It's All You - Lando Norris

06

He had texted me saying he thought he was outside or at least he hoped he had the right house. I chuckled and said goodbye to my dad, grabbed my bag off the end of the stairs and headed out the door. I slowly made my way down the gravel driveway. I saw him standing there leaning against his car on his phone. He was wearing black skinny jeans along with a grey hoodie and simple white trainers. He looked up at me and gave me a big smile. I nodded my head and smiled back at him. "Hey, how are you?". He opened up the passenger door to his orange McLaren for me to get in. I sighed as I slipped down into the seat, "well, I've been better". The car smelt like fresh leather and the cherry car scent, it was a sweet, comforting scent. He came around to the driver's side and got in himself. "Before we go, I'd like to introduce myself properly. I'm Lando and it's nice to meet you". He held out his hand to me, I shook it and giggled. "Very formal, I like it. I'm Eleanor, and likewise". He smiled as he started the car up. It let out a loud roar which made me jump. I saw him laughing to himself as he pulled away from my home. I looked back over my shoulder, seeing my home get further and further away. I didn't feel the nerves anymore, I just felt excited. The argument with my mum washed away from my mind, my body felt much more at ease. The journey was silent most of the way. He spoke up a couple times, asking me about myself to get to know me as I was doing the same. I found out he had one brother called Oliver and two sisters called Flo and Cisca. 

We got out of the car and the cold wind went straight through me, it made my body shiver quickly. I tightly wrapped my black denim jacket around my body, Lando gave me a funny look when he saw me trying to keep warm. "I have a spare hoodie in the car if you'd like it?" He got it out for me and passed it over. I took off my jacket and put it into the passenger footwell, quickly tugging his hoodie over my head. It was a black hoodie with neon writing down the sleeve. I tried to read it but struggled. "It says quadrant Eleanor. It's a group that I started. There's myself and four others. We create videos of us playing different games". I laughed " You know that qua" - "Quadrant means four yes I know, I get it all the time, but it's nothing to do with the amount of us in the group". I nodded my head and smiled, telling him that I would check it out at some point. We made our way into the café. It was quaint, fairly lights lined the windows, the countertops filled with cakes, the sound of a coffee machine grinding the beans in the background filled my ears. We sat at a table and browsed the sweet treats menu. A waiter came along to get out order, I got a cup of tea and a mint choc chip ice cream bowl, while Lando ordered a hot chocolate and a vanilla ice cream bowl. Our drinks and deserts were quickly brought over to us. "Vanilla man I see... how boring". I took a scoop of my ice cream and ate it happily in front of him. "Urm excuse me... vanilla is not boring. You got a mint ice cream. You might as well be eating toothpaste" I couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "I'll give you that one, very funny. but my choice is superior". I placed a bit onto my spoon and pushed it towards him goading him into trying it, he shoved the spoon away from himself, causing the ice cream to fly off my spoon and splat onto the table. We both burst into laughter. We couldn't help it, it made a mess on the table as it melted quickly, the both of us throwing countless napkins at it to clean it up. 

"Ah god it feels good to laugh like this" I raised my drink to my mouth, still giggling every now and then. "So Lando, tell me something about yourself?" I sipped from my tea again, letting the warmth of the drink sliver down my throat and warm me from the inside out. "Well obviously I'm a race driver for McLaren. It's a passion of mine. I've been racing for as long as I can remember. The Silverstone race is this weekend. It'll be the second time I've raced there with McLaren. Last year I was petrified. Its a home circuit, everyone is rooting for you. This year, the nerves are still in me somewhere, but not so much. I'm actually really excited". I sighed "Honestly, I wish I could hold a conversation with you about formula one but I don't really watch it that often. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing sport and all but I've never got into it. I've seen a race here and there because of two of my brothers Liam and Sean being really into it. So, I'm sorry on that one". I looked down at my hands and began to twiddle my thumbs, the nerves that disappeared earlier now came back in full force. I was expecting him to be disappointed or annoyed at me for not knowing a thing about the sport. "Well, hey, maybe I can be your reason to start watching it? You can be my number one fan". I looked up at him his pointer finger was resting on his cheekbone, his thumb tracing back and forth on his bottom lip slightly. I felt my body tingle at his words, it ignited a spark inside of me. I bit my lip softly at his words "Of course I will. I'll be watching you this weekend for definite". The waiter came over with our bill, informing us that they were closing in five minutes. We didn't even realise but our ice creams had melted during our conversations. We were so engrossed in talking that we entirely forgot about them. Lando paid the bill, I thanked him as we left the café and headed back to his car. I went to pull the hoodie off but he tugged it back down. "Keep it for now, it's still cold. I'll get it from you next time". He opened the door for me again so I could get in, and then joined me on his side. "So, there'll be a next time huh?" I smirked to myself and bit my lip. He turned the engine over and the car roared again "Honestly, I hope so". I felt my heart beat in my throat, my body felt like it was on fire. I looked out of the window as he pulled away, "I hope so too."