STOCKHOLM SYNDROME || LANDO NORRIS

3.

Fortunately, it was just a call.

I had to tell you I kind of expected an early arrival, flirty call from Lando, not really a regular call. I accepted the call from him as I promised to before he boarded the plane.

"Oscar clearly doesn't like me much," Lando complained to me, as I tried not to giggle at his childish behaviour. "He screamed in my ear when I was sleeping! I screamed at the top of my lungs and everyone laughed."

"I would laugh as well, you idiot," I replied sarcastically. "Anyways, you landed yet?"

"Not yet, love," Lando snorted as I stretched my back and sat up, my back against the backboard. I always had to adjust my position whenever he called me some lovey dovey name I mostly loved all the time. "And Daniel keeps on spamming me on Discord."

"Is it about us again?" I tied up my hair, as it was way too hot in my bedroom. "Daniel always annoys me for saying that. I do hate him so much for this. You and him are going against each other in the race, right?"

"Someone's becoming a fan of F1," Lando teased. "I don't think so, actually. You want to view my schedule or what?"

"No, schedules are boring,"  I glared at the far wall of my bedroom. "I still remember the time I tried to plan out a schedule so I could watch the Formula 1 race that week, and it took absolute hours because Lena kept messaging me that we should go hang out on Sunday in the afternoon, but I had to watch the three pm race. I kinda destroyed the thought of ever making a schedule."

"Remind me to never ask you to make a schedule for me," Lando noted out. "You watching me race on Sunday?"

"That means I have to wake up at eleven, which is way past the time I woke up on the ninteenth of March to watch you. I woke up at five in the morning and the sun wasn't even up," I pointed out. "And you're lucky I don't have any Services to attend in the morning, or I wouldn't be able to catch you up on that one." 

"Thanks, I guess," Lando chuckled. "Should I call you that morning, or...?"

"No, I don't want to interrupt your mood," I headed to the kitchen again, sipping the glass of milk my mum had poured me this morning. "And Lena just texted me about something special next week after the race? I forgot, what is it? Do you know?"

"Love, your memory is rigged," Lando teased. "It's your birthday next week! I thought you'd get all excited cause it's next week, but there was no emotion from you at all. Did you book something like a club?"

"Uh, not yet?" I facepalmed. "Fuck, I always forget everything. I've just been day-dreaming too much during the past few days I forgot about my actual Birthday. Should we just go to a club, or maybe a bar?"

"Darling, you can dance at a club," Lando grinned. "And I can see those sexy dance moves of yours."

"Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I've got a surprise for you as well."

"What?" I heard him shuffle in his seat. "I still have some data left, but I'll be fine." 

"Okay," I took a deep breath as I stared down at the plane tickets on my bedside table. "I'm coming to watch you."

"You're fucking kidding me," Lando exclaimed, as I heard a staff giggle. "I'm so happy right now, I can't explain it." 

"I'm coming on April Fools', by the way," I giggled. "So see you on the second of April."

"Okay," Lando said. "Did you get your ticket? Sorry I couldn't well... reserve a place for you."

"Yep, just by the front," I grinned. "I've gotta hang up. I'm thinking of booking a place for my party."

"Can't wait to see you!" Lando screamed before I hung up. "And bring my merch as well!"

At that moment, the door opened and I jumped. I heard laughing and chuckling as I opened the bedroom door to my Mum and a man, presumably Michael talking and chatting the day away. Michael completely froze when he saw me, and looked confused. 

"Emma, you never told me your daughter was Lando Norris' girlfriend," Michael asked my Mum, which shook her head and laughed. "I didn't know you were famous."

"Michael, she's not," Mum put her hands on her hips. "They're just childhood best friends, and the social media assumed she was his girlfriend as they were always spotted together on the streets and seasides." I blushed, gripping the edges of my shorts. "Young Lady, aren't you supposed to do something?"

"Right, pack away," I gritted my teeth. "But my flight's four days away!"

"Three and a half days now, regardless of the time," I groaned and walked back upstairs to my room, where I opened the closet and started packing. I remembered what I told Lando - my flashbacks and day-dreams that got into the way of life. 

"Just stop looking at memorable items and people," He joked about, not taking it seriously into heart. "I mean, not that hard, right?"

I couldn't stop myself. Looking at childhood things I brought to my adulthood was a way of heading back to memory lane. I often had dreams of my childhood because of that. I never thought of never looking back at them, and it was hard. Almost every item was about my father.

I stuffed a pair of shorts into my suitcase as I heard Mum joking with Michael downstairs. She finally seemed so happy, unlike back in the days she was with dad. 

They never joked or talked much, unless it was humourless talk or joke during the fights they had. I remembered how she was like when they finished fighting one time, and I went back in. 

"Alright sweetie, don't let any of your friends from school know this," Mum had held me by the shoulder before I went back to my room. "Okay? They shouldn't be able to know this, and if I find out they do, you'll get a really bad punishment and we both don't want that. So, no."

I was only able to tell it to my neighbour and best friend, and he kept quiet with it. If it got too bad, as always, we called the police. Not a big deal. I'd seen them loads of times. Cursing, I sat on top of the case as I zipped it up, writing 'Ashley Cole' on the name tag. I locked it up. I never needed much clothes; it was usually a day or two. 

I looked at my phone and suddenly memorised what Lando had said. Book a club. Get the cake and decorations. 

So I called my local club.