Away We Go • 2 • Formula One

Chapter 22

I ended up leaving the café a little before twelve and I knew it'd be about an hours drive to Lando's house. On the way to his, I made a pit stop at Max's for lunch. Lizzie instructed that I needed to eat more protein so my meal consisted of meat substitutes and extra vegetables in a bagel. I made one for the road because, knowing Lando, he would have near-to-nothing to cater to the new vegan diet I adopt every other day of the week (today was a vegan day). The opportunity to cheat was there, but I actually enjoyed doing my part for the environment.

Lando told me to let him know when I was near, but it completely slipped my mind until I turned onto his street. Lando's house looked identical to his neighbours - large, made out of red-brown bricks, with a drive lined with hedges. The object that made Lando's house stand out was the fancy McLaren parked in the driveway. When I pulled up, I blocked his car in with my one. It's not like he was going to go anywhere without me. My parking was not something to be desired but it was a driveway so being straight doesn't matter.

I stayed in the car as I pulled out my phone with the intention of letting him know I was outside. The likelihood of him hearing my car was slim because it was electric, so a text would alert him of my presence.

An idea was quick to pop into my mind when I noticed a notification from half an hour ago - Lando is streaming F1 2020. A quick tap sent me straight to the stream, where I saw Lando sitting to his monitor, large headphones over his ears. The chair was close to the ground so he wouldn't have even had the opportunity to see my car pull up despite the window overlooking the driveway. The idea was, unsurprisingly, a mean one. The thought of scaring Lando just made me giggle, especially since it would be caught on his stream. The fact that I had a spare key still attached to my set seemed to like up everything perfectly for this exact moment. I wouldn't have had the idea with the coincidental circumstances if I wasn't supposed to do it.

I climbed out of my car with my bag over my shoulder, closing the door gently behind me. My face scrunched up when my car chirped as I pressed the lock button on my keychain, but it quickly unscrewed when there didn't seem to be any movement in Lando's gaming room.

I stayed just as quiet as I inserted the key into the lock of his house. To minimise the metallic noise, I made slow movements. I also found myself holding my breath even though I had no reason to.

The stream remained open on my phone so I could watch for any signs of Lando realising I was entering his house. There was most likely a slight delay between the stream and real-time so I made sure to wait a few extra seconds before being absolutely sure. A feeling of excitement built up in my chest when I finally closed his front door behind me and looked up the carpeted stairs. I wanted to laugh at the thought of making Lando jump but didn't want to give it away too soon.

The house was quiet apart from the faint chatter of Lando upstairs. Before heading up, I switched to the camera on my phone and hit record in the hopes of perfectly capturing his reaction. I also gently placed my bag at the foot of the stairs. I positioned my feet close to the banister to minimise the chance of creaking, and continued it as I walked along the landing to Lando's gaming room. His chatter didn't falter so I knew he didn't hear me even though I was right outside the partly opener door which made a shiver run down my spine.

With my voice nothing more than an exhale in breath, I began to countdown for myself. "Three, two, one..." I reached out with my spare hand to grab the edge of the door and push it open further at the same time I yelled, "boo!"

I sprung around the side to see Lando with a hand on his chest, eyes closed and head rested on the back of his chair. "Jesus fucking Christ," he exclaimed in surprise, only opening his eyes to glare at me. I couldn't see him very well because I had dropped to the floor I'm laughter. The sides of my abdomen burned as tears streamed out of the corners of my eyes. My mouth was open but I was so far gone, no sound was coming out apart from the occasional gasp of breath. I was still able to point my phone in Lando's direction.