The Chequered Flag || Lando Norris

41 | Make a Splash

"You sure about this?" Lando asked me.

"Absolutely." I said, before turning to Charlotte, "You sure?"

"Absolutely." She said with a smile. "Much better if it's on your terms anyway, the way I see it. Besides, it's late enough, it may just be Kym, and he'll be jazzed to be the first one with the official scoop."

"All right then." Lando said, "Shall we?"

I nodded, and he pushed the door of McLaren hospitality open and then pulled me into the crisp night air.

Once we got to the bottom of the ramp, I repositioned our arms so mine was crossed over his. As we walked down the nearly empty paddock, I could hear my heart beating.

I looked at Lando and he smiled sweetly at me, and gave me a kiss on the head, prying a small giggle out of me.

"Well, well, well." A voice in front of us said, "Aren't you two the picture of happiness?"

"She definitely got me through this weekend, Kym." Lando said to the photographer.

"I'm happy for you, mate." Kym said, "And, Lando, your time is coming."

"I know. Thank you, Kym." He said with a small, sad smile.

"Listen, mate," Kym said, hesitantly, "I won't post these if you don't want me to."

"No, you're all good, Kym. To be honest, we were kind of hoping it would be you."

"Well, you two will certainly make a splash." Kym said before addressing me, "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? Make sure I have my facts straight."

I looked at Lando for permission, and he nodded, "Go on if you want to."

"I do." I said, then asked Kym, "Walk with us?"

The photographer nodded, and we set off. "So, what name would you like me to use?"

"Camilla Jones, but almost everyone calls me Cami–have for as long as I can remember."

"And the accent, Canadian or American."

"American."

"And what do you do?"

"I'm a student. One third theatre film and two thirds sports psychology."

"Really?" Kym said, "Now that is interesting."

. . .

Later, after we landed back in London, I turned on my phone and it was flooded with notifications: messages from friends and family, follow notifications from Instagram, mentions on Twitter.

"Kym works fast." I said as we got in the car.

"What does it say?" Lando asked as he turned the ignition.

"'I am happy to be the first to introduce Camilla Jones (or Cami, as she is referred to by friends and family), the young woman that has been seen around the paddock with McLaren driver, Lando Norris, this weekend. Late after the race, Cami and Lando walked out of the paddock arm-in-arm, truly in fashion for the McLaren driver who is always one of the last to leave the track. I had the pleasure of having a chat with them on the way to their car, and Camilla was lovely and happy to answer the burning questions I was sure you all would have. Watch my YouTube video, out tomorrow, with the stories of my paddock photos from this weekend for all the details!'"

"So," he asked, glancing over at me, "how do you feel about that?"

"Good!" I said. "I mean, I suppose I'll have to see what he says in the video when he posts it, but..."

My voice trailed off as I cursed myself for the habit of checking comments on any post I liked.

"What's up?" Lando said, noticing the shift in my demeanor.

"I just made the mistake of looking at the comments, that's all." I said, "Just a bit of a mixed bag."

"Don't worry about it." Lando said, his voice a little harsh. "Fuck them all."

"No, no. Really, it's fine. Most are happy for you, some are confused and also impressed by the use of the uniform to stay undercover, and some... are saying I must be a bad luck charm."

I should have seen it coming, but I didn't and they were each like a little hairline fracture to my stomach lining–I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in my skin.

"Well, fuck that." Lando said, "They're blind. You're the reason I drove like I did on Saturday, and my inexperience is the reason I messed up on Sunday. All the good of this weekend has come about because you were there."

"Thanks, Lan. But I'm fine. Really." I gave a weak smile, "Like I said, most are positive or not about me at all."

"Alright," Lando said, obviously trying to shake off his concern. "Well, how many followers have you gained already?"

"I doubt it will be that much." I said with a small laugh, "It's only been a few–holy shit!"

"How much?" Lando said, laughing.

"Shut up! 134k?!" I was astounded, "Shit! I was at like 23k! I mean, how does that even work?"

"Just my power." Lando said with a sly smile.

"Oh, hardy-har-har." I said, teasing him back.

"But, genuinely, that's quite a bit more than normal."

"Right?!" I said, confused. And then I saw it in my tagged posts, "Oh."

"What?"

"They announced that I'm in the cast of The Glory Days of Keira Smith... and they announced that I'm playing Keira Smith."

"So, you're saying it's not just my power?" Lando teased.

"No," I said, using my best insincere pout, "I would never suggest that any success I came across was not due to my association with you."

"Wow, point taken." Lando said with a laugh.

I shut off my phone and just enjoyed the rest of the ride home with him, glad that he seemed to be able to put his disappointment aside and enjoy himself.