For Real | Lando Norris

𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆.

Ophelia

I keep staring at Sabine, my head spinning a thousand miles per hour. Who is the guy I've been talking to the past month? He can't be that Lando or maybe it's a coincidence. I don't know his last name. The guy on the tv could easily be a look-a-like of Lando. However he said he would be in Bahrain this weekend... I think unwillingly. And he was in Barcelona a week ago... I try to shut out my own thoughts.

It can't be, there must be some logical explanation. I feel myself starting to breathe heavier and stand up from the couch to go to the kitchen, but the moment I stand up right I feel my head getting dizzy.

" Wow, you okay Lia?" Ashley is quick and supports me, setting me gently back on the couch.

I nod my head, not able to speak and focusing on stabilizing my breathing. "What's going on?" Sabine asks, not looking at the screen anymore.

"I honestly don't know for sure." I look at my friends. They both look at me with worry on their faces.

"This guy," I start, trying to wrap my head around the revelation. "The one I've been talking to." I continue

"The one I've just asked you about? What's with him?" Ashley asks impatiently.

"He's called Lando." I can't get more words out of me, because I still don't know if it is realy Lando Norris. The faces of my friends change when I say this. Ashley is going from worry to confusion, whereas Sabine is going straight to amazement and shock.

"You think he is THE Lando Norris?!" Sabine exclaims and puts her hands in front of her mouth. Now Ashley's expression is going to shock as well.

"I don't know, but I saw a guy in the background just now," I say while pointing at the tv in front of us. "And he looked a lot like the Lando I've been talking to." The last part of my sentence sounds very shaky as I'm still not sure what I'm saying. It can't be! It would be absurde to hide something like that.

"Wait, hold up." Sabine takes her phone, from where she is streaming the testing session and starts to rewind. I look at the screen as she is rewinding, but she doesn't stop. "I don't see Lando, to be honest." She mumbles.

"Lia, are you sure it was him?" Ashley asks softly and puts a hand on my leg to reassure me she's there for me.

"No, I don't know for sure that's the point." I sigh and take out my phone. I go to the Tinder app and open it. I select the first and only chat I have and select the profile. "Here, this is his profile." I hand the phone to the two girls who are quick to take my phone and study the profile.

I start biting my nails, while my friends go through the profile. I've mostly stopped biting my nails long ago, but when I'm stressed I can't help myself and start biting. It's one of my bad habits.

"Lia, I don't want you to panic, so I'm going to give you two reasonable explanations," Sabine is talking calmly, because she knows me and sees my nail biting. When I'm stressed I can't think rationally and can't handle myself so people around me need to stay calm.

"First option, it is Lando Norris and he lied to you about who he is for a reason we don't know," She says. I want to interrupt her, but she gives me a stern look and I keep quiet so she can continue. "Second option, you are being catfished by someone who is pretending to be Lando. And really pretending to be him."

I look between her and Ashley. I take a breath, stand up form the couch and start pacing the room. And that is when reality kicks in.

"Who is this guy?! Thinking he is funny, toying with people's emotions and feelings?! I bet he is laughing himself to death with a lot of girls who actually know Lando Norris and believe his story? How could I've been so stupid? And to think that I was actually starting to develop feelings for a guy I've never met! I'm such an idiot!" I fall back onto the couch with my hands covering my face. I feel tears burning behind my eyes, but I refuse to cry over a guy that is not even real.

Ashley and Sabine keep quiet and let me rage. When I am back on the couch I feel their arms around me, hugging me tight. "It's okay." Ashley sushes me while striking my back with her hand. "And maybe, just maybe it's option one?" Sabine suggests, what makes me look up at her.

"What is the chance that a guy like Lando Norris is active on Tinder and that I realy talked to him and he hid everything for me for a reason that is a good explanation?" I say irritated. "You just want it to be the real him."

Sabine laughs and squeezes me tighter. "Maybe, but you didn't know the guy until just a second ago so why do you think so highly of him now?"

I shigh "Lando Norris is a celebrity, he wouldn't be on Tinder in the first place, he would be on Raya and all famous people are snobs." I huff. But I know in the back of my mind I'm not being fair. I talked to 'Lando' without knowing who he really was. maybe that was the reason he didn't tell you... I pushed the thought away. There is no way he is the real Lando. It's just absurde.

"I need to confront this person. Even if there is a small chance, a realy small chance, that he is the real Lando Norris." I say pointing my finger at Sabine who still looked hopeful, her feet prompt up on the couch watching me like I was living in some good romance movie. " I need to confront him about his actions. If he's a catfish it's wrong and if he is Lando than he is a liar, which is something I despise." I say firmly.

I can handle a catfish, but a knot forms in my stomach. I was falling for this guy, there is no denying it when his betrayal does so much to me. I don't want to have hope. Even if it is Lando, he would be a massive liar and I don't know if I ever would be able to trust him fully.

"How are you going to do that?" Ashley asks, handing me back my phone.

"I need to send him something that will shock him if he is the real Lando Norris and at the same time unmask him when he is a catfish," I say thinking out loud.

"What about just 'I know'? that should unsettle him." Sabine offers. I think for a second about that.

"Mhm, I think that's too general." I comment and keep thinking. What made me realise?

And then it clicks. I grin foully and open our chat.

Ophelia
Norris.

I sent the text and show the girls. "He never told me his last name. Not that I asked about it, but the fact that I know, should he be the real Lando Norris, should unseattle him." I am quite proud of my cleverness.

"Oi, can I add something?" Ashley asks. I nod and give her my phone. I watch over her shoulder when she's typing the message, I laugh. "Yeah, send that. It should make clear that I know he's a catfish."

Ophelia
Lando Norris. How clever.

"What now?" Sabine asks.

I sigh and lock my phone. "Now we wait."

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