VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 54

[POV: Narrator]

Oscar had been gone for a week.

Andi had been in Monaco the entire time, pottering around her apartment, filling the hours with things that didn't need doing. She organized the same shelves twice, rearranged furniture only to move it all back, cooked ridiculously complicated meals only for them to turn out terribly, ordering takeout instead. The days passed in a slow, numbing blur, the kind where nothing was wrong, but nothing felt particularly right, either.

On about the fifth day, Lando had invited her to accompany him to a party as his plus one. The way he'd phrased it — I'd have asked Oscar instead but, you know — had made her refuse at first. However, after reminding him that he'd basically flat-out admitted that she was his only option, and that he didn't have any other girl (or boy, for that matter) friends to go with, he was a lot nicer and she reconsidered. She had nothing else to do, anyway, and Lando seemed excited to go.

And... obviously, because he'd be there.

Speaking of him; Andi hadn't seen Charles. All week. And trust me, she had tried. She'd gone out more than usual—longer walks along the harbor, early morning coffee runs, late-night stops at the grocery store for things she didn't even need.

Just in case.

She'd even been wearing the damn McLaren hoodie every time.

Just in case.

It was stupid, really. She doubted Charles would even know that it was Oscar's, or that he'd even care. But a part of her—one she didn't want to acknowledge out loud—hoped he would see it, recognize it, and feel something. Jealousy, regret, anything.

But nope.

Monaco wasn't that big. She should have seen him at least once. But she didn't. And it made her a little more frustrated than she'd like to admit.

As for Oscar, she hadn't heard from him either. Not a text, phone call, nothing. And that was fine. It wasn't like they needed to talk all the time.

She could've texted him first, obviously. But she refused. Not out of pettiness or anything like that—just principle.

Besides, he was at home, spending time with his family. She wasn't about to bother him over nothing.

Which was why, when Lando somehow managed to lock himself out of his own apartment twice in one day (the second time because he left the spare key inside after getting in), she had to physically stop herself from texting Oscar about it.

Or when she came across a terrible photo of him from a race weekend that she knew he'd hate.

Or when she saw a TikTok edit of Max and thought he'd find it funny.

It didn't matter. He was on a break. She had no reason to reach out.

And she was fine with that.

The night of the party, Lando showed up at her place, leaning against the doorway, scrolling his phone.

When he knocked, Andi took a while to let him in.

"You ready?" he asked, the answer to his question becoming clear as soon as he stepped inside, as Andi ran back into the bedroom with one shoe on to continue getting ready.

Following her inside, Lando found Andi stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down the fabric of her dress. It was a deep red, a little sparkly, and still had the tags on it. Lando noticed, and asked if she wanted him to take it off for her— after a while of contemplating if he should just let it be, allowing her to embarrass herself, of course. Andi replied that she wasn't sure she was even going to wear the dress.