𝕄𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕍𝔼. || Lando Norris

✨Part-52✨

After a good day at the track, the Norris clan decided to head back to their hotel. They decided to freshen up and head out for dinner, they were all excited to sit down and catch up with each other.

Back at the hotel, Lando was forced into taking another shower while Claire got dressed. She put on a casual dress and style her hair. Her phone buzzed, Sonya was messaging her, she put her phone away.

Ophelia started crying, Claire got up to see what she needed. Lando was out of the shower and looking for clothes, he noticed Claire's phone kept buzzing. He decided not to check it, it wasn't any of his business but the notifications kept going off.

"Lando, can you see who is it? If it's my mentor can you tell her I'll get back to her later?"

"Sure." He answered.

Sonz: Claire I'm sorry :/

Sonz: you were the one who said things were turbulent, you don't have to be with him if it doesn't make you happy

Sonz: you've been so sad lately it kills me to watch you like this, you have discuss what's wrong

The words that flashed across the screen had an effect on Lando, he was hurt. He was disappointed and even a little angry, he didn't know how to react or what to say to her.

To him, it looked like things were going great. But the messages said something else, it made him feel like it was all an illusion. It annoyed him that she was discussing their problems with someone else and not him.

He decided it was best to not make a big deal out of them right now, but at the same time just the sight of her right now made him furious.

"Did I tell you about how much fun the little girls had with each other?"

"Yes you did. About eight times." He rolled his eyes.

Claire was taken aback by the way he was behaving, he kept ruffling with his hair and adjusting his watch, a big telltale sign that he was annoyed. What she had learnt from being around him was that he hated being asked why he was annoyed, it made act even more closed off.

She was in no mood to get into a fight right before they had to go meet his family, they continued the whole journey in silence. Uncomfortable silence that made Claire uneasy, she was dying to ask him why he was behaving the way he was.

They were led to their table by the host, the family was already there and having a great time. They wished everyone a good evening and took their seats- far away from each other. Cisca was the first to notice and looked at her son as if to ask him what's wrong, he simply shook his head.

"It's so nice to finally sit down and eat dinner with everyone." Adam spoke up.

"Yes it really is." Claire smiled, "thank you for this, it's going to be great fun!"

And it wasn't. But it wasn't disastrous either, with Adam trying to keep the conversation from dying and Lando just refusing to participate it was entertaining to watch. The sisters kept chuckling but his parents and Oliver were confused, for Claire was just as lost as them.

The minute they got back, Lando changed and went to bed. Ophelia kept babbling trying to get his attention but it was pointless, the baby went to sleep after a few futile tears.

Claire finally decided to look at Sonya's messages, she was honestly tired of holding a grudge. She accepted Sonya's apology and made her promise not to speak so harshly about Lando or what they had. She wasn't sad, she was just tired and needed a change of scenery and that's exactly what this trip was giving her. And things with Lando weren't bad, even if he was behaving strange right now but he would come around, she knew that.

***

"Thank God you're here!" Alia beamed giving Claire a hug. "It was so awkward just standing around."

"Believe me I'm just as lost as you are," Claire sighed, "he left for the track without even telling anyone!"

"What?" Sonya looked at her in confusion.

"Seriously! Oli called me up asking if I had seen Lando and I was just about to ask him if he knew where Lando was."

"Then how did you find out?"

"Charlotte called me up asking where all of us were, because he came alone to track, like he even left Jon behind."

"That's...unusual."

"It really is, Ophelia loves cuddling up to him and hear him speak and he didn't do that last night and the poor baby cried so much. I'm worried, like really worried."

"He's probably dealing with work related stress that he doesn't want to talk about."

"It's putting the whole family in an awkward situation, I really wish I could read his mind sometimes."

The lights were out, they were racing around one last time before the season break. Lando had qualified second and was definitely looking to convert it into a win.

He didn't have a great start, he did enough to barely graze pass his teammate Daniel who had qualified third.

"Come on Lando, you got this." His engineer encouraged him.

But it was in vain for it looked like he had no pace, he was holding back Daniel. Which for obvious reasons frustrated his teammate.

"Lando you've got pick up the pace or give position to Daniel-"

"There is no pace!" He barked.

"We're trying to see what's wrong but don't hold Daniel back, sorry mate team orders."

"Copy that." He grumbled.

The drive was frustrating, for the engineers were still trying to understand why he had no pace. It didn't help that the Ferraris were closing in on him, he tried to defend his place but it vain, Leclerc managed to cruise past him down around the inside.

"This is getting incredibly frustrating!" He snarled.

"There seems to be an issue with the tyre temperature, you need to get them up-"

"And you're telling me this way after we've lost podium positions? Great job mate."

Everyone in Lando side of the garage who had headsets on were confused. He would have his moments but he was never disrespectful, he was always aware of the tone he used. The way he was communicating right now caught everyone off guard.

Another frustrating 60 minutes later, the race was over, he missed the podium narrowly and that just meant he was going to be even more frustrated than he already was.

Claire's friends decided to congratulate and rank him before leaving for Dubai, he gave them a smile and didn't utter a word. Charlotte was by his side, ready to record his thoughts on the race and get him ready for the media pen. Claire wanted to speak to him but he was clearly occupied, she decided to wait around until he was done.

Ophelia, who seemed to be enjoying all the attention and playing with Charlie was getting incredibly restless. She was cranky and and kept wailing which was causing a great amount of displeasure.

"You should go back to the hotel dear, put her down for some time she must have gotten really tired." Cisca insisted.

"I was hoping to spend some time with Lando before he goes off to the party." She explained.

"He's going to have to come to the hotel to change right?" Savannah asked.

"Yeah! I mean he did pick out his party clothes while packing so I'm sure he'll come back to freshen up." She laughed.

"Then it's settled! They can wait for him but you and I are taking these babies back to the hotel." Savannah said.