♡ ˚.*ೃ WORKING FOR THE KNIFE.
❝ i start the day lying and end with the truth, that i'm working for the knife. ❞
lando norris x annika räikkönen
( set in the 2023 f1 season )
( ACT III. ── Fearless ) chapter forty-two / Potency
✷ · ˚ * . * * ⋆ . · ⋆ ˚ ˚ ✦ ⋆ · * ⋆ ✧ · ✧ ✵ · ✵
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They announced it without warning at dawn on media day. Annika wasn't surprised. The rumors had been potent lately, and she knew George must have been keen to announce his new contract. It was the first thing she saw when she woke up in the morning. All she could think was: I have a horrible day ahead of me.
And she was not wrong.
Marina Bay was a daunting track for her anyway, but she knew now that all eyes would be on her for the remainder of the season. From the moment she stepped into the paddock, there were more cameras snapping to attention around her than normal, more eyes fixed on her face, an all-around riveted focus upon every aspect of her.
This was her life ─ it always would be. She could not put a stop to it, but if she played her cards right, she could put a leash on it.
That was why she had lain awake at night all week, racking her brain to any sort of fix for her relationship, any sort of mend. After hours of tossing and turning, all she knew was that, if she wanted her career to continue with any dignity at all, they could not continue on the path they had begun to carve. They needed to abandon it and find a new way. The media would always be the media and people would always be people, and Annika would always be judged. But she was still finding her footing. She wasn't ready to commit to a lifetime of it just yet.
For the most part, she took care to avoid Lando, afraid that any microexpression they gave one another might give too much away. She hoped he would understand that.
Mercedes had the stage at the fan zone around noon. Annika had taken care to wear something simple but not judge-able, because she knew that standing in a bland team kit next to Lewis Hamilton was not the comparison she needed, today of all days. With the help of Greta on FaceTime, she had packed herself some olive-green slacks and a sleeveless black top that would tie together at the bottom, just a bit of midriff exposed. On her wrists she wore gold bracelets. Simple but classy, Greta had remarked like a proud mentor.
