Title from: Caramel by 5SOS
Miami, 3rd May 2023
Lando
"Cheers." I huff jumping in the car beside George. He only had to glance at his watch as I slap his arm in thanks to tell me I'm late - not that it's not to be expected. He should've known I would be. I tried to be on time, but then the lift was slow down to the lobby of the hotel and some fans wanted pictures and who am I to say no? Especially to the one young boy who had my name printed on the back of his papaya branded top, beaming up at me on a daze which almost had me feeling shy.
Before any of that Mum had called, apparently she'd seen that some celebrity she liked was planning to here this weekend and asked me to try and get a photo with them. It was an unusual request from her, but for Mum I'll do it. Truthfully, my tardiness is all down to my sister Amber who an hour and a half ago appeared at my hotel room door demanding to borrow my shampoo, having left her own behind at home, or Daniel's home, or somewhere. That's who I can blame for my poor time keeping today. It's not on me (I suppose it never is).
George huffs from beside me after another minute, the two of us pulling onto a short stretch of freeway towards the golf course where Alex is due to meet us, along with Lily and Carlos. I can't believe the guy in control of the vehicle is joining us honestly, golf has never been his thing. He always pulls faces whenever Alex or I suggest it, or back out with excuses on the days he doesn't straight up declare it's 'not his thing'. Instead George usually attempts to pull us on hikes or bike rides. With Alex's girlfriend Lily doing what she does, he stands no chance now.
Golf it is.
"What's wrong with you?" I ask after he huffs again, following the satnav's instructions towards the golf club. It's not a long ride there, we've only got eight minutes to our arrival according to the sat nav built into the vehicle. With George's current attitude it's eight minutes too long. "You sound like you've got a breathing condition mate." I attempt a joke, it doesn't land, nor get much of a response from George, I'm just left smiling to myself looking out the window, letting the sun blind me a little. I'm suddenly reminded that I've left my sunglasses in my backpack in the hotel room. Thank god for the cap tucked into the back pocket of my golf bag. It's the only thing that will stope from being blinded by the Florida sun.
"Nothing." George grumbles eventually and I roll my eyes at him.
Getting information out of George lately has been like pulling teeth.
Deciding that, for once, I'm not going to fish for information from the man beside me, who I consider a close friend, I pull my phone out of my pocket. I'm mid text to Alex, informing him of our arrival time (and George's grumbling) when George sighs from beside me. Almost in defeat.
"It's Carla." George finally reveals his shoulders slumping as he turns around a corner. The answer takes me back.
Carla and George have been together for almost five years.
Nobody was more surprised than me when he came back from a summer holiday in Cornwall saying he'd met 'a girl'. I'm not sure he'd even ever had a girlfriend before her. George had always felt too much pressure to make time for girls, much less a girlfriend. So I knew she must've been special for him to even think about her in the weeks after meeting.
I was even more surprised when said girl stumbled into dinner with myself and a handful of other friends five months later. She was the very opposite of what I expected. Especially after George had explained to me that they met on the beach of St Ives, she had been in his surfing class - after meeting her Carla is the last person I would ever expect to surf.
Long bleach blonde hair (which seems to continually get darker the longer I know her), a bright orange midi dress and a tiny bag which had emptied itself all over the floor the moment she stepped through the doors of the restaurant we were all sat in didn't exactly scream 'surfer chic'. She was a little loud, clumsy and nervously sipped at wine faster than her body could keep up with. She had made us all laugh with tipsy stories when she wasn't nervously pulling George into her side, intimidated by all of the eyes on her. Who could blame us for staring? We were all a little starstruck with the woman. She had reeled George in with such ease, he had opened up to her being in his life so easily. George! The man who swore he wouldn't have a girlfriend until he was solidly in with Mercedes in F1, he wasn't even with Williams at the time.
Carla was so obviously head over heels in love with my friend, I knew it that night and I've known it ever since. When it comes to being taken care of George is in good hands. A good thing, especially since George had looked at Carla like she walked on clouds that night.
He still does.
They bought a house together last year - they're solid. So I have no doubt that whatever George is huffing away about, it won't be anything that's going to destroy their relationship.
Usually when they disagree it's over the fact that she took a little longer than planned doing her hair or adjusting her clothing causing George to be late. It's something I'm unable to comment on with my own poor time keeping.
Besides, how Carla looks is important to her, she has a clothing brand based Central London. Of course she's going to take time adjusting her clothing or changing her outfit until it's just right. She has to look good. It's something Carla had explained to me in quite some detail when I'd been over to their place for dinner - the only time I've ever seen her in joggers and hair scraped back carelessly (Coincidentally it's also the most relaxed I'd ever seen her in almost four and a half years of knowing the girl). If Carla wanted her business to see any level of success she had to think like that, has to continue thinking like that.
George is an idiot (and denser than I thought) if he would expect her to compromise the things which could impact on her job. He certainly wouldn't compromise for things which could impact on his. Plus, Carla certainly does enough for George.
"She doesn't seem to get that this is serious." George finally continues, blinking slowly as we exit the highway, hitting traffic as we crawl towards the golf club. Confusion fills me with his words, I don't do well at showing it on my face either.
"What?" What exactly is this? I want to ask but I think he'll send me a look which tells me he thinks I'm stupid.
"She doesn't get that I'm on a serious team now. I can't...fuck around in Mercedes." George explains, turning to me with a shake of his head. He always thinks I don't quite understand what he means. He thinks I don't understand because I've spent my whole career in Formula One at Mclaren whereas George battled for mere survival at Williams. His jealousy of Alex and I always bubbled under, but it was always there (albeit briefly).
Now George has a few race wins under his belt alongside the pressure of Mercedes he seems like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. The pressure of finally having everything he's ever wanted, ever dreamed of from being eight years old is getting to him. I have the same dream, the same ambitions, the same goals - all twenty of us on the grid do. I also know that pressure impacts on people differently (where George shuts down, I throw myself into distractions to avoid things entirely) but he can't continue to do this.
Whatever he's doing, it's not working.
I can see it in how he snaps, the small comments he makes. It's most obvious in the way he takes a moment longer before answering questions than he used to, analysing how every word will be reconstructed over and over by those that hear him speak. How each thing will, inevitably, be twisted and turned into something different.
It's all piling up.
"I think she gets it." Is all I offer George, because she must. Carla spends half the year alone because of our work schedule, out of everyone she'll understand it. George is just...being his new self, overthinking everything, analysing every word the way a media studies student would.
"If she got it she wouldn't be posting on her Instagram how much she misses me because she hasn't seen me in weeks." I can't help but look to him in confusion. His tense words hand in the air, hands gripping the steering wheel lightly as I take in our surroundings not wanting to make such a big deal out of this. I don't quite know what to say.
"Isn't that normal?" I ask, because when Luisa would do the same I used to tease her about the words before promising that I missed her too, more than anything. It used to make something tug in my chest before it all got too much. Missing people is part of the job. George just huffs at my question, I can almost sense his eyes rolling internally.
"It was her choice to be apart, she knows she's always welcome." George points out as if he doesn't understand her words at all. Maybe it was her choice, I don't see how it invalidates her claim of 'missing' my friend.
"Might just be me as a single person, but I'm not getting this problem mate." I admit honestly.
"The articles that people will twist out of this. The questions they'll ask me, they'll think we're..." George trails off, his eyebrows furrowed and face scrunched up in an uncomfortable expression. I wait for his final words but they don't come.
"In a long distance relationship?" I eventually ask, watching the world go past us. "Missing eachother because you're both busy working?" I ask again, my questions tinted with a hint of humour because I don't know what to say.
We're not seeing eye to eye on this. I'm beginning to think we never will.
George doesn't answer my questions, his face not relaxing much as he thinks over my words. For a moment I think maybe I've resonated with him, that some of my words have prompted a change of mood. The grip of the frown loosens from his lips as the hope weaves into me.
Then his mouth opens again.
"It's not a good luck for sponsors and shit though is it?" I can't help the snort that leaves me with his question, no matter how rhetorical it is.
"Is your relationship sponsored by Pirelli and you just haven't announced it yet?" George doesn't laugh at my joke. "Partnership with OKX coming soon?" I continue, hoping to pull a laugh from George. A few months ago, even a few weeks ago he would've laughed at me for being so ridiculous. Maybe even responded with something along the lines of 'no actually, Tommy Hilifiger - keep it in the Mercedes brand'.
Now he's the ridiculous one.
"Maybe you don't get it." He grumbles and I roll my eyes as we pull to a stop out the front of the golf club.
"If I don't get it you've definitely got it fucked up." I fire back faster than I should have, his attitude setting me on edge. I mean the words entirely. We pull onto a quiet country road, or as country as it gets a few miles from the centre of Miami. The sleek white building of the golf course coming into view somewhere down infront of us.
"Or maybe you've just never had an adult relationship." George returns. His words are a little harsh and hit somewhere in my gut, hurt vibrating through my chest causing me to frown.
Luisa's face pops into my mind with the abrasive words, the tears in her eyes that would blur her vision over the last few weeks of our relationship as I tried to soothe worry after worry away. We tried to make it work, I made compromise after compromise and she did too. We met families, spent days and weeks together, I would miss sleep and board red eye's just to see her warm eyes in person as opposed to through a phone screen. When people were cruel I held her as she cried and on the good days I made sure to hold her even tighter to me and enjoy her presence.
It was an adult relationship, George knows as much. Just because we weren't together for as long as Carla and him have been doesn't mean it's not.
I can't help but feel exasperated with George at his dismissal as we pull to a stop at the valet of the golf course. The anger is sat firmly in me.
"Maybe I'm just not an uptight arsehole." Is all I grumble before climbing out of the sleek Mercedes vehicle and slamming the door behind me.
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Welp...what are we thinking?
Thank you so much for all your reads and feedback on this, I really wasn't sure what to expect with this story being a bit different 🤧
Writing Lando's POV was so fun tho!
❤️