Ride or Die | Lando Norris (ENGLISH)

14

Our nap lasted a little longer than expected because only Lando's morning alarm woke us up.

– I don't want to go there – Norris mumbled, staring at the ceiling as I moved around the room. I wanted to get ready quickly for the breakfast Lily had texted me about.

– Do you mean breakfast or the race? – I asked stupidly, because the answer was simple.

– Both – he replied immediately, pressing a pillow to his face.

– Let's go, Lando – I said loudly, straightening the white dress I was wearing. I put on my red Ferrari jacket and grabbed my purse, slinging it over my shoulder. Norris looked at me from under his eyelashes. He was already wearing his McLaren jersey. He was still lying on my bed.

– Do you think it will rain today? – he muttered. He was afraid of the race. You could feel it from a distance.

– I'm not a weather girl, muppet. Stop worrying. I'm sure you can handle it – I sighed and pulled his hand to get him up from the bed, which he finally did. He wasn't very convinced by my words.

I wasn't going to tell him that they had predicted terrible downpours for today's race, so I took my jacket with me. I didn't want to scare him. Although in the back of my mind I knew he was checking the weather on his phone every fifteen minutes.

We went down for breakfast and sat at the table with Lily and Alex, who kept repeating his apologies to Lando for ruining his qualifying. We didn't talk much during breakfast. Lily didn't hide the suspicious look with which she watched us both. Alex and Lando were deep in conversation while I observed the surroundings. There were mechanics from different teams sitting here and there, but what interested me the most was the presence of Charles, Carlos, Pierre and Kika at the next table, which Lando didn't even look at, even though Carlos looked at him every few seconds. They were like brothers to each other, so I wondered if the fact that Carlos would start from third place and Lando from 14th had something to do with the fact that Norris didn't even glance at him.

– Why aren't you eating? – Lando asked, turning towards me. He looked me straight in the eye as he ground his chicken wrap in his mouth. His face looked more rested. The green-eyed man's cheeks turned slightly rosy, and his under eyes were not as grey as they had been in the last few days. For the first time in a while he didn't look tired. And it's thanks to me.

– I'm not hungry – I replied with a gentle smile, still watching his face.

– Okay? – he replied, narrowing his eyes. – Don't stare at me like that, I'll end up choking – he said with a grimace, rolling his eyes. Old Lando is back.

– Oh, I won't tempt fate. I'm going to have a little more fun in my life before Zak Brown sentences me to death – I laughed, which lightened the mood at our table a bit.

– You finally got along – Lily said with a smile, watching the two of us from across the table.

We spent a good hour together trying to relax the guys before the race, which may not have been entirely successful, but at least we tried.

The race itself started quite well. Charles was still on pole position, but Lando overtook several cars and finished ninth.

– Charles, Verstappen is behind you. Give it your all – Leclerc's engineer said on the radio.

With only twenty laps left, more and more rain began to appear on the track. All drivers changed to rain tires. In such weather, what mattered was the drivers' skills, not the machines themselves.

– Max Verstappen overtakes Leclerc! It was only a matter of time – the commentator said enthusiastically when I looked at the screen. – Lando Norris makes the greatest impression in these conditions. He's crazy, he glides around the track like a fish out of water, despite having one of the worst cars this season – he added in a joking tone, which made me laugh out loud, earning suspicious looks from Ferrari employees. I immediately calmed down, just giving them apologetic looks.