Bad Reputation

20.

We went back to Lando's room, put some music on and got ready to go to dinner with Max.

He was buttoning up his shirt, a black shirt that looked perfect on him.

He smiled as he saw me walk in the bathroom. "Fuck, you're looking beautiful" he said as he let his eyes travel down my body.

I was wearing a black dress, straightened my hair, did my makeup. I looked just like the first night we kissed.

"And you're looking handsome" I smiled, walked up to him and fixed his buttons. I put my hands on his chest and looked up at him.

"Thanks" he mumbled, looking down at me. "And thank you for being here"

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else" I answered.

He smiled, put his hand on my cheek and pecked my lips. "Are you ready?" He asked, letting his hand fall down.

I nodded.

I was excited to get to know Verstappen better. Lando wanted to introduce me to him, which was a good thing.

He never wanted to hide me from his friends, only from the media.

We walked out of his hotel, to another hotel, which I guess was the hotel where Red Bull was staying.

It was a dinner at a restaurant in their hotel, which I guess wasn't that unusual for them, but I wish we could've gone to a little cute Italian restaurant.

But then again, that would've be better if it was a romantic dinner with Lando.

Max and Kelly were already sitting at a table, so we walked up to them. Lando greeted both of them and turned to me.

"This is Francesca, she's my-" he stopped, looked at me, but I wasn't gonna help him, I was too curious to hear what he was gonna call me. "My date"

Good answer.

"Hi Francesca, you look absolutely beautiful" Kelly smiled, walked up to me and hugged me.

Max wasn't that excited to see me, he seemed nervous as if I was gonna call him out, as if I was gonna tell Kelly that he kissed other girls.

I wasn't gonna do that, not for now at least.

"Hi Max, nice to meet you" I acted as if I didn't know him and I could see he appreciated that. "Hi Francesca, nice to meet you too"

Lando and I sat down next to each other, and honestly it was such a nice dinner.

We laughed a lot, asked a few questions about what I did or where I lived.

I used to be a little embarrassed that I worked as a bartender, it wasn't a job that impressed people.

"She's honestly the best bartender, she makes the best drinks" Lando smiled as he put his hand on my thigh. "She even helps the girl that works in our paddock club"

He looked at me with a smirk.

"I don't" I lied. "You're a horrible little liar" he laughed, pecked my lips quickly.

He made me feel loved, he was genuinely proud of me, of what I did.
I never really experienced that before.

I fell even harder.

When Max and Lando started talking about the race, Kelly turned her face to me and smiled. "The guys are talking about F1 again, are you coming to me to the restroom?"

"Yes sure" I nodded, leaned to Lando. "I am going to the restroom" I whispered, because I was pretty sure he didn't hear Kelly.

"Okay, do you want anything else to drink?" He pointed at my empty glass. "Another wine would be great" I answered.

He nodded, we kissed again and I walked with Kelly to the restroom.

We both didn't need to go to the toilet, she just wanted to gossip.

"I've never seen Lando like that" she said as she looked at me. "It's honestly so cute"

Another one who thought Lando was a red flag. How surprising.

"Yeah I really like him" I said, ignoring his past, didn't want to talk about it.

"He likes you too, I can see that" Kelly nodded.

She was the first one who told me that Lando may like me. The first one who wasn't warning me about him.

And it felt so good.