Secrets || Lando Norris

030

Elianna

Seagulls chirping was the first thing I heard when I woke up. And no, it wasn't because I was on a vacation in some beach area. It was because I still haven't changed that alarm tone on my phone that I promised myself I will change.

And then there was another ringtone, however this time it was someone calling me on my phone. Annoyed, I answered groggily, "Hello?"

"Don't forget to go to McLaren today, not to Ferrari," I didn't even bother to check the caller ID before picking the call up, but I didn't have to guess twice about who it was.

"Are you seriously calling me just to say this? Bloody hell," I groaned and buried my head in the pillow, mentally screaming when I saw it's only seven - which would be normal but since I went to sleep at two in the morning, it wasn't so ideal.

"Yes, cry about it. See you in the paddock," and again, without waiting for my response, Lando hung up the call. At this point, I was sure he did certain things only to get on my nerves. No discussions about that.

But luckily for me, I managed to fall back asleep the second I closed my eyes again.

After approximately three more hours, I woke up and took a quick shower, put on black leather jeans and white sweatshirt, somehow made myself human and went to the hotel's restaurant to get something to eat before heading out to the track.

I got to the place with a guy from the McLaren team that Zoe sent for me when I texted her I'm ready. He left me there alone, which gave me the opportunity to go to the Ferrari hospitality.

I made sure to call Charles beforehand, when I was getting food, so he wouldn't be that surprised if I appeared there out of nowhere. Of course he was happy to agree with our little meetup. I knew I was doing the exact opposite of what Lando told me, but screw it, he's not gonna know.

"Eli!" My best friend suddenly appeared in the door of the hospitality, smiling wide and arms spread in the air, welcoming me in a warm hug, "Tu m'as manqué." [I missed you]

"I missed you too, Char," I squeezed my arms around him before letting go of our hug.

"So...how is it?" Charles looked at me with narrowed eyes and curiousness laced on his entire face.

"Not what I ever expected to live through in my life but not bad I suppose..could be worse," I shrugged.

"Just remember if it gets too much, you can always back out of it," he looked at me with seriousness. He seemed like an older brother giving me a lecture, just like he always did. "Well anyway, do you want to go inside for a bit? Carlos was asking—"

"Elianna!" A voice for me now easily recognisable called from afar. Me and Charles both turned that way and spotted none other than Lando Norris in his McLaren suit walking quickly our way.

"This guy has a radar on you now?" Charles asked with furrowed brows and I sighed.

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder if he's an actual human being or a robot."

Lando approached us with crossed arms on his chest with raised brow, eyes focused on me, "Not surprised I found you here."

"Hello to you too, Norris," I countered and he flashed me a look. I could already tell he wasn't very happy to see me near the Ferrari hospitality, since that was where I wasn't supposed to be.

However, I couldn't change my life based on what I should and shouldn't do just to look good for the stunt. If I did, I'd be someone I'm not, and I certainly didn't want to do that.

"I'm pretty sure Charles has to do some prep for the practice session, why don't we go?" Lando checked out the monegasque driver, who was still in fact not looking to be prepared, then smiled at me, but it was easily recognisable it was a fake one.

I forced a false smile as well, gritting through my teeth, "Oh yeah, I was just about to leave him to that and go to find you but look, you were quicker!"

Charles looked between us with questions all over his face and eyes full of confusion. I couldn't blame him. He cleared his throat as me and Lando gave each other piercing glares, before turning to me, "Right you two, I'll leave you now. Est-il toujours comme ça?" [Is he always like this?]

"Non, je viens de faire quelque chose qu'il m'a dit de ne pas faire," [No, I just did something he told me not to do] I gave him a reassuring smile before nodding at Lando as a signal for us to go.

Charles gave us a small wave and left back to the Ferrari hospitality. Lando walked by my side, chin high and sunglasses on so I was unable to see his eyes. His race suit that was tied loose on his hips was slightly rustling as he walked.

Even if you didn't know who he was, it's safe to say you could tell this man was radiating with confidence. And good for him, he had some things to be proud of, but sometimes he had to be reminded he's not the only person on the planet.

"You're quiet," I pointed out his unusual silence. He would generally make some sarcastic remarks by now, however now he wasn't.

"I can tell that if I were about to say something about what you just did, you would scold me back, so I'm choosing to not say anything. Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know what I would say."

I grinned triumphantly, even when I didn't have to argue back, "I appreciate that we both know and don't have to talk about it."

I focused on my steps in front of me and could feel his stare snap to me for a moment. It was good that we somehow managed to come to a terms of boundaries of what to discuss and what not. Sure, there were still a lot of things to go through, but so far so good.

On our way to the McLaren hospitality, we were stopped a lot of times by fans that wanted a picture or an autograph from Lando.

Obviously since Lando was a World Champion, and pretty well popular, there were a lot of them. Even more than the last time I went out on track with Charles, which was a good amount as well.

"Lando! Can I take a picture! Lando!" The clamouring of the fans that were kept behind the barriers was loud and clear. I was looking around, keeping behind Lando at all times. However some fans were that determined to get to him to a point when I lost him.

I gripped my camera - that I of course brought - and went to the side, hoping he would soon notice I'm not there and tell everyone to calm down. But as I hoped it would get better, it only got worse. There were so many voices. So many flashes. Too many people.

And then suddenly Lando called out, "Sorry, everyone, I gotta go now!" Everyone frowned and squealed from disappointment, but to my surprise they made a way for him to walk through. He was smiling a little, but then he frowned and was looking around, trying to find something.

"Elianna?" That was me.

"Here!" I called out and walked from the place I was stuck on back to him. He immediately reached out for me and put his hand between my shoulder blades, taking me away with him. What made my heart race was that some voices cried in awe when he did that. He sure knew what he was doing.

"You alright?" he asked while walking, his eyes focused on me.

"You have a lot of fans."

He chuckled, "I'm a World Champion." His hand was still on my back, but for whatever reason I didn't mind it.

"And your world is intimidating," I breathed out a laugh, "Next time I'm hiring a bodyguard."