Love Is In the Snow {Lando Norris & Max Verstappen}

Chapter Ninety-five - In the meantime

Lando

I am driving home from the airport. This is the first time in days since I am all by myself again. In some way I need some time off from everyone, as my social battery is empty. Socializing for the entire day for a week is exhausting. Time to charge up!

On the way I stop at a gas station to get something to drink and eat. Because of the nerves of saying goodbye, I didn't have the appetite. Until now. I get myself a chicken sandwich and some iced tea. After paying for my food, I walk back to my car and take some time to eat my sandwich, which is delicious.

When I am done eating, I open my phone and see a message of Vera with a picture. She stole one of my sweaters and put it in her hand luggage. "I miss you already❤️" the message says. I smile and imagine her being here with me, in my hoodie. I regret not getting something of her before she left. If only she sprayed some parfum of her on a shirt. Just to remind me of her.

And then it hits me. MY FEELINGS FOR HER ARE GETTING REAL. Hopefully, things will only get stronger and not fade away when we will not see each other for some time. I like this feeling. Like there is always someone I can fall back on.

An hour after my pitstop at the gas station I arrive at my apartment. There have been some changes. The bathroom and kitchen are finished and the bed and closet in my bedroom has been put together. There are some things I need to take care of, one of them are curtains, the dining room, and accessories for in the house. I do some measures for the curtains and when I am down I go back to the parking garage to go to the Le Metropole Shopping Center.

Once I parked the car, I walk to one of the home equipment stores. I let myself guide by one of the employees to the curtain section. Another employee greets me and starts helping me with walking through all the options they have available.

I tell them how my windows look like and what function the rooms will have. With that information, they knew immediately what suits my apartment. They show the options and colors. I look a calm look, so I choose some nude colors, such as light brown and grey. Two hours later I am all done, and the curtains will be delivered at the end of next week. Which is perfect on time for the actual moving date.

The next stop in the shop is looking for a dining set. I have already something in mind, so it shouldn't be that hard to find something. Once I walk to the dining section, my eyes fall immediately on a beautiful long wooden table with an industrial look. I have made my discission in a second and look further for some chairs. After a few minutes I see some black velvet chairs. I walk to the chairs; take a seat and I am sold.

I see a seller nearby and walk up to him. "Excuse me, can you help me with putting in an order?" I ask him. "Of course, sir. What is it I can help you with?" he answers my question.

"I have seen a table and some chairs I would like to order. It is that table on at the end of the aisle on the right and those velvet chairs right here." I reply. "Very good choose sir! In what size do you want the table? And what frame beneath? How many chairs? And in what color?" he says. That are a lot of questions. Why do stores never have an uncomplicated way out of the store?

I decide to go for a three-meter-long table with an X-frame underneath and eight black velvet chairs. He tried to get my mind on assorted colors and options, but I want to keep it simple. Simple can never be wrong.

Another hour later I finally have the most important things in order, all will arrive around the same time next week. I feel relieved and I feel like an adult. Making decision like this on my own is a big step for me. The last thing on my to do list is getting some accessories.

It is around 7pm when I am finally in my empty apartment. I throw the pillows and accessories on the ground in the living room and walk to the shower. I feel gross of all the shopping today. I take a shower and once I am done I go to bed. It doesn't take long for me to nod off. It has been an exhausting day. Tomorrow I will be doing some streaming and exercising again. I didn't know that I would miss it, but I do.

*Two days later – January 5th, 2022*

I arrived in Woking yesterday evening around 9pm. I got one of the cars the team has rented for me and drove to my favorite fast-food chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken. I hadn't eaten for almost 5 hours, I just wasn't hungry until now, so I ordered a zinger burger, fries, garlic mayo and a water, as I need to maintain my weight from now on again.

Around 11pm I arrived at one of the team-apartments, where I stay from now on when I am in Woking. You can call it my second home, but I will be spending more time in Monaco.

After dropping my stuff, I got a shower and jumped into the made bed, with fresh linen. I nodded of immediately.

This morning I woke up around 6am, I was still so tired. But it is time to go back to training! I can't wait to see everyone again. I got out of bed, got a shower, again, and put on my McLaren team-outfit. I grabbed a bag and throw in a sport short, shirt and shoes for my training session this afternoon.

I walk to the kitchen and open up the fridge. Of course, nothing is there. I decide to buy something in the cafeteria once I arrive at the MTC.

It is 8am when I park my car. I grab my bag out of the car and look for my MTC-badge. After the sliding doors is a check-in point, where every employee needs to register their presence. I check myself in, greet everyone and walk to Zac's office. After each holiday, we have a meeting at his office. Just talking some things though, schedules, training, PR, and so on.

Around 10am the meeting is done, there wasn't anything special to talk about. Nothing will be out of the ordinary. Now it is finally time to get something to eat, I am starving. In the cafeteria they have everything, everything. Your wish is your command.

I order an omelet with a lot of vegetables and two slices of brown bread and a glass of yoghurt drink. Once I paid, I take a seat at an empty table. At the MTC, you can be alone for two minutes, before others will join you. And this time it is like no other. The first one who joins me is Jon, my performance coach. We haven't seen each other since Abu Dhabi. He tells me about today's planning and training. Around eleven I have a meeting with my new PR, since Charlotte decided to leave Formula One, to join the W-series. I knew she was thinking about the switch, and I always told her I would miss het, but support whatever decision she would make. So, time to meet the new employee of the McLaren Public Relations-team. In the meantime, other mechanics and employees start joining our table and we talk a bit more about our holidays. Of course, I skip the part of Monaco, which include Vera, Lynn, and Max.

Five to eleven in walk upstairs to the meeting room. Once I walk in I see a young man, a little older than me, waiting for me with some familiar faces of the PR-team.

I walk towards them and shake all of their hands and greet them. Once I shake the hand of the young man I introduce myself and so does he. His name is ??? and tells me he is honored to be part of my team and he is looking forwards to work with me.

We all sit down and talk things through. My habits and rituals before racing and other preference during interviews. I knew Charlotte has talked everything through with him, but repeat it once again, has never hurt anyone.

I like the fella, but Charlotte and I were the perfect team. Hopefully, we will reach that relationship over time.

The meeting ended around 1pm. That means a quick lunch and back to the sim around two and training at four. Days at the MTC are always long, but effective. I am already tired, that says enough about my rhythm these days. I can't wait to be back in the apartment again, calling Vera or something. I miss hearing her voice.

Five hours later, I am finally done! I greet everyone and leave the building. I get into my car and drive back home. On my way I stop at the grocery store, to get some things to eat. I get the basics, pasta, chicken, veggies, and some healthy snacks for the evening.

Once home, I make myself dinner, take a seat on the couch, open up Netflix and start watching Stranger Things. After once episode I start calling Vera. She doesn't pick up, so I text her that I would love to hear her voice. While I am waiting, I start the second episode. But I don't recall finishing the episode before I fell asleep.