Lando's Love (2021)

Chapter 35

After returning from Austria, I had to prepare for Silverstone but first for the Goodwood Festival. I was so looking forward to driving that McLaren, the world champion thanks to Senna! I went on Sunday, but I also had to go to the Euro final to watch the British team play the Italians. I spent some time with Tris who was happy to accompany me on this almost sunny Sunday. We stopped first at the Quadrant stand before moving to the McLaren stand. Tris also wanted to see my McLaren from Monaco which was on display that weekend. We greeted everyone before going to the back of the stand, in the small room reserved for me. Astrid was about to leave the room to go for a walk when I grabbed her wrist and made her come back to me. I embraced her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I love you, Tris! You know that ?" I said. "I love you too. Go ahead and say what you want to ask me..." she replied. She knew me so well. "My friend at WTF1 wants to do a quiz about me for people and I thought maybe you could take part... Please..." I asked her with a pleading smile. "Well, I'll do it. We'll see how I do," she replied. I smiled and kissed her in thanks. "Let's go," she urged me.

We went out to say hello to the fans: we had become, like Charles and Charlotte, a sort of goal couple. Tris continued to receive insults, but they were fewer than the number of good comments we received. Tris was prone to having fan accounts about her now. Her style of dress was appreciated by many young girls, not least because it was simple and you could find clothes in many places and for cheap, not like some who walked around the paddock in Christian Dior and £2,000 dresses... She used to wear jeans or shorts with a T-shirt, a hoodie if it was cold and her black Le Coq Sportif sneakers. She always wore her watch, 2 small bracelets: a blue one made of fabric and a Yin Yang which reminded her that in everyone there is a part of good and evil. She also wore her baptismal chain which consisted of 3 medallions. She always wore her glasses on her nose and sometimes wore earrings, often small gold elephants. This simple style was a good representation of who she was: a gentle person who didn't want to be in the limelight at all costs and who just lived her life. One thing that made her laugh a lot was the fans who looked for her college jumper: they could never find it. So, she told some of the accounts that there was no point in them looking since it was from her university.

Tris did pretty well on Matt's quiz with only 1 mistake: the first official championship I've ever been to. I drove Senna's McLaren twice, hanging little English flags for my second run. I knew nothing about football, but I sincerely believed in my country's victory. We went home so that I could meet Max and we could go to the match together. Tris didn't come. I went to take a shower while Tris talked to Max and took care of Sigma. I went back downstairs, dressed in my suit, grabbed my keys, and went to kiss my sweetheart. She looked me up and down and simply smiled. "You're beautiful, my darling. Please, be careful. I've already seen videos of people being violent tonight near the stadium. So be careful, I want you in one piece when you get home," she said, genuinely concerned. "I promise," I replied before giving her one last kiss and Max and I left.

It was a pretty good game but unfortunately it ended in defeat for England. Max and I decided to go home. We were walking to my car when I felt someone grab me and hold me down. I couldn't move. I didn't struggle and tried to stay as calm as possible, praying that it would end as soon as possible. I was looking at the faces of the people holding me when I felt a cold sensation against my wrist. I turned my head towards my wrist and saw a blade cutting the strap of my watch. I began to panic. I begged my attackers to leave me alone while Max struggled. Then, all of a sudden, the pressure was off, and the attackers were gone. Max was mentally stronger than I was and asked me for the car keys while I didn't know what to do: I was on autopilot while my brain worked out what had just happened. The drive from the stadium to my house takes an hour, so it took me a little less than an hour to figure out what had happened to me.

Max parked the car in front of the house and turned to me before we got out of the car. "You'll have to tell her. She's not stupid, she'll know something's up. If you don't feel able to tell her, I will. It's up to you..." he said. "I don't know... I'll see." I said, my first words since Wembley... I got out of the car and walked into the house with Max. I looked at myself in the hallway mirror: physically I didn't seem to have any injuries, maybe under my clothes, however, my eyes are blank and show that I am shaken, that something has happened to me. I walked towards the kitchen where I found Tris cooking. She heard us and greeted us as she put her baking tray full of biscuit dough into the oven. "Hi boys, I'm sorry England lost. Max if you want you can stay for a drink, I just put some cookies in the oven, they should be done in about ten minutes" she said without looking at us. She then turned and looked at us. She understood immediately. Max said it: she's not stupid. "What happened?" she asked us. When I didn't answer or move, Max came over to her, grabbed her hands and made her sit down.