𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄, lando norris

00 ; prologue

"Will you finish the last cake so that we can take it to Mr. Maier before seven o'clock?" While I put the cake I had been working on until a few minutes ago in the fridge, I looked behind me to see the order.

Mr. Maier had been a regular customer at my aunt's bakery for several years, where I worked during my semester break.

"Sure," I replied, putting on a fresh pair of gloves while Jenna patted me on the shoulder with thanks. "Do you want me to bring it then too, or do you want to do it yourself?" My aunt pretended to consider —

But she had actually already made her decision.

"I'll bring it over and you can concentrate on the homework you still have to hand in."

With a heavy sigh, I blew a loose strand of hair out of my face, because I had successfully used the vacation to forget about my homework.

"Do you have a key, or should I leave you mine?" Since Jenna knew me, she tossed me the key next to the counter and then continued on her way to the break room.

Outside, the sun had already set, showing that summer was over and the cold seasons were now upon us.

Just thinking about it made me shiver.

Not wanting to waste any more time than I already had, I immediately took out the base for the cake that Jenna had laboriously baked this morning. Mr. Maier had increasingly strange requests with every order and I suspected it was because of his much too young new girlfriend.

His wife had died five years ago and he had tried to find solace in another relationship, which had led him straight to Adelaine.

This woman was a beast and not welcome here, which is why Mr. Maier always ordered from us himself.

"What do you think the cake is for this time?" I flinched, startled, because I hadn't heard Jenna behind me.

"Uh," I wasn't actually able to speak and get a satisfactory result at the same time, but unfortunately the conversations about Adelaine were far too exciting. "Maybe it's her birthday?"

Jenna hummed briefly before turning the cake on the turntable for me while I spread the buttercream in a variety of patterns on the cake.

"Again? No, it was her birthday a few weeks ago." Shortly before the semester break, we had already received a strange order that looked nothing like Mr. Maier's, but I tried not to judge them —

After all, I hardly knew them.

"Hmm..."

Clueless, I shrugged my shoulders, because the white flowers and yellow stars said nothing about the occasion.

"Maybe they're getting married," I joked, aware that Mr. Maier was far too old to get married again and would probably have a heart attack if Adelaine turned up at his house in a wedding dress.

"Definitely not. The guy will die before they could plan the wedding." A laugh escaped me that I would have loved to hold back. Jenna was so much more indignant than I was and talked about death like it was an old friend.

"Don't talk about our regular customer like that, Jenna!" I slapped her shoulder with the flat of my hand with mock indignation, causing her to fall theatrically to her knees.

"Please forgive me, oh great Noa." She couldn't help but grin, which made her look so much sillier than she actually was.

"Get up, you weirdo." I shook my head, laughing, before turning my attention back to the yellow stars.

☾

Jenna really had brought the cake to Mr. Maier herself so that I could start on the homework that I had successfully put off for the whole semester break.

Actually, I had no motivation at all to write the term paper, because it had all been my father's dream and since he was gone, I had no reason to continue with my studies —

But I had come too far, had fought too long for it to just give up now.

It was hard to carry on without his support, but I was old enough to stand on my own two feet.

Sighing, I looked out of the huge window in front of my desk, watching the moon and its twinkling stars and admiring their beauty.

I had never realized that the stars could shine so brightly until I started to enjoy the little moments in life.

A glance at the clock told me that I really had to get going, as I had to get up early tomorrow.

I desperately tried to find information about the engine of a Formula One car, but the teams seemed to keep their secrets very closely guarded because there was no information about it.

I tried to dig a little deeper. There had to be information about this damn engine somewhere.

The only information I got from the internet was that the teams usually got their engines from the same manufacturers and that the teams could also supply each other.

My dad would have freaked out now and given me hours of lectures about Formula One, which I had never really been interested in. He had spent hours talking about the drivers and the cars, explaining to me why different drivers had more advantages than others.

Then there was this discussion he always had with my grandpa about which teams were at the front and which were more of midfield players.

I had never paid attention to these conversations, but I was beginning to miss them terribly.

The more I thought about my parents, the more I could feel the huge hole in my heart tearing open further and causing unsightly wounds that I couldn't heal.

Because since they were gone, I had nothing. I had lost everything that had been dear to me and had to make a new start in a completely different country, which I was forced to do.

I didn't know the story behind Jenna's sudden move, but I didn't want to know because there must have been a lot of stress in the family.

"Dinner's ready, are you coming down?" Daniel poked his head through the door, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. He was trying too hard to play the father role and I couldn't stand it.

"Not hungry." I mumbled as I continued typing on my laptop, glancing at the notes I'd written about the engines in between.

"Oh," Daniel cleared his throat. "What are you writing?" I could hear him coming towards me and hoped fervently that he would just disappear before I could burst into tears.

"Nothing." Frantically, I shut the laptop and stared up at the sky so I wouldn't have to look at Jenna's husband. "I'm not hungry."

Through the reflective window, I saw Daniel's distraught expression and swallowed the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

He didn't deserve my behavior, but I didn't know how to help myself, I felt so damn weak and drained.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me."

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