LITTLE CAFE; lando norris

CHAPTER TWO

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LANDO WAS BORED. He'd been roaming the streets of London with his best mate aimlessly for the best part of 3 hours. His feet were sore, his back ached and his ears hurt from how Max was yapping them off.

Lando was back in London for a two-week break between seasons before he was back on the track. He was happy for his time off from work but the way his mate was talking his ear off about this girl he'd met in Paris was making him miss the cryotherapy.

They were in a quiet street in London. This seemed to be where all the cozy, little independent shops took their residence. There were lots of bookshops; a little flower shop where they wrapped your flowers in brown paper and tied them with twine; a student study space that was packed, due to the time of year with their final deadlines fast approaching; a woman's clothing store, selling things for the typical eclectic librarian or art teacher; a vintage record store; and a small knitwear shop he'd seen Ria express an interest in once.

One particular shop caught his eye. On a corner unit that led down into a small alley was a cozy cafe. It couldn't have held more than 6 tables and was pretty much completely empty. Even from across the street, he could see it was packed with bookshelves and records. It seemed like a nice warm escape from the spring wind.

"Max," He attempted to draw his friends attention from the mental image of the girl who made him drop his bagel, but to no avail. "Max." 

"What?" Max blinked his eyes, as if adjusting to the brightness of the outdoors after being stuck underground for 10 years. Lando rolled his eyes at him.

"D'you want a coffee?" He pointed at the cafe across the street, silently hopeful for Max to say yes as his feet began to give out beneath him and his patience wore thinner than a strand of hair.

Max nodded, motioning for Lando to cross the street and that he would follow.

The door made a jingling sound as they walked through it and into the small cafe. It was smaller than Lando had anticipated, a maximum of 6 tables littered the shop floor. There were the kind of brown leather armchairs that looked like they'd perfectly mould to your body and make you feel like you're on a cloud. Deep wood tones consumed the cafe, from the flooring to the bookshelves, they were all stained a dark brown.

There were few people in the cafe - an older lady in the single armchair in the corner with a black coffee and a book and two people with laptops obviously studying.

And then there was the girl behind the counter. She had been bent over the collection point, her head buried in a notebook. The bell from the door alerted her to the two new customers. Her head shot up and she locked eyes with Max first, a faint look of mild recognition on her face. Her gaze then turned to Lando, who's eyes were scanning the cafe curiously, and her eyes widened as it dawned on her just who he was. Her face neutralised, determined not to seem like a crazy fangirl, and she smiled softly at them as they approached.