I've never seen so many pale males, but I'm the dullest in this fairytale.

By the time free practice rolled around, the brakes seemed to work just as Abi wanted them to. It had taken a lot of nit-picking, and maths Abi was sure wasn't in her job description, but they were working. She sat in the pits and watched the chaos as they got the two racers ready, looking at her phone from time to time but otherwise anxiously chewing her nail and watching the big screens as Lewis and Daniel raced about doing their practice laps. Lance was soon zooming out onto the track, and they watched him up on the screen, anxious to see how he performed in the newly modified car. The lap wasn't the fastest ever, but it was better than how they had performed in the past.

Abi excused herself after a few laps, heading out the back to have a smoke in the rest areas outside the driver's cabins. It was still warm, her arms pink below her martini stripe polo, but it was far nicer than the miserable conditions back home. She watched the people pace up and down the strip between the pits and the cabins, the roar of the cars deafening her slightly as they went about their practice laps.

She felt her stomach leap a little when she spotted the people approaching her, one immediately recognised as George in his race suit, it neatly tied around his waist. She prayed he didn't see her but, of course, he did.

"Hello you," George smiled, making his two friends stop in surprise and look at Abi. "Sure you shouldn't be in there making sure the brakes don't fail?" He asked with a smile, making Abi roll her eyes, a smile on her face.

"Sure they can cope without me for ten minutes whilst I rot my lungs." She said, gesturing to the cigarette between her fingers. "They worked pretty well when we tested them yesterday, so, you know, high hopes." She smiled and then looked at the two other lads. "I'm Abi; I'm on the development programme at Williams." She said, reaching out a hand for them to shake.

"And she had the delight of going to school with me for seven years." He added with a wink, the others shaking Abi's hand. "Lando and Alex, significantly worse drivers than myself." He teased.

The two boys, in their racing suits and baseball caps, were as attractive as George. Abi assumed they were fellow F2 drivers, though she confessed she knew very little about the sport. She gave them both a smile, drawing her cigarette to her lips and then blowing some over her shoulder to avoid polluting the boys.

"Nice to meet you both." She smiled, looking back to George. "I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a delight, but..." Her lips curled into a smirk as he shook his head, taking off his baseball cap and fluffing his messy hair, trying to control it. "Anyway, what are you guys doing around here? These are the big boy pits, and you don't graduate till the end of the year." She rose a brow, eyes flicking to the other two lads before returning to George.

"Meetings, of course."

"Plus the canteen here is way better." Alex added, making the other three laugh. "Anything for a McLaren brownie." He smiled, Lando proudly waggling the McLaren lanyard that hung around his neck.

"Fair enough, fair enough." The sonic boom of a car racing past momentarily deafened them. "Well, good to meet you both and to see you again. I better get back to making sure I don't kill one of the lads." She smiled, stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray and then standing. She was a little shorter than Lando, though by no more than an inch.

"Keep up the good work," George smiled. "I'll see you around, yeah?" Abi nodded and slipped a stick of gum from her back pocket.

"Sure you'll raise another noise complaint before the end of the weekend. Have a good race." She smiled before waving to the other two and heading back into the pits. "You missed George and two of the other F2 lads." Abi hummed as she sat back down beside Callum, flicking open her notepad and looking at the looming television screen above them.

"Of course I did." He sulked, looking at his friend and then back to his phone. "Here, I put some pics on Insta." He waggled his phone between his fingers, and Abi looked at the array of photos she had taken of him the night before.

"What an absolute catch." She smiled. She didn't do social media - she had a Twitter, but that was to keep track of some of the bands and actors she liked. No one went in for newsletters anymore, and it was a pain to keep remembering to look at the cinema listings or the New In Spotify playlists. Callum was the absolute opposite, racking up a massive following on his Instagram page.

"I'm still determined to find some romance by the end of the week." He commented, Abi scribbling down figures onto her page as he spoke. "Monday night, we need to have another try. If not, we need to come back and find some handsome Italian men for us." He added, making Abi chuckle.

"You complain about me meeting men through Bumble, yet you think you'll fall in love with a lad in a tiny Italian town." She was smiling as she spoke. "Pot kettle, eh." She teased, earning an elbow to the ribs. "Come on; you've got work to be doing too, you know." She hummed. "That tyre wear chart won't make itself." Callum tutted and flipped open his notebook.

"What's your name, Claire?" The two snickered a laugh, suddenly being plunged head first back into the world of work.

"Our first points in a very long time; we're so chuffed, and you should all be so proud of the work you've put in recently," Claire said at their debriefing, the congregation of them sat in the Williams hub with the sun blaring through the massive windows behind where they sat. "Now go have a good evening, and we'll see you back in the office soon." Class dismissed, Abi went in search of a cup of coffee. It was getting late, and if she wanted any chance of getting through her post-race meeting with the other engineers, she would need a hell of a lot of coffee.

She ordered an iced latte from the canteen downstairs and sat outside drinking it, eyes on her watch to ensure she wasn't late. She was rarely late for anything, though she wasn't going to let a crucial and almost definitely praise-filled meeting slip away from her. Interviewers were wandering about, Abi unable to contain her grin when Ted Kravitz walked by, notepad in hand and cameraman shakily trying to keep up with him. So much attention was focused upon him that she didn't notice the three lads creeping up on her.

"Boo!" The three shouted in unison, almost sending the coffee down the front of her white polo shirt and tennis skirt. Abi immediately span around and scowled at the three lads, George grinning proudly to himself.

"I would have murdered you if I'd spilt that down me; I've got a meeting in ten," She groaned, giving the other two lads a cautionary smile before placing the metal straw between her lips.

"Well, we were just passing and thought we'd come and congratulate you on your first points of the season." George shrugged. Abi squinted suspiciously. "And we've got invited to one of the after parties tonight and wanted to see if you fancied tagging along." He added. Abi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"That sounds great," Abi smiled, having no other plans for her evening aside from perhaps a bath and a film. She wanted to get a better feel for the city she was growing to love, and what better way than to experience it from the depths of a dingy nightclub? "Ah, although would you maybe be able to get Cal in too?" She asked hopefully, Alex and Lando looking to George with raised eyebrows.

"Sure we can sort something out." George answered. "Meet you in the lobby of the hotel at eight?" Abi checked her watch - that only gave her two hours, and she was sure the meeting would occupy one of them.

"Hmm, sure." She smiled, noticing it was only a few minutes until her meeting. "Ah, I have to go, but I'll see you later. Thanks for the invite," She stood, coffee in hand and tutting when she noticed. a few caramel marks on her polo. "See you around, lads." She smiled and ran back inside, taking the stairs two by two till she reached the engineer's room.

An hour later and she was in a taxi back to the hotel, reading through the paperwork she'd been given during her meeting with her phone pinned to her ear. Callum was about to burst with excitement as she explained the party offer they'd been given, exclaiming something about how he was finally going to get laid by a pretty Italian man.

"Or maybe we can have a nice time and get to know the F2 drivers?" Abi had suggested, earning a snort in response. "Come on, Cal, this is something we'll only ever get to do once. Why waste it on boys?" They pulled up outside the hotel, and Abi thanked the driver, tapping her credit card against the payment machine and pulling on her backpack.

"Because boys are great?" He offered, making Abi laugh warmly as she reached the hotel entrance, the concierge letting her in with a smile. "Admit it, Abs; you'd happily get laid tonight if you could."

"I would rather network and drink red wine than leave early for a quick shag behind the bins," She whispered, approaching the lifts and calling one. "Besides, no one will want to take me home."

"Don't tell that to yourself!" He all but exclaimed, making Abi smile a little as the lift pinged.

"Well, whatever you say, but I'm still not convinced I'm wrong." The doors opened, and she allowed the flood of traffic to leave. "I'd have to pay someone to take me home, and no, I'm not including cabbies in that." Callum cackled a laugh, though Abi's cheeks flushed when her eyes met with those of Alex's as he and, to no surprise at all, George left the lift. Alex winked and followed the flow of people towards the reception, George smiling at her and following his friend, sniggering a laugh. Abi stepped into the empty lift and the doors shut behind her. "That was the worst thing that has ever happened to me." She groaned, leaning against the wall as the lift rose to the seventh floor.

"Oh god, what happened?" Callum asked, the line going staticky as the doors pinged open.

"As I was saying that, George walks out of the lift with one of his F2 mates," She huffed, getting her room key from her pocket and heading down the carpeted hallway till she reached her room. "The, uh, Asian guy. Alex or Lando, not sure which one. And he winked at me. I swear to god this could get no worse," She groaned, swooping her door open and putting Callum onto speakerphone.

"Well, maybe we have a chance of you going home with someone tonight after all." He teased as Abi assessed the condition of her hair, deciding a body shower was all that was necessary. "Those F2 drivers are dead hot; I'm jealous." She knew he was teasing, and Abi just tutted.

"Whatever," She said, heading into the bathroom and turning the shower on so the water would warm. "I'm having a shower, so I'll see you in the lobby later, yeah?" Abi called, hoping her voice would be heard.

"Alright, see you in a bit, love," Callum called before hanging up, just as Abi finished undressing and stepped under the erratic flow of the water. She was careful not to get her long hair too wet, hoping the messy bun below the hotel shower cap would be effective enough for the five minutes it took to wash and shave.

She was a little hesitant about the evening, knowing it could go one of two ways, but she knew that a party with people she didn't know would be the perfect chance for her to make connections and perhaps get the contacts she needed for when she graduated in a year's time. Surely F2 was no different to F1? If anything, the cars would be far quicker than the current Williams spec. She held back a laugh as she finished shaving her shin and then turned the water off, stepping out and wrapping the bath towel around her before shuffling into the bedroom. She had, thankfully, packed an appropriate dress for the evening, knowing there would probably be some kind of afterparty if it were anything like Silverstone.

She laid the dress upon the bed and dried off, slathering her legs and arms in moisturiser and then pulling on the silky camisole dress. She could have worn the horrifically expensive dress from the launch party, but she didn't want to be seen as an outfit repeater when it came to formal events. Instead, whatever ASOS had to offer was the next best thing.

She tidied her hair, ruffling it with dry shampoo, and gave it another straighten before setting about on her makeup. It was the same routine she had had since school; foundation, concealer, contour, eyebrows, lashes, eyeliner, lipstick. She felt a little bold, so she complimented the black satin of her dress with a soft red lip, as glossy as anything, to counterbalance her otherwise flat, matte appearance.

Heels on and mini bag slung across her shoulder, she headed out of her room and knocked on Callum's door. He swung it open and immediately wooed at his friend's appearance.

"You look gorgeous." He smiled, shutting the door behind him as the two headed for the lift. He was in his favourite cornflower blue shirt and slacks, his hair tousled and, Abi was sure, mascara on his already long lashes.

"Not looking too bad yourself," She smiled in response, linking their arms as they waited for the lift. It was just before eight, and Abi was proud she had managed to find Callum ready on time for once. Though she knew it would be ruined by him becoming a rambling mess the second he met the soon-to-be F1 drivers. "George said he'd meet us in the lobby - I assume the other two will be with him if they're staying here." She rambled as they descended to the ground floor, their arms still interlinked as they looked at the mirror in the lift. Callum took a photo for good measure, Abi giving her best smile for the camera as she had done so many times before.

"Well, just be sure you don't get carried away with them if they're fit." He said firmly, making Abi raise a brow. "And don't play the ironic card - I bet you ten pounds that once you've had some drinks and a dance to some Craig David, you'll be all over them like a pretty rash." The doors pinged open, and all Abi could do was shake her head.

"I can't wait to spend every penny of that on fridge magnets." She sighed, the pair arriving in the lobby and looking around for George and his friends. When they didn't appear in view, the pair sat down on one of the sofas. "I have self-control; it's you that doesn't."

"Oh, I'm not saying that; I just mean I know you better than you think and know what you're like." He winked, uploading the photo from the lift to Instagram and scrolling through his comments aimlessly. Abi tapped her foot against the marble floor, and people watched for a while, eyes drawn to the three men making their way over to the pair.

"Here we go," She said, standing and smiling at the men as they approached. Callum sprung into action, greeting them with as much keenness as possible.

Abi could tell they were in for one hell of a night.