i love you • formula one

18

please comment throughout!

first person

~***~

saturday, 15/08/2020

There was an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach following the late night visitor. For the entirety of the following few days, I kept the house locked up. I called on a neighbour to help me check the grounds of the house to make sure that the visitor had definitely left the following day. It was Lando's idea. He didn't sound too worried, and reassured me that he's had lost people knock on the door after I've fallen asleep, none of whom have murdered him. That fact wasn't enough to reassure me, or even Nicky, who insisted on calling me every night before I went to sleep to make sure I was safe.

I couldn't get the image of that man out of my mind: his tall frame, greying brown hair, raindrops forming on his coat. Every time I thought about it, my heart started to beat a little faster and a cold sweat washed over me. Deep down, I knew my anxieties were irrational. Chances are, there was a perfectly innocent explanation for knocking on my front door in the midst of a pandemic. I hadn't seen him since, so I shouldn't be as worried as I was. I'd feel a lot more comfortable when Nicky and Lando get back from Spain. Monday couldn't come soon enough.

I woke up early Saturday morning, much to my dismay, and struggled to fall back asleep. The sun that was streaming through the crack in my curtain was too bright. Why can't we just have cloudy weather like normal?

After sending a good luck text to my best friend and my boyfriend, my phone buzzed in my hand with a phone call. My mother's icon appeared on the screen: a picture of me dressed in my ballet getup aged around ten, with her standing with her arms tightly wrapped around my shoulders, both of his flashing the camera big cheesy grins. A smile found its way onto my face before I even answered. I always enjoyed talking to my mum, now more than ever because I haven't seen her in months.

"Hey, mum!" I cheerily greeted. My bottom lip tugged between my teeth as I sat a little more upright, crossing my legs over one another.

"Lyra..." Immediately from her tone, I knew that something wasn't right. Slowly, the smile that was quick to form on my face slowly started to drop away. There was a distinctive background noise on the other line so I knew that she wasn't at home. Chatter, beeping, and the sound of footsteps was faintly audible.

"Is everything okay?"

"I-" she sighed softly over the line, "I'm fine, please don't freak out. I've had a little accident-"

"Little accident?" My eyes widened in concern. "How little?"

"I've sprained my ankle, it's not too bad," she quickly added, probably sensing that I was going to panic. My mum had a tendency to play-down any of her issues to try and stop me or anyone else from worrying. I've known her for long enough to realise when she was doing this, and this was definitely one of those times. "I just need to ask you a favour."

"Of course, mum. Anything you need," I told her. She paused on the other line. In the silence, I could hear my heart beat echoing in my body.

"I'm currently at the hospital. They're doing some checks over, but I don't have a lift home and would rather have you take me than some stranger in an Uber. It may be a lot to ask, but Rosie and I could do with your help at home until I'm back on my feet," my mum sounded desperate.

"Of course I'll help, but why can't dad do it?" I asked, standing up so that I could start packing myself a bag of clothes to take home with me.

Once again, there was a silence on the other line. I had to check the screen to make sure that she hasn't accidentally disconnected. It shouldn't have been a difficult question. "Your father is no longer living with us. We can talk about it in more when you get home."