An inconvenient attachment

Chapter 73

"Where were you? I couldn't find you" Lando asks when I shut the car door. "You sent me away, remember?" I bite. Lando starts the car and drives off. "I needed some time to think" he explains. "I needed time to talk" I sigh. "Yeah, well, we can't always get what we want" Lando says, clearly not over his anger. I don't even know what to respond to this. "You once told me what we have is special. That you shouldn't walk away from something like this. That you talk to each other and you figure things out. You did the opposite. You made a conclusion in your stubborn stupid little head and you didn't give me the time to explain things" I say this in one sentence, without stopping to catch my breath.

"So explain then" Lando says. He hasn't even looked at me since I got in the car. "What?" I ask.

"Why was Pierre at your place?" Lando's eyes look watery. Maybe that is the reason he's not looking at me. I sigh. "He came by unnanounched. I didn't even let him in, he let himself in. We talked and it was nice actually. He's a friend Lando, just a friend. Nothing more. You can't decide who I can and can't be friends with." So, I told him.

"Yes, because you pick your friends very well" he scoffs. I turn my head towards him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing"Lando sighs. I want to keep going on this, but I realize it's probably for the best if I leave this subject for another time. Lando's hands clench the wheel. He's driving a bit harder than he normally does when i'm in the car. I try not to look at the road too much. He'll slow down in a moment. I hope. "Lando, you're driving really fast." He doesn't seem to hear me. Or he acts like he didn't hear me. My hands start to shake and I feel like I can't breathe.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks after a moment of silence. I don't really have a good reason for not telling him. Not any which seem good right now. I sigh, not knowing what to say. "Because I thought you would react like this"I say, more softly than I meant. "Lando, can you slow down please?"

"Because you know I don't like the guy and still you chose to hang out with him." He shakes his head. "And the worst thing is that I had to hear it from someone else! Fuck Mia!"

"Stop the car"I yell. Lando looks at the odometer and suddenly realizes. "Shit Mia, i'm so sorry" Lando says, finally looking at my face. I feel tears falling down my face. "Sorry, I didn't realize. Fuck" Lando stops the car and holds my hands, trying to stop them from shaking.

"Talk to me" Lando says when I don't say anything. "You drove like a fucking idiot" I yell when I finally realize we are standing still. I pull my hands out of his. "I asked you to slow down!"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't hear you" Lando begs. I open the door and get out. When my legs touch the ground I feel some relief and air getting in my lungs. Fucking hell. "Mia come, i'll drive slow. I promise" he says. I walk a few meters from the car and sit down at the side of the road. "I'm not getting in the car with you. Not when you're like this" I say when Lando gets out.

"Mia I told you i'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It sure as hell won't, because i'm not getting in with you. You can be angry all you want, go be angry in that stupid car and leave me alone" I yell. I let my head rest on my knees and the tears start coming now. "Please, just get in" Lando says. I hear a bit of anger in his voice, but he tries not to sound annoyed. "I'll get another ride. Go. Leave" I say angry. I grab my phone. For a second I doubt if I should call Pierre and ask him to pick me up. But maybe better not.

"Hé, can you pick me up?" I ask when Max answers his phone. "What's wrong?" he asks. "Lando is being a idiot." Suddenly that word, idiot, doesn't do justice to how he's behaved today. He has been a total dick. "I'm on my way" Max says before he hangs up the phone. Lando walks back to his car and sits there, being grumpy. He tries to get me in a couple more times, but he gave up after the fifth try. When he sees Max's car arrive he starts the car and drives off. I feel him looking at me one more time, but I stare straight ahead.

"Thanks for picking me up. Again" I sigh when I get into his car. "Don't worry about it. What happend now?" He makes is sound like there is always something going on. Well, I guess that's not entirely untrue. "I don't want to talk about it now. Can you drive slow? Please?"

Max looks at my hands, which are still shaking. "Sure."

Max doesn't keep asking. But after a few minutes I suddenly feel the urge to tell someone. "Lando was being an idiot. He was angry that Pierre came by my appartment and wouldn't talk to me. Then I got in his car, trying to talk things out, but he was so angry. He drove like a maniac. He knows Max, he knows that I don't like cars. Hell, I haven't been in one in years" I say, starting to cry again. "And then I refused to get in his car and I called you. And here we are" I say, too much and too fast. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear any of this" I sigh.

"All this drama isn't my favorite subject, that is defenitly true. But I wouldn't ask if I wouldn't want to know" Max says, making a right. Great, of course he's staying at the same hotel. I look around but I don't see Lando's car. "Maybe Lando was overreacting, but he is a great guy" Max says when we get out. "Why does everybody keep telling me that today?" I sigh out of frustration.

This is so not how I wanted this night to go. "So? What's your plan now?" Max asks. "To get drunk tonight and worry about it tomorrow" I say while we walk into the hotel. Max shrughs his shoulders. "I can live with that" he laughs.