Dear Lando - Book Two

𝟷𝟶 ♡ Angeleyes

Angeleyes By ABBA

Back home in Monaco, Lana walked down the narrow streets to the Speedy Stars office building for a meeting that Aria had called. The request to bring an "open mindset" left her confused and a little apprehensive.

Turning the final corner to the office, Lana looked ahead to see none other than Carlos Sainz walking towards her. But linked in his arm was a short brunette girl looking up at him with a huge smile.

The world went quiet.

Lana's heart dropped and shattered as she took in the scene before her. Carlos' eyes locked onto Lana's in surprise and slight panic as they continued to walk towards each other.

The air grew tense as they finally reached each other. "Lana, erm, what are you doing here?"

Pulling out of her head for a minute, Lana registered Carlos' question and replied, "I, uh, I live here," in the most monotone and emotionless voice Carlos had ever heard from her.

She stared right into his big brown eyes, only letting them slip once onto the girl attached to his arm.

"Oh, uh, Lana, this is Gianna," Carlos clarified upon seeing Lana glance at the girl.

Carlos then looked down at Gianna and said, "G, this is Leclerc's little sister."

Lana's head continued to spin, the longer this excruciating conversation lagged on.

Gianna sent a fake smile Lana's way before addressing Carlos. "Babe, can we keep going? She seems tired," she attempted to whisper the last part while dragging Lana down.

"Just wait over there; I'll catch up in a minute," Carlos replied, shooing off Gianna.

"Sorry about that," Carlos started as he looked down only at Lana now. "I never got a chance to thank you," he continued.

Lana's eyes shot up from the sidewalk to the Spaniard's with confusion. "For what?"

"The Monza win."

Pain laced Lana's voice as she said, "Carlos, that was all you. The only thing I did was believe in you."

A brief silence hung between them as they looked into each other's eyes before Lana continued, "But it looks like you've got someone new for that."

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she walked away and into the Speedy Stars office for her meeting.

The Meeting

As Lana entered the building, she could barely hold back her tears. She rushed to the bathroom, locked the door, and pulled out her phone. She hit some buttons, and the phone started ringing before sending her to voicemail.

"Hello? Hello? Nah, just kidding. I'm too busy having a life to answer the phone right now! Leave your best joke in my voicemail, and MAYBE I'll phone you back." Nathalie's voicemail went off before the beep sounded.

"Nat, it's me," Lana managed as she let out a little sob. "I need you ASAP, please phone me," she finished before hanging up and wiping the tears from her face.

Cleaning herself up, Lana gave herself a quick pep talk in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and making her way to Aria's office.

She gently knocked on the door and waited a moment before the door came swinging open. She was met with the big smile of Aria, gesturing her to come in.

Lana followed her in and found the CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown, and F1 driver Lando Norris sitting on the couches across from where Aria and she stood.

"Lana, I'm sure you've seen them around the paddock, but I'm pleased to formally introduce you to Speedy Stars' newest sponsor, McLaren Racing."

Lana rushed forward to formally shake their hands before taking her seat across from them, and beside Aria.

"We are so excited to be working with Speedy Stars. We think it will bring great traction to both the foundation as well as the F1 community," Zak Brown spoke to the group with a friendly smile.

"We agree, Zak. Great things are ahead," Aria chimed in.

"That's amazing what you guys are doing," Lana spoke to the boys, receiving gentle smiles from both. "So, I assume we are here to talk marketing and sorts?" Lana asked Aria as she got comfy on the couch and pulled out a pen and paper to take notes.

Aria and Zak glanced at each other, both showing slight nervousness. Zak then edged Aria on with a "Go ahead" nod.

Aria took a deep breath before addressing the two younger ones in the room. "Zak and I," she gestured between themselves as Zak nodded, "believe it would be a good idea for you two to enter a fake relationship with each other to connect the new sponsorship."

"What?" the two blurted out at the same time.

"Look, don't panic," Zak started. "This is a great thing that will do a lot of good for others," he tried sounding optimistic.

The world drained around Lana again as she started questioning this terrible day she was suddenly having. Her head spiraled with a million questions. First Carlos with a girlfriend, now she was getting auctioned off to some other F1 driver she had never talked to?

In the distance, she could hear Aria start to list off a chain of commandments that they must follow for this scheme to work. Attending races regularly, spending downtime with each other, keeping this a secret between the four individuals in that room—the list went on.

"Sir, respectfully, why me? Why not Daniel?" Lando questioned his boss.

"Well, frankly, we didn't think Daniel would be able to keep this a secret," Zak explained.

"Are there any other things we could do? It just seems like a lot on us," Lando continued to express his concerns.

"We thought it would be good for you two to spend some time together since the two brands are working together now. You two get connected and so do the brands. Two birds, one stone," Aria answered this time. "Now, if you two don't have any more questions, we will send you off with each other's phone numbers to arrange a coffee date or sorts, and we can all be on our way."

That was it. No and, ifs, or buts. Lana had to fake date this man.

Lana felt as if her head was going to explode with all this new information being hurled her way. Her heart was shattered, her head was racing, and she felt as though she was going to be sick at any moment.