COLLISION COURSE - Lando Norris [ff]

Thirteen

Parties were not necessarily Christina's favorite weekend activity. Loud music, filthy rich people and expensive alcohol paired with bite-sized snacks on top of silver tablets being carried around by beautiful waitresses who just needed different outfits to fit into the scheme of people usually attending events like the one she found herself at.

Nyck had already disappeared in the crowd about half an hour ago, and the short seconds she had spotted Caroline on the dance floor had been over before Christina could actually talk to her friend.
She had sat down onto a two-seater by the windows and quietly observed the scene. Charles had talked to her for a bit, a pretty woman on hand, before he had walked over to the bar as well. She could not really see Nyck anymore, so she figured he might have gone lost in all the people.

She wanted to leave. Coming here in her fir green, short sequin dress suddenly felt like one big, stupid idea to her. Her teammate had complimented her on her looks and had pointed out that her brown, shoulder-long hair looked exceptionally amazing in the soft waves she had curled it into. However, she felt misplaced now that he was out of sight.

Christina got up from the sofa to make her way to the door. The restless nights of the weeks before now took their toll on her head that was crushed by the sudden urge to flee the scene.

She squeezed herself past the people and had to press her body close to the wall because finding a path through the party folks gathered in the center certainly would have been impossible. The closer she got to the door, the more her heartbeat slowed down- formerly increased from the ear-drum-ripping bass boosted techno version of different 80s hits she would usually dance to in her kitchen.

Nyck was fully out of sight now and even though she kept her eyes open in case she could spot him somewhere in the tightly crowded apartment, she did not get a single glimpse of him. He had promised to get back in a few minutes. Five turned into ten turned into precisely 37. She had gotten bored enough for a lifetime by now, and she wanted to drag her thoughts back to what really mattered- the upcoming last race before the summer break. Faenza had been rough on her nerves and the team, and she wanted to give some effort back before taking time off in Spain.

Her palm shoved another body out of her way to go hand over hand along the shoulders of the many dancing people in order to reach the exit. She really wanted to leave.

"Chris!" Someone yelled out her name from behind. When she turned around, she literally bumped into Lando's chest who was the last person she had wanted to meet at this party.

"You actually came!" He bawled into her ear which he had to lean down for.

She just nodded and tried to read his lips when he continued, "Did you want to leave?"

Again, she moved her head in agreement. Lando smiled and put an arm around her shoulders before he shouted, "Let's grab a drink, shall we?"

Actually, Christina did not want to follow the popular McLaren driver to the provisional bar, but his warm, slightly sweaty arm around her naked shoulders convinced her otherwise. She had seen him talk to a whole bunch of people throughout the night. From afar, because that was where she figured, she should be after all.
They had not talked since Hungary. And in all honesty, she was glad that they had not.
He had been one of the first to arrive when the apartment was still somewhat tidy and not filled to the brim with inebriated, young adults. Lando was famous, not only as a streamer and Formula One driver, but also as a party animal in the various clubs in Monaco.

"Will you let me choose your drink?" He asked her with a smirk. Everyone knew that he had a knack for choosing the right music and drinks for people. Somehow, he always got it just perfect.