Ride or Die | Lando Norris (ENGLISH)

15

Our meeting with Oscar and Lily turned out to be a hit. The couple opened up to us after a few drinks at a bar near the hotel, and I had to admit that I enjoyed watching Lando and Oscar laugh heartily with each other as they planned some stupid pranks on their boss, Zak Brown. Me and Lily, in turn, talked about our passions and interests. Lily was a humble girl from Australia who worked as a waitress when she met Oscar. Now she tries to travel with him around the world, which is her passion. I told her the story of how my and Norris's parents met and became friends when they were young, and that's why Lando and I were meant to be together as best friends. I also told her about my work and that I was offered cooperation with a modeling agency. It turned out that Lily had only heard positive things about the agency and even had a friend who worked with them.

– It's strange that you became a Ferrari photographer – Oscar suddenly blurted out, putting his arm around the girl sitting next to him.

– Why? – I asked, interested.

The boy looked from me to Lando, who was sitting next to me, and frowned. He was as confused as I was.

– Well, you're together, it's a bit strange that you're photographing a different team.

In that same second, Lando and I looked at each other and burst out laughing loudly, slapping each other's shoulders. We couldn't control our laughter as Oscar and Lily sat there unmoved. Me and Lando? Good joke. I was sure Norris thought the same. I would never have thought about having a relationship with Lando. We had known each other since childhood and sometimes we couldn't stay together for more than two days, so it would be impossible. Yes, we were sexually attracted to each other, but nothing more. He's incredibly hot, I'm incredibly pretty, which I wasn't always so sure about.

– We? Together? Never – we replied at the same time, both reaching for our drinks.

Lily and Oscar looked at each other, giving each other mysterious smiles. I rolled my eyes at this as I drank my stiff drink. I wanted to get a little drunk to finally relax, and Lando probably wanted the same thing, because he quickly downed the entire contents of the glass down his throat.

After sitting in awkward silence for a while, with neither of us looking at each other for even a second, Lily and Oscar decided to leave us because they were flying to Monaco in the morning, where the next race would take place. I was supposed to come back with Lily and Alex in the afternoon to enjoy Italy a little more.

The guy next to me and I ordered more drinks, drinking them in silence. Oscar's words kept repeating in my drunken head. Do we really look like we're together? This couldn't be possible. Me and Lando were just regular childhood friends who loved to tease each other. Maybe lust got the better of us from time to time, but that didn't matter. Not in our relationship.

I finally looked up at Lando. He turned the empty glass of ice in his hand, watching it closely. He was thinking. Same as me.

– One shot with lime and the bill, please – I said nicely to the waiter who took care of us all evening. The blonde smiled and moved towards the bar.

My words brought Norris back to reality and he looked at me questioningly.

– We're getting back to the hotel? – he asked in a drunken voice. I saw his body work in slow motion. Mine too.

– Mhm – I merely replied, thanking the waiter for bringing us drinks. Lando immediately took out a few banknotes from his pocket and gave them to the waiter, probably leaving him a big tip.

We clinked our glasses once again and drank the contents in one go, munching on the lime with a grimace. There was already enough alcohol in my body.

– Let's go, Lan – I sighed, standing up.