Stay With Me- Lando Norris

37. Then she runs like it's a race

There was a moment of absolute panic for Aimee as she walked back into the hotel room and was faced with Lando pacing back and forth in the hallway.

"Never mind, she's back." He said quickly into his phone, hanging up. "Where have you been?!"

"I uh... went for a walk. To get some fresh air." Aimee stumbled over the words wondering if they sounded as false to his ears as they did hers.

"I was worried about you." Lando obviously hadn't noticed, just wrapping her in a hug. "How are you feeling?"

Aimee buried her head in his shoulder, tears spilling down her face out of nowhere as she tried to slow her breathing.

"I was about to send Oscar and Lily out as a search party." Lando joked, apparently unaware that she was silently sobbing into his shoulder. "Aimee?"

"I'm going to shower quickly." She mumbled, freeing herself from his arms and bolting into the bathroom.

The sound of the lock clicking behind her told Lando everything he needed to know. He hadn't imagined that she'd been upset.

"Aimee?" He called, tapping on the door. "Let me in."

He was greeted with the sound of the shower being turned on in response and no movement on the door being unlocked.

On the other side of the door Aimee slowly slid down the wall until she was sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, hugging them as she let the tears fall freely.

Why had she done this to herself? Not only had she been stupid enough to let Tom suck her back in, she'd then lied to Lando about it.

The second part she supposed she could undo if she just told him the truth, but she also knew if she did that he'd be in the Red Bull garage before she could stop him and get himself in all kinds of trouble. Was it possible that he might just make it through the whole season without crossing paths with Tom and never have to know he was there?

Her head was spinning, the anxiety over what to do bringing with it a fresh wave of nausea. It didn't help that she hadn't eaten anything since the pastry Lily had forced her to eat at breakfast.

"Aimee... open the door." Lando called softly. "I can hear you crying."

This just set off a whole new wave of fresh tears. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn't. If she told him Tom was back at Red Bull, then she'd have to tell him why Tom was a free man to be getting employed by Red Bull in the first place. She couldn't imagine that was going to go down well.

She needed to get in the shower, she decided. Maybe it would wash off the dirty feeling that came with having met up with Tom. Maybe that would make her feel better.

So she stripped out of her clothes, her eyes immediately drawn to the bruise forming around her wrist from where Tom had tried to stop her leaving.

Another thing she was going to have to hide from Lando.

It was like being transported back in time to when he'd first been suspicious about what was going on and she'd been sneaking around MTC trying to avoid him, carefully applying makeup to half her body to disguise that anything might've happened.

Half an hour with Tom and she was back to being that person already.

She was as pathetic as he'd told her she was all those times.

He was right too, what on earth did she think she was doing with Lando? There was no way that this fledgling relationship they'd got going on was ever going to survive out in the real world.

It was one thing in the safe confines of his apartment in Monaco, where they were sheltered from the outside world. But out here? The media and fans scrutinising them? They didn't stand a chance.

Tom's return to Red Bull also meant that keeping her job at McLaren was now a nonstarter. There was no way she was going to spend every race weekend creeping around the paddock trying to avoid him. The stress of even thinking about it was too much, never mind living like it.

So that solved that dilemma for her at least. Maybe she should thank him? She'd been swinging backwards and forwards trying to make her mind up for weeks now. It was almost a relief to have it taken out of her hands.

So perhaps the best option was to head back to the UK, find herself somewhere to live and a new job. She could start afresh, outside of the world of formula one.

Somewhere no one would know her and no one knew what had happened. She wouldn't have to face the same reminders of it every day. It would be good?

But as she stood underneath the piping hot water cascading from the shower head she knew what the problem with trying to convince herself this was the right thing to do was.

Lando

She'd have to leave Lando behind. Her best friend, the man she loved, the man who had unknowingly saved her from a lifetime with Tom, and quite possibly saved her life.

If she was going to leave and start over to get away from Tom, she was going to have to break Lando's heart to do so.

And she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to look him in the eye and tell him she was leaving.