Miles from Normal - Lando Norris

8. Alice gets into trouble

Time was flying by, and Alice still hadn't had time to move or to buy a car. Lando had a busy schedule all the time and she didn't want to disturb him on his days off.

They traveled to Italy, Portugal, and Spain in a short space of time. She got annoyed in Portugal because everyone kept asking her how it felt to be home and no matter how many times, she explained she wasn't from the Portuguese mainland, no one cared.

Alice managed to get herself into trouble with the big bosses during the Spanish Grand Prix. After qualification, the drivers were being interviewed. The reporter asked Daniel a question and barely let him talk before quickly cutting him off and trying to get Max to talk instead. Alice was fuming and went like a raging bull at the reporter, pushing him.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You ask Daniel a question and let him speak three full words just to cut him off. What the hell! What's your name? I'll make sure you'll never get an exclusive from us."

"My job is to get audiences..." He said with a smug look.

"Fuck you dude. Where is your work ethos, do you even know what that is?"

Alice realized she had just told someone else to eff off on a live transmission. She wasn't doing too well in that field. She was positively impressed when Max took her side and refused to be interviewed.

"She's right, dude. That was some messed up shit." Max walked away probably getting himself into trouble as well. From what Alice had learned about Max, he wasn't too bothered about being politically correct and she really liked his style.

Later, she heard Max replying to the question "Which of your colleagues is the most similar to you?" with "The PR girl from McLaren."

She got called into the human resources head office, where and Charlotte, Rebecca, and Graham were waiting for her and got reprimanded, not for the attitude but for the swearing part.

"I apologize for the language used, but not for sticking to up to Daniel. And while I'm here, that guy isn't getting an exclusive interview from us! And you know very well he will want one with Lando soon."

Alice wasn't one to back off from a decision she made. She didn't care much if she made an enemy or not, but that reporter was out of line, and everyone knew it.

"You have to admit she's a good one! She defended her teammate when he was humiliated on live TV..." Charlotte said to the board once Alice exited the room.

"We won't pursue any formal punishment against Alice. We just don't want any more 'F Bombs' from her. That's all."

Alice went to collect some paperwork from her workstation before heading home. Lando was sat on her desk, looking slightly worried.

"Hey, I thought that maybe you'd need a lift." He said.

"Actually, I do. Thank you. Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah, did the promo and now I'm free. You?"

"Me too. I was only called in today to be told off..."

"That's bullshit! They can't possibly be mad at you for being well... badass."

Alice was trying to get a pen that was jammed in between drawers, on her desk, and was almost on her knees at that stage. She looked up with a smile. A badass, she could do worse.

"Well, Lando, I need to come up with better arguments than fuck off from now on, don't I?"

She got up again and noticed the paperclip ring that Lando made for her and remembered it was Joanna's birthday soon. She had been going on and on about a necklace lately, so Alice decided she would just get her the damn necklace. She grabbed the paperclip ring as well without Lando noticing it.

"I need to get Joanna a birthday gift actually. Want to join me on a shopping spree?"

"Fine. Where do you want to go? Harrods?"

"Harrods, Lando? Harrods? How much do you think I earn?"

They headed to Westfield in London. They went in together to Goldsmiths. Five minutes in she got an alert on her phone. She giggled.

"Someone took a picture of us coming in and now they're saying you're out buying jewelry to your new girlfriend!"

"Let me see that..." Lando said taking her phone with him. He sat down on one of the store's small benches and started making a video. "Oh shoot, I think I'm doing this on Danny's profile... let me delete this... okay... Lando Norris... done."

Alice was watching him from the corner of her eye. She had full access to both their profiles and the drivers didn't use them for personal reasons. They probably had their own secret and private account for that.

"Hi everyone! Hi, paparazzi who just took my picture! As you can see, Alice is right there making my life hell while she can't decide if she likes silver or gold... and I'm not paying. In case you haven't heard, women are very independent these days. YO, ALICE SAY HELLO!" he shouted across the store. Alice waved from afar and turned around again to the jewelry cabinet. She was fine with him making live videos. People enjoyed seeing his goofiness and unique sense of humor.

Alice found the necklace that Joanna wanted, and she also got a silver chain for herself. She asked the clerk not to bag it. She put the paperclip ring in as if it was a pendant and clasped it around her neck. Lando was sitting still playing on Alice's phone. She wondered what he was doing but was now contemplating the Cartier bracelet she had just spotted. She always wanted one, but the cheapest one did cost about double what she made in a month.

"Are you done?" Lando asked her.

"Yeah, I am. I've always wanted one of these. Look at how much they cost!"

"You like this stuff? It's just a golden bracelet, isn't it?"

"I do like this stuff. Ah! Maybe one day. Maybe when you win a championship title, I'll get a raise!" Alice said turning to face Lando, ready to leave.

"Hey!" Lando spotted her necklace. He reached his hand to touch it.

"It's my lucky charm!" Alice said touching his hand.

"I bet you'd trade it for one of those bracelets." Lando joked as they left the shop. Alice simply laughed. She wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

They had lunch together and Lando paid, despite Alice insisting that they split the bill. He went ahead and paid for it anyway. It had been a while since she had anything paid for her by someone of the opposite sex. She thought about it for a moment. She was single for almost a year now and had absolutely zero action since she split from JP.

"Did you manage to move to the new place?" Lando asked.

"Not really. I took too long with giving the landlord a date to move that he got fed up and rented it to someone else. I'm living in hotels now until I find another place."

"That must be getting expensive. What about the car you wanted my help with?"

"Tell me about it! Half my stuff is at Joanna's and it's just a bit crazy not having somewhere to call home at the end of the day. It's pointless to buy a car now, isn't it?"

"Why don't you move in with me?"