The Unexpected

Chapter 19:Drunk

I had thrown my shoulder over Eric's for support and made our way to the hotel slowly trying not to trip over my feet. "What room are you in Bri?" "I can't remember" "what do you mean you can't remember" "I know where it is I just don't know the number don't worry Eric"
"You sure?" "Yes trust me"

We made our way to Lando's room and Eric asked for my keycard "I told you I don't have it" "I swear you didn't, we'll go to the help desk and figure it out" just then I started to knock, he looked at me confused, "Why are you knocking?" not even a second later Lando opened the door.

"Bri thank god, you had me worried sick I was about to start going around all the clubs to try and find you"
Then he glared over at Eric "who are you?"
"My name's Eric nice to meet you, I'm just an old friend of hers, anyways I see you can handle this  situation here so I'm gonna get going" then Eric left swiftly not wanting to stay with Lando's nasty attitude towards him.

"Lando I'm so happy you're here!" "of course I'd be here love, this is my room" I went in and hugged him really tight, "Bri are you sure you're ok" "no I'm not, I want to go back to diving Lan" "is that why you have your mascara is slightly smeared, were you crying love?" "Maybe just a little at the bar"
"So then why are you wet?" "I went in for a little dip by the sea" "and who was that dude that dropped you off" "Eric" he looked slightly frustrated at the thought of him, "I see that you're not in a good enough of a  state to talk right now, how about you go take a nice hot shower and go to sleep, how does that sound?" "that sounds great" "I'll go get the shower running for you and leave your clothes and a towel nearby" "Thanks, Lando"

I went and took a hot shower sobering up slightly, and got dressed in an oversized shirt and spandex shorts, ready to go to sleep.
At some point I woke up having to throw up so I ran to the bathroom, a few moments later Lando came in and sat down beside me, holding my hair back. "Lando you're falling asleep just sitting here, go back to bed don't worry I'll be fine" "I'm ok really, I'm here for you"

I brushed my teeth and we both went back to sleep, when I woke up the next morning Lando was already gone at the track. I had a massive headache and felt like total crap, maybe drinking so much wasn't a good idea. I forced myself to get up knowing I had already made a commitment to judge at the meet today.

To help wake up, I went to take an other shower, feeling grateful for the way Lando took care of me last night, yet also majorly embarrassed of how I acted. I proceeded to get dressed in the clothes I got here in last night, which were now dry, so I could go back to my hotel room and finish getting ready. On my way to the hotel I called Lando leaving him a voice mail, realizing he didn't know I agreed to judge for a meet. After that I called my boss at RB and told them I'd work from home today which was ok with them, since I could edit pictures from anywhere as long as I had my laptop.

 When I got to my place, I put on some legging and an oversized tee wearing my regular accessories, to hungover to care.  A little later Lando managed to send me a text saying he's just happy I'm ok, but that he definitely wanted some answers, and I can't blame him. I wished him luck at practice today, and he said the same for my meet, "I hope you have fun today, your soul needs it, to get back to diving that is, I'm sorry you have to be away from it for so long".

I called a cab and made my way to the pool. When I got there, I met the other judges, and signed a few autographs for the little kids watching.

I walked around exploring the facility, fighting the urge to do a basic dive, the smell of chlorine, the feeling of gliding through the air, it was all calling my name. Today I proving to be harder than I thought.

While I was deep in thought, I wasn't paying attention and accidentally bumped into someone,  "Sorry about that" I looked up and saw Eric in a speedo with his blond hair glistening in the sun right above. "I'm glad to see you here, and looking surprisingly well, knowing the night you had" "Good to see you too Eric, ...and thank you I appreciate what you did for me last night. I would probably be in some ditch right now if it weren't for you" "Always Bri, what else are friends for?" the meet officials got on the speaker system saying the first heat was going to start soon so I headed back to the judge's station.

We went through 6 rounds and way too many heats to keep track of. Eric hadn't messed up once, so far it was looking like he was going to take first place.

Once the meet was over, I started rushing to get to the track on time in hopes of seeing Lando finish his last practice round.

"Hey Bri, you headed to the track?" Eric shouted from across the pool "Ya why?" "You want a ride, my hotels close to the track?" "Sure, can we get there fast?" "I might not be Max Verstappen fast, but trust me we'll get there quick" "Alright then, I guess we're about to find out how fast you really are"

We got to the track, I showed my credentials, then Eric dropped me off by the paddock entrance. When he was dropping me off there was press everywhere, I thanked Eric and went on to the McLaren paddock, hoping they'd let me in. As I went to open the paddock door Cindy saw me.

"Bri good to see you, gotta say works been boring without you here." "Nice to see you too Cindy" "Here, Lando asked to give you a pair of the team's headphones, just in case you show up, that way you can hear him throughout the race." "Thanks Cindy" "No need to thank me, thank him" she gave me a wink and walked away.

I put them on to find him singing smooth operator, I started smiling as soon as I heard his sweet voice. Then I noticed some cameras in my direction catching my reaction, I looked up to the screen and saw that Sky News broadcast was showing some of the wags. Right by my reaction to Lando passing someone they'd written "Bria Riccairdo, world champion diver, Lando Norris' partner" it was nice to see those words on the screen. Especially the fact that my career was listed before Lando's gf, gotta say it made me feel seen as someone important.

Once practice was over, Lando came to find me before going to change out of his race suit, giving me a kiss. "I'm so happy you're here love, I'll be able to leave in an hour or so, wait for me?" "Ok I'll go down to the Red Bull Paddock" "Ok, when  we're done though can we talk about last night?"
"Ya deserve and explanation" and with that I left.

When I got to Red Bull, I stopped to see my brother and talked to him for a bit, then I sat down and pulled open my laptop to work on preparing more social media posts for today, because I hadn't done a lot at the dive meet today during may breaks there.

An hour later, exactly like he said, I got a text from Lando saying he was done. I got my stuff and went to find him, together we walked to his car and started our drive.

Time for me to start explaining...
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