤥ milamarz: babe if i didn't i'd probably be disowned

kimi.antonelli: 💞💞💞
⤥ milamarz: ❣️❣️
⤥ user9: best duo ever i fear

jakcrawford_: kimis back in his girlypop era ig
⤥ user10: jak???
⤥ milamarz: hes the perfect passenger princess on the back of my bike 🥰
⤥ user10: girlypop makes sense now i retract my statement

user11: soo franco def has post notifications on cause how was he THAT quick

x

IMESSAGE —

F ❤️‍🔥 + M 🤍

F ❤️‍🔥
my driver room is looking
empty 🙃

M 🤍
how terrible ‼️

F ❤️‍🔥
sooo you dont wanna see me

how am i gonna get rid of pre-race
jitters now 😔

M 🤍
are you trying to manipulate me

F ❤️‍🔥
...

why? is it working?

M 🤍
you WISH it was working

F ❤️‍🔥
UGH

fine.

mila you have a pretty face i
wanna kiss it
read.

is that convincing enough?
read.

M 🤍
sorry my jaw and my phone
dropped in shock

F ❤️‍🔥
perfect

M 🤍
take me out on a date first <3

F ❤️‍🔥
tomorrow 11am at that
cafe from yesterday.

M 🤍
damn you dont mess around

F ❤️‍🔥
😘😘

M 🤍
guess i can find time in my schedule for you

but

see you after the race 🩷
youre gonna kill it!!

F ❤️‍🔥
looking forward to seeing you 😊

x

MILA WAS NEVER ONE to be constantly on her phone. she was usually on her laptop for work, but other than that she only ever texted friends or posted on social media. most of her day was spent being incredibly productive —whether that was going for a ride on her sports motorcycle, preparing notes and questions for interviews, writing up articles or hanging out with friends, it was all very far away from her phone.

her screentime had jumped significantly in the past day. franco was a natural flirt, even more to an extent than she was, and so while he had been busy preparing for qualifying yesterday, he was still sending texts and photos to mila while she was out and about on the town with her father. she'd reply whenever they'd stop off somewhere, sending him pictures of whatever scenery she was currently looking at before her and marco marziani headed back towards the track to pick up kimi. kimi, in all passenger princess glory, had learnt how to enjoy a peaceful ride around on the back of mila's bike, and so it was a natural mind reset for the two of them now.

avery wasn't far off with her statement about the texts being degenerate. she'd spent the evening in the room that avery and ollie were sharing, and like any best friend, avery was scrolling through the messages with her jaw on the floor. or, better said, most messages. mila was quickly learning that franco had less of a filter than she did, and that messing around with him was dangerous because he did not hold back. one joke about her wanting to 'gnaw on his muscles' because of the instagram stories of him at the gym and she was gobsmacked that he had made himself look like a total whore by sending her more . . . it was probably better she didn't share those with avery. or ollie. it would be enough ammunition for him for months.

in other words, it mattered very little that it had been only a number of days since she'd officially met franco colapinto, because mila was enjoying herself as much as humanly possible at her job, more than she had in years. time has no constraints.

parting ways from her parents now that they had left for marco's hometown in vernazza, it didn't take her too long to get to the track to enjoy sunday's races. the feature race's lights were out in an hour for F3, and following that would be F2 and then the grand finale of F1. it gave her a whole day pretty much to hang out with avery before she had to clock in for work in the paddock.

glad that her phone hadn't cracked when she dropped it on the concrete in the back of the ferrari garage, mila tucked her notebook under her arm, folding away the interview she had just done with one of their mechanics. she'd started branching out recently to other aspects of motorsports now that people actually knew who she was, and so mechanics, engineers and occasionally team principals had been willing to sit down with her for a chat, which was one of the only reasons she was currently at ferrari. that, and alex, leo and arthur were standing together, and she couldn't help but stick around a little longer for them

alex and arthur had sent her a questioning look when she dropped her phone, but mila just smiled brightly and skipped over to arthur first. "i need to go find avery," she said her goodbyes to him by kissing either side of his face, and she moved over to alex and leo before arthur could get a word out. "bye, my lovelies," she said goodbye in the same way with alex, who laughed softly when leo poked his head up to lick at their faces. "tell charles i said good luck."

"of course," alex's voice was soft as she cradled leo in her arms. the puppy had his own little earmuffs on, courtesy of mila herself, and he had finally gotten used to not trying to rip them off his head. "see you later, mila."

"ciao, lil," arthur gave the girl a wave as she went out a back exit in the garage. avery wasn't too far away, near the haas motorhome in the paddock, and so mila hurried over as quickly as possible so that they could go watch the F3 race before it began.

DINO PLACED NINTH IN the F3 feature race, a step down from the p4 he got in the sprint yesterday, but avery and mila jumped up and cheered as soon as he passed the chequered flag all the same.

kimi's p4, ollie's p7 and jak's p9 in the F2 feature were just as exciting . . . if you forgot about the start where paul got rammed into after lights out at turn one. mila had grimaced so hard that she'd buried her face in avery's shoulder, already picturing how unhappy paul was going to be about that. either way, she'd sent him a smiley face emoji for him to look at once he was able to look at his phone again before becoming entirely distracted by the premas fighting each other for positions not long after.

"so," avery finally spoke as they watched the F1 cars get rolled out onto the grid. "when do we get to gossip about franco?"

"we already do," mila deadpanned, "literally all the time. i think you're more obsessed than i am."

avery laughed, her blonde hair that she had spent ages curling this morning tumbling delicately over her shoulders. mila was constantly envious of how effortlessly stunning she was — a ray of classy sunshine dressed modestly expensive, and though she was nineteen, she fit in perfectly with every other wag. "cut me some slack, you were nowhere near as excited back when you and paul were talking. i'm excited for you."

"we weren't even friends then."

"ollie had, like, a million videos on his phone of him third-wheeling," avery shrugged, "he used to send them to me when he was bored."

of course he did, mila chuckled inaudibly, her shoulders shaking being the only indictor of such. "anyway," she cleared her throat, "it is probably nothing," she waved off like it was nothing, but it was starting to taste bitter with the pushed-down feelings rolling off her tongue. "just a bit of fun, you know?"

"uh huh," avery clicked her tongue, but she didn't press further. she wasn't the journalist out of the two of them for a reason. "he seems like a good guy, though—"

"you hardly know him," mila pointed out.

"—like, major playboy energy but not actions, y'know?" avery rambled on, and mila just watched her do so in amusement. "he's so obsessed with you i doubt he's even thought about another person all weekend."

"mhm," was all mila could hum, choosing to agree so that avery would kindly stop talking. her eyes averted to the track from where they were at the very top of the grandstand closest to where the lights went dark above. it was a lot quieter there than it was if they were to head to the very centre of the grandstands down further on the straight, leaving it perfect enough for the girls to gossip without yelling over people and engines, and mila could think clearly to jot down notes to ask franco later on. "whatever you say, a, whatever you say."

x

"THERE HE IS," MILA leaned on the barricade between them, eyes brightening when franco finally made it to the media pen. she'd stood awkwardly for ages waiting, dropping avery off at the haas motorhome before making her way here, and everyone else seemed to look at her awkwardly, too. that included a few drivers who looked a little confused that they weren't being led over to her, but the feeling dwindled the second franco finally appeared with a white towel around his neck. "how was it?"

"tiring," franco chuckled. he watched mila's hands extend towards him, and he quickly shook his head. "no, no, i'm all gross, mila."

"the sweatier the better," she joked playfully with a wink, the seamless switch to spanish to accommodate for him effortless. "and your neck?"

"killing," he tried to move it in a way to stretch it at least a little, bit it ended up with him wincing. "but it was really fun, i would do it again right now if i could."

"i'm glad," mila smiled warmly, straightening back up and actually talking into the microphone she had on her this time. "can you talk us through that first race in the car, how'd that go for you?"

"strictly business, hm? no time for pleasure?" he returned her wink from earlier, but he went on with his professional answer anyway. "it was great, i'm really happy about it. luckily i could enjoy a lot today, um . . . you know, more than going for lap times and i just tried to focus on myself, try to enjoy the day. and it went quite well and i was quite careful overall this weekend, i just wanted to put the laps in and focus on that over positioning . . ."

mila fell entranced, as much as she didn't want to believe it. she was listening to him ramble on and on with such interest, but the more words he said, the more hypnotised she felt. and she was convinced he could yap more than she could . . . she was really being given a run from her money from a rookie this weekend, she'd hand it to him.

he was talking very technical — from him learning to preserve the tyres to him knowing what needs to be adjusted to be suitable for him and then to how thankful he was for the opportunity. she had talked to many drivers over the years, and the level of confidence and cockiness they had to the point where they wouldn't thank their team once, but thanking williams was the only thing franco was currently doing.

so, she voiced it. "you are one of the few drivers i have met who are very grateful for their spot on the team," she said honestly. "it is very refreshing to see."

"aw, thank you," though he looked beyond tired, franco still managed a smile. "it's good to stay humble, no? i wouldn't be here today without so many sacrifices."

there wasn't much else mila could say, but she did understand. she was fortunate enough to not have to go through similar things to get a chance in her chosen career ( she'd heard all about how his family sold their home to get him to the F4 championship in her research ), but she had to build herself up like he did. she spent years not being taken seriously because of the fact that was was still considered a child when she had finished high school and started university early, and then travelling on her own and fighting to get other journalists to stop walking all over her . . . it didn't matter that her father was once a motogp rider because no one cared about some young girl trying to make a name for herself.

it was getting better now, and it seemed to be the same from franco because all the sacrifices had finally paid off. all his gratitude sounded so relieved because he knew it, too. it was sweet and genuine, and as much as she wanted to make a joke about how james vowles probably wouldn't care too much for the kind words because he was too busy sucking carlos sainz's dick, she knew that wouldn't fly publicly and that it was probably better not to ruin the moment. a behind closed doors moment, supposedly.

"thank you for talking with me today," mila said softly, her english so much softer than her voice had been moments prior. "p18 to p12 is fantastic, congratulations, franco. you deserve it."

"thank you, you are very sweet," franco wiped his hand on the towel around her neck before gently taking hers into his own, lifting it up from the barricade. with a subtle wink, he made a show of kissing the back of her hand, and mila's lips parted for a brief moment of shock that she tried to hide. caught off guard was not a good look for her, and him constantly leaving her speechless was starting to ruin all she was known for. "but i should thank you. you were taking today off, and . . . you are very lovely."

"aw, stop you'll make me blush," she could still feel how hot his skin was, and once he had let go of her hand, she was hoping it didn't matter that she wiped her hand on her skirt. he didn't mind, just chuckled and glanced at the pr rep he had a few steps to the side of him. "i'll let you go . . . i'll see you tomorrow."

"yes, yes you will," franco's smile was impossibly wider now. "i will be counting down the minutes."

notes,

next chapter date chapter? i think yes.

it's picking up now i'm so excited