A Night To Remember - Lando Norris

eight

Jas's days ended up being remarkably similar, often staying up late finishing work and then waking up sometimes for the most annoying 9 am lectures. However, her excitement came when she got in and met Ella in the library, she had wanted to tell her what had happened, but she knew it would be better in person. She had found Ella hidden in the library buried in her work, but Jas interrupted she couldn't hold the story in any longer. Jas couldn't stop speaking it was hard having to whisper everything that had happened.

"Right- so then I was playing, and he walked in and then we just sat down together, he invited me to his table- "

"Jas, you're missing out on who 'He' is," Ella said while trying to make sense of what Jas was saying.

"Oh Lando, this driver. Then we went for this walk and it was so nice and yeah," Jas said trying to remember, "Oh and then he stayed in my room- not on purpose we both just fell asleep,"

"Wait, he stayed over," Ella said with her eyes shooting up from her book.

"Well yeah, not weird or anything," Jas could see how much of a shock this all came to Ella. "Anyway, that my birthday, oh and I saw my parents the other day,"

"Sounds a lot more exciting than mine,"

Jas invited Ella to stay round, she was lonely without Jack there he'd been away for almost two weeks training for the opening race this weekend in Bahrain.

*

Ella joined Jas at her house, they had snacks watched films, and had a takeaway. Ella could see Jas was lonely by herself but also noticed her smile every time she looked at her phone.

"Hey, Jas, who are you talking to?" Ella said nudging her, Jas quickly scrambled her phone away feeling embarrassed.

"Alright, its Lando," Jas finally admitted, while rolling her eyes towards Ella. She hated how much she longed for his texts.

"So, what, you two are now regular texters?" Ella said laughing.

"Well, I guess so- "

"Didn't he not text you for ages after, you know, the whole night," Ella said slightly dismissively.

"Yes, but that's- "

"I know, he didn't have your number, but did he actually not have your number,"

"I hope he didn't lie; he had no reason to," Jas said, she did always pride herself on seeing the best in people.

Ella ended up falling asleep early and made her way to Jas's bed and passed out. Jas stayed up and spent too long watching Stranger Things before she knew it, she had finished the whole series and it was 2 am- she knew Ella would be mad. Jas shook her head and made her way to her room when she walked in she saw Ella who had managed to take up the entire double bed. Instead, Jas made her way to Jack's room and fell asleep instantly.

*

Ella got up and made Jas breakfast as a treat, pancakes with banana and maple syrup.

"Aw Ella you didn't have to" Jas smiled at her feeling so grateful.

Soon after Ella had to leave and Jas was all alone again, she filled her day with studying, but she managed to get out for a walk towards the end. However, there was a slight bit of excitement towards the weekend's races, she had promised Jack she'd watch it.

The feature race began on Saturday, she forgot the excitement of F2. All the cars are so similar the amount of overtaking she was absorbed into it. Before Jas knew it the race was finished- Jack came 7th, which was a decent start to the season, better than last year. She dropped him a quick text to try and give some moral support from the opposite side of the world.

Jas: Jack well done today, you're going to kill it tomorrow

Jack: Thanks Jas I'll try my best

*

Jas got up ready for the sprint race today since Jack had come 7th yesterday this meant he was starting 2nd in the sprint race. However, it didn't quite go as planned for Jack he ended up coming 11th, which she knew he'd de disappointed with. Surprisingly though she had got a text:

Lando: Any chance you're watching the race this weekend?

Jas: Of course, I wouldn't miss it

Jas hadn't thought about watching the main race, of course, it was only Lando's second F1 race. The race wasn't as exciting as F2 and this reminded her of why she often didn't find herself watching it, she sent him a text as soon as it ended:

Jas: Congrats on P6, you did amazing!

She knew she wouldn't get a reply anytime soon, but only a few hours later he replied

Lando: Thanks, it was a good race I can't lie

They kept on texting although she didn't even think about how he was three hours ahead, soon after he went to bed feeling absolutely exhausted from his weekend racing. Jack hardly replied all evening she knew he was upset with himself, felt as if he had let himself down from such a strong start. Jas sent another text reassuring him, telling him it's only the first race he had no reason to worry- he was radio silent.

*

The next weeks passed slowly, Jas was in and out of uni. She had spent weeks doing work and more work although, now more than ever, she was so grateful she had picked up her keyboard as it gave her a distraction from the boring repetitive life she was living at the moment. Over the weekend she stayed around Ella's flat by the university; this meant she didn't have a chance to watch the races that were in Baku. In the weeks that had passed Lando had rung her a few times, he even gave her a tour of the track, which she thoroughly enjoyed,

"Oh yeah and this is where Jon sits all day and does nothing,"

"Lando you know I can hear you right- "Jon replied.

"I know mate, you're doing a cracking job." Lando said while shaking his head to Jas, she vaguely remembered 'Jon' from when she bumped into both of them in Guilford. She found this all sweet she didn't think he'd speak to her a lot; Jas had imagined he would be incredibly busy, but his evenings tended to be free a lot after his dinner. She learned he was quite introverted and shy, he didn't 'go out a lot and mainly liked to stay in although, she hadn't worked out what else he does in his evenings.

She had been checking up on Jack, but he seemed to be incredibly busy- more than last year. Although in the feature race she couldn't believe what she was seeing, Jack had won! She was ecstatic and wished she could be watching it live. Even better by Sunday he has come 3rd in the sprint race, she was ecstatic for him and couldn't wait to celebrate when he came home, she didn't expect him to look at his phone, but she still texted him- she knew he'd be celebrating with his teammates.