The Longest Lap | Charles Leclerc

5

I had been stuck in Milan for a few days, work stuff. Well, I suppose I shouldn't stay stuck, I had a rather nice time. But that's beside the point. I had been a part of a photo shoot, which normally I would say no to, but Juls and my invasive mother convinced me otherwise. And I also sounded like such a brat calling my mother invasive, because in reality she just wanted me to succeed and she was normally right anyways. But that's beside the point.

I ended up driving, which I had ended up regretting. But I thought it was excessive to go through the hassle of flying for a four-hour drive. But now I was 10 minutes away from my apartment, so no point in complaining. I had told Juliette when I'd be back, noon. But I hadn't heard from her. Which meant she was either swamped with work, or horrendously hungover. Considering it was a Friday, I was leaning toward being swamped with work.

I'd nearly knocked myself over pulling my suitcase out of my trunk. I cursed under my breath as I regained my balance. I'd also somehow managed to make it to the lobby before realizing I'd left my phone in the car, I could be such an airhead sometimes. In the elevator, all I could think about was how excited I was to shower and do nothing for the next however many days.

I unlocked the door and trudged inside dragging my suitcase behind me. I walked down the hall and called out, "Juls, I'm home!"

She called back, "In the kitchen!"

I left my suitcase next to my bedroom door and strolled into the kitchen where I nearly jumped out of my skin when I found a guy sitting at the counter. It was Lando. Juliette quickly spoke now, "Lu you remember Lando, Lando Luisa."

He spoke first while I wrapped my head around him in the middle of our apartment, "Surely, how are you?"

I don't know why I'd forgotten about his English accent, but I appreciated his politeness, "well thank you, and you?"

He smiled, he had a cute smile, "I'm well, thanks."

Juliette laughed now, "so formal."

I made my way to the fridge scouring for something to snack on, "it's just being polite Juls."

Lando let out a chuckle and Juliette sighed, "How was Milan?"

"What's in Milan?" Lando asked.

I pulled out a bag of grapes, "work."

Lando chuckled a bit, "so you live in Monaco, but you work in Milan?"

I shook my head chewing on the grape I had in my mouth before speaking, "I don't like actually work in Milan. I just had business to tend to."

Juliette widened her eyes, "and when she says business she means she had a fancy modeling gig, Lu just likes to be modest."

I leaned against the counter, "Trust me," looking at Lando, "it is not nearly as big a deal as Juliette will tell you it is."

She whined a bit, "I'm right here!"

Lando and I laughed and he wrapped an arm around Juliette but spoke to me, "She has been raving about you all week."

I raised an eyebrow, "interesting."

It was interesting because had they spent the whole week together? I knew Juliette liked him more than she was letting on. But she knew I was coming home today and didn't mind me coming home to Lando in our place. I wondered if he'd spent the night, multiple nights maybe. I would surely be interrogating her the first chance I got.

Juliette had her head on Lando's shoulder now, were they dating? Not a freaking chance. They'd known each other for a week, barely. She sat back up, "Luisa come to lunch."