SEVEN MINUTES || L. NORRIS

ELEVEN

I'm already halfway out of town

---

LANDO

After standing in the shower for far too long, I finally found the strength to drag myself across to my bedroom. I changed into a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, throwing my towel into the washing basket before I could even dry my hair. I shut my bedroom door and padded across to the bed, crawling towards the pillows and propping myself up comfortably against the headboard. I let out a quick, shaky exhale, whilst frowning and rubbing my eyes. My bed felt so empty without Isabelle in it.

Whenever we weren't together, it felt like we were world's apart. It felt like there was a million oceans in the way of us being with one another. Even though I knew that no matter where I was in the world, she was always tucked away in my heart. I knew that Issy would be cheering me on through her television screen and that was perfectly good enough for me, as she also knew that not a moment went by where I was not thinking about her. Our love really was like a fairytale and I counted myself as one of the luckiest people on the planet to have fallen for such a beautiful, kind and caring woman. She was most definitely one of a kind and I would never be so lucky again in my lifetime. Even if I won every single race of my career and came out with the title of World Champion each year, none of it would matter because I already had the one thing I had always dreamed of. I found love with somebody who I truly adored.

Lying here alone on top of the crisp white bedsheets made me realise how lonely I was. Sure, I had everyone at McLaren, I had my family and friends, but I didn't have Isabelle and she was the one thing I really needed to make everything that little better. I thought about her and what she would be up to right now. I knew she would be in bed; Issy was far from what anybody would call a morning person. I wished I could be by her side, holding her close to my naked chest as her fingers rested lightly over my warm skin. I wished I could take myself to her apartment and fish out her front door keys from my pocket. After I'd been away racing or simply training, I would almost always be half asleep so it would always take me forever to find the correct key. Once I managed to unlock the door though, I would quietly head into her apartment, locking the door behind me and leaving my bags by the door, then sneaking through to her bedroom, where she would be waiting for me. Sometimes, she would be curled underneath the covers, fast asleep and snoring, but on other occasions, she would be sitting up in bed, with the television on as she waited up for me to arrive. If she was sleeping, I would quickly remove my clothes and crawl into the bed beside her, wrap my arms around her fragile body and kiss her forehead before settling to sleep alongside her. Although, if she was already awake, the pair of us wouldn't sleep for another hour or two; I would hold her delicately in my arms, before making sweet love to her, kissing every inch of her skin. I would make sure that she knew just how beautiful she was and how much I treasured her.

Issy would rest her face on my chest every single time we climbed into bed, whether it be during the day or at the end of it. Her hair, which was either tied up in a loose bun or falling against her back, would tickle the bottom of my face. I whined at the feeling every single time. It was annoying, but I missed it now and I wanted to feel it over and over again, if it meant she would be by my side one more time. Her fingers would either find a way to link carefully with mine, or they would rest lightly against the skin on my stomach, as she would begin to trace patterns over my abdomen with her fingertips. She made me feel like the luckiest man in the world. I missed her truly and deeply. I wanted her to come home, to be cuddling up next to me to prevent me from plunging into moments of deep thought like this one.