sixteen - first date

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I'm alone in your heart, have I a hope with your heart?

Following a long weekend with her family, Abi was reluctant to return to work. She had told her dad and brothers everything, and they were somewhat surprised that she was so willing to give George another chance. But she knew that, for some reason, it was the right thing to do. She loved George and was more than aware of how massively he had fucked up. But she knew she had to give him another chance. A final chance.

She got to work early on the Monday morning, scanning in just before eight with a slight skip in her step. She didn't know what had got her in such a good mood, but she was going to take full advantage of it. She smiled at the new woman sitting at the front desk and then headed down to the basement, greeting the familiar faces as she passed.

She made herself a coffee and then sat down at her desk, switching her computer on for the first time in over a week and then stretching a little. Her shoulders were aching from having helped effect Kit's new trampoline in the back garden, an early Christmas present from the siblings that would hopefully keep him busy during the school holiday. Secretly though, she was looking forward to using it too.

She logged in and went straight for her emails, deleting the general rubbish and downloading the reports from the race weekend and the overall season reports so she could plug them into her code during the day. Her eyebrow rose at the ping of her computer, a new email sliding into the top of her inbox, the red exclamation mark letting her know it was important. She could tell immediately, though; she never got emails from Claire. There was a small list of recipients, Callum included, and she couldn't help but smile when she read it.

From: [email protected]
To: <netflix focus group>
Subject: Netflix Filming Today
Hi All,

Just to let you know Netflix will be in the offices today filming for the next season of their documentary, Drive To Survive. We have emailed you to ask if you would like to be involved in some scenes that they have planned. Please let me know if you are interested before 10am and we can let you know the details.
Thanks,
Claire Williams

She wondered if George would perhaps be about today then; it was rare for them to want to come in and film without himself or Robert being there. She quickly replied and then went back to her work, earphones in as she waited for Callum to arrive, knowing she had way too much to fill him in on.

"And we just chilled and watched Netflix and had takeaway." Abi shrugged as they made their way up to the meeting rooms on the top floor. It was rare they needed to head up to them, most of the time reserved for very important meetings between the executives and the board. Abi did feel quite special.

"I... I don't know what you want me to say to all of this Abs. You know I love you but... really?" Abi shrugged at her friend's response as they keyed into the door that took them through the long corridor of meeting rooms and office spaces. "He cheated on his girlfriend. Like... That's the lowest of the low." He pointed out, acting like it hadn't been something Abi had mulled over for the last ten days.

"I know, but he's apologised, and we want to make it work. I love him, and he loves me, and we just need to take it slow." She sighed, coming to a stop outside the room they had been told to report to. They were a little early, so they loitered outside.

"Well..." Callum sighed and smiled at his friend. "Whatever makes you happy, Abs. But don't come crying to me when it all goes to shit," They both laughed, and Abi nodded firmly.

"It won't go to shit, I promise. I know what I'm getting myself into." She assured, checking her watch and then peaking through the window in the door. "There are people in there; should we go in?" She asked, Callum looking in too before pushing the door open. The older employees turned to look at them before returning to their chat, Abi and Callum sitting down at the opposite end of the table. "Worse comes to worst, I join a new team and avoid him for the rest of my life. I always thought I suited papaya more anyway." She added, and Callum rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face.

Before he could respond, the door opened, and Claire entered, followed by a camera crew and the two drivers. George, too engrossed in his conversation with Robert, didn't notice Abi initially. But when the room fell silent, and Claire took to the front of the room, their eyes locked, and George gave her a wink. Abi smiled in response and then looked back to Claire as she explained the day's proceedings, saying they were going to stage some meetings and technical run-through to get some content, George and Robert being assigned different groups to stick around with for the day. Claire had hardly set eyes on the two youngsters before she was suggesting George joined them for the day. Naturally, none of them minded that at all.

"So first, we're just going to have a little chat about our thoughts following Abu Dhabi and how we think we can improve next season, and if Robert and George have any thoughts about how we can improve for next year, then they can chip in," Claire explained as George sat beside Abi, patting her knee beneath the table. It lingered, Abi's heart beating faster at the soft touch. "So we just need to get the crew set up, and the makeup team just need to do some touch-ups..." Abi caught Claire's eye, and she rose an accusing brow. The cheek. "Then we'll be good to go for the first session." Claire left, leaving them with the small film crew as they set up and fiddled with the lighting.

"You looking forward to all this?" George asked the two as they waited, Callum answering on their behalf.

"Oh, it's going to be great, always wanted to be in a TV show." He grinned, fiddling with the pen he had plucked from the middle of the table. Abi grabbed a pad and pen for herself, unscrewing the lid of her water bottle.

"Should be fun, nice just to not be doing analysis for the day." Abi added as she sipped her water, and George hummed a laugh.

"Well, it's going to be significantly more enjoyable now I know you two are joining us." George smiled, as slick as ever. Callum blushed a little, but, to Abi, it was nothing. "What are you doing tonight?" George asked quietly, eyes meeting with Abi's. "Thought, as I'm in town, could do something?"

"Hmm..." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and tried to look beyond the pout on his face. "I'm free as it happens." Her only plans were to have a bath and finish watching Black Mirror - she supposed a night with George would be a little more enjoyable than that.

"Well, that's good luck." He smiled. "I'll get something sorted... Trust me, we'll have a fun time," He hummed as he opened his notebook and scribbled something into the margin. Abi squinted, a little sceptical, but turned her attention back to striking conversation with the two lads whilst they waited for Claire to appear.

"Okay, and we're ready." The director smiled from behind the laptop on the other side of the room. Abi sat between Callum and George, Claire opposite her as she sipped her coffee and skimmed the paperwork in front of her. "Action."

"So, we haven't had the best season, so obviously there is a lot for us to improve for next year. Hopefully, by having both George and Robert on the team, it will be the boost we need... Now, Roger, how was engine performance looking towards the end of the season?" Beneath the table, away from the gaze of the cameras, George's fingers gently touched Abi's leg again, light touch flowing up her thigh and to the creases in her jeans. She breathed slowly, knowing exactly what such soft movements would do to her. She would be stronger than that, resist the feeling in the pit of her stomach. They were too close together for it to be distinguishable as to if George was touching his leg, and the sensations it was giving Abi made it hard for her to want him to stop. She rested her chin upon her palm and focused on what was being discussed, doing her best to ignore the gentle squeeze of her thigh and the caress of the soft skin through her skinnies.

"Obvious there have been some technical issues surrounding the mechanisms when it comes to acceleration and deceleration," Abi's ears pricked up at that, fiddling with her pen as the hand returned to her knee and then slowly disappeared. She gave George a look, it being returned with a poker face and a wink before she looked back to Paul as he spoke. "Whilst the technology behind it is working well. There are issues with the sensitivity of the mechanisms. It's leading to an inconsistent performance on corners which we need to irradiate."

"The sensitivity issues are something I am aware of," Abi said, making the team turn to look at her. "Obviously, as we continue to test the way that the program links to the peddles, we can amend this; as it's quite an innovative method we're following, there's going to be a lot of tweaking to get it perfect so hopefully with George and Robert coming in and using the sims we can start to customise it to something that they feel more comfortable with. Little things such as shoe size and the amount of tread left on a shoe's sole can change the amount of pressure a driver puts on the brake. Aside from that, we've managed to be within 0.1 of 1 for 98% of all corners since we introduced the technology at Silverstone." Abi slid a sheet of paper across the table to Claire. She rose an impressed eyebrow, looking at Paul and then the piece of paper. The hand returned to her thigh, and she looked to George, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, this all looks great, Abigail... Hopefully, we can have a more personalised process in place by winter testing." She said with a nod, giving Abi a sickly sweet smile. "And how is the progress with tyre wear coming along?"

By the end of the session some hours later, Abi was exhausted. She had almost forgotten about the camera crew that were listening to every word, lenses pointed at her and every other figure that adorned the table. Claire thanked them all and then left

"Want to go grab some lunch?" George asked as they stood and tucked their chairs under, Abi throwing her belongings into her tote bag. "I know a good cafe round the corner from here." He suggested, Abi looking to Callum and then back to George. Monday was always their chance to catch up over bowls of the canteen's famous Buddha bowls. She couldn't let Callum down; it had sort of become their favourite part of the week. Besides, she would be seeing George that evening anyway.

"I've got plans with Cal, but..." Callum turned when he heard his name, smiling at George.

"You can come join us if you want to?" Callum suggested, George looking between the two with a small smile.

"Sounds great. Lead the way." He hummed as they left the meeting room, heading for the stairs. "How did you find that then? Weird with all the cameras, isn't it." George said as they pushed through door after door.

"Yeah, really weird, but it was nice to learn more about what other teams are up to. You don't really find out about, like, marketing and corporate vision and all of that when you're one of the engineers." Abi said, Callum a few steps ahead of the pair. "But... Well, I hopefully get to be on TV and show people I know what I'm talking about." She chuckled as they descended the long spiral staircase. "You must be getting pretty used to it by now, right?" She asked, and he shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"Don't really ever get used to things like this... But I suppose I need to try all the while I want to be an F1 driver. Not many people ever get the opportunity to do something like this." George shrugged, smiling at the people who passed them, on their way to important meetings and discussions. "But you came across really well, very confident in what you were talking about." He hummed as Abi blushed a little, looking up to him and tutting.

"Flirt." She smiled, making him laugh and shrug.

"Nah, though hearing you talk all technical is really quite hot." Abi scoffed a laugh at the quiet words, shaking her head as they reached the fourth floor and scanned through the doors towards the canteen. "I'm not even joking." He added, and Abi shook her head with a small smile as she gave George a playful slap with the back of her hand, him clutching his arm with a pout. "Hey, come on, I was being nice."

"We're at work, and that wasn't a very SFW thing to say." She shrugged, and he hummed, following them into the dining hall. Abi picked up a tray and joined the queue, surveying the menu board like she didn't already know what she was having.

After a far too enjoyable lunch, the three headed back down to the basement so Callum could teach George about the work he had been doing. Abi raised her brow when the camera crew emerged, the director looking around the vast room and talking to the lad in his team. Trying not to be too distracted, Abi returned to her typing, humming along to the song that had been stuck inside her head all day. George peeked his head above Callum's monitor to look at her from time to time, winks and smiles exchanged and butterflies still swirling around Abi's stomach.

The crew approached mid-afternoon to take some shots of George looking over the figures Abi was trying to explain, though the two were instead laughing and joking with each other, sneaking comments about some of the middle-aged men that walked past them. The director greeted her with a handshake.

"You were great in the meeting earlier, Abigail. Really great knowledge for a young woman." Abi rose her brows, a little stunned at the comment. "We are hoping to have more diversity and female representation this season, so if we could just film you and George going over some stats or whatever, that would be great." Abi gave George a look that was quickly returned, Abi having to bite her tongue to stop a snappy reply.

"Of course, my pleasure." Abi smiled as she spun back to her computer and got up the necessary resources, George snorting a laugh as Abi pulled a 'get a load of this guy' face at him. "What's the betting none of this ends up in the final show?" She whispered to George, who smiled back at her.

"Oh 100%, what better diversity are they going to get than two middle-class white Brits talking about statistics?" Abi cackled a laugh and gave George a playful nudge with her shoulder. "Helps that you look great in that polo too." He added with a whisper, Abi shaking her head as she loaded up the software.

"Makes my boobs look great, doesn't it?" He snorted and shrugged, looking to the screen.

"I mean, I can't say no."

"And we're ready whenever you are." The director said as Abi clicked run on the software.


"What did you do at work today, Abs?" Abi said as she and George approached his Mercedes, George holding the door open for her. "Well, I got objectified and am apparently the only diversity we have at Williams, and then broke the piece of software I've been working on for the last two years by not filling in one of the boxes." She slipped into the car, George laughing loudly as she did up her seatbelt. "All in all, fantastic day!"

"It didn't break." He pointed out, putting the key in the engine and then doing up his seat belt. "It was just a little, uh..."

"Broken?" Abi offered, and the two laughed, Abi shaking her head and putting her head in her hands. "You better have a great evening planned. Going to take a lot to save this shit show of a day." She sighed, getting her phone from her bag as they rolled out of the office car park, heading in the opposite direction to normal.

"As it happens, I do." He smiled, making Abi raise a suspicious eyebrow, looking over at him. "Well, you know how you like pizza and pop music?" He said, Abi nodding and chewing her lip. "I bought us tickets to see Scouting For Girls because I remembered how much you loved them when we were kids." Abi laughed, a grin on her face at the words. "And I've booked us into my favourite pizza place too." He added as they joined the motorway, heading for Oxford.

"You are kidding me, right? George, that's amazing!" She squealed, clapping excitedly as they thundered down the open road. "Oh god, I am so excited. I have always wanted to see them live." She beamed, looking at George with a wide smile, making her cheeks ache. "Thank you so much."

"If it means we have a great evening, then I'll sit through a bit of cheesy pop." He chuckled, reaching to turn the radio on. "Oh, and they're backstage tickets too, so you'll get to live your childhood dream of meeting them too." He smiled, and Abi squealed excitedly.

"You're the best person ever," Abi sighed with a smile. "I would have dressed a bit nicer if I knew this was happening." She laughed, bobbing her head to the song playing, the excitement boosting her mood massively.

"You look gorgeous, so don't worry," He chuckled, and Abi smiled, squeezing his hand as it rested on the gearstick. George linked their fingers, knowing they would be on the road for some time so she could enjoy the soft warmth of their intertwined fingers. "Really beautiful as always." He added with a small smile, Abi blushing and looking back out the window.

They arrived in Oxford just after seven, walking hand in hand to the restaurant George had booked a table at. It was fairly indie seeming, a limited menu with incredible seeming pizzas. They ordered one to share and a glass of wine each as they chatted aimlessly about their days, filling in the gaps when George had been taken away to film. They were used to it by now, George having had a camera following him around during his final few races. He didn't know if the footage would be used at all, but he would be taken in for a studio interview with the others after Christmas. He had mentioned Lando was getting a feature too, the producers interested in focusing on such a young and impressive talent joining McLaren. Abi often wondered if George was disappointed he had joined Williams rather than one of the bigger teams, but at least he had a confirmed seat, unlike Alex.

"Have you had any thoughts about what you want to do once you finish the internship thing?" George asked as he picked up the last slice of pizza. "I dunno how it works." He chuckled, biting into it, cheese dripping onto his chin.

"Not a clue, really. I want to stay on, but I might look and see if any other teams are hiring. We don't get to every race like the main engineers do, and that's what I really want. So I'll just have to see next year." She shrugged, sipping her wine and then dipping her crust into one of the small oil pots.

"You'd want to leave?" He said with a frown, Abi shrugging and biting into the crust. "Well, just need to do what you think is best for you." He smiled. "Plus, if I get to spend more time with you out on the circuits, then I'm sure not going to complain." He chuckled, having another bite of pizza and then wiping the cheese from his chin.

"Makes it far more inviting when you say it like that." She added with a smile, finishing her piece of crust and then sitting back in her chair, rubbing her bloated stomach. "That was really good pizza." She sighed as George nodded and finished his slice. "A brilliant suggestion on your part." She hummed before finishing her wine as George did the same.

"What can I say? I'm quite the connoisseur." He hummed, wiggling his eyebrows and making Abi laugh. "I'll go get the bill. The gig starts in a bit." He said and

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