That weekend...

chapter 19

"Ladies and gentleman, my oh my does it feel good to be back in the lovely town of Spa Francorchamps. The sun is out, so are the stroop waffles and the orange army- looking forward to this weekend Crofty?"

Third person POV:

It's media day in the paddock and the drivers weren't shy showing of their summer tans and their girlfriends- it's such a shame Lando decided to take the slow and steady approach.  In the Redbull hospitality things were chaotic, the not so Christian, Christian Horner prayed that Max (his shining star) had a smooth weekend. Meanwhile Drina and Adriana lounged behind the scenes.

"Fucks sake I am so. bored." Drina complained, "Lets go do something- what about botox? that could be fun," Adriana sat up and looked at her, "Honey you might need botox but I certainly don't."

Max was calm and collected in his interviews which is what everyone needed. He joked with his rivals and smiled with his fans- so far he was the vision of a perfect driver. Both girls watched the interviews on the TV across from them. "I'll be back soon- Lando's taking me for a hot lap" Drina announced as she got up from the couch, "Have fun!" Adriana chirped.

As Drina walked through the paddock she hoped Lando wouldn't turn her away as the hot lap wasn't actually planned, she was just bored. She bit the inside of her cheek as she overthought the whole situation. 'Maybe a race weekend is the wrong time to talk about what ever this is?' as she squeezed through crowds all she could think about was him.

She reached the back entrance of the mclaren garage with the intention to surprise her *almost* beau, he got to her first. Before she knew it a pair of hands crept round her eyes and stole her sight; "Guess who gorgeous." Lando. He let go and took her hand as he spotted the cameras from the corner of his eye, "come inside," he said pursing his lips slightly.

The McLaren garage was warm and eased the goosebumps the scaled every inch of Drina's body which slowly began to ease her mind. The garage was busy but not as bad as usual. The upbeat hum of chatter throughout was accompanied by the loud bang or slam every so often as the cars were being assembled and prepped for the weekend. As the pair reached the corner of the garage where Lando kept his things he stood with his back to the other entrance of the garage and acted as a shield so any lingering eyes wouldn't see anything, he signalled over to Jon who stood slightly to Lando's right, not too close but close enough to cover Drina, then slipped a pair of headphones on so he wouldn't hear anything- Lando wasn't ashamed, just protective. "I thought we could talk, I've been doing some thinking, although I'll be doing most the talking." As she started speaking Lando had to move significantly closer to the part where she was gently leaning against the workbench which his hand either side of her keeping her locked in place. He smiled to himself, she looked small without heels so she had to look up at him ever so slightly through her long fluttery eyelashes. "I know I've probably been giving you mixed signals recently and its like so unfair to you because I really do like you, its like you're stuck in my head- so I just wanted to make it clear, you're the one I want Lando." she blushed upon realising what she had blurted out and looked down at an instant, the girl who usually radiates confidence and authority felt timid and tiny. Lando sighed and his brows furrowed as he took a deep breath and at the same time drina held hers, "I don't blame you, have you seen me? I'm irresistible." As he said this her eyes shot up to see the biggest grin on her face. "You are such a dick. fucks sake I thought I was about to get rejected." She admitted punching his arm only for it to end up hurting her miles more than him. He noticed her wince and moved closer and picked her up to put her on the bench. Jon readjusted how he was standing. Lando took her hand and glanced at her knuckles that were tinted a light fuchsia. "You don't know do you?" Lando quizzed with half a smile, Drina raised a confused eyebrow, "you don't have any clue the affect you have on me, or anyone for that matter. Sometimes I wonder how lucky I got. the worst part is the girl that knows everything has absolutely no clue." he had leaned in so much that their faces were inches from one another's. The kiss was short but meaningful, so meaningful. two people willing to make it work.
"I heard you were doing hot laps today, I know a certain VIP that would love one..." she said in a menacing tone. "So you think you're a VIP? Sadly I can't take you now but I can at the end of the day once everyone's left, plus it'll be way more fun with no cameras around I promise!"

***

Alexandrina thought Media day went by faster than ever. Mostly due to the adrenaline rush from her conversation in Lando. As people began to pour out of the paddock and start the evening in the quaint town of Spa, the track was starting to be lit up by the bright, towering floodlights and the smile on Drina's face began to show though more and more as she awaited her hot lap. "You're smiling like you've never been driven round a track before," Adriana teased, "I take it the conversation went well- got any details for me?" She leaned closer to her friend dying to hear the full story even though it was written all over Drina's face- and of course anyone who watched the TV coverage saw it happen also; Jon can act as a human shield all he wants but it doesn't mean he's any good at it. "Let's just say the conversation went very well"

She wanted to rave to her best friend about the talk but was interrupted by Max's entrance. He'd been ever so slightly off with her since Lando entered her life but could never put her finger on it. The subtle comments about his worth compared to hers, the arrogant smirks when he thought she wasn't looking. Either she's overthinking, or Max is jealous. "Well uh- I'm going to get going, I want to get a bite to eat before my lap let's hope it don't throw up up" Lex laughed nervously. "I have to go meet some of the Honda guys with GP so I'll walk up with you" He said as he kissed his girlfriends cheek and gave her a wave. The pair walked up the paddock both individuals have completely opposing feelings, she felt stiff and awkward though dont confuse this with uncomfortable, drina was simply fulfilling her talent of overthinking. And Max was calm, he thought it was nice to finally be able to spend time with his old friend, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Max's POV:

The breeze gently tossed her long hair about and the fading sun hit the high points of her face, call me crazy but she actually looked sort of- pretty. I'm not jealous of Lando, I don't think so anyway, its just that he doesn't deserve her. As nice as he is I can't picture her with anyone but Theo, the girls never said why I couldn't talk to him or about him but I guess  I just have to listen to them. How did Lando even manage to charm her? He's so- so- not like her, when we went to dinner he used a dessert spoon for his soup, also who orders soup as a main course? Okay now im definitely not jealous because I know im not that much of a weirdo.
His shrill, high pitched voice broke me from my thoughts, "Hey guys!" he said so cheerfully. I forced my most genuine smile before making my way to the meeting.

***

Third person POV:

As Lando greeted Drina with upmost excitement her eyes burned into the back of Max's head, almost as if she knew what he was thinking- except she didn't of course. Alexandrina thought he was being overly protective, but Max had other ideas.

The pair walked to the end of the pit lane where a few F1 personnel handed them helmets and opened the doors to the hot lap car. The midnight blue mclaren twinkled under the fading sunset. She tried so hard to enjoy her time but something about Max's demeanour just bugged her.