REMEMBER THE NAME

2019:35

"Happy birthday to Lando. Happy birthday to you!" The group sing out in the restaurant of the hotel. With it being the week of the Brazil Grand Prix, some of the drivers had managed to organise a gap in their hectic schedules to come together and celebrate Lando's 20th birthday.

Sophie had been in charge of organising the surprise event, with the help of a very knowledgeable Charlotte who was able to give her the key details like where he was staying and his schedule timing.

After booking out the restaurant attached to his hotel, Sophie had managed to persuade some of the drivers to join such as Carlos, George, Alex, and Max. Then she managed to secretly fly his family in so his mum, dad, brother and 2 sisters were the surprise guests. Max F was also here but Lando had knew he was joining, so his role was to keep Lando distracted which would probably be the easiest part considering he has the attention span of a toddler. Unfortunately his engineers and mechanics weren't able to make it as they would be stuck in the garage preparing the car for the race weekend, but there was still more than enough people to fill the room.

When he walked in he was well and truly shocked. His eyes had widen alongside his smile, and his cheeks turned to a pair of shiny, glossy tomatoes. He first went to his family and had brought them all in to a group hug which lasted slightly longer with his mum as she took a moment to whisper something in his ear. As they had pulled apart his head went straight to the floor, denying everyone of seeing his reaction. After that he trundled through his friends, bringing them each in to an embrace before finally getting to Sophie. Their hug had lasted slightly longer than the others as he gave her an extra squeeze. "Thank you." He had whispered in her ear before pulling back to look in to her sky blue eyes. "For caring about me so much to put all of this together."

Sophies heart had melted slightly in that moment as she took in his excited sea green eyes, his rosy cheeks and blinding smile. "That's what we do Lando, we care for each other."

That moment didn't sit right with Sophie, but not because it was something negative but because it sparked something within her that flooded her mind with confusion. It had been so wholesome, so kind, that all in all it made her life feel like she was complete, like after seeing his reaction and feeling his embrace, she could die tomorrow but still die happily. The whole thing was scary for her.

So now as they all sit around the table over an hour later, her mind was still playing that moment on repeat, making her somewhat distant as although she would smile and nod along happily, it was clear in her eyes that her thoughts were somewhere else.

"Penny for your thoughts?" George leans in to Sophies right shoulder, making her jump slightly as she didn't even notice him.

"My thoughts are worth a lot more than a penny." She turns to smirk, lightly rubbing her eyes with her left hand to help her focus.

George let's out a little giggle before scanning the table, making sure that every person was engaged in a conversation before turning back to look at Sophie seriously. "Fine, then how about another trade. If I tell you what's going on in my head then you tell me what's going on in yours?"

George had always been Sophie's safety blanket - a voice of reason that pulled her back when her anxieties were haywire. Although they were each other's biggest competition on the grid, they were practically like brother and sister since they were the only people who could understand what the other was going through.

"Fair trade." Sophie agrees.

George takes a deep breath before quickly scanning the room again and leaning closer in to Sophie. "Seychelles and I broke up last night." He whispers.

"Oh George." Sophie pulls back lightly to look at his face. All day he had acted so happy and so helpful that you would never had thought that anything was wrong, let alone the fact that he had just broke up with his girlfriend of 2 years. But now getting this moment to look at him clearly she could see the light redness under his eyes from crying and the broken heart behind them.