I watched the practice sessions for a while but Max also asked to go with him to the Quadrant stand.
They had a little stand in the fan zone where they would meet the fans and race them on the F1 game.
Thought it would be pretty easy so I raced against Max a few times.
I lost each and every time.
"You need to let girls win from time to time, you know that right?" I looked at Max as I lost for the third time.
"Guess I missed that class in the gentleman school" he laughed.
I rolled my eyes, got up from the sim, and it was only then I realized how many people were standing there.
"Can we have a picture?" Someone asked, thought she would be asking Max, but she was looking at me. "With me?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes, with you and Max maybe?"
"Sure" Max said even before I could answer, put his hand on my back. We took a couple of pictures with them, they thanked us and walked away.
"What just happened?" I asked as I looked at Max. "That's what happens when you hang out with Lando" he shrugged.
I frowned.
"They probably think you're dating Lando" he explained.
"Oh" I chuckled. "That's silly"
"Is it?" He smirked. "He obviously likes you"
"He hired me to find Francesca, or what happened to her at least" I said a bit more soft.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and when was the last time that he asked you something about her?"
I shrugged.
"And what exactly are you gonna find out here? In Silverstone? You really think he gave you a paddock pass because he hired you?"
"Uh-" I mumbled.
"I will tell you the answer, no he gave you a paddock pass because he likes you"
I bit the inside of my cheek. It was harder and harder to keep myself from telling what Jordan said.
"Who was Francesca's best friend?" I asked.
"Uh-" he frowned, shook his head a little. "Jess I think?"
The bartender. Okay.
I nodded. "Thanks"
No one was gonna believe Jordan's word, even I was doubting it a little.
You're pretty fucked up if you lie about being abused.
So I had to ask Jess about it.
And fortunately for me, Jamie's flirting skills finally paid off because they were dating.
In secret, but Jamie couldn't keep secrets from me.
I texted him, said I wanted to go to dinner with them. He was probably gonna fight it a little, tell me she probably wasn't ready for it.
But at the end of the day, he would say yes.
——————————-
"Here we are again" Lando said as he laid next to me on the grass.
He invited me and the Quadrant members to his house for a barbecue after the practice sessions.
"Hey you" I chuckled. "Is this gonna become our thing?"
"I definitely wouldn't mind that" he smiled. "Did you enjoy yourself today?"
"Yes definitely" I nodded. "I enjoyed myself more than last time I was in the paddock"
"Yeah why? Because you didn't have to steal a paddock pass from one of our biggest sponsors this time?"
I snapped my head to him. "What?"
He chuckled. "That guy you stole the pass from? Yeah he sponsors Mclaren"
I looked at Lando for a bit. So he knew from the first time we met that I didn't belong there.
We both started laughing.
"In my defense, I didn't steal it, he gave it to me" I laughed.
"Big difference" he nodded, but couldn't stop laughing either.
We talked about the race, the paddock, a bit of everything, until it turned serious again.
"You believe in soulmates?" He asked all of a sudden. "Yeah I do"
"Me too" he said as he looked up at the stars.
"Do you miss her?" I asked, I kinda knew why he was asking that question.
"Who?" He frowned.
"Francesca?"
"Oh" he sighed. "Not that much anymore"
I looked at the stars as well. I had to tell him, maybe this was the moment where I could tell him?
"I really loved her, but I think maybe for the wrong reasons" he said, kept looking at the stars. "I desperately wanted to prove that I wasn't a fuckboy, that I could be loyal and she desperately wanted to show everyone I changed for her"
I turned my head to him as I listened. It was the first time he was opening up about her to me.
"I now realize that I could never be myself with her, I was always on edge when I was around her, afraid of saying something wrong, afraid that she was gonna break up again"
He clenched his teeth and turned his face to mine, forced a little smile on his face.
"But yeah, I think I now believe in soulmates too" he smiled as he looked at me.
I smiled as well, crawled closer to him and it was as if our bodies knew exactly what to do.
He opened his arms, right when I cuddled up to him.
This wasn't the time to tell him. It definitely wasn't.
