Faking it || Lando Norris LN

35

Olivia Reyes

Wednesday. Monaco Grand Prix.

I'd been talking with the team mechanics and engineers for a while in the paddock when my eyes spotted Gianna. She'd sent me a cryptic message this morning about wanting to see me and having something to tell me. Something swirled inside my stomach as I remembered the conversation we'd had the last time, but most importantly the conversation I'd had with Charles.

Gianna had been one of my first allies when I joined Formula 1, if not the first one. Granted, I wasn't one to bond quickly with people, but my friendship with her came so naturally that, as the first few weeks of my first season rolled out, we were already great friends who could communicate solely through glances.

Which is why Charles' words echoed painfully inside my mind. I knew she was my marketing strategist, director, and so many more titles before she ever was my friend, but I had never once thought about it much. I'd always thought that all of her titles were hierarchically equal to the friend one. I still did, but for the first time in forever, I wondered if the thought of it had been wishful thinking.

"Follow me," Gianna mouthed as she walked past me.

We walked for a couple of seconds and stopped at the place between the team lounges and a wall, the only nearby space that provided discretion.

"I have news," she said, rushing the words out and then bringing her face to a tight-lipped expression. Her behavior was as unreadable as ever.

"About?" I arched my brows, not even sure what to prepare myself for before she blurted out the words.

"VOGUE WANTS TO DO ONE OF THEIR BEAUTY SECRETS VIDEOS WITH YOU!" She shrieked with excitement, her palms wide open as she threw them in the air.

"What?!" I jolted with astonishment as my hanging jaw turned quickly into a disbelieving smile.

"YES! The ones where the celebrity gets ready in their bathroom and all that jazz, I'm—girl—Olivia, I'm THRILLED," she waved her hands around with excitement and sprinted to separate the space between us and wrap her arms around me.

"Oh my GOD. This can only mean we did well in the article!" I cried out as I hugged her back.

"Not only that! They think the article will do so well that they want to make sure they have you back so they can take full advantage of the tsunami it will cause!" She held me even tighter, and even though I couldn't see her face, I could hear her smile through her words.

"AHHHHHH!!!!" We both shrieked with excitement as we separated from our embrace but grabbed each other's forearms with uncontainable happiness.

"Oh my God, I have to go tell Charles about this. Give me a second!"

Charles? God, I had to tell Lando about this! Everything was going according to plan, and if Vogue wanted me to film that video then they surely wanted something more from Lando as well. I hung onto her forearms tightly once more and then dashed out of where we were, making my way through the paddock as my hair flew in every possible direction.

The smile was wide on my face as I thought about all of the Vogue Beauty Secrets videos I'd seen before while scrolling through YouTube late at night. There was something about those videos that was so mesmerizing for me to watch, I'd probably watched all of them before.

I kept speeding my way through the paddock as an idea brewed inside my mind. I quickly opened my phone as I kept walking, looking everywhere for Charles. I wasn't sure if he had already finished with his Sky Sports interview, but God I just had to tell him how happy I was. All I wanted was to see him and hug him and tell him the news.