one more race// l. norris

Chapter 25

hiya guys!
- what do you think of this weekends format?
—— enjoy the chapter and stay safe xxx
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

I felt like shit. Not the first time this has happened recently.

I then checked Instagram to find some lovely messages from different fan accounts and team members.

I also had loads of messages from George, Alex, Charles and Carlos. Danny sent me a video of him and Lando messing about in his drivers' room earlier.

I lay there giggling, trying to get the harsh words of the reporter out of my head. Did I have any luck? No. They were stuck there like superglue. Whatever I tried this evening, they would not budge.

It was getting late, 9pm. I made the decision to go to bed early and get some rest, and wake up feeling refreshed and hopefully in a better mood.

6am. My alarm went off. Race day. I'm ready, or so I thought.

I dragged myself out of bed and forced my body into a run. I ran steady 2.5 miles around the town of Le Castellet.

My body was craving some sustenance, so when I say I ran down to the cafeteria, I mean I ran down to the cafeteria.

George, Alex and Lando were sat a four-seater table so after I grabbed a coffee and some food, which consisted of bacon, eggs and sausages with some fried mushrooms and spinach on the side.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Mrs Norris!" jeered George.

I noticed Lando blushing and punching him in the arm.

"Oh shut up George. Why isn't Carmen Mrs Russell yet?" I said back.

He went quiet then and blushed.

"Ahh! Don't bite what you can't chew Georgie boy."

"Sky. Shut up, please."

We all chuckled gently.

As I had finished getting myself comfortable in my chair, Lando placed his hand on my knee.

"Good morning baby." he smiled.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Morning. How are you?"

I sat back, "Oh I'm good Sky. You?"

I was careful on what I said next, "Um yeah. I've been better but I'll manage."

He looked at me with a confused look. I sent him back a reassuring smile.

"Alright you two. Will you both save it for the hotel room? Just because you two openly spilled the beans does not mean we all have to watch it." groaned Alex.

To be fair, he had a point. But still, I loved Lando and I wanted to show the world.

We finished our breakfast and we all split ways. I went back up to my hotel room to freshen up. A tiny bit of makeup on my eyebrows and some lip gloss. I left my hair down and I would put it back in plaits ready for the race later.

I had an hour and a half before I was planning on leaving to get to the track. My phone lightly vibrated on the bed.

LANDO: Is everything alright? xx

YOU: yeah, i saw an article on twitter and it just didn't make me feel great. xx

LANDO: oh, what was it about? xx

YOU: us xx

LANDO: ahhh shit. can you send it to me too?    
                   xx

YOU: yes of course. it's nothing special tho xx
                               *link attached*

LANDO: thanks. i'll read it now xx

Lando took his time replying. I don't know if he had read the article straight away or not.

Next thing I know, a knock is heard on my door.

"It's open." I mutter.

Not to my surprise, Lando walks in. "Hey baby."

"Hello love. I take it you read the article."

His smile dropped, "Yeah, I did. We both knew something like this was gonna happen."

A sigh was released from my mouth. "I know. But - I - I just didn't expect it so soon."

Lando laid down next to me, "Me either. But there's not much we can do about it now. Apart from push through and come out stronger than ever. Everyone is going to have opinions. Especially other drivers and teams. I'm not surprised if this goes to the FIA."

"What? You really think other teams could take our relationship that far?" I was shocked at this possibility. If we went to the FIA, they would 100% not allow us to be together.

"If it becomes too much of an issue in other teams eyes, then yes, it could happen. And I have to be honest with you, I've head what some of the other team principals and drivers have said."

"Oh yeah? Who's said what?" I asked with curiosity.

"Well obviously Max, Daniel, Carlos, Alex and George are happy for us. Lewis too. But Valtteri, Kimi, Yuki, even Pierre have said things. Oh and not to mention Toto, Fred and Lawrence Stroll."

Lando almost became angry as he said the names.

"Hey baby, calm down. It'll be fine. They can have their opinions. But me and you are going to be thrown a lot of shade. You too. So we need to be prepared."

The smile on Lando's face slowly returned. "I know. I love you."

"I love you even more Lando."

"That's not possible." He replied.

I chuckled as I got up from my position next to Lando's side. I walked into my bathroom, Lando a foot behind. As I began to grab my hairbrush and some lip balm and chuck it in a bag; Lando curled his arms around my waist from behind and kissed my neck.

"Lando..." a whisper escaped from my mouth.

"Yes baby." he replied, the same tone as me.

"We can't do this now." I muttered.

His kisses became softer and smoother, "I know, I know."

He released his arms from my waist and we both left my bathroom. I said a quick goodbye to Lando, then I grabbed my rucksack and left my hotel room.

Max and I were both in the SUV and were muttering between us.

"So. Sky. You and Mr Norris. You have some explaining to do." he smirked.

"Ughhhh"

He looked at me with pleasing eyes, "Come on Sky, you owe me an explanation."

"Fine. You remember Danny's party he had months ago. In his room? Well, I left my purse in his room afterwards and Lando was still there. We ended up talking for a while, about life, work. We met up for coffee in London a couple of times, then the yacht party in Monaco. We nearly kissed but didn't. Lando backed out and left. Then eventually we did. Long story short we started dating, Jon Malvern walked in on us. Danny found out. At my Baku win party, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I obviously said yes. We had a contact restriction for a period of time by Christian and Zak, then it was lifted and we went public. That's it."

"Woah. Okay. Fair enough. I'll give it to you, keeping it a secret for that long is impressive. I couldn't keep mine and Kelly's relationship a secret for two days. Let alone 2 months." he laughed.

We both chuckled in the back of the car.