when worlds collide [george russell]

Chapter 10

George stopped at her apartment so she could bring her stuff upstairs.

Willow hurried up the stairs, threw her bag and racket into a corner and made her way to the bathroom. She quickly took a look at herself in the mirror and noticed her messy appearance. Her face was red like a tomato and her baby hairs stood into the air in all direction.
Oh god, was this what she had looked like the whole time?

She took her hair out of her ponytail and ran her fingers through it a few time to regain her volume, then she took her deodorant and applied it to both of her armpits.
Lastly she put her hands under running water  and patted it onto her face afterwards.

She then got a glass of water and drank it in one sitting before taking her keys and her phone and heading out again.

Still in her tennis skirt and athletic shirt she opened the door towards the street only to see George leaning against the side of his car parked right in front of her house.

He moved his eyes over the edge of his phone scanning her from her feet to the top of her head. A smile formed on his lips before he opened his mouth, „Let's go from here, it's such a beautiful evening."

Willow nodded and joined his side to start their journey to Hyde Park.

It was the middle of August and the temperatures at this time of day were perfect to have a stroll without having to sweat.

It took them a little longer to get there due to them taking the less efficient but more pretty route.

The sun wasn't out anymore but George kept his baseball cap on and actually pushed it a littler lower on his face, which made Willow wonder but she wasn't going to ask about it.

What she really wanted to know was why he went M.I.A. for three weeks after the night they spent together and was now pretending like it never happened. But she wasn't going to ask about that either, she didn't want it to seem like she had cared.

"You come here often?" George asked as they entered Hyde Park and Willow already steered them into the direction of her favorite path.

"I try to go running here at least once a week." she answered, looking ahead at the path in front of them not wanting to catch his eyes again because she knew they would make her feel things. She could feel his eyes lingering on her tho quite a lot.

"We can do that next" George suggested confidently.

Willow was taken aback by this but she wasn't having it and wanted to show him that if anything were to happen between them again it would be on her terms.

"Who said there is a next time?" she retorted now finally looking him and studying his freshly shaved face for a second before looking away again.

"Alright, alright, I see." George said and they were quiet for a second.

They talked about Willows studies and what she wanted to do after. George listened carefully to what she said and he admired how passionately she talked about female artists in the early 20th century and art in general. She was in her element and as she started talking about the exhibition she went to recently, George felt sort of stupid not being able to add anything to the conversation.

About twenty minutes in Willow realized what had happened. George had got her to open up and he was such an interested listener, asking questing from time to time so she never got to stop talking. She decided to give him another chance and remove the hate she had for him from her thoughts and let him paint his own character.

She couldn't keep talking about herself so she prepared to ask him something now.

"Enough about me. I know nothing about you. Tell me what you've been up to recently?"

Before George could even try and figure out what to answer to that question and if he should reveal himself the choice got taken from him.

"George! You're George Russell! That's so cool! Can we take a picture" a teenager moved towards them.

"Sure" George said hesitantly but still polite.

Willow didn't realize what was happening as a phone got pressed into her hands and she was asked to take a picture of that boy next to George.

"So nice to meet you! Can't wait to see you at Mercedes next year!" the boy said and shook George's hand and was off again.

Willow stood in the place like she was glued to the floor. She looked at George confused as he gave her an apologetic look. Now he had to explain. But how? How would he even start that conversation?

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the next bench to sit down together.

"You're..." Willow stammered.

"Famous, yes" he finished "well, I hate calling it that. But yes."

Willow got back to her senses and stared acting like normal again.

"Well, tell me more." she said curiously.

He looked down at his shoes like he was ashamed of it before looking back at her. Her green eyes looking at him with so much interest made him a little more comfortable.
"I'm a racing driver in Formula One" he said quietly, anxiously awaiting her reaction.

"That's cool. How did you get into racing?" she asked casually. Now it was her time to make him excited about telling her about himself.
She didn't know much about motorsport, only that you would have to be committed to it from a young age on and she couldn't imagine what that was like. She didn't even decide what she wanted to study until the very last day when she could enroll.

George told her all about karting and the different Formula series and how he was finally going to drive for Mercedes next season.
Willow didn't know much so he had do explain a lot but he could tell she really wanted to know.

"That's why I left so suddenly last time. I had a flight the next day right in the morning and then three race weekends after another. I wanted to apologize about that. When I was on the plane I realized I didn't have your number. I could have left a note or something, sorry."

Willow was glad for the explanation but she didn't expect the apology.
It really sounded like he liked her and wasn't just charming her to spend another night with her, but she couldn't be sure.

They walked back to her apartment now talking about all sort of things they were both interested in.

As they arrived at her front door they turned towards each other. George couldn't help but smile at her with his hoodie on. He had given it to her as they left Hyde Park because a slightly breeze came up and she wasn't wearing anything but her shirt skirt and a shirt with shirt sleeves.

Willow noticed him looking at the dark blue hoodie and grabbed the hem to take it off.

"Leave it on. Looks good on you" George said while he stopped her hand from taking it off.

"I said we should go for a run together but I think dinner is more appropriate. Only if you'd like to of course. I'll give you my number and you can just text me and then we'll find a time."

"Alright, Mr Busy" Willow joked while she handed him her phone.

He typed in his number and gave it back to her. George then proceeded to lean down and give her a kiss on the cheek.
He took his head back and they looked into each other's eyes as a smile formed on both of their faces.
"Bye" they whispered simultaneously.

George took a step back and watched her enter her building. Only when she closed the door behind her and he was sure she was safe inside he got into his car and drove away already impatiently waiting for a text from her to arrive.