✓ WORKING FOR THE KNIFE ━ lando norris. ¹

[ 058 ] Body And Soul

   

    

    

( ACT III. ── Fearless )
chapter fifty-eight / Body And Soul

   

   

   

✷ 　 　　 　 ·
　 ˚ * .
　 　　 *　　 * ⋆ 　 .
· 　　 ⋆ 　　　 ˚ ˚ 　　 ✦
　 ⋆ · 　 *
　　　　 ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧　✵
　 · ✵

  

  

   

"Last minute" was, to Annika, classified strictly as anything less than a week in advance. This, however, was on a whole new level of at the drop of a hat.

Lando's birthday came up suddenly and unexpectedly, and Annika was filled with a secret guilt that she had nearly forgotten it. That guilt was exactly the reason she agreed without hesitation when Lando asked her, with less than two hours to prepare, to fly back home to the UK for this birthday. To have dinner. With his parents.

She was kicking herself about that now.

She liked plans.

She liked to be able to look at her calendar and see it for a couple of days, if not a couple of weeks.

Now, she was entirely thrown off.

Greta was on FaceTime duty for a short but frantic twenty minutes trying to help Annika figure out what to pack. "Something fancy but not professional, cute but not slutty" was her most prevalent piece of advice, which was entirely unhelpful to Annika. Lando watched this exchange with amusement, silently, from a distance, because he was wise enough to know that his advice would be scolded out of question by Greta before he was even able to finish speaking.

They settled on a long-sleeved top that Annika hated to wear but looked pretty in. A square neckline, the same greenish brown color as her eyes, snug but not too tight or revealing, and she paired it with dark checkered plaid trousers, a belt, and some heeled mary janes. She also made Lando stop somewhere with a public bathroom so she could change and wouldn't have to suffer the indecency of showing up to Lando's parents' house in her airplane clothes.

It was late evening by the time they arrived. Annika had checked her hair and makeup in the mirror about fifty times. She wondered if this was how Lando felt meeting her mum ─ minus the makeup part.

"You look fine." Lando squeezed her thigh lightly after he put the car in park.

"Mhm."

He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Come on. Mum's already seen us."

Cisca was there to greet them at the top step, hugging her son tight and kissing his face. Lando looked radiantly excited. He stepped to the side and said, "So, this is Annika."

"Hi," Annika waved nervously.

"It's so good to meet you. He talks about you all the time." She went in for a hug that Annika had pretty much expected, but then caught her entirely off-guard by kissing her cheek as well.