𝐁 𝐑 𝐄 𝐀 𝐓 𝐇 𝐄 [lando norris x oc]

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞

"I can't explain but I, wanna try." Gabi hummed to herself, a pen in one hand while she furiously scratched at the words in her notebook. "There's this image of, you and I..."

She'd been sitting at her desk for almost two hours and had managed to only get a singular chorus for her new song. Writing her new album was already proving to be hell on Earth. 

A knock at the door turned her attention away from the notebook. "Come in!"

"Hey, bitch!"

Gabi spun around and smiled as Bridget flew in and squeezed her with a hug. "Ugh, I missed you!"

When Daphne had said her show in Germany was being delayed two weeks due to a triathalon, Gabi had immediatly booked a flight to her apartment in New York so she could visit her friends. Bridget got off work early since it was a Friday, but Lilly was stuck at an art show that she couldn't get out of. The three girls had planned on dinner and drinks--mostly just an excuse to dress up and take pictures and debrief everything that had happened in the last month of their lives. 

Bridget was already dressed and ready. Maybe it was the fact that she was a lawyer, but Bridget was incredibly sophisticated even with her fashion. She wore a black tank top with a low-rise silk black skirt that barely reached the floor in her Manolo Blahnik heels (courtesy of Gabi). Her hair was in an on-brand slick-back and her makeup was practically flawless. Gabi was incredibly jealous of her ability to devour every outfit. 

"Is this the new album?" Bridget pulled out of the hug and snatched the notebook in Gabrielle hands. "Oooo..."

Gabi shrieked and grabbed it back. "Don't look at it, it's horrible. I'm convinced I should just quit."

"Don't be a quitter." Bridget rolled her eyes. "Also--why are you not ready to go? I told you I was picking you up at 7:00."

"It's 6:45."

"Yeah, you should be ready right now. The last fifteen minutes were for shots."

"You're an alcoholic, Bridget." Gabi smiled and stood up, walking over to her closet.

"Coming from the Polish."

Gabi flipped her off as she started digging through her clothes. Her apartment in New York was her home--she lived there most days throughout the year so she could be closer to her friends and to her managers, not to mention the electricity that was New York City. When she wasn't in New York, she was renting an AirBnB in Europe or hotel-hopping for events. Being her main living area, that meant her closet in New York was way too full of clothes. 

The two girls were barely out the door as they swallowed their shots and they made their way out of the building. Lilly texted them, saying she was on her way to the restaurant, too, and she came bearing gifts. She sent a photo of a bottle of Tito's int their groupchat, which made Bridget's mouth water all over again (she would never get rid of the alcoholic allegations). 

"Ahhhh!" Lilly squealed when Gabi and Bridget came into her view. The trio did a group hug and gushed over eachother's outfits before sitting down. 

"It's not fair that Lilly comes straight from work and stil outdresses both of us." Bridget huffed. 

Lilly just smiled, adjusting the strap of her floor-length white and grey slip dress. "What can I say? I have a more creative mind, makes for better outfits."

They ordered appetizers and cocktails as they began their debrief. 

"And so I said to him, 'if you don't want to be in this relationship then end it, but don't stand there and lie to me and say it's because you want to spend more time with your mom'." Bridget swallowed the last bite of her steak, throwing her fork down onto her plate in exasperation. "He doesn't even like his mom! God, he complains about her every day, it's exhausting. When do I complain?!"

"Oh, you never complain." Gabi said sarcastically as Bridget flung a piece of garnish at her. "Hey!"

Lilly took a sip of her drink. "Just dump him, Bridge. Seriously, because he's acting like a little bitch and he's making it your problem. You can't let him treat you like this."

"I know." Bridget groaned. "But he's so cute."

"Oh my God!" Gabi sighed, trying not to slap her best friend across the face. "You can't stay in a relationship with him just because he's cute! Do you know how many guys would happliy take his place? Ones that definitely don't have mommy issues."

"Gabi is right." Lilly nodded. "Any guy in here."

Bridget just sighed again and took a sip of her Cosmopolitan. 

"What about you, Gabi?" Lilly turned her attention onto the blond girl, who's eyes widened.

"What about me?"

Both Lilly and Bridget narrowed their eyes. "Come on. Mr. Formula One? Operation ZoomZoom?"

"If you call it that again I swear to God I'll block him for her." Bridget stuck a finger in Lilly's face. "But seriously, yes we want that debrief."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to debrief. We flirt sometimes over text but it's really nothing."

"He asked you out on a date, dumbass." Lilly pointed out. "That mean's something."

Gabi just shrugged. 

"Do you like him?" 

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes because that was the question Gabi had been dreading all night. The answer was...maybe? Whenever Gabi thought of Lando, she felt warm and nervous but then she would remind herself of the circumstances. He was successful, but had a somewhat...flirtacioius reputation. After some stalking and research analysis, she had learned enough about Lando Norris to scare herself away from anything serious. And yet she still answered all of his messages and spent hours reliving that night in his hotel over in her head. 

"No."

"Now that's some bullshit." Lilly snorted, breaking out into laughter. "That's like me saying I don't want to order than chocolate lava cake for dessert."

"Ooh," Gabi mumbled as she glanced at the dessert menu.

Bridget glared at her. "Don't freak yourself out. You're not cursed or something. In fact, why don't you text him right now?"

"He's streaming again." Lilly chirped, much to the confused faces of Bridget and Gabi. "What? I have Twitch, I get the notifications. He's streaming with Max."

"Who's Max?" Bridget looked even more confused. 

Gabi inhaled. "He's the guy who hosted the pre-game in London."

"Also Lando Norris' best friend and he used to do Formula racing too, but he dropped out."

Gabi smirked. "Lilly, you seem to know a lot about this guy." Bridget glanced at her and the two seemed to share the same thought. 

"Oh, hush. This is, like, basic stuff."

"Right. So where did he go to high school?"

"You guys aren't funny."