Roses || Lando Norris

6

Lando POV:

I knew I shouldn't have entered the elevator. I didn't realise how much Vita needed me not to, either. As soon as I noticed her glossy eyes, I wanted to leave the lift. I might not like her, but privacy is privacy. Whatever emotional phone call she needed to have, it was none of my business.

I just really wished she turned the volume of her phone down. I couldn't understand every word the other person was saying. Still, it was enough to conclude: she was speaking to her mum, who was drunk and asking for forgiveness. It intrigued me. It also shocked me how full of emotions her voice sounded.

Her body was turned away from mine, and I tried her technique of studying people. I hated it when she did it to me. I hated how she could read the room and how I couldn't mask my emotions as well as her. She always made sure people saw what she wanted them to see, always looked for people's tells, and read the room to perfection. She wanted the upper hand, and how easily she got the raise out of me infuriated me. Her observations were scarily accurate. She was a reality check I didn't need.

At the moment, though, the person standing before me whispering into the phone didn't resemble the self-proclaimed asshole. She was just a girl begging her mother to go home. Yet, I didn't feel pity for her. She must have also done something wrong, given how she usually acts. I knew my thoughts sounded terrible; I was aware of how I always look for the worst in people first. It was something Daniel told me after we were teammates for a month.

I was aware of her shaky hands and pained whispers. She looked helpless. In some fucked up way, I was glad I caught her having a weak moment as well. I levelled the playing field, and it was now one versus one.

I was caught off guard when she mentioned the moment of weakness I had in my car after the first PR meeting. I didn't know she noticed me in the car when she drove off.

It happened for various reasons. You know, how sometimes things get too much? How problems pile up and then they collapse on you on a bad day? I found out my girlfriend cheated a week prior. I was caught so off guard I didn't even know how to react. She called me every day after I found out to apologise over and over and over again. She told me she loved me, how much she couldn't live without me.

In all honesty? I loved her too. I still love her. We didn't break up, and we didn't tell anyone about it. She was too ashamed to tell anyone, and I was too afraid the media would find out. I truly loved my fans, but they'd tear her apart like wolves if they found out she cheated.

I wasn't even paying attention to Vita when she snapped at me.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Her sudden outburst took me aback. Wasn't she devastatingly sad ten seconds ago? It irritated me how she would act when things weren't under her control. She was so full of herself that it was painful to watch.

"Still so arrogant..." I uttered under my breath.

"Me? You blamed your fucking mistake on me! You got fucking penalised for it and still blame me!" She exclaimed, stepping towards me.

"Yeah? Maybe if you checked your fucking mirrors, we could've had a podium today!" I snapped right back. I was too tired to be having this argument. I knew I had to leave before I said something that would worsen the situation, but I was stuck in a trance.

"Maybe if you were a better goddamn driver, you wouldn't have pushed me off the track!" She raised her voice even more. I needed to leave. I needed to be out of the elevator. I needed to be on my own.

I also needed to have the last word.

"Maybe if you were a better person, your mom wouldn't be a drunk." I spat at her, exiting the elevator on a random floor. I couldn't stand to look at her any longer. I hated how she brought the worst out of me. I was never known to argue a lot, let alone hate people. With Vita, however, arguing was the only way we could communicate.