Nova's POV
I wore a white dress, Piper straightened my hair and did my makeup.
I had to say that I looked great, thanks to Piper. She understood that, even though I would never go back to Lando, I still wanted him to regret everything.
I wanted him to look at me and realized he made the biggest mistake of his life.
"Let's go" Piper said, hooking her arm into mine and we walked in the room together.
Julian already walked in and went straight to some guys I didn't immediately recognized.
Piper and I both scanned the room. I recognized a few people from Max's team, some drivers but definitely not the ones I wanted to see.
"Let's go to Kelly" Piper said, already pulling me with her.
Kelly was standing next to Max, his face changed a little when he saw me but he still smiled.
I did the same.
I still didn't forget that he didn't tell me for a year, I still couldn't look at him without thinking about Lando and Billie.
"Happy birthday" I smiled, hugging Kelly. "Thank you so much Nova" she smiled, a genuine smile.
"And thank you for coming back, I know how hard it must be for you" she whispered.
I didn't reply, because I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled and nodded.
"Nova" Max looked at me, he wasn't looking any different than a year ago, but fair enough, it's not like I didn't see him for a year.
I ignored him for months, until I finally picked up and we talked for hours.
I cried, he listened, he explained why he couldn't tell me.
And I understood, how crazy it may sound. He was my friend but he was Lando's friend first.
"Max" I couldn't help but smile. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug.
The Max hug I missed so much.
"He's not here yet" he whispered. "I don't care" I whispered back but Max knew I actually did care.
"I am gonna grab a drink" I announced to no one in particular. I just needed a drink to calm my nerves.
"A martini please" I asked the bartender as I sat down at the bar.
I felt many eyes on me, people were talking about me, I couldn't explain it but I felt it.
I expected that - still felt weird.
Someone sat down next to me at the bar. I didn't even need to look to know who it was.
I could recognize his smell, or the smell of his cologne, from miles away.
"How are the stars tonight, Nova?"
I bit my lower lip, looking straight ahead. I couldn't look at him, I didn't want to look at him.
"Did you know that there are more stars in Australia than here?" I dodged his question.
"Well no - but I guess there are too much lights here to see them properly" Lando said.
I still didn't look at him. I looked at my glass, moving my fingers around the rim of it. "Yeah, I guess that's the reason"
"You're avoiding me" he pointed out. He didn't mean the past year, he meant right now. I didn't look at him.
So, I turned my head to him. He was still looking as handsome as ever. His hair was perfect, trimmed perfectly and his curls never looked better.
He didn't have a babyface anymore - he had more stubble than when I left for Australia.
He was in all black. Black shirt, the one I like the most, black pants.
I liked it.
Fuck, I like it more than I wanted to admit.
But he looked at me as if he was thinking the exact same thing.
"Where's your girlfriend?" I asked. Not because I was interested in her, but just to make him uncomfortable.
He deserved that.
"She's -" he looked around. "around" he said as he looked back at me. "How long are you here for?"
"Only a couple of days" I said. I didn't know when I was going back, but I was staying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Someone invited me and I wanted to be there.
"Do you wanna go to our pancake place tomorrow?"
I wanted to say no, my head was begging me to say no but as usual, my heart screamed louder.
"Okay, you can pick me up" I finished my drink, tapped the bar a couple of times and jumped off the barstool.
"Have fun tonight, Lando" I said as I looked at him. "You too Nova"
