I can do it with a broken heart (Lando Norris)

1. All Too Well

 "Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, But I'm still trying to find it."

March 2024

So, I have a proposition," Charlotte said, looking at Lando warily. Being his PR manager had aged her by at least five years this week alone she'd decided looking in the mirror this morning.

He groaned, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. This was something that never usually ended well for him and almost always meant he was in trouble. "A proposition or an order?"

She pulled a face at him which confirmed the answer to his question. He'd known he was in trouble when she called him and demanded he go to MTC to meet with her. She'd even insisted he be there at 9 am, he had decided out of spite, knowing he'd have a raging hangover to contend with. He hadn't checked the news to know which particular headline she was angry about this time, but the way she was pacing back and forth up and down the office told him how wound up she was.

"This whole party boy, a different girl every weekend thing needs to stop. Now." She came to stop in front of him and gave him a stern look. "I'm sorry about what happened with Luisa, I am, but this can't carry on Lando. It would be one thing if you were performing in the car, and even then I'd be telling you to stop, but you're not even doing that."

He looked back at her, trying to keep his face free of emotion after her mention of Luisa. Charlotte was of course spot on about the cause of his behaviour recently. She'd known him well enough to see right through it. What looked to the rest of the world like him out every weekend drinking and going home with a different girl every night being him having the time of his life was an attempt to avoid being left home alone with his thoughts.

"What do you want, Charlotte?" He sighed.

"You're going to date someone." She said firmly.

He shook his head. "No, never doing that again."

"Not properly, we're just going to make it look like you're dating someone to get us through the season. You're going to stop going out and getting drunk, you're going to play the supportive boyfriend role, give yourself a bit more credibility and stability... and most importantly you're not going to bitch and moan about it to me." She stood in front of him, arms crossed and gave him a stern look.

"And you think you're going to find someone to agree to this?" He raised an eyebrow at her. He knew Charlotte well enough to know if she was telling him this then there was already a woman lined up, but it didn't mean he couldn't be an asshole and scare her off to get him out of it. A plan was already forming in his mind.

"Hannah Scott," Charlotte smirked at him. "Her publicist is an old friend of mine, and they think it would be mutually beneficial for her image before her new album comes out."

"Seriously?" Lando rolled his eyes at Charlotte. "Are you joking?"

"And luckily for us, she's in the middle of a world tour and has a pretty good excuse not to spend too much time with you so you can't scare her off."

"And how exactly are you going to convince the world we're dating if we are on opposite sides of the planet the entire time?" He asked.

"You're going to fly out to Australia a bit earlier than planned and attend her show. She's playing 4 nights in Sydney so you can spend some time together in between, let people see the two of you together and start asking questions. Then she's going to come to the race before she carries on for the next leg of her tour." Charlotte explained. "And you're going to stop going out every night with other women, or I will kill you."