I remember

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Friday 16th December 2022

Sienna POV

'Hey babe, I just wanted to call and say I hope you have a wonderful night tonight and I'm gutted I can't be there. I'm nearly done here though so I'll hopefully be home by lunchtime tomorrow.' As I listened to the voice note Lando had left me I smiled. I can't wait to see him. It's rare for us to be apart so long, we don't really do so well when we're not together. But, Quadrant had exploded over the last few months and he was busier than ever so it may come to be a more common occurrence. I'd have gone with him but him and Max seemed to have this event under control. There were times when I had to reign in some of their more crazy ideas but this hadn't been one of them.

A knock on the door stopped me from listening to the message again. I open the door to see my best friend, Danny leaning against the door frame with a huge smile on his face, as usual.

'Danny!' I pull him in for a hug.

'S, it's literally been 2 hours since I last saw you' he laughs. 'Are you ready?'

'I am, let me just get my purse and jacket' I step back inside and walk into the bedroom to grab my things from the bed. 'Ready' I sing as I appear at his side and lock the door behind me.

The party was absolutely packed and I see all the usual crowd as I look round. George and his girlfriend Carmen seemed to be deep in conversation with Alex and his girlfriend Lily. Lily glances over and I give her a wave. Carlos and Charles are with their girlfriends at another table, Carlos looks like he's had quite a few drinks already as his cheeks are all flushed and Isa has her arm around him keeping him upright.

'Hey!' I hear from behind me as arms engulfed me and Danny, one on either side of us, squishing us together.

'Hey champ, good to see you too, congrats again on the second title' I laugh. Kelly pulls me in for a hug and we kiss each other on the cheek. 'God girl it's so good to see you. Feels like we've not had a good catch up in ages!'

'How's Miss P?' I ask, 'I miss her little face, can you bring her to see me soon?'

'She is as sassy as ever and keeps asking for a spa day with her favourite S'

'Well, I can't disappoint her then can I? We'll have to get that done before the season starts again'

'Right!' Danny shouts, so we can hear him over the music, 'who wants a drink?'

'Yes please' I shout back, 'lets get wasted!'

Danny disappears with Max to go get us some drinks and Kelly and I stand in comfortable silence. I take the opportunity to look round the room to see who else is here. I see some other drivers dotted around, not surprising, as most of them live in Monaco too. I'm surprised to see Oscar Piastri close to the bar with Zhou but then I remember they had been in the Alpine junior programme together. I give him a wave when he glances my way.

Danny and Max soon reappear with our drinks and we move over to join Charles, Carlos, Isa and Charlotte. The first drink seems to go down way too fast, but like magic, Danny soon appears, seemingly out of thin air, and places another in my hand. 'Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr Ricciardo?'

'I would never!' he chuckles, his smile going from ear to ear.

I roll my eyes at him and grab his hand, 'lets go dance instead!'

We are on the dance floor and as usual Danny is twirling me around when I feel eyes staring at me. I turn around to see Oscar staring at me, smiling. I smile back and turn to Danny, 'shall we get another drink?'

A couple of drinks later and we are back on the dance floor but I start to feel a bit hot and I'm definitely tipsy. I lean into Danny so he can hear me 'I'm just going to go and get some fresh air'

'Want me to come with you?'

'No it's ok, you stay here, have fun, I'll be back in a bit' I grab my jacket and purse and head to the roof terrace. I stare out at the lights of Monaco beneath me. I love living here, I didn't think I would when Lando first mentioned it, but all our friends are here, and we can walk around in relative peace without being noticed. Someone joins me at the railing, and I glance to my right to see Oscar gazing into the distance.

Seeing as he's going to be Lando's teammate next year and we're bound to be spending quite a lot of time together I guess I ought to get to know him a bit better I think to myself, so I keep my first question simple; 'enjoying the party?'

'Having a blast' he tells me, then going on to describe what he's been up to since the season finished. He surprises me with his next comment 'I know you are best friends with Danny, I hope there's no hard feelings over what happened'

'Hey, of course not, you had to do what's best for you and Danny's a big boy' I'm well aware Oscar couldn't have stolen Danny's seat if things had been going Danny's way. Oscar just happened to be the one who benefited from Danny's bad luck. 'Besides, I've seen you drive, I know how good you are. I'm looking forward to all the points you're going to bring us this year. About time McLaren rose to the top again' I laugh, shoving him gently, further reassuring him that I had no ill feelings towards him.

I'd been outside longer than I realised and there was suddenly a chill in the air, I start to shiver. 'Do you want me to hold your drink whilst you put your jacket on?' Oscar suggests whilst holding out his hand. I give him my drink with a 'thanks' and throw my jacket around my shoulders, immediately feeling a little warmer.

I take my drink back and we talk a little more about everyday things. I start to feel a little whoosy, maybe I've had more to drink than I thought, and I'm not confident my legs can hold me up right much longer. I take out my phone to text Danny, but Oscar offers to take me home.

As I finally open my front door, its difficult to see that little key hole when you're drunk, I kick off my heels, groaning slightly at the feel of having them off. I say good night to Oscar thanking him profusely for bringing me home and now all I want is to collapse on my bed and sleep.

Saturday 17th December 2022

Sienna POV

I can feel Lando's hardness against my back as I start to stir. He must have got back earlier than he expected. I wriggle my bum into him, causing his breathe to catch. I'm still half asleep but he starts to kiss and suck my neck and a little moan of pleasure escapes my throat. God, I've missed this man.

Lando POV

I have a huge smile on my face as I get to the front door of our apartment. I always love coming home to Sienna and I can't wait to kiss her. I put the key in the lock and turn it as quietly as possible so I don't wake her, conscious that it's still early and knowing she went out last night.

I put my bag in the hallway and laugh quietly to myself as I see her heels from last night discarded on the floor. She obviously couldn't wait to get them off by the time she got home, along with her dress a bit further along the corridor leading to our bedroom. I see a pair of trousers and a man's shirt as I move closer to our bedroom, which has the door ajar. I stand perfectly still for a minute and listen. I can hear Sienna moaning with pleasure and I find myself holding my breath as I push open the door.

'What the actual fuck?'