Home. (L.N.)

23. When Worlds Collied

"We should go over to Mclaren shouldn't we?" Mason smiles down at me. All nerves in my body start to panic. This is a horrible idea. I didn't even liked the fact that Lando was at the Euros final and now they both would actually meet. This would be very awkward."Mase, I don't know if that is such a good idea. You know with the history of me and Lando. It could be awkward." He looks up from his phone. I can't see his expressions very well under his mask but I reckon he is a little surprised by my reaction. "Oh don't you worry it will be alright. We are adults you know and actually I would like to meet him. And Daniel also. I thought you would be pleased to see them again." "Don't get me wrong I like to see my friend again but I am still a bit concerned about Lando." Frustrated and uncomfortable about this situation I look around avoiding his eyes. The F3 was already over. And we had around an hour till preps for Quali would start. My stomach is full with the amazing Mac and cheese of the Haas cooks. I run with my hand through my hair and bite my lip under the mask. "If you don't want to say 'Hi' we won't have to. Your call Anna" He is calm and completely confident. I am glad he leaves this kind of decisions to me. It is the environment I am most comfortable in and he is just the guest. When it is a football environment obviously he is in the lead. But it would be a shame not to see Daniel and maybe Lando is busy today and I will just see him tomorrow at the raceday without Mason. "Alright then", I take his hand and guide him away from the Haas Garage towards the McLaren one. It's their homerace this weekend and they did quiet well in the free practice yesterday so the spirits are high. I can hear Daniel already laugh when we approach the garage. "It's Daniel" I whisper to Mason with a grin on my face. "He seems in a good mood." We are in front of the Mclarens now not allowed to go in further without any formel invatation. "He always is. DANIEL" I shout out. Mason next to me flinches and covers his ears fast with his hands. "Goodness me Anna.." I just laugh and take off my mask. "Shooorty" I hear the heavy Australien accent. The curly head comes our way after noticing me. And with him a camera guy. I reckon they just filming a bit for their unboxed stuff. If Mason doesn't want it he will say something. But he stays silent next to me. As soon as I saw the camera it was clear I need to step back and let Mason be in the front. But this doesn't stop me from wrapping around my arms around that dude. "Good to see you Dani" "Men I missed you. Feels like ages." "I know." I pull back from him. "Daniel this is Mason. Mason, Daniel Ricciardo." I introduce them both to each other and step back. They fistbump each other and doing a little talk. As polite as Daniel is he says his sorries about the final and that. But overall they really do have a nice conversation while I stand in the background watching them. I get more and more nervous while we are at the Orange teams home. I feel like every moment Lando could come around the corner and I am not sure I am ready. "Alright thank you guys."I hear the guy with the camera while he gives them both a fistpumb. Finally he wrapped up. But he know facing me." Sorry Anna. Is it alright for you if we use some of the footage with you? I noticed you weren't fully comfortable. " He seems really sweet and caring but the fact that he actually knows my name creeps me out a bit. "No that's alright. Ehm just make sure I look fine will you?" I mumble. He nods "Of course" "But thank you for asking" I know it's not normal but I am very happy he did. This guy does his job good and I am not gonna make it harder for him or anyone else by saying they can't use good footage. He waves a goodbye and makes his way. "What was that about?" Mason pulls me close to him while his arm is around my waist. "Nothing, he just asked if he could use the footage with me on it. And I said sure." "You did?" Daniel seems honestly surprised. "Yeah of course dude. There are so many pictures and videos where I look like a fucking idiot so I hope this will be a bit nicer." I lean my head against Masons chest and relax for a bit. This attention is still a bit too much for me but I will get used to it. With the rub of his hand against my waist its less stressful." Oh look who is there"Daniel speaks out. I can just imagine who it is and I close my eyes. Fuck." Hello mate" Daniel smiles but also gives me a nervous look that I return immediately. "Hello everyone" I hear the so familiar voice. Oh damn.. here we go.
When I turn to left Lando stands there with quiet a bit of distance. He seems all smiley and that but I noticed his glance at Masons hand on my body right away. I wish I would've kept the mask on to hide my emotions under it that. "Hi Lando how are you?" I finally say not really looking at him. It still feels weird. I want to move further but he wasn't ready. I respect it. But I don't know how to handle. "Yeah alright, how are you?" he responses. His voice is so plain without any emotions it's actually confusing. It makes me sad. I hoped things would be different. So I lie "Good thanks. I would like you to meet Mason. Mason this is Lando Norris my.. " I stock not knowing what to say. A little panic overcomes my body. This is fucking awkward. "Her friend from back in the days. Pleasure to meet you mate." He jumps to my rescue. Thankful I smile at him and mouth a thank you to him, which he ignores completely. While the two greet each other my eyes wander to Daniel, who is loving this situation right now and how much I struggle. He has the biggest smile ever on his face and needs to hold back his laughter. Our eyes meet and I signal him that I will kill him. This is the point where he can't hold back and laughs out loud. "So sorry guys I need to go" He winks at me and turns around. My jaw drops to the floor. No he just didn't leave me alone with these two. This is awful. The urge to run after Daniel overcomes my body but the shit thing about being an adult is to deal with stuff like this. "I heard about the incident at the final. So sorry about that. Are you alright?" This was something that laid on my chest heavily since that day. We were not in the right space for me to text him about such a sensible thing. But when I read it online and saw the statement I felt very sorry for him. He doesn't deserve this. He is too precious to get robbed. "Yeah well it wasn't nice, but I mean I wasn't harmed. It's just a watch" Lando tries to laugh it off. Him and Mason are going over to more chilled topics. They laugh a lot and joke around. Actually they really get along with each other. But I couldn't think about a person who wouldn't get along with Mason. The awkwardness slowly crawls away from the situation. But I figured it would be best to stay quiet as much as possible just to not provoke anything. Masons hand is still resting on my hip when one of the F1 Media team approaches. He takes photo of us. "Do you want that they take pictures?" I reach up to his ears to whisper in them. "No it's fine" Mason smiles back down. I nod and relax again. It's fine. When I look back at Lando he bits his lips and rushs through his curls. "Sorry I will grab some water real quick" I excuse myself and leave these two to their own. Its for the better I believe. Walking down the paddock I stop at the ferrari. "Bonjour" Charlotte spins around with her phone still on her ear, noticing my voice. A little smile is on her voice when she winks at me and keeps on saying stuff in French on the phone. I don't understand a word. It's way to fast and besides that I was crap in French back at school. She quickly raps up whatever she is doing. "Bonjour" she presses the button to hang up and closes me into a hug. "Lovely to see you again." "Likewise.  How are things?" "Should we do a little walk? Charles is in a meeting anyway." "I am just on my way to grab a drink." "Oh do you want a water, I will grab one real quick from the facility?" "No thanks" I chuckle "It's more of an excuse to stay away for a bit."Her face expressions tell me she had no clue what I was talking about."Lando and Mason are talking right now and I felt weird so I needed an excuse. She nods and starts walking" Then let's have a little walk. I think the water at Redbull is the best anyway." The Bulls facility was the furthest down the paddock and this was our destination we going for. We are catching up on topics while enjoying the walk in the sun. Arriving at the garage I get greeted warmly by a few members of the team. They recognize me from the last time I was at a race and jumped in as a replacement for Max's media Manger. Speaking of the devil, Max walks out of his driver room. He looks busy but not too busy so he could say a little hello to us girls. "Are you coming here to apply full-time?" he winks. I show him my tongue and laugh. But inside of me I want to say yes. A serious yes. The French grand prix showed me that this environment in a professional way is perfect for me. I love the smell of the air, the sounds, the atmosphere. But I am not in the place to decide. And that's fine for now. First I will get my masters and then let's see. "Can I have a bottle of water please?" I ask him with puppy eyes instead. He looks at me confused. "She hides from Mason and Lando." Charlotte says. "I am not hiding. I just get out of the way when they get to know each other." Max's nods at my explanation. He grabs a bottle from a shelf and holds it in front of me. I smile at him thankfully.