Hollow River

12.

River's POV

I sat down next to Red Bull's current strategist during the race.
She was very nice and wanted to teach me everything she knew.

She was so good at this, why did Christian think I would be as good as her?
I don't think I will be able to live up to his expectations.

She always had the best strategies, she always knew what to do and she was so calm.
I was impressed to say the least.

Max had no problem with winning the race. He won by a mile.
Unfortunately Lando was able to snatch P3, so he ended in front of Checo.

I was determined to change that.

I had to take the lead next race, so she was explaining me everything I needed to do, even after the race.

I received my laptop and everything I needed to prepare the race as best as I could.

Before I left the paddock I grabbed my notebook from the table. I didn't even know if he answered yet, for once I had more important things to worry about.

And it felt so good.

—————————

Our plane would leave the next day so I had nothing to do this evening, I decided to already start preparing for next race.

"A mojito please" I said as I sat down at the bar with my laptop and notebook.

I could still combine business and pleasure, right?

I was desperate to read what my mystery guy wrote. As my eyes traveled over the page, my heart started beating faster.

I had this weird feeling in my stomach as well.

He wanted to meet me. He wanted to read things I wrote. He was talking about going on a date with me.

Fuck.

I quickly closed the notebook. I don't know if I was ready for that. What if he didn't like me? What if he thought I was funnier, cuter or prettier than I actually was?

I don't think I could handle that because I was getting attached to him.
Which was weird, because I didn't know him, I only wrote a couple of things to him but he was there in my hardest moments.

I felt like he was genuinely interested in me.

I didn't know what to answer, so I decided to just start working. It would keep my mind off things.

I was working for about an hour when I noticed how everyone's eyes looked at the same thing or same person.

Lando.

What the fuck was he doing here?

He walked in with a girl. His curls were covered under a backwards cap. He was looking incredible.

Incredibly handsome.

My eyes stayed on him for a moment too long because as he was walking to an empty table, his eyes met mine.

He greeted me with a quick nod, which made me look away as quickly as I could.

Why was I so awkward for a guy who I hated?

Snap out of it River. Concentrate on your work. That's way more important than him.

"What are you drinking?" Someone asked. My face snapped to the left of me, where Lando was standing.

He was leaning against the bar, his head was tilted just a little bit as his eyes were scanning over my body.

"Mojito" I quickly said and looked at my half empty glass. He nodded as his eyes snapped from my glass to my face.

"Three mojitos please" he turned his face to the bartender.

It was silent when he was waiting for his drinks. Dead silent.

What are we supposed to say? Do I need to break the silence?

"Congratulations on your race" I said. Why did I say that? Why did I congratulate him? He was gonna laugh, he was gonna make fun of it.

His head turned to me so quickly. "Thanks" that's all he said. One word, nothing more, nothing less.

But we looked at each other for a moment too long. I got flashbacks from the night we met each other. It was a magical night.
We clicked, we laughed all night.

Why did I betray him like that?

He grabbed one of the mojitos and put it in front of me. "Have a good night River" my name rolled of his tongue so smoothly.

I looked at the drink in front of me but before I could even reply, he was already walking back to his table.

The girl smiled at him, she had stars in her eyes, she was obviously mesmerized by him and how could I blame her?

Even though I hated him a little bit less, I still wanted to beat him.