Home. (L.N.)

48. Perfection

It's quite late at night but the adrenaline of the day still rushes trough my body. I take a deep breath getting mentally ready for a night of celebrating and getting wasted. "You look stunning", Daniel enters the elevator behind me and presses the button on the wall to go down. My dress is tight around my body and presents my curves very well. My hair flows down to my shoulders in big messy waves that still manage to hold on after this eventful day. I didn't made a big effort for my make up, it is simple but classy with a bit of an eyeliner and flawless skin. Surely at the end it would be ruined anyway so I could be sensible from the start. What a season that has been. The first one for Mick of so many more, even if he was not happy with the result in the end. I met so many new people because of that sport. It's so much more than a sport, it's a lifestyle of such an high standard but if you are in this tight circle it's more like a family. If rivals or not, they would always stand up for each other. Loyalty is something that I thought belongs more to a past century with king and queens with their knights, but loyalty got a different meaning for me now. This new group of people brought the best out of me and helped to get me to the top. That guy whoms hand lays right now politely on my lower back is responsible for so much off my success. When the rumors of us dating started we wanted to brush it off, but when we realized it has an advantage for us both it lifted so much weight off our real relationships. We are a trouble bringing unit that is always the center of the party and one last time this year we will prove it. Tonight will be fun, I am excited to let loose for once. All the studying is stressful so all my times goes into that when I don't spend time at the track feeding the world with close formula one content. The elevatorride takes awfully long from our floor down to the lobby. Daniel picked me up from my room earlier so we could go together. "Thanks. You look amazing." A wave of emotions overcomes my body when I let the season flash by my inner eyes. Looking up to him makes me get a little lost in his pretty brown eyes. "Thank you for entering my life" I press my lips on his beard and leave a little stain of lipstick behind. Quickly I rub it away with my thumb but actually making it even worse. Daniel sees in the reflection of the wall that my lipstick is all smudged over his cheek. "Now it looks like we made out" he laughs out but his eyes lay like always gently on me. A little smack on his chest and the conversation is over again. As my friend and roommate he is irreplaceable, never could I imagine my life without him. Even if he is such an energetic human, I like being silent around him. It's a good feeling. When we get to the main floor of the hotel he managed to clean up the mess on his face and guides me out of the huge golden doors, where a driver is already waiting. We get in the car with tinted windows and finally leave for the venue. "Happy?" I ask with my view glide over his serious face, something is definitely on his mind. "I could be happier, but I will enjoy tonight." I nod. It not the best season for him, but what it actually feels like I can't even imagine. The pressure of him performing well is immense and I would never want to swap places with him or any other driver. God only knows how he could still be so light hearted and cheerful. That is definitely a thing I admire about him, he is the sunshine. The screen of my phone lights up and pulls me out of my thoughts. "Oh Mick and Justine are already there. They asking where we are." "Just 10 minutes away" I nod and type a quick reply. "So we could've easily walked?" I ask not looking up. "I figured you preferred a ride with these things" the Aussie points at my heels. "Fair enough" I smirk at him before my eyes wander to the buildings on the other side of the window flying by. This city is where I first met Lando. An unforgettable night. I see slightly the reflection of Daniel's figure in the windows, his head rests in a tired manner against the window but peeks from time to time at me to check if I am alright. Being that quiet normally is not my nature when we are out, just at home or in safe spaces we would enjoy the peaceful quietness. But what I need now is to stay quiet and try to process the last two days. It was a lot. A lot of good things.
When the vehicle stops, my heart sinks immediately. A thought I pushed back for hours comes on again. I am scared of the possibility that paparazzis would be there. I still hate these flashlights that make me nearly blind. The urge of just going back to the hotel, open a bottle of wine and jump into the bed sounds so much better, but the hand of Daniel on my back pushes me out. Luckily my worst thought turned out wrong. He guides us to the door without screaming fans wanting his attention or flashes and cameras in our faces. Calmly he handels everything with security so we can enter. All this time I am kinda in a trance overwhelmed by the whole surrounding. There is a huge dance floor, many tables, a very long bar and beautiful decorations. I get back to reality when my eyes lock with very familiar blue sparkly eyes. He comes our way together with his date. "You look beautiful" I thank him and put a smile on my face. Justines eyes follow me with a nervous smile when I give her a kiss on her cheek and make my way over to the bar. In my eyes we are totally fine. What she makes out of the situation is her cup of tea. Daniel stays close by my side. "You don't need to babysit me tonight tho." "I will not, but I want shots." "I am in for that" I laugh. "So am I" "Yes Charles! " I hug the Ferrari driver, who just appeared out of nowhere, tightly. His beautiful girlfriend waves at me from a table close to us. I wave back to her with a smile. When I turn back to Daniel and Charles 9 shotglasses are already in front of us. "Well to you guys" I rise the first glass. "To us" my roommate smiles and rises his also. "To us" Charles follows our example. With a quick motion I swollow the alcohol. It burns down my throat, shivers run down my spine and I shake my head. Disgusting. Charles also pulls a face only Daniel smiles. "Really? Tequila?" Charles wipes over his lips while clinging on to the bar counter. "Next" I command and take the second glass in my hand. "To Monaco" Charles proposes. It just makes sense, since all of us actually live there now. "To Monaco" us other two shout out and raise the glasses as well. And down it goes my throat. It takes me a few deep breathes to get ready for the last one. It's Daniel's turn to lead. "To Max" he raises his glass. "To Max" and down goes the last one. "Urgh" I gasp out grabbing onto Daniel's hand. "Fucking disgusting."the Monegasque swears as he shakes his whole body. "But breaks the ice mate."Daniel chuckles, to be fair I can see on his face that he struggles with the shots as well."Can we get something nice now?" I ask. "Oh no no no let's have a break" Charles gets up quickly and makes his way back over to Charlotte. "Already? We just arrived?" I look after him in disappointment. "The night is young Anna", Daniel smiles but leans over to the bartender. I didn't get what he ordered but it will be alright. I sit down on a chair. "You alright?" Daniel sits down as well. "I will miss you" a sad smile appears on my face. I got used to him being around me. At the hotels, on the track facetiming everyday. Obviously he is away a lot but I will not see him for so long. "Promise me to take care of my house will you?" "Of course Dany." It's gonna be weird coming back to Monaco after all these months. But I am definitely ready to get back home, I missed this place. "I will miss you too shorty." He pulls my seat closer to him and pulls me into a hug. Never would I've thought about him being my roommate. He is an absolute joy to have in my life and I will be forever grateful. "A white and a red", I hear from the bartender. When I pull out of the hug I see two wine glasses. I take the white and he the red. "Ready?" I smirk. We understand each other without many words. "Ready" he smiles and gives me a wink before getting up and disappearing in the crowd. I also get up and make my way over to Mick. "What a way to start the party ey?" Justine laughs at me. All her concerns about us seem to be swiped away. "Daniel referred to the shots as the icebreaker" I laugh. Mick and my own elbow touch and automaticly I look at him. He is not a touchy person in these situations so I just know he wants my attention. He makes a move with his head and points in a direction where it seems to be a bit quieter. I nod and follow him. It's still unreal to me that we understand each other without any word. It's like he is for real my brother and our brains are somehow connected. "Everything alright?" It is unlike him to speak about something so urgent that he has the need to pull me away from the people. "I want a dance with you" he smiles down at me. My heart starts to melt and the rising tension is gone again. "Mick", I gasp out and touch my heart. The party hasn't officially started yet so they play classics and slower songs. I put my wine glass down and take his hand. He carefully places his other one on my hip. Mine is holding on to his shoulder and my head rests on his chest. We step from one foot to the other while listening to 'Count on me' by Bruno Mars. I can hear someone singing the lyrics in a horrible voice. If I need to guess I would say Yuki but I don't have time to guess, I am very busy with holding back my tears. This very special moment brings me to the edge. His chest is rising calmly and his heartbeat is strong under my ear. After the song ended we just last like that. But not in dancing position, our arms are simply wrapped around each other in a deep hug. "I am so so proud of you Mick. I can't put it into words. You are an absolute hero. You deserve the world and I am more than happy to have you." "You deserve nothing less Anna. I am happy for you. You made new friends and figured out your stuff with Lando. You grew so much as a person this year it's unreal. " He whispers in my ear. His voice is clear as glass and makes me tear up again. "Can I have everyone's attention please." a guy stands on the dance floor with a mic. He is one of the big bosses or formula one for sure. I pull out of Micks hug swiping away the tears while he just gently smirks at me. I still hold on to him when another person appears to my left. "Bonsior Anna", of course it's Pierre. "Bonsior Pierre" I grin at him but give my whole attention to the guy with the mic. He welcomes everyone and says how special this year was. Obviously he congratulates Max on the Championship says a few word about Antonio and Kimi and then carrys on with the congratulations for the F2 and F3 winners. Next to Mick stand a couple of familiar faces from his time in F2. I give them a wave, especially Oscar Piastri seems happy to see me again. "Can he just please open the dance floor", Pierre whispers in my ear. I smirk. I couldn't imagine him dancing. "Have you seen Lando yet?" he continues not paying attention at all to that poor guy. I shake my head and lean closer to him. "But he will be here shortly I hope". Of course I couldn't know it but I hoped so. "I still don't believe you two are still not together" the French accent is back in my ears. As much as I love Pierre, this information is not for everyones ears. At least not yet. So I stay still with my arms crossed in front of my chest, listening further to the speech while letting my eyes wander over the crowd. I spot George and Charles, see Toto and his wife but there is no sign of Lando. But my eyes lock with another person, that I hold dearly in my heart. It's the men himself Max Verstappen. He seems to had some drinks already judged by the smile on his face. I give him a smiley nod which he returns with a wink. "And so I would like to open the dance floor." the guy says and before I could even say something Pierre grabs my wirst and pulls me away from Micks side onto the dance floor. We start to dance around on the floor. There are just a few people dancing. Most of them are still chatting or having a drink." Where is Kate?" I scream in his ear since I haven't spotted his girlfriend yet. He shrugs his shoulders. "She said she would come later." I nod but not without wondering about it. They are inseparable normally and also love to party together. "Photo" the venue photographer screams at us. I jump a little at that not seeing him coming at all. Pierre laughs at me and swings his arm around my shoulder. I put my dearest smile on and look at the camera. Two flashes later the guy wants more. "Please something more extra" he shouts in broken English. I look at Pierre with a confused look on my face. He was totally comfortable with the camera and I wasn't so it's his job to say what to do. "Jump" "What?" He turns his back to me. "Jump" I look at him with big eyes but let out a sight. Men what people do for cool pictures and I jump on his back. Letting out a little squeek I wrap my arms around Pierres neck. The flash of the camera is going off multiple times. With horror I realize my dress is too tight for this and I hang on him like a sloth. I can't help but start laughing like crazy and so is Pierre. Some people around us give us weird looks but for once I didn't care at all. I was in a good place in life and I could be silly without having a weird feeling after. That experience is awesome. "Amazing" the photographer smiles like a little kid when he clicks through the photos. I let myself slowly slide down Pierres back. "Honey", I get pulled around with a lot of power. "Lily" excited to see her I jump in her arms. "That's the wrong boy, love" she laughs in my ear and earns a little slap on her back head for it. I take it with humor. "This one is for all the champions of you."the DJ screams in the mic before a slower melody starts playing