: ̗̀➛ part three of the
one for the road series
SNOWFALL / CL16
in which two childhood friends reunite. a formula one driver wants to learn how to snowboard and it just so happens that the daughter of his mum's be...
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✧ ˚ · . CHAPTER SEVENTEEN . · ˚✧ you were a work of art
🎶 your needs, my needs by noah kahan
val d'isere, winter 2023
Lorelai was up to no good. Three dirty martinis in and she had resorted to recounting embarrassing high school moments that left me hiding behind my own espresso martini with a blush that had flushed over my entire body.
The drifting session, the cameras, the crowdedness of the hotel bar we were currently in all had my body temperature spiking to levels that left me feeling anxious and flustered. The alcohol probably wasn't helping with that, nor was Charles' constant gaze from across the table.
We'd played the "too close for acquaintances but not incredibly close friends" skit surprisingly well on camera—my reactions had come naturally and I'd barely had to remind myself how to act or when to smile or laugh. From what I had seen Alfie pull on Lorelai when we reviewed a couple of the clips afterwards, Charles had been incredibly calm and yet funny in the car, and all of it had left me feeling like I didn't know where I stood now. Where this left us exactly.
If it were up to Charles, we'd be friends. We would throw the summer of '14 away as if it were a mere blip in the system, a redundant piece of data, a crack in a shiny armour. I could do friends, for now. It was easy enough to plaster up a smile and act friendly to him. It was harder to pretend the sudden attention he was giving me didn't cause my stomach to flop and my palms to sweat.
It was driving me insane, and so I had been hiding every blush behind a sip of a cocktail, which meant I was equalling Lorelai on her third. I'd already decided I wanted the blue cocktail next—I'd forgotten the name, but it sounded delicious. Everything outside of our little bubble of a table had become blurry to me, my head swirling whenever it snapped up to catch someone's gaze, which, half of the time, was Lorenzo's or Charles' with their sitting practically across from me.
At the head of the table, Alfie laughed out loud at a joke Lorelai had told that I hadn't quite picked up on, but it was then that Lorelai nudged me. "Hey, you know what you should do?"
I raised an eyebrow, unsure where this conversation was heading. Before I could say anything, Lorelai giggled and glanced behind me, "Too late, I already did it for you."
My head snapped around with a force that left my vision blurry and nausea cascading through my body. However, once my vision focussed, it became evident what Lorelai had been talking about. Or rather, who Lorelai had been talking about.
No, no, no.
Tall, broad shoulders. Wavy, dark blonde hair. A crisp white dress shirt underneath a blazer, his winter coat folded over his arm. He was flanked by two men, one smaller and stoutier, the other equally as tall with narrower shoulders. Liam's gaze drifted over each table until it landed on ours, on me. A million dollar smile flashed across his features and his swampy green eyes lit up, turning them into sunshine on evergreen trees.
