The movie

4

Anna's POV

Once we'd gotten back to the hotel Max immediately went out so I decided to stick to my plan of taking a bath.
After getting in to the bath I went and checked my phone only to notice some texts from Samir and family.

Samir: how's daddy's cash?
This guy is seriously making my day better
I quickly responded to him.
Me: he ran away after I started talking about you
Samir has always been fond of Lance Stroll and I'm sure he would love to come over just to meet him. Maybe one day.
Mom: Hey sweetheart, how are you?
Me: I'm alright, Max is different from what I excepted but I'm sure it"ll work out

I didn't want to lie so I tried to remain truthful but to be completely honest I didn't know if it was gonna work out with Max. He's been so closed off. Every other person I've gotten to, didn't try to push me away as much. I tried to let go of my worries and think about all the positive sides of being here. I was excited to meet other drivers, be at every race and feel the energy within the paddock. Meeting Lando was something I could have never imagined happening a few years ago and now I'm here.
Thinking of Lando made me mentally debate texting him. I had his number after all but I had no clue how he would react. What if he just gave me his number to be friendly?. I decided to just do it. What's the worst thing that could happen right? and besides I'd only be here for one season, what have I got to lose?, except for all my pride that is.

I went to whatsapp and added him

Me: hey, It's Anna, have you gotten back to the hotel yet?
Okay this is by far the most stupid thing I could've texted but there's no turning back now, it had already been sent.
After about 10 minutes of me cringing at my own text and wondering if i should delete it, i got a text back.
Lando: hey, yeah just got back
Okay well that was dry but I guess there isn't much he could've said
Me: what time are you gonna be at the track tomorrow?
Lando: at 9 but first I'd like to take you somewhere first ;)
His text surprised me. This is surely a big plot twist
Me: where to may I ask?
Lando: you'll see, just meet me outside the hotel at 8, alright.
Me: it's a date ;), just pray for me that Max won't kill me for being up that early
Lando: don't worry, I'll protect you
While I was still processing what happened I suddenly see Max's figure standing in front of me.

He kept staring at me while I was obviously panicking about him seeing me like this.
"As much as I appreciate the sight, I'm pretty tired and would like to get some sleep so dry off and get into bed"
He had a big smirk on his face. Guess its the first time he's actually been somewhat nice to me. Not exactly the perfect circumstances though. He walked out if the room and I quickly dried off. I put on my sleeping clothes and got into bed.
Silence filmed the room, just darkness. As much as i tried to get some sleep I just felt like I couldn't. I love to travel but once I need to go to sleep it makes me miss home.
Suddenly the silence ends
"Do you think I'll win this race?"
"What?"
"You heard me"
His question surprised me.
This felt like him opening up to me so I quickly grabbed the camera from my bag under my bed and started filming which he didn't notice because of the darkness.
'Why wouldn't you?"
"I've been working my ass off every day to beat Mercedes and every year the car has let me down, I'm not settling with p2 anymore" he said, his voice as monotone as it could be.

"I always thought you were so confident in the way you did things, what's changed?"
"Nothing, I'm still confident that I can do it but I don't know if I'll be able to do it in a Red bull car"
"Did you tell Christian about this?"
"Of course I did, he just wouldn't listen, said there's nothing he can do"
"I think you can do it, you're good at overtakes and you can always profit of other people their misfortunes."
"That's not the way I wanna win."
"Then what are you planning on doing?"
"I don't fucking know, it just feels like the previous years all over again."
"But you've only driven during pre-season testing, everything's still possible" I said in an attempt to cheer him up.
"We'll see"
After that it was silent again, I put the camera away and remained silent. The amount of progress I've made feels like a victory. He opened up to me. Sure, not as much as he should but it's way better than not talking to me.

The next morning I woke up at 7 AM to get ready for meeting Lando. It mainly was me tiptoeing around a sleeping Max and trying not to forget anything. Luckily I managed to do both and ended up walking out of the hotel only to see Lando already standing there with a basket.

"What's the basket for?" I asked him, obviously very curious.
"You do ask a lot of questions, you"ll find out soon enough" he said before grabbing my hand and walking with me.
"So how's the whole filming Max thing going?"
"Alright, still a pain in the ass tho"
"That sounds like Max alright" he laughed while still holding my hand.
"You excited for the race?"
"Yeah, I love the track and I feel better than I have ever felt before,I'm sure you rooting for me would be be a big help though"
"My support is quite pricy but for you I'll do it for free" I said while playfully leaning into him.

He suddenly spun me around and put his hands in front of my eyes.
"I'd like to introduce you to the most beautiful place in Bahrain" he said before removing his hands.
He certainly didn't lie.
In front of me there was this beautiful lake surrounded by trees and grass. The perfect picknick spot.
"I can see what the basket is for now, it's so beautiful, thank you for bringing me here, how did you find this spot?" I asked
"Well last year I had some spare time during the race weekend  so I decided to go for a walk and I stumbled upon this place and promised myself that one day I'd go to this place again with the most beautiful girl"he said with a big smile. Happiness written all over his face.
"You sure are charming"
"Charming is my middle name" he said while shooting me a wink.

This picknick was as perfect as I could have imagined it. Lando brought croissants, bagels, cake everything you could possibly want for breakfast. We clicked so well there were no moments of awkward silences just lots of laughter and eventually some deep conversations.
"It was hard being seen as the rich kid just because of my dad, I got here fair and square and there are still people thinking I managed to get in because of money" he said. I could see he was truly struggling so I decided to grab his hand and do what I do best. Help when people needed it.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, just know that people are always gonna have their opinions. When I was young I got bullied. I always felt like fighting their words because I knew what they said was wrong but eventually I realised they just wanted me to react so I stopped fighting it, I moved schools and grew as a person. The opinions around you can either be your anchor or your wings. It's your call"
"Why would someone ever bully you?" he said, looking at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. He lifted his hand en put my hair that fell in front of my face behind my ear.
"Why would someone ever wanna hurt you by saying you got into F1 because of money" I responded.

Something shifted. We looked at each other without saying a word en before I knew it his lips were on mine. He put his hands on my face and we started making out heavily. Then his phone rang which made him pull back.
"It's Zak" he said before answering the phone. I was still on cloud 9 so I barely managed to listen until Lando hang up the phone and stood up.
"Zak called to remind me its already 9;30 so I gotta go and I'm sure you do too" he said before offering his hand so I could stand up.
I got up and then the realisation came that i never told Max I was leaving.
This is gonna get me into trouble for sure.