Picture Perfect

Chapter 3

Lando

"Fuck them," I said to Oscar as I shoved his phone back at him. I shook my head, realizing how rude I'd been to take my anger out on him, none of this was his fault. "I'm sorry Oscar" I apologized, my head still shaking. 

He nodded and patted me on the shoulder in consolation. I was tired of the press, the networks, and how everyone thought they knew what was happening in my life from just seeing a few pictures and a couple of unrelated declarations. 

This past month had been torturous, and the media wasn't making it easier on me.

See, I might seem a little out of the blue, but I had always been a firm believer in second chances, knowing that we are all human, capable of making mistakes, but now, I can't help but recall my mother's warnings.

"You shouldn't go through life gifting second chances honey, not everyone knows how to appreciate them" She advised

And well, I guess I liked to learn my lessons the hard way, all with the help of Nova, my ex-partner, after she carelessly threw away a fourth chance I had given her. It was clear that I should've listened to my mother's advice.

See, truth is, that I knew our relationship was close to an end, it had been almost a year since we had agreed on staying together out of mere convenience, a show for the public to avoid questions and speculations... Even if in the end, by her actions, our plan had proven to be in vain.

That doesn't sound too nice, does it? But well... that was the tale.

When photos of her and a random guy came out, everyone was quick to message, call, and question me about it.  From her end? Incessant visits at home. She cried, yelled and sobbed, but after choosing to take everything with a grain of salt and trying to see the positives. I figured it was a perfect way out of that insipid relationship, so I took the cue and broke ties with her.  Don't get me wrong, everything sounds easy when put into words, but in reality, everything had taken a real toll on me. I was hurt, I was mad, but the one good thing was... I was finally putting myself first.  

I felt at peace without her, calm and comfortable behind closed doors, but having to experience all the rumors, and online criticism every time I stepped a foot outside had me fed up. And, after today's race, I was not in the mood for Oscar to show me another fan page talking mere nonsense about what they thought had happened.

I walked off from the VIP area, and headed to the bathroom, my eyesight already a little blurry from all the drinks I've had, but I could still hide my drunkenness pretty well. I stood in the restroom for a while, lost in front of the mirror, contemplating the beads of sweat falling from my forehead from the excruciatingly warm atmosphere caused by the crowd inside the bar.

-My bed sounds really comfortable right now- I thought to myself

Determined to leave, I made my way back into the bar, with loud music playing in the background, I paced my way around overly distracted on my phone, when a loud bang and a cold sensation brought me back to reality.

"Shit!" I said out loud, throwing my hands up as I felt my shirt get wet and saw a shadow standing in front of me. "I'm sorry! I didn't see you there" I said sincerely. She was short in stature, that was the most I could decipher with the darkness surrounding us.