For You and maybe Me

~ > 25 < ~

~Your lips are my paradise~

I bit my lips so hard until I could taste blood when I saw the pictures on Instagram. Normally I would laugh at such pictures, but this time it was not the case. I suddenly realised that I was no longer a secret to the world, but that I was now a public person. The picture showed me and George karting a few days ago and I couldn't believe that this picture was uploaded from a fan page. Curious, I went through the comments and surprisingly I didn't find any bad ones among the 134. They were all like "How cute are these two" or "I'm jealous of her, but she must be great" but also: "She's so pretty". Of course, this made me smile but at the same time, I had my worries. It was now time to talk to George about it, but I was afraid to. What if he thought I had the same intentions as his ex-girlfriend? That would be the worst for me, but it was understandable if George had trust issues. After all, she took complete advantage of him and his celebrity. "Honey, are you okay?" George asked as he walked into the hospitality room. I quickly locked my phone and put it back on the table.
"Yeah, just a little stress with some plans," I lied and gave him a smile. He gently pressed a kiss to my cheek and hugged me to him so that I was sitting up and wrapping my arms around his waist.
It was now 21st February, the last day of the first test weeks in Barcelona. My first days on the track as a Formula 1 employee went very well and I got a lot of praise from Claire and Ava.
The next two days of testing are in five days' time and George and I stayed here in Barcelona, of course, as we found it unnecessary to fly back to the UK for the few days. I also got to know a few other riders, like Carlos, who I got on well with straight away. Carlos and I had a great time making fun of Lando in Spanish, so no one else understood anything. Alex, Lando, Carlos, George and I also had a typical Spanish-style meal and did lots of fun things together. "Do you have to do a lot today?", George asked. I raised my head slowly.
"Well, it's alright. A bit of paperwork, not much else," I replied.
"Why?"
"I thought we could have a nice evening in Barcelona tonight," he replied. "Well, but you have to talk, I don't know Spanish."
"I told you it would be a good idea to make a Spanish lesson video with Carlos and me as teachers," I laughed and let go of George.
"Or McLaren vs. Williams. How about that," George suggested.
"That's not a bad idea either, but I'll have to clear it with McLaren and Claire and then organise it."
"You'll manage, you're Elizabeth Ward after all," he said and gave me another kiss. "I'm going to have a shower, then I have a meeting. After that, I'm yours ok?"
"Ok," I replied. "See you later."
"See you later"
I unlocked my phone again after George left and continued looking at the pictures. In the meantime, I was mentioned in five new pictures and again the same photos: George and I after karting, holding hands and laughing as we walked off the track. What will happen if I go out in public? And would the hatred towards me increase? So far, the comments have mostly been nice and I've only ever seen a few not nice ones in between. But I knew that more and more would come as I became more and more known. My number of followers on Instagram was now almost 10,000, the likes were over 7,000 and my stories were often viewed more than 5,000 times. I knew what I had to do. Before I would bring it up with George, I had to get advice and of course, I would do this with the two people who knew every detail about me. I went to WhatsApp and clicked on Julia's contact number.

Me: I need to talk to you two later, preferably late this afternoon. Is this possible?

After I sent the message, I put my phone aside and looked at my checklist to see how much I still had to do today. I exhaled deeply when I saw that I had only done half for today.

"If you want to tell him, then pick the right moment, because this is a subject that you both need to discuss in detail and not on the side".
"I know, I know, but when is the perfect moment?", I asked Julia nervously.
"Sweetie, he's your boyfriend and not mine, so get off your ass and figure it out," Julia sternly prompted.
I played with my bracelet on my wrist, which George gave me for Christmas, and thought. What would be the perfect moment to approach George about it? Not tonight at dinner...
"Maybe not on a day when he trains a lot, but on a quieter day?" I said and ran my fingers through my hair. Julia nodded at the camera.
"Good idea, then he won't be too tired and fit enough to discuss it," Julia agreed. "And as I said, if he loves you and trusts you, then he won't judge you."
"But his ex-"
"He can give a shit about his ex, he's with you," Julia interrupted me sternly. "He loves you, not her, and he should know that you're not using him to get famous."
I nodded slowly and took a deep breath. The whole thing was actually simple, only, of course, I was the one who had problems...
"Hey Lilibeth," I suddenly heard Sarah say and she came into the picture next to Julia. She looked up excitedly and pushed Julia roughly to the side.
"What's up?", I asked confusedly when I saw her excited face.
"I sent you a link, look at it right now," she demanded, beside herself. I did as instructed and went from Julia's FaceTime to me and Sarah's chat, where I clicked on the link and waited anxiously for it to load. Then when I saw it, my jaw dropped. "Is that...?"
"That's you! On an online magazine! Lilibeth, you're going to be famous..."
"Ah shit," I grumbled, scrolling down further to read the article. "Recently 22-year-old Formula 1 driver and 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell has been spotted not far from his hometown of King's Lynn with a young woman. We don't know exactly who it is, but they appear to have been together for some time," I read aloud. I closed the article and went back to FaceTime Julia. "I don't want to read any more."
"It's just totally th-"
"Shh."The door to our hotel room opened and George entered. Sarah luckily managed to keep her mouth shut in time and I really hoped George wouldn't notice. "Hi, honey," I greeted George. "Hi," he greeted me back and looked confused at the mobile phone in my hand. "Who are you talking with?"
"With the twins," I replied.
"Very well," he said and stepped behind me to greet them. "Thank you for my birthday present"
I slapped my hand against my forehead and closed my eyes.
"No problem" Sarah replied giggling.
"And have they been used yet?" Julia asked and I didn't have to look to see that she was grinning. I took my hand away again and looked back at George.
"Not so far, let's see," George replied and grinned too, whereupon I slapped him against the chest.
"You're serious?"
"What?" he replied confused, raising his hands innocently. "After all, they're going to hear it from you anyway because you're girls and you tell everything to your best friends."
I closed my mouth and thought for a moment. Actually, he was right. The twins and Vee will find out one way or another. I shrugged my shoulders. "Alright, see you around."
George and I said goodbye to the twins. "So, do you have much to do?" George asked after I hung up. I shook my head.
"Finished, we can actually leave right now for all I care."
"Good, I will freshen up."
"And me too"

I would have loved to bring up the subject right away tonight and confess everything. My worries, my thoughts, my opinion... simply everything. But I didn't want to ruin tonight because I just wanted to have a nice evening with George and not risk an evening with a bad ending.
It was a bit chilly on the streets of Barcelona tonight and I only regretted taking my thin cape jacket and the dress I was wearing was way too thin. I probably shouldn't wear tights in the evening when it's so cold, I knew that for sure now.
George and I went to a restaurant only a few metres away - which Carlos suggested - so we didn't have to go far.
"Well, what's going on in that pretty head of yours?" asked George.
"Hmm?", I mumbled in confusion as I was far too engrossed in my thoughts. I looked at him and I couldn't help but smile again. He was just perfect. Actually, I didn't believe in perfection, but every time I looked at George, I might consider changing my mind. His smile made me melt every time, no matter if my day was bad or good, his smile always made it better. "You're thinking again," he laughed and took a sip of his wine.
I shook my head. "Well, I'm back at work, we always had time off over your birthday."
"I know, but you don't have to do much over the five days, do you?" George.
"No, no. Just a bit of filling out documents and doing some meetings," I assured him and drank some of my wine too. I closed my eyes briefly and tried to forget my worries. It was pointless to worry, of course, I should have known that sooner or later something like this would happen, George is famous.
When I looked at the door, I recognised a familiar face and sat up. He spotted me too and we both smiled at each other. Carlos came towards us with the young woman at his side. "Hey, there's Carlos and I'd say with his girlfriend," I said to George and we stood up to greet them.
"Buenas Noches," Carlos greeted me and hugged me.
"Buanas Noches Carlos, Qué tal?"
"Muy bien, y tú?"
"Muy bien, mucho gusto"
George and Carlos also greeted each other before Carlos and the woman at his side introduced us. "George, Lilibeth, this is my friend Isa" Carlos introduced her to us. "Isa, this is Elizabeth, event manager at Williams and this is George, my fine at Williams."
We all laughed at Carlos and I shook Isa's hand. "Nice to meet you, Isa"
"Likewise," she said shyly and then shook George's hand too.
"Would you like to join us perhaps?" asked George, also looking at me for my confirmation. "Good idea," I agreed.
Carlos and Isa looked at each other before nodding and we all sat down again.
"So what are you going to do for the five days now?", George asked them both.
"We're going to visit Carlos' family in Madrid," Isa answered.
"And you?" Carlos asked.
"We're staying in Barcelona," I answered. "There are things to do here and I can practise a bit of Spanish," I joked.
Carlos laughed. "Your Spanish is good," Carlos interjected. "And your pronunciation is really good for someone who learned it as a fourth language."
"Believe me, my first year of Spanish in college was a disaster."

The four of us stayed in the restaurant for a while before we decided to go back at half-past eleven. The day was long and we planned to explore Barcelona a bit tomorrow, so it would be good to go to bed slowly.
Like a gentleman, he noticed how cold I was getting and put his jumper over my shoulder. Smiling, I hugged him and he put his arms around my shoulders as we walked up to the hotel room. Butterflies came up in my stomach when George looked at me again with his bright eyes and gave me one of his most beautiful smiles.
When I kissed him, not only did the butterflies increase, the tingling in my stomach became even stronger as he held me in his arms and stared at me for a long time.
"What is it?" I asked, confused, and took off my jacket again. He didn't answer but pulled me to him again.
He gently stroked my cheeks and gently embraced my face as if it were something fragile and kissed me as gently as he had never kissed me before. I understood I was going crazy.
He was driving me crazy. And now I knew what was wrong with me, but I blushed at the thought. Of course, George and I had talked about it before, but never so intensely...
"Lilibeth," he whispered softly so that I could barely hear.
He looked deep into my eyes and tried to make out what I was thinking about. As I looked at him, I knew immediately that he was thinking exactly the same thing.
"I love you," I breathed and kissed him again. "And I trust you"
Surprised, he looked at me and brushed my hair out of my face. "You mean..."
I nodded as he fell silent I pulled him in for another kiss, only this time much more passionate and intense than before.
 "Are you sure about this?" he asked again to be sure.
 "Yes"
He pulled me into another kiss and even closer to him, making my hand fit more between us. His lips left mine and moved to my ears, giving me goosebumps.
"Then my birthday present was a good idea after all," he whispered and meanwhile his hand slid to the back of my zipper.
I took his face back to me and pulled his lips back to mine as I closed my eyes and the click of my zipper could be heard.
I knew that we would be too tired to explore Barcelona tomorrow.