Fika - Lando Norris

Break - Part 14

I noted it was weird, but I walked over and got in the car. Charles got in the passenger's seat and I was sitting in the middle of the backseat. On the way, I asked Charles about his plans for the break. He said he would probably go home to Monaco, hang out with Charlotte, and relax. I told him I was planning on coming to Italy for the next race, and maybe the Miami race too. He seemed excited. We said goodbye for now when the car pulled up to the hotel entrance. I took the stairs up to mine and Lando's room. I called out to Lando when I got in the room but got no response so I headed to my room to change into more comfortable clothes. I jumped into Lando's bed to wait for him to come back. I turned on the TV and scrolled on TikTok while I waited for him. 

I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open when Lando walked into the room. He looked exhausted and seemed to not notice me until I said something.

"Hey D, everything ok?" I asked softly

"Hey Flower, yep. Uh, Carlos had a rough day and I went to help. To cheer him up a little." He paused while he took off his shirt to change into a hoodie "Really sorry I left you at the track, I noticed you were talking to Charles and I didn't want to interrupt. I meant to send a text, but.."

"No no, it's okay. Charles felt bad he wasn't there for Carlos."

"I figured. He's feeling better now, well he will be okay."

"Well, congratulations on your P5 D! I'm so proud of you!"

"Flower, I love you," He said with an adorably goofy grin. He walked over to the bed and laid between my legs. I played with his hair while I watched him scroll on his TikToks and respond to texts and snaps.

"What are our plans for tomorrow?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Not sure yet. We should plan the rest of the season with my shows and your races. Oh, I forgot to tell you... I'm coming to the next two races!"

"Wait really?!" He said in a high-pitched voice that made me laugh. He turned over to look at me. 

"Yeah," I said

"Hey, I really want to watch you show soon too. Maybe a jumping one because it looks like a lot of fun. Dressage looks so complicated and hard to understand."

"Mmm, just a nice way to say it's boring. I get it, it's sometimes boring for me too." I laughed, "This is kind of random, but what do you think about while you're racing?"

"Strategies, uh a lot of things. Usually, the thoughts are coming and going so fast, I can't keep up with them. I'm checking on the car and making sure everything feels and is running right." He paused "Why do you ask?"

"Just thinking about it compared to my jumping rounds," I said. He cocked his head sideways as a signal for me to keep talking "When I was younger and still now sometimes, I hated competing in showjumping because I hated the adrenaline. It used to be so bad I would puke and black out the entirety of the round. It was horrible for the interviews after because I couldn't remember anything. It was that bad when I was just doing something I would do all the time, I can't imagine the adrenaline in an F1 car. But it's better now, I can watch a video and remember what I was thinking and doing in the moment. It's still frustrating sometimes. I don't have that problem with dressage though, I learned to suppress it by riding the reactive horses that would explode if I was nervous. It was really stressful, to be so big in the industry so young. I've always hated the interviews the most."

"Yeah, it was the same for me coming into F1. It was so much pressure and I was struggling a lot. I was always performing because there were always cameras. That really sucks. You can't show anything, you have to keep it all bottled up, it was hard. It was a hard time for me."

"Yeah, I saw a couple things about you being an advocate for mental health. I think that's super important, I know that's hard"

He just nodded at me sleepily. He was either too tired or just didn't want to talk about it so I didn't push it. He fell asleep only a few moments later using my stomach as a pillow. I had to pee but I didn't move because I didn't want to wake him up. I fell asleep soon after as well.

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We woke up at noon the next morning and enjoyed eachothers company in bed for awhile until I got nauseous and needed to eat something. He got up to get me something to eat and told me to stay there. He came back a couple minutes later with a granola bar, a cupcake, and a bouquet of flowers. 

"Did I forget an occasion?" I asked

"Nope, I just wanted to get you flowers. Maybe it could be a thank you for being here, and bringing me luck at the race yesterday."

"Mmm my brother said the same thing yesterday."

"Yeah you brought him a lot of luck too," He laughed "We never figured out what we were doing before the next race. We have 11 days I think."

"I dont have a lot to do, do you?"

"Oh just training but I could do that anywhere. Do you want to the UK? I can show you around where I grew up and my house."

"I could meet Flo! Like officially."

"Yeah it will be so much fun! We could golf," he said

"Golf??"

"Golf... Do you not like golf?!"

"I hate golf," I said

"That's it, we are done" He said, that laughed "No, but I will convert you. It is a red flag. A bright red flag."

"Oh really" I said and leaned forward toward him so our foreheads were almost touching

"Yeah" He said confidently and leaned forward more, closing the gap between our lips. We both smiled through the kiss and broke away with even wider smiles on our faces.