HALO - l.n

04:00

"I think she's asleep," I hear quietly from behind my eyes.

My shoulder was beginning to cramp as I open my eyes to see a pair of shoes stood before me.

Sitting bolt upright I realise I must have fallen asleep as the paddock was now bursting with life again, a few people looking at me as I slouched against the wall, my phone that was once on my lap, now on the floor beside my feet and my coffee cup now empty on the floor as it had been knocked over.

"You alright Lola?" I look up from the pair of shoes standing before me to see Lando looking down at me with a concerned look on his face.

I feel sick.

Putting my hands behind me to help push myself up the wall further I widen my eyes, looking back at Lando and Daniel who were surrounding me, their security guards almost forming a wall as fans were trying to get through to them, yelling and asking them for photos.

This was my worst nightmare.

"I- erm," I stutter out, feeling utterly pathetic right now, but my body had gone into limp mode, not knowing what to do, I had frozen.

I could feel my chest getting tighter as I look around at all the faces, peering in through the gaps of the human wall the security team had made, at the stupid girl sat on the floor in front of two formula one drivers.

"Lola?" Lando tries to get my attention, now kneeling in front of me so he was eye level with me now.

I can't look him in the eyes as I begin to assess my escape route out of here, my chest falling and rising quickly as the sound of the fans becoming deafening, my palms getting sweaty as I clench them to try and calm myself.

"Are you alright?" he asks me again, this time softer as he places a hand on my arm, trying to draw my attention to him.

"Yeah, yeah all good," I give him the best smile as I can, standing to my feet now quickly as I find a gap in the crowd, hoping I can escape that way.

"Hey, just wait a second," he starts as I'm already pushing through the security barrier, and beginning to make my way through the crowd, my head going a million miles an hour.

I can hear him calling from behind me as I've made it out the other side of the crowd, the fans all shouting his name, engulfing him.

I clutch onto my paddock pass as I head for the exit, needing to get into my car and sit in silence without being disturbed.

The evening light was starting to grace the skies as I exited the paddock, the parking lot thankfully being a lot quieter.

Locating my hire car, I had been given for my time here, I unlock it using the key from my pocket quickly and slide into the driver seat.

The door closes and I'm instantly letting out a shaky breath as I grab onto the steering wheel, counting my breaths like my therapist told me too, my heart rate beginning to drop slowly.

My phone pings from my back pocket and I shuffle around trying to fish it out.

Rebecca: when you're back at the hotel I need you to do some digging.

Lola: digging? On who?

Rebecca: Lando, there's been some speculation online.

I think back to a few minutes ago how Lando had tried to help me, even after I had spilled my cereal on him, he was still willing to help me.

Journalism was brutal, especially in this line of sport; you follow the drivers very closely, almost forming friendships with them until you have to go back to doing your job of actually getting all the insider scoop.

Letting out one last low breath, I put all the windows down, knowing the fresh air while I drive would help, as I turn the car on and begin heading back to the hotel.

I refuse dinner in the hotel lobby with Rebecca and the rest of the team in fear I would bump into anyone, especially Lando, again.

I get comfy into my pyjamas, ordering room service and tucking myself into bed with my laptop as I begin to dig like Rebecca had told me to.

I think I spend around 5 hours, the night crawling into the hotel room as the curtains were still wide open, the only light coming from my laptop screen as I scroll and scroll.

I was looking through some archives I had found online when Lando had first made his debut into karting, with there being some speculation surrounding his parents.

The article went on about an argument that was overheard between his mum and dad during a karting incident, how his mum wasn't happy that his dad had got him into the sport, with outbursts of 'what if something happens to him, we're not even his legal guardians yet'.

This got my brain thinking as I looked at images of him stood with his mum and dad, how he didn't look anything like them.

'we're not even his legal guardians yet' kept going around and around in my head as I found the hospital he was supposing born in, Bristol in the united kingdom.

However, when looking through the hospital documents courtesy of one of my friends back home, they began to tell me they had no records of a 'Lando Norris' registered at birth there.

"So do you think he's adopted?" I ask Holly who was on the other end of the phone, the girl I had called to ask about the hospital documents.

"mmm, well I'm looking through the data on the computer now and I can't seem to find anything," she states, the sound of her spamming the keyboard ringing through the phone.

I run a stressed hand through my hair as I wait for her to find something to prove my suspicions wrong, as if they were right, there was no way I was going to be able to keep this quiet.

"Sorry Lola, but I can't find him, also I could seriously get in trouble for rummaging through the work computers for a journalist," she hisses at me, still tapping away at the computer.

"Thank you Holly, I just wanted to be sure, in fact I was hoping that I was wrong in all honesty," I say, closing my eyes and letting my head fall back on the headboard.

"When was the last time you spoke to your therapist? You sound stress Lo," she says, concern riddling her voice as she changes the topic.

"I'm fine," I lie, the last thing I wanted was her to be calling my therapist or my mother about my wellbeing, I didn't need more people doubting me.

"Okay well I don't believe that for a second but whatever you say," she mumbles, "I'll see if there's any documents in the file room and send you a text if a find anything okay?"

"Thank you Holly, I really appreciate it," I reply, looking down at the call time on my screen, we had been on the phone for almost 2 hours now, searching for something that didn't exist.

We say our goodbyes, ending the call as the room falls silent again, leaving me with my thoughts.

An article like this would go amazing on my University degree, and also if I wanted to continue my placement with Sky and Netflix.

But at what cost?

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AN: OMGGGGG WE'RE HERE!

warm welcome to the new book, I'm so glad you guys stuck around to see it, thank you for supporting me none stop and always believing in me! I hope you guys fall in love with 'Lola' as much as I have! 

it's definitely going to be another drama filled book, so hold on tight for the ride.

sending you all the love, happy reading my loves <3