The race was beyond catastrophic. Nearing the podium, my hopes were crushed in lap 57 when my engine failed and burst into flames. In utter disbelief, I collapsed onto the grass, and buried my head in my hands. The last thing I wanted was to face a barrage of interview questions, and Julia's presence among the reporters certainly didn't ease things. I knew we needed to talk, and I intended to catch her once her interviews were done. However, before I could make a move, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Ah, Smooth Operator, the smoothness didn't quite work out today, huh? Wanna grab some food together?" Lando's face suddenly popped into view. I offered a small smile and nodded. As we strolled toward the canteen, we debriefed the entire race. Every now and then, I couldn't help but reminisce about the times when Lando was my teammate, and these post-race discussions were a regular thing. Don't get me wrong, Charles is an excellent teammate too, but Lando will always hold a special place.
"So, what are you going for?" I inquired.
"Since I woke up, I've been craving some delicious Wiener Schnitzel," he responded, with a chuckle, and then placed his order. I opted for chicken curry, and we secured a nice table by the window.
"Carlos, can I talk to you about something?" Lando suddenly set down his fork and spoke with a serious expression.
"Yeah, go ahead," I replied, slightly tilting my head concered.
"Julia and I have grown pretty close, and we've had some conversations. So, I just wanted to check, how are things on your end? I can sense there's a sort of tension between you two, and..." Lando began. He was clearly searching for the right words, unintentionally showing how much he cared about Julia.
"Yeah, um..." I began, intending to explain that even if I had wanted to kiss her, I wouldn't have done it to someone like Lando, a close friend. Thankfully, I spotted Charles and Julia heading our way, so I invited them to join us. Saved from further explanation, I shifted the conversation to Charles's race victory, and surprisingly, Julia chimed in quite quickly. For a moment, things felt normal again, and perhaps, I could sense the awkwardness between us slowly fading away.
A/N
second part of part 12! <3 hope you have a lovely day!