blondie | valtteri bottas [COMPLETED]

en-route beirut | 09

i love beirut so much idk i've never been but it's somewhere i've always wanted to go.

enjoy.
[1058 words]

—

'wow. you're on time.' dima said as she opened the door to the man. he was at her flat door bright and early looking suspiciously well rested although she put that down to his frequent travels.

'you said 7 am and it's 6:58 am, if anything i'm early.' she smiled endearingly at him before letting him inside.

he didn't want to make it obvious that he was looking around her flat, observing it subconsciously but to no surprise dima caught on. she saw how his eyes darted around, almost as if expecting someone else to pop out of the doors near the end of the hallway. she looked around too. suddenly realising that she has taken down the framed pictures of lukas when she left their shared home and not put them back up when she moved into this place a year ago.

'make yourself comfortable.' she cleared her throat, not wanting to get off track. he got himself seated on one of the breakfast bars in her open plan kitchen.

'anything to drink?' even before he answered, dima got working on the coffee as the machine whirred to life.

she personally preferred tea but she knew that valtteri liked coffee.

'it makes perfect sense that you're a wedding planner.' he gestured to their surroundings, the whole flat could be viewed from the kitchen alone. it wasn't outlandish in size, only fit for a maximum of two people.

'i'll take that as a compliment.' valtteri quickly interjected. 'it's a compliment.' she smiled at him again, before turning away from the coffee machine and sauntered towards the living room where she had placed a carry on bag next to her large suitcase.

valtteri couldn't comprehend her smiles, there was a certain sadness to them that he didn't like despite how sincere she was. she was a lot more mature than how he remembered her from the past. their 'date' yesterday confirmed it to him however it only became more and more clear as he spent time with her.

'are you planning on moving to beirut?' valtteri asked her amused, commenting on her suitcase.

she rolled her eyes as she gestured to the bags.

'cmon val you know i have to take stuff to give to people! i bought some clothes for aunty cyla, and dilkash's daughter ghida had asked for some perfumes. i also promised atif that i'd get him actual airpods so he wouldn't have to buy the,' dima raised her fingers to quote him, 'crappy knock-off ones.' she looked back to see the humorous expression on his face.

'need i say more? i mean there's a lot more.' she then motioned at the coffee machine, signalling to valtteri to take the mug and drink his coffee. she moved back to the kitchen and placed four slices of bread in the toaster.

'your suitcase wasn't this big two weeks ago.' he commented, realising it just now.

she thought for a second before answering, 'well i'm in a better mood now than i was then, so naturally...' she let her words wander as she ended with a sing song voice.

the scene felt oddly domestic to valtteri, as if they had been travelling together and sitting in her kitchen like this discussing coffee and presents for her lebanese side of family back home for years.

'i take it that i'm the reason for this good mood?' he playfully asked as she got the toast out and placed some nutella next to it. she was thankful that the last of the bread was now going to be eaten and none of it would be going to waste.

she wanted to say yes, and she did. she wanted to be around valtteri, even if it had just been a few weeks.

'you'd be right.' she smiled with ease, happy at her words. if this was going to go somewhere then she needed to make it obvious.

valtteri had not been expecting such a reply, thinking she would have protested with a sly comment.

'must be destiny, or else God knows where i would have had to look to find you again.' he amused her, realising the effects of her words on him. she liked him and she was interested in this. it made him a little giddy on the inside.

she went around her flat one last time, checking that her appliances were turned off and all the windows and doors were shut. the scene looked a little manic to valtteri, the method reminding him of the past dima.

'should we go then?' she said, strolling past the flat door to the little hallway outside. she locked the doors, but not before triple checking that it wouldn't magically open without the keys.

'dima it's locked.' she sent valtteri a look that told him to shut up.

as they made their way down to the lift in the block of flats where dima lived, valtteri and dima fell into a natural lull. they exited the lift and strolled dima's never ending luggage to valtteri's mercedes.

he gestured for her to take a seat while he put the luggage in the car.

she offered to help him when he teasingly replied, 'it's only luggage fit for all of finland you're taking with you, i can manage it.' she feared this would become a running joke between the two.

'valtteri.' she said warningly.

'dima.' he replied in the same tone but with far more humour.

she sighed, and walked to the front seat and got in. valtteri was quick to follow.

he got driving and soon enough, dima noticed the extra bag that was sitting in the back seat that did not belong to her.

'what's that?' she asked, which had valtteri's eyes flickering to the rear view mirror to see what she was referring to. his wonderful blue eyes then quickly darted back to the road, unaware of how to let dima know this.

he cleared his throat.

'i guess now would be a good time to tell you that i'm leaving for azerbaijan today...' she waited for him to continue, 'with a two hour stopover in beirut.'

—

i'm sorry this took so long.
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