Lando Norris exudes speed, he brings his high speed energy into every aspect of his life. With his life going by so quickly, he finds something that slows him down, where he wishes he could stop time.
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"Thank you for the meal dear, food was lovely" an elderly couple gingerly arose from the table, thanking Kemala as she palms their dishes on her empty hand
"Oh, thank you! Have a nice day" She chimes in return
"You too, dearie" The wife of the couple waves gently with a pruned hand. Kemala smiles to the couple as they walk over to Arthur to pay for their meal. She steadily walks into the storage hallway and into the swinging door of the kitchen, the heat kicks and stings her cheeks when she enters. The sound of the clangs of the pots and pans replacing the inviting ambience of the cafe, Kemala smiles to the cooks as they spot her weaving through to the busboy. She sets the plates onto a metal counter, before a busy busboy covered in suds. He nods to her briefly and she does so in return before slipping back out into the atmosphere she was comfortable with.
Kemala returns to the table the elderly couple had been eating at with a folded rag and a spray bottle, her fingers closing onto the spray's trigger. Once the table had been covered with a layer of anti-bacterial liquid, she works against the rag and wipes the table surface in swift motions. Unexpectedly like a sudden change in weather, a distant guttural mechanical roar streams into Kemala's ears. Even though, its low grumble was audibly far away, she shoots her head up, looking around as Arthur's eyes rest onto her with widened eyes.
Arthur walks over with a quickened pace and mumbles "Hey," he attempts to take her attention through a hand on her shoulder. He offers a small shake, causing her dark eyes to finally meet his "you can't hide from him again" she doesn't answer but breathes deeply, her heart catching in her throat
"I won't" she shakes her head, an ear hearing out for the engine. However, as it neared the slight sense of familiarity with the engine disappeared and Kemala can feel the blood rush back into her face. A sigh escapes her lips as she resumes her cleaning with a slight tremors within her fingers
"I had a heart attack" Arthur sighs, leaning against the table Kemala had been cleaning
"Oh fuck,'" she laughs with a shaky breath "same"
"He could come walking through that door at any moment and..." Arthur rests his eyes towards the wooden-paned glass door "It's kinda scary"
"Tell me about it..." Kemala mumbles, crossing her arms once she had finished "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"Ah yes, because our six tables are occupied"
"We have a table" she nods towards the singular guest
"They've already ordered" Arthur shakes a hand at Kemala's words, pushing himself off and striding back to the cashier with the beat of the low-tuned music influencing his steps. Kemala raises an eyebrow as she follows behind him and tucking the cleaning equipment in a small cabinet near the ground. As she's busying herself with the organisation of the cleaning cabinet, the small door chime rings and she can her Arthur greet a customer. As the male customer orders her fingers wraps around a window cleaning spray
"Yeah, just an iced tea and a ham and cheese toastie" Kemala mentally judges the man, her bias leaning towards bacon and cheese in comparison. She lets out a small shrug before shutting the cabinet with two hands and straightening her legs to meet the eyes of the customer. She can't decipher if the feeling to faint was from the sudden movement in her head or the sight of the man before her. She grabs onto the counter and offers a friendly smile
"Can you please give Lando an iced tea in his bottle, please?" Arthur's eyes widen at his name, away from Lando's sight. Arthur is clearly internally jumping up and down as Kemala nods, walking over to the cashier and facing the mysterious Lando with a covered face. The sunglasses and cap is present once again, a slight twinge disappointment twists in her chest. She reaches over and grabs his metal bottle, the bottle is light in her hand as she walks over to the sink nearby
"Hope that isn't too much of a hassle" Lando smiles into his words, the way his lips moves was too familiar to Kemala but she felt that it would be an inconvenience towards him to ask
"Of course not," she smiles back at him "we encourage it"
"Save the turtles or whatever" he says in an American school girl accent. Kemala lets out a small genuine laugh, setting the bottle to air dry as she fetches the homemade iced tea from the mini fridge below
"You're just missing the stickers and a scrunchie"
"Oh, you think I don't have those?" Lando laughs into his words, another laugh escaping Kemala's lips. She tries to calm herself from laughter as she steadies her hand to pour the iced tea from the weighted jug. Golden sweet liquid pour smoothly into the blue metallic bottle, once the liquid has reached near the top Kemala sets the jug back into the chilled fridge
"You know, I doubt it..." Kemala turns to the man with obscured eyes "Since last time you bought a plastic bottle of water"
"You remember," He retrieves his bottle from Kemala's hand and shakes his head jokingly. The brief contact between them made Kemala's breath hitch in her throat. She watches the muscles in his fingers and hand work against the bottle as he secures the bottle cap
"Of course, I do!" Kemala smiles with a lean onto her right foot "Grey, bright orange and blue don't work together" She smirks, referring to his cap with her eyes
"Funny that you say that..." He chuckles, almost giggles at her words. Kemala catches herself and bites her lips into a nervous smile, she looks to Arthur who looks like he'd been caught up with the occupied table with a small parchment bag in his hands. She hopes, even prays that Arthur would walk over at any moment to save her from despair
"He's taking him time" Kemala jokes, sending Lando to glance at Arthur with a small lopsided smile. Arthur jogs over once he finishes up with the table, an apologetic smile in his face
"Sorry, mate"
"You're all good"
"Here you go" Arthur hands the warm bag to Lando
"Cheers!" Lando smiles, nodding to the two standing before him "I'll see you 'round" he says with his gaze towards Kemala. She can only muster a smile as he swiftly leaves the shop with swift strides. Once the door chime had rung, signalling his departure Kemala turns to Arthur with a hand over her mouth
"I'm an idiot" she mumbles in pure embarrassment
"What did you do? You didn't scare the potential Lando Norris from my store did you?" He says with a hushed tone around his name, the excitement now reeling through his body
"Okay so, he said 'oh you remember me?' And I go 'of course! The grey, orange and blue is a horrible combination of colours!' I can't believe myself, I basically said I hate McLaren" Kemala mumbles quickly, her words melding into each other
"You insulted McLaren?!" He says in a whispered scream, disbelief reflecting in his eyes
"I didn't mean to!" Kemala defends in a whisper "I'm just used to insulting my dad" she sighs, referring to her dad's McLaren road car. She could roll her eyes
"You are not talking to him next time, if there is a next time" Arthur shakes his head in disbelief and amusement
"Can you blame my artist eyes?" Kemala flutters her eyelashes, earning a chuckle from Arthur
"You know when I said I wanted your talking skill to improve? Yeah, forget that" The pair laugh with each other, as the embarrassment sets into Kemala for the night.
