On and Off the Track

T E N.

Lando slept on the couch that evening, and left in the morning for Australia. He hadn't said bye or for that matter I didn't even hear him leave. I tossed and turned all night, my blood boiling with rage. I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed so I stayed there, bundled up in my duvet. My throat thickened as I stared at the wall, tears brimming in my eyes. My heart heavy with sadness. I stayed in bed all morning. Reminiscing on the events of last night. What made it all worse was the fact he never said goodbye or even attempt to make up before he left.

It was around 3pm when I finally found the energy to get out of bed. My phone had been pinging all morning from message from work. I glanced over them quickly as I made my way to the kitchen, I wasn't in the right headspace to work. I needed a break. My collab had just finished and was going to be released at the end of next week. I was so exhausted. I called my manager, Emily. My fingers were rushed as I typed in her number. My voice was unsteady as I explained to her I need a break from work for a bit. She completely understood as gave me as long as I needed. Emily was a difficult woman to get along with, her actions were always precise and conscious. But she had a sweet spot too and was the best manager I could ever asked for. We've been working together since I was only 16 years old, when my followering really started to take off. She was almost a second mum to me.

Hugging my knees, I sat on the bar stool by the kitchen counter. I bit my nails as thought about Lando. That murky, dull feeling when you want to cry crept up my chest. I hated falling out with him. I had to set it right with him. With a sudden burst of energy I began packing my bags. I would fly to Australia as soon as possible. I couldn't be moping around the house for any longer. I texted Mila to see if she wanted to join.

I finished packing the rest of my bags and ran to the car to pick up Mila. She leaped in the car throwing her bag in the back. I sped off towards the airport. After about 20 minutes of driving, Mila turned to me. A puzzled look on her face, "wait why are we going to Australia?" I laughed, completely forgetting that I hadn't told her. "Me and lando had an argument last night, he left before we could make up and it didn't sit right with me" I could feel her still looking at me, analysing every word I had just said before sharply turning her head forward, "cool, cool. What was the argument about" I let out a little sign, "he's been off with me for ages, I don't know what's wrong. But something definitely is."
"I thought you said you guys were fine, you both seemed happy together when your parents were here?"
"I know, we were. But then I bumped into Charles at the store, and left the situation straight away, like you said. But when I came back home empty handed, lando got all weird and suspicious"
"Hmm" I turned to Mila waiting to see if she would say more, but she didn't.
"What?" I said through a laugh, with a hint of impatience.
"Nothing, nothing." She took a breath hinting that she was going to say more but she didn't. I ignored the weirdness and carried on driving.

We quickly got on the plane and sat down, I was starving as I hadn't eaten anything all day. Luckily the stewardess had made a late lunch/ early dinner for us. I snacked on the sandwiches and fresh fruit as we began to take off. The flight to Australia would be long, we would land around 4am on Saturday, we would have missed media day. Which we both weren't too fussed about. I had overheard Lando talking on the phone to Jon, qualifying was around 2pm. So Mila and I had just enough time to get to the hotel, check in, sleep for a bit and make our way over to the track for the end of qualifying. I was excited to see lando but also nervous, we hadn't left on good terms.

We landed and took a taxi to the hotel. It was gorgeous, right in the centre of Melbourne. It had water features everywhere, the relaxing sound of the splashing water soothing my nerves. The room was even prettier. It had floor to ceiling windows all around us, giving a full 360 view of the city. I could see the sun slowly starting to rise above the city below. The buildings reflecting its pinkish glow. I took a second, taking in the view. Before me and Mila collapsed onto the bed for a quick nap.

I woke up later to Mila nudging my shoulder, "come on, we need to get ready, qualifying starts soon". I took a shower and put on my make up. I straightened my hair and put on a cute little sundress, I paired it with some cowboy boots and my favourite Prada bag. I knew Daniel would appreciate the boots.

I wanted so desperately to post the photo but I couldn't give away my whereabout to lando just yet.

I had made a called to Jon before I left about me coming to surprise Lando, he sweetly gave us passes and met us at the entrance. "Hey" I smiled softly as I took the passes out of his hands, passing one to Mila. "Qualifying is starting soon, Lando is currently in the garage so I recommend staying in the paddock til it starts then you can join us in there." He informed us, I nodded letting him know that I understood. Before making our way to the scanners. As I got through to the paddock, I saw Isa. She was standing in the middle, looking a bit lost. I ran up to her, her face lighting up as she saw me. "Bronte!" I opened my arms and gave her a hug. "Hi, I haven't seen you in ages"
"I know it's been the longest" she looked over to Mila, giving her a quick smile. Placing my arm on Mila shoulder I introduced her, "isa, this is Mila. Mila, this is Isa. She Carlos' girlfriend." They both exchanged a smile before Isa turned to me, "I didn't know you were coming to the race this weekend."
I gave a quick look to Mila, "I wasn't but we made a quick decision to come out here and surprise Lando"
"How sweet, are you going to be here for the meal tomorrow?" I didn't know what meal she was talking about but I'm guessing it was the one where all the drivers come together, they were always a laugh.
"Umm, I might be, I don't know how long I'll be staying" she glanced at the time on her phone. "Qualifying is about to start, I need to go" I waved her off, before we made our way to the McLaren garage.

Qualifying went badly for Lando, he had a breaks issue resulting him going into the gravel, before he could even set a lap time. This meant he would be starting at the back of the grid tomorrow. I was sitting in his driver's room waiting for him to come back, Mila was sitting next to me with her head on my shoulder, she sat up as she turned to me, "I'm going to get a coffee, so you and lando can talk" I nodded and faintly smiled, watching her leave the room. Five minutes later I could hear Lando voice as he walked down the corridor towards his room, I stood up subconsciously. My fingers making their way to the hem of my skirt as I fidgeted nervously. He opened the door, his brows shot up in surprise after seeing me. They quickly relaxed to fall to a face of pure relief. "Hi" my voice cracked as tears pooled in my eyes. He laughed before running over to me, "Hi" his voice tired but content. He picked me up and spun me round, I couldn't hold in my laughed. "Lan, put me down. I can't breath." He instantly abided and rested his hands on my shoulders as he stared at me, unable to speak. Just grinning ear to ear.