It Started With His Number -- Lando Norris

Part 35

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday pass agonizingly slowly, I text Lando whenever I can, but it's not the same as seeing him in person. I have work Tuesday Wednesday, that went well, but I came out with a pulled muscle in my back. It went away within a day, but it had still hurt in the moment. My phone rang on Friday, it was Lando.

"Hello." Lando greeted me, sounding cheerful.

"Hey." I replied, collapsing onto the coach.

"You okay?" Lando asks, sounding worried.

"Meh. I'm okey." I tell him, plucking at the blanket thrown over the couch.

"You don't sound it."

"Just agitated." I admit.

"About what?" Lando asks quietly, sounding concerned in a way that I hadn't heard before.

"Just...life." I reply, sighing.

"Life?"

"The way our society is. How sexist and misogynistic it is. How draining it is. How it makes us waste our time on stuff that doesn't matter! And that we don't need!" my voice had risen, exclaiming intensely.

"Ah." Lando responds.

"And I hate how no one cares enough to fix it!" I continue, furiously flicking my hair out of my face.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Lando asks, sounding tense.

"Everyone does it, and over time it all builds up." I explain. We stay silent for a moment. 

"I'm sorry." Lando apologises softly. 

"Don't be, it's not your fault. I'm sorry I blew up at you like that." I tell him, all the fight I had leaving me.

"God. I want to be with you so badly." Lando says, sighing.

"There's no race this weekend, right?" I ask, drawing away from our previous conversation topic.

"Right. I have meetings at the technology centre to, so I have to fly out." Lando tells me, sounding slightly, hopeful?

"Can you stay at mine?" I ask, now knowing what Lando had been sounding hopeful about.

"Can I stay at yours?" Lando asks back, his grin evident in his voice.

"Yes! Please." I say, my heart rate picking up slightly with excitement.

"Really? I can? Yes!" Lando exclaims, shouting the last word away from the phone. I laugh as Lando finishes, it's nice to be wanted.

"When are you flying out?" I inquire, sitting forward on the couch and pressing the phone against my ear.

"Day after tomorrow."

"Why am I only hearing about this now?" I question, trying to sound stern and angry.

"I forgot about it." Lando admits after a minute, sounding guilty.

"Uh, what? Lando! You can't forget about these things!" I exclaim, trying (and failing) to hide my laughter, Lando's joins mine, sounding utterly... happy.

"God." Lando says, he sounds as if he had been laughing so hard, he was now crying.

"It wasn't that funny, Lando." I tell him, still giggling.

"Say my name again." Lando asks, his laughter dropping off.

"Lando." I repeat softly, a smile breaking across my face. Lando sighs in a content way.

"Never lose your accent." Lando tells me quietly, our conversation going from loud to quiet.

"I'll try not to." I say, my cheeks starting to hurt from smiling so hard.

"I've got to fill out these forms, and I don't want to." Lando admits after a pause.

"Why do you have to fill them out?" I ask, now standing up to find my laptop.

"I have to fill them out every season. Safety stuff." Lando says, the sound of shuffling papers fills the line until they quiet.

"Oh, boring stuff."

"Yeah. Listen, one of them says, 'if you get harmed whilst the car is on, sign here. You cannot sue us for your injuries after this is signed.' I mean, it doesn't even make sense." Lando tells me, the sound of a pen scratching paper is the only sound. Once I find my laptop on the table, I sit down and open it. When I have opened up safari I type up 'Lando Norris traveling' images of Lando on planes and in hotels, airports and with luggage fill the screen.

"Says here that you stay in 'lavish establishments.'" I say, opening one of the websites.

"What are you looking at?" Lando asks, sounding tense.

"A stalker website." I tell him, skimming through the writing.

"Lori? Why?"

"Because I can." I reply, grinning even though he can't see me.

"Oh my God Lori." Lando sighs, sounding resigned. I laugh (cackle more like).

"These websites used to be my bread and butter." I tell him.

"You're a stalker?" Lando asks, sounding slightly worried.

"It was at seventeen. I was an obsessed kid." I respond, starting to rethink my actions. Lando laughs.

"Sounds like it."

"What? Like I was an obsessed kid?"

"Yeah." Lando says, still chuckling.

"Does that make you like me less." I question, playing with a bit of my hair.

"No. Absolutely not." Lando replies.

"Alright, good. Anyway, I should go, clean the house." I tell him, letting go of my hair.

"Now? I'm not coming tomorrow; I wish I was though." Lando responds disappointedly.

"I don't think you want to know how long it's going to take me to clean the house." I say, giggling as I close my laptop.

"That long?"

"That long." I confirm, resting my elbow on the table, "I hope that it feels like a short time."

"What do you mean?"

"You coming day after tomorrow."

"Ah, yeah, I hope so too." Lando tells me.

"Bye Lando." I say quietly.

"Bye Lori." Lando says before I draw the phone away from my ear. I start to clean the house, vacuuming, dusting, arranging etc. I finished at 8:00pm the day before Lando will come over.

Collapsing onto the carpet in the living room. Collapsing in defeat. I have cleaned the house. Slowly getting up after a moment on the floor, I shuffle to the bedroom, brushing my teeth ultra-slow. And then shuffling off to bed, flopping onto it and immediately conking out.

The alarm wakes me up. Pulling me from a dreamless sleep. Groaning, I climb out of bed and stretch my back. I go to the kitchen to make myself breakfast, pancakes. Sitting down on a stool I pull out my phone, checking my socials. On Instagram a message pops up; 'Lando Norris has followed you.' I instantly perk up, my brain kicking into action suddenly. Once I have finished my pancakes I shower and figure out what I am going to wear. The weather has now turned, becoming my favourite time of year. Pulling on a pair of black leggings and a Taylor Swift T-shirt, I shove a blue Superdry hoodie on top, completing the look with my usual high ponytail.

I start to hum as I exit my wardrobe, skipping down the stairs (hoping my white soaks won't get dirty that quickly). My phone pings with a message; On my way to yours now. It said, Lando. I take a quite peek in the mirror, tightening my ponytail. The doorbell tings a few minutes later, startling me from my daze. Dashing towards the door, I open it with a smile on my lips.