VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 31

NOTE: The people have spoken! — From now on, updates every Saturday (and possibly Sunday) it is!

[POV: Narrator]

Max and Carlos were conversing leisurely after the race in Baku when, seemingly out of nowhere, Lando appeared next to them with a stern look on his face. Drinking from a straw, he narrowed his eyes, evidently thinking about something. Max and Carlos both watched him in silence, giving each other a small glance as they'd expected that — since he wondered over willingly — he had something to say. But Lando didn't say anything until they prompted him.

"Hi Lando?" Carlos said, waving his hand in front of Lando's face, trying to hazard a reaction.

Lando continued to drink from his water bottle for a while longer before he took one last gulp. He then inserted himself in between Max and Carlos, so that they were all facing the same direction; all facing one driver in particular on the other side of the garage: Oscar.

Lando then narrowed his eyes again and spoke slowly. "Did you guys... see Oscar leaving with anyone after our party?" he asked in an interrogative tone. Max and Carlos once again exchanged an odd glance and then replied with a simultaneous shrug of the shoulders and an uncertain "No?" (They were both far too drunk to remember any small details like that.)

"It's just that..." Lando took another sip from his straw. He then beckoned the two drivers in closer with his index finger, as if he were about to whisper something. When they did so, Lando placed his index finger on his chin and stared ahead contemplatively. "He told me he had a girlfriend."

A beat of silence went by. Both Carlos and Max tried to take in what Lando had just told them, neither of them moving until suddenly a burst of laughter erupted. Lando was now wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye, laughing hysterically. Still unsure, the other two drivers joined him thereafter in his fit of laughter, finally finding humour in what Lando had said.

"Impossible!" Carlos said breathlessly, "He's messing with you!" Max followed. "He probably just wants us to stop bugging him about getting one."

Lando nodded, calming down since his stomach was starting to ache. "Well, hey!" He flailed his arms in protest, "He can't get away that easily!"

Lando then let out his unmistakable yelp: "Os-caaaaaaaaar!" he belted, even though Oscar was only a few feet away. Upon hearing this, the boy calmly turned around to see what the fuss was about, doing as Lando was doing and drinking from a straw. The three drivers started gesturing him to come over 'quickly', waving their hands towards themselves. Oscar obliged.

"So, the three of us," Lando began, pointing at the three of them as if it weren't obvious who he was on about, "We were just thinking about how, in your life, you're missing something." Lando clasped both of his hands together and closed them into a fist, putting his two index fingers together and bringing them to his lips. He continued, "And you know what that is?", narrowing his eyes once again.

What Oscar was thinking was probably something like, This is strangely philosophical...? or What pyjamas am I going to wear to bed tonight?

No in between.

Oscar shrugged, awaiting an answer. Lando nudged Carlos, letting him take the reigns. It seemed he was being nice, letting his friend have a go at the joke, but really the reality of it was Lando didn't want Oscar to get annoyed with him again. So, better it came from someone else and not him.

"A..." Carlos let the tension build before revealing: "Girlfriend!"

Oscar stopped drinking from the straw momentarily.

"And we know how you hate it when we pick for you, so," Lando quickly butted in, "why don't we try this a little differently?" he offered nervously, unsure what Oscar's facial expressions meant. Although it may not seem like it, Lando's intentions genuinely were true... in spirit. He really did want to help his new friend, but he wasn't the best at reading him just yet. So when Oscar let out a sigh, Lando took it as a 'Go on then', rather than a 'Stop this forever.'

It was Max's turn to explain: He asked, "If you could pick any girl to be with, who would you pick?"

Oscar continued drinking from his bottle, revealing nothing from his facial expressions.

"A-aaaaa-nyone you'd like." Max prompted, moving his arms to better explain that Oscar really could pick anyone.

The point of this, according to the three of them, was to "get an idea of what he wanted"; the go-to, the so-called 'dream girl', and to get a better idea of what his type is since, clearly, they had no idea.

"You could just describe her if you want." Lando explained, helping Oscar — he thought — but Oscar wasn't concentrating any more. He'd lost interest in the conversation it seemed, and was letting his attention wander elsewhere. "Or him?" Lando egged him on; genuinely not sure what Oscar had in mind. From the lack of reaction, Lando accepted that he wasn't paying attention at all.

The three of them soon caught onto the fact that he'd been looking in the same direction for a while. They thought maybe he was deep in thought; really thinking their thought-provoking question through. But he wasn't.

"What're you—" Lando queried, shooting his head in the same direction as to where Oscar was looking so intensely. Max and Carlos followed, looking over too.

The three drivers then snapped their heads back over in his direction.

"Oscar—" Carlos began, "We didn't mean—" Max followed, before Lando finished off with: "Her?!" he pushed his head forwards and stared at his friend with judging eyes. He then laughed in disbelief, feeling almost bad for his friend, "We meant, like, realistically, who would you—"

"Oscar!!" A voice called from behind the Max, Carlos and Lando. Upon hearing it, Oscar looked back over towards the same direction he'd been staring at earlier.

Over came Andi Saunterre, walking quickly up to Oscar. The three drivers watched as it happened.

"My dad wants to speak to you." She said before she reached the group, grabbing Oscar's free hand and pulling him away with her once she was close enough. He let her drag him, not questioning it whatsoever. All the while, he still had the damn straw in his mouth.

As the two walked away hastily, hand-in-hand, Lando, Carlos and Max were left in shock.

Speechless, they all stood together in silence, trying to convince themselves that what they'd seen wasn't a trick of the light and Oscar Piastri had in-fact managed to get a girlfriend.

And, to make it even more unbelievable to them, especially to Lando, it was Andreanna Saunterre of all people.

They were all thinking the same thing.

How has Oscar managed to find his way into a relationship with her?

Or, why has Andi — the Viper; two time MotoGP World Champion at 22; known best for her aggression on track — gone for Oscar — F1 rookie and literally the calmest person on the planet?!

Or, perhaps the most accurate of all...

How did Oscar actually speak to a real live girl?! Successfully!?

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GASP!!! Two updates in less than 24 hours?!?!?!?! I gave you guys another chapter cuz I feel bad for getting distracted by dune edits 😭