The next couple of days had passed in a chaotic blur of media and promotional events for both drivers, Aimee and Tracey. Aimee found herself being run ragged trying to herd the two drivers between their various scheduled engagements and keep them on schedule.
Despite the stress of trying to keep it all organised, Aimee had been in a surprisingly good mood throughout. Lando watched as she dashed around organising things, clearly in her element. The way she'd sat sobbing on his sofa two nights ago long since forgotten looking at her now.
The day the rest of the team were due to arrive though it was like a dark cloud had descended on her. The playful smiles and jokes as she chivvied him and Oscar along, scalding them for being late, had vanished into thin air.
Instead, she'd turned up late at the photoshoot that had been organised for the special livery. Oscar had cracked a joke about her being later than them for a change and she'd let out a hollow laugh, turning away from them to talk to Tracey.
Lando studied her carefully, stood already dressed in his race suit ready for the photos to be taken. She looked like she hadn't slept, the dark circles visible under her eyes which were red from crying. Her papaya uniform was creased and her usually immaculate hair thrown up in a messy bun.
"You okay?" Tracey asked quietly, Lando trying to strain his ears to listen to the conversation. Oscar was obliviously chatting away beside him, unaware his teammate wasn't paying the slightest attention to what he was saying.
"I uh... yeah." Aimee mumbled. "Sorry I'm late."
"You haven't missed anything." Tracey shrugged. "I think we're just about to get started." She waved the photographer over and he directed the two drivers to stand beside the car.
Lando struggled to pay attention to the directions he was being given, his eyes kept wandering back to Aimee. She was perched on the edge of a table, phone in her hand tapping away furiously. She glanced up for a second, meeting his eye, then quickly looked back down at the floor.
Lando was so distracted that it wasn't until Oscar nudged him that he realised the photographer was asking for him to step out of shot so they could take some individual photos of Oscar.
Lando didn't need to be asked twice. Stepping out of the shot left him free to make a beeline for Aimee. Tracey shot him a look as he passed her that he couldn't quite make sense of.
"Hey, you alright?" He asked, leaning beside her against the table.
"Uh... yeah." She mumbled, still looking down at her feet. She could feel his eyes on her but she refused to meet them.
"Aimee." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "You're a terrible liar."
"Can you just leave it?" She asked quietly, glancing up at where Oscar was still posing for photos. Surely it would be Lando's turn in a minute and she'd be free from whatever this was?
"Why don't we get dinner again later if you're not going to talk to me now?" Lando suggested.
"I can't. Tom flew in this morning."
Her words confirmed his suspicions. Before he could say anything else, Oscar was finally finished and walking over to them.
"Your turn now mate." Oscar said, waving in the direction of the photographer.
"Oh, right. Yeah." Lando stood up, walking over for his turn with one glance back at Aimee.
Oscar settled into the spot that had been previously occupied by Lando, much to Aimee's dismay. She was so not in the mood to be chatting.
"You alright? One more to go after this, right?" Oscar asked, trying to remember the schedule he'd been sent for the day.
"Yeah, it shouldn't take long." Aimee nodded. "Thanks for being so patient, I thought it was going to be harder to get you both to cooperate."
Oscar shrugged. "Comes with the job doesn't it."
"Yeah, I guess."
"You're Tom's fiancée, right?" Oscar asked.
Aimee's head snapped up at the mention of his name. It was the first time Oscar had mentioned anything and for some reason it hadn't occurred to her he knew. "I am, yeah."
"You guys set a date for the wedding yet?" He asked. "He was telling us all the other day how excited he is, you must be really looking forward to it?"
The words made Aimee feel sick. What was she supposed to say? She should be excited, but every time Tom tried to talk about setting a date for the wedding she'd fob him off. The idea of tying herself to him forever was a daunting prospect.
"We haven't yet." She shook her head. "There's no rush, we'll have to work it round the season somehow. You know how it is."
"Right..." Oscar sounded unsure. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, just tired. It's been a busy week already and we've still got a whole race weekend to go." Aimee sighed.
It wasn't strictly speaking the truth. She was tired, but she was tired because she'd been up all night worrying about the imminent arrival of Tom for the race weekend. She knew he would be back there in their shared hotel room by now, waiting for her when she was done. She didn't know what to do with the ball of anxiety she could feel in her stomach at the thought of seeing him.
The couple of days away from him had given her surprising clarity on the situation. As she'd spent that night with Lando, being driven around Monaco to take in the sights, she'd felt so relaxed and carefree it was as though he'd turned on the light and shown her what she'd been missing this whole time.
It wasn't supposed to be so difficult. She wasn't supposed to wake up every day with a feeling of absolute dread about what was to come. Home was supposed to be somewhere she looked forward to going at the end of the day, not actively avoided until she had no other excuses.
She'd felt more alive in those few hours she'd spent with Lando than she had done in years, and it terrified her. Because what was she supposed to do with this revelation? It didn't actually change anything for her in reality.
If she left Tom she was going to have nowhere to live and no job. She might've had the realisation about what staying with him was doing to her, but what was she going to do about it? The idea of starting over was terrifying.
The letter of resignation she'd quietly drafted in her hotel room that morning weighed heavily on her mind, knowing it was sealed neatly in an envelope in her bag with Tracey's name written on it.
Writing it had been difficult, but the idea of actually giving it to Tracey and admitting she was done was even harder. She'd worked so hard to get where she was, she had a job and a team that she loved, was she really going to throw it all away? But then, if she wanted her freedom back what choice did she have?
YOU ARE READING
Stay With Me- Lando Norris
Fanfiction*Completed* After discovering that one of his coworkers is in a desperate situation, Lando makes it his mission to try and help her. Except she doesn't want his help, and does everything she can to push him away.
