I glance at Chip, whose eyes have widened in surprise. Adrenaline surges through me. This could be a complete career-making moment for me.
All because of Caleb.
“This is my first time reporting on F1,” I tell him. “I report on high school sports here in Miami as a freelancer, and cover things like pickleball or polo. I get assignments, but never big ones. The Downforce Network caught some of the F1 work I’ve done on Connectivity Story Share, and this is my trial for them. The fact that you’re going to be a part of this story is huge for me—incredibly huge—and it could open some doors. So thank you for this. I appreciate it more than you could ever know.”
Caleb stares down at me. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, and for some strange reason I find my breath catching in my throat.
“Then let me give you a tour,” he says simply.
“I don’t have an extra wireless mic,” Chip says, getting my attention. “You’ll have to pass the mic back and forth.”
I nod, looking down at the small wireless microphone in my hand. “Understood. We’ll make it work.”
“Let’s head downstairs,” Caleb says.
I fall into step beside him. “I promise my questions will only be about the motorhome. Nothing personal.”
A low chuckle escapes his lips. “You do know your F1 drivers. You know I won’t answer if you ask me anything else.”
“Well, I already know not to ask you to ride a space hopper,” I say cheerfully. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, and sure enough, I see an eye roll.
“Stupidest idea ever,” he declares.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think it would have been fun for viewers. I’d ride a hippity hop on TV.”
“Hippity hop.” Caleb chuckles again. “What a weird name for it.”
“Becausespace hoppermakes so much sense?” I challenge.
“More sense than a hippity hop,” he counters.
We reach the landing and take another flight of stairs, heading down to the ground floor. More people have entered the dining area, and Caleb greets a lot of them before we make our way out of the motorhome.
“All right, how do you want to do this?” Chip asks.
“I’m going to need a moment to rewrite the intro in my head,” I say. “Start with a shot of me doing the intro, then I’ll bring in Caleb, and then you can shoot us as we enter the motorhome, and we’ll bring the viewers along for the insider tour.”
“Sounds good,” Chip says. “Just remember, whenever Caleb answers, you’ll need to pass the mic to him.”
I wrinkle my nose. That will ruin the flow a tiny bit, but it will be worth it to have Caleb providing his commentary. “Give me a few minutes to get my thoughts together, and then I’ll be ready.”
Chip nods at me.
“Take your time. I’m in no rush to get back to that meeting,” Caleb says, smiling at me.
I step away from both of them, concentrating on revising my open to include Caleb. This is the only part I have scripted. Of course, I had some questions in mind, and doing the walk-through with Catherine gave me some more ideas, but other than that?
We’re going to have a natural conversation. Hopefully.
I mean, the fact that Caleb is willing to do this is huge. I’m getting access to him nobody else gets. But I have no idea how he’s going to be on camera with me. Will it be short, clipped answers like he gives in press conferences?
That wouldn’t be great TV.
But hopefully the fact that I even got Caleb on camera will mean something to The Downforce Network.
I turn back around and draw in a breath of air, then exhale slowly.
“Are you ready?” Caleb asks.