blondie | valtteri bottas [COMPLETED]

baku | 12

[1386 words]
warning: mention of domestic abuse.

——

'valtteri!' LEWIS HAMILTON called out as he saw the finnish man emerge from his drivers room. the two shared a hug and a hand shake and then walked towards the main room in the hospitality.

lewis nudged him. he had an air about him that spelled trouble for valtteri.

'don't think i didn't notice, by the way.' the brit teased him.

'notice what?' valtteri pretended to be ignorant. he knew exactly what the man was referring to.

during the video conference the day prior, dima had briefly walked in to give him his coffee. while she had tried to be sly and avoid being in the frame, her dark hair had outed her against the light blue wall of her fathers office. lewis, ever the eagle eyed, had noticed but had chosen not to comment on it live knowing that valtteri appreciated his privacy.

'the mystery woman with the long dark hair.' lewis didn't want to overstep his boundaries, but he and valtteri were close and he felt like he could tease him about it.

valtteri hummed in response, thinking about dima.

seeing that he was distracted, lewis continued. 'so tell me. where did you meet her?' lewis asked as they walked through the hospitality. lewis' eyes kept moving to valtteri to see his reaction. he had known about valtteri's divorce, and had subsequently seen the toll it took on the finn. he was glad that his friend was happy.

'at the airport, spilt coffee all over her and then it was like i've known her since forever.' the finn didn't waste time in explaining. they were waiting for toto to join them for whatever it was that he wanted to discuss. the rush of people hurrying about in the mercedes garage didn't seem to distract lewis from inquiring.

'damn, love at first sight?' lewis replied with a hint of surprise. valtteri was more reserved than the usual man, so for him to converse so easily with a random stranger at the airport was new.

'no it wasn't an exaggeration. i have known her my whole life. i'm pretty sure they have a picture of us as babies. i just didn't recognise her for a split second.'

'oh you were being literal.' toto was now walking towards them with purpose, and the two decided to drop the subject for the time being. lewis was not done grilling him yet, but a breaker would have to do.

—

dima was trying to ignore her work emails, and also the household chores that seemed to pile up for no damn reason every time her gossiping neighbourhood aunt and her daughter came around. she sat through gasps that said 'marjatta! this is your daughter? my my she's gone old.' and 'divorced, you say? did her husband beat her?' after which dima gave a tight smile, apologised and walked to her fathers study again.

her phone pinged with the arrival of the text. she was sitting in her mothers living room by the window with the clear view of the mediterranean sea. the book in her hand laid unsourced, given that she had spent the last 15 minutes gazing at the calendar date. she urged herself to reply to the text instead of wasting her time.

vicky :)
dima?
sent 10:08

she was glad it was valtteri.

dima <3
good morning vicky

she smiled as she sent the text, knowing that he would comment on her choice of name.