020. | SPARKS FLY

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020

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020. | SPARKS FLY
— AFTER HOURS, LANDO NORRIS

last chapter of the rewriting 🙈*

Completely out of breath, Lando returned to the lavish hotel room that he and Emery had been occupying for the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. He held his keycard against the lock of the door and he let out a big yawn when he finally unlocked it. It took him all of his strength to push open the heavy door and step inside.

And even though he was blasting music from his headphones, he could not drain out the thoughts that darkened his mood so heavily. Lando had always tried to keep his mess together, or at least keep his mess to himself.

Ever since his mother had told him one day twelve years ago, after a disappointing race result that he owed it to himself to become everything he had dreamt of, he had followed her words.

And he always had, but right now his team surely was becoming a stressor for him not to be so calm and collected all the time. Especially with meetings so boring and dreadful like the one he had just gotten out of.

After acquiring his podium back in Imola, his team had been nagging him to achieve more: their expectations for Lando Norris had risen, and he wasn't so sure of himself anymore if he could live up to them.

When the meeting finally ended Lando decided to go to a short jog to clear his thoughts, before going back to the hotel room and having to face Emery. Because he knew that if he went back to her immediately after the meeting, he would not have been able to keep it together and away from her.

He didn't want her to notice his little breakdown, she's always had a lot on her plate. All the clouds inside of her were raining, and he was not about to make it storm. He's survived it before on his own, and he'll do it again.

When he finally drained out his troubled thoughts and closed the door, he leaned his back against the doorway and heard the lock click closed. His hands were supporting his weight as he placed them on his thighs, and he bend down against the door to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to steady his breathing.

People down in the hotel lobby had probably looked at him weirdly when he was sprinting by, and up the stairs towards the room moments before but he didn't really care. He was an athlete after all, so it wasn't strange that he was working out.

Even if it was by running like a lunatic through public places.

His head still ached, but at least his heart rate finally went down. And when his heart was no longer caught up in his throat and he could breathe properly, Lando stood up back up straight and stepped into the bathroom attached to the suite.

He took out his headphones and walked over to the mirror.

He tried to avoid looking into the mirror because he knew he could easily spot the disappointment on his own face, so instead he turned to the sink and splashed some water in his face. With his wet hands, he combed his hair back.

After Hours, 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒. Where stories live. Discover now