Once they reached the familiarity of the McLaren hospitality Aimee had tucked herself as far into the corner as possible. Lily had gone in search of food and coffee, despite Aimee's repeated insistence that she wasn't sure she could stomach anything.
The anxiety that had been plaguing her all morning had not abated even slightly, despite Lily's patient reassurance that everything would be okay.
Sitting in the corner of the hospitality building where she'd spent so many weekends with the team, but now as a guest was an odd experience. She'd been expecting to find some comfort in the familiarity of it all and being out of the hustle and bustle of the paddock, but instead it just amplified that growing feeling in the pit of her stomach that she shouldn't be here.
A couple of members of the team that had spotted her shot her a friendly smile and a wave, but they were all too busy working to say hello and Aimee was incredibly thankful.
She knew that everyone would know by now what had happened with her and Tom. There was absolutely no way she'd escaped the rumour mill on that one, no matter how many times Lando tried to convince her it was fine and would all blow over.
She didn't even want to think about what they might be saying about the fact she was now here as Lando's guest.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket as it buzzed, expecting it to be Lando saying he was on his way. He was taking an absolute age wherever he was. She highly doubted him and Oscar were still outside signing things for fans.
Having a good weekend? It must be fun pretending to be a WAG?
Aimee almost choked on her own breath as she read the message. She was still spluttering when Lily came back over and handed her a bottle of water.
"Thanks." Aimee choked out, taking a sip.
"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Lily asked, sitting down opposite her.
"I uh... yeah." Aimee mumbled, shoving her phone deep into the depths of her bag as though that might make the problem go away.
"I got some pastries, I know you said you weren't hungry but you really should eat something." Lily said, sliding the plate into the middle of the two of them. "Probably before the boys get here too because they'll demolish those in seconds."
Aimee forced a quiet laugh, tearing the end off a croissant and putting it in her mouth, trying to ignore the wave of nausea that came with the action. "Do you know where they are?"
"They're on the way, just stopped in for the briefing I think." Lily told her. "How are you finding it? It must be weird being back here?"
"Yeah." Aimee admitted. "It is."
Lily was quiet for a minute, considering her words before she spoke. "Can I say something?"
Aimee nodded, although her stomach was doing somersaults wondering what Lily might be about to say.
"If it's stressing you out this much being here, why did you let Lando talk you into it?" Lily asked. "Why not just tell him no and stay in Monaco?"
Aimee stared at the plate of food on the table for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. The question had been unexpected. "I uh... I don't know." She admitted. "It never really occurred to me that I could just say no I guess. I wanted him to be happy."
"You know he'll be happy with whatever makes you happy, right?" Lily asked. "The way he looks when he talks about you, seeing him with you today... he loves you. There's no way he'd want you to spend all weekend stressing yourself out just so he can have you beside him."
"I'm not that great when it comes to saying no." Aimee admitted. She left out the fact that it was because saying no to Tom would almost always come with consequences. So she'd just gone along with whatever it was he said, no matter how unhappy it made her. She hadn't even realised she'd done exactly the same thing when Lando suggested the trip to the race.
"I, for one, am glad you're here to keep me company for the weekend." Lily smiled. "But I guess what I'm trying to say is if it's too much and you want to go back to the hotel, you do what's right for you. Lando will understand, and to be honest even if he didn't I'd be telling you the same thing. It's not your job to make everyone else happy all of the time."
"You're very good at all this." Aimee joked, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject.
"You know what else will make you feel better, absolutely guaranteed?" Lily asked.
"What's that?" Aimee asked, glancing over Lily's shoulder at the sound of Lando and Oscar approaching.
"The two of us testing out the hotel spa and getting a break from these two." She laughed and Lando ruffled her hair on the way past to sit beside Aimee. "What took you two so long?"
"Don't..." Lando groaned. "That was the worst briefing I've ever been to in my life. Apparently we aren't even trying to be optimistic this weekend. We're fucked and we know it. That's the vibe."
"Agreed." Oscar groaned. "What a way to start the weekend."
"Are you alright?" Lando asked, leaning to whisper in Aimee's ear as Lily and Oscar started chatting. His hand dropped onto her thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Yep, I'm sorry about that earlier I-"
"Aim, it's fine. You don't need to explain yourself." Lando reassured her. "If you want to go back to the hotel before I'm done just go, I can get a lift back. I know it's been a lot coming here." He handed her the car keys.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think I'm going to drive that car with one leg that doesn't really work? Have you gone completely insane."
"He's always been insane." Oscar chimed in across the table. "I thought you'd worked with us long enough to know that by now."
"True." Aimee rolled her eyes, before turning back to Lando and lowering her voice again. "I'll stay, I've got Lily for company. But thank you."
"I'm really glad you're here." He smiled. "It's nice having you back with us. Now we just need to get you back in papaya!"
"Yeah." Aimee forced a smile, squeezing his hand. "Maybe... so tell me, what's wrong with the car?"
She knew this was a sure fire way to distract him, and sure enough it took all of two seconds for him and Oscar to launch into a detailed description of what had gone on in the briefing.
Aimee wasn't even listening, just nodding along in what she hoped were the right places. She was too busy giving herself a pep talk, trying to convince herself that she could do this and make it through the day to support him. She owed him that much.
But she could feel the eyes of her former co workers on her as she sat at the table with the two drivers, she could almost hear the whispers about her sudden reappearance and closeness with Lando.
And suddenly using that McLaren as a getaway vehicle wasn't such a bad idea after all....
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.
