TWO GHOSTS.
13. ❛ morning runs. ❜
SOFIA HAD A LOVE/HATE relationship with waking up early in the morning. She loved the peace and comfort it provided. There was always a sweetness in the early morning silence.
She loved it when it felt like the rest of the world was still fast asleep, and she was the only one awake. Everything feels like it isn't really real when she's getting ready, and she kind of forgets about all her problems and stress because, for now, it was just her, the world around, and the awaited sunrise.
Oh, but Sofia dreaded waking up in the early morning. She hated it when she had stepped out of the warm blankets. She hated when she had to turn on the bright lights to get ready. She hated it when she remembered all she had to do and the long day she had ahead of her. And she hated how Lando Norris invited her on a morning sunrise run, and she said yes.
Sofia awoke to the gentle hum of the Mediterranean seeping through her window, the soft waves echoing the rhythm of Monaco's mornings. The sun had yet to cast its glow over the principality. Stretching languidly, she turned to look at Jules, who was fast asleep and curled beneath the blankets.
Monaco's essence wafted through the air – a subtle blend of sea breeze and the distant whispers of a waking city. Sofia's morning was good, but she was dreading it. She took a shower and did her morning routine before pulling out her workout clothes. She was staying at a small apartment in Monaco in the center of the bustling city of Monte Carlo, while Aurora and Lando would be staying with Aurora's family down by the harbor.
And speaking of, Sofia's doorbell just rang. Putting down her glass of water, the blonde made her way over to the door and pulled it open, a small smile on her lips when she caught sight of Aurora and Lando.
"Move," Aurora grumbled as she pushed past Sofia and made her way right into Sofia's bedroom, where she more than likely curled up under the duvet and fell right back to sleep.
"She was one minute away from screaming at me for waking her up at this 'ungodly hour' until I told her she would be able to go back to sleep with Jules." Lando chuckled with a shake of his head as he put some of his belongings down on Sofia's kitchen island.
"I wouldn't blame her." Sofia snorted and walked back into her bedroom to place a kiss on Jules' head before closing the door and making her way back to Lando, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. Do you know any good running routes?" He asked as they left the apartment and made their way to the main floor of the building, "I have a few that I usually take, but you grew up here, so I figured you'd have a specific route you take or something."
Sofia thought about it for a moment as they stepped outside. It was dark, and the sun still hadn't risen, "Yes, there's two, actually. One is on an island in France called Iles De Lerins. By boat, it'll only take us about an hour to get there, but that's too long right now. So, I have another route in mind that's not too far away."
Lando nodded with a shrug and started to walk down the pathway they were on, "Fine with me."
"IT'S SO HOT." LANDO NORRIS whined for about the fifth time, complaining about the sun and humidity hitting his bare skin.
Sofia sucked in a deep breath as she continued jogging, "Lando, if you don't stop whining, quindi aiutami dio (so help me god), I will leave you behind to get lost."
Lando rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath as they passed by some people, offering smiles and waves. He changed the subject once he started to slow down and started to walk, "You know, my worst fear is accidentally committing tax fraud because I'm a fucking idiot."
"True." Sofia chuckled and winked at him playfully. Silence consumed them again, but this time, Sofia was the one to break it. "I had the weirdest experience ever last week, back in London."
"With what?" Lando now turned his full attention to his friend. The sea breeze tousled both of their hair, the sunrise painting the sky in hues of pink and orange.
"So, have you ever had to lay down because your food delivery process was too stressful?" Sofia had already started laughing before she got her story out.
"Uh...no?" Lando raised an eyebrow, recalling all of his experiences with food deliveries.
"Okay, well, listen," Sofia started, "I don't usually like pizza, okay."
Lando furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, "But you're Italian..."
"I'm Monegasque." Sofia clarified, "Just cause my preferred language is Italian, and half of my family is Italian, doesn't mean I'm Italian. Anyway, last week, I was craving pizza. So, I found a place that was delivering pizza. It's not like a chain store, right."
Lando was smiling and trying to hold in his laughter already, not even knowing where the story was going but still happy to hear it.
"To be honest, that was my big mistake." Laughter bubbled out of Sofia as she continued on. "Never support— no, actually, let me not say that. I order pizza, okay, and like, you know when you order something on Uber Eats or whatever, it gives you like 10 minutes to order something else without paying extra for delivery?"
"Yeah," Lando nodded along, "My favorite part of the delivery process because that's when I order a shit load of more stuff, my trainer would have a heart attack knowing I ate it."
Sofia snorted and shook her head, "Well, that's my favorite part too. So I ordered a cake from this bakery. Jules wanted chocolate, so that's what I got. So I order my pizza and my cake. Okay? Okay. So anyway, so I'm like waiting for my food, and I'm starving. I was watching my app, watching the little guy, like, you know, bike from one place to another. And I'm waiting, and he's around the corner, and Jules and I are getting excited. I got dressed, and I went downstairs; honestly, I was desperate."
She took a break to laugh with Lando before continuing, "I was way too excited for food. I go downstairs, and I'm wearing my pajamas, and he pulls up, and he's taking forever to lock his bike. So I go down to the lobby in my nightwear, and he comes up to me and doesn't speak English; he only speaks Spanish, right? He gave me the cake and started turning around to go on his bike, and I was like, 'Excuse me, where's my pizza?'"
"He forgot your pizza?" Lando chuckled, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
"It gets worse." Sofia sighed dramatically and continued, "He then acts like he doesn't know what pizza is. I'm like, 'No, no, no, no, no.' I speak French, English, and Italian. Hell, I know bits of Arabic, and I don't even know why. Point is, everyone knows what a pizza is. How can you live in London and not know what a pizza is? Fuck off, fuck off. We all know what a pizza is."
"Not everyone." Lando shrugged.
Sofia scoffed, "Shut up; we all know what a pizza is, even if you don't eat it. We all know what it's spelled like. We all know how it's pronounced. We all know what pizza is! You can even say it in different ways, pizza or pizza; however, your culture makes you say it; we all know what a pizza is, okay? So he's trying to act like he doesn't know what a pizza is. I'm like, 'Where's my pizza?' Eventually, he pulls up Google Translate, and I type in 'Where is my pizza?' And so he reads it, then types in something, and I read it, and it says, 'The restaurant refused to give me the pizza.' I was like, 'Excuse me?!'"
Lando wasn't even laughing at this point; he was wheezing. It wasn't as funny as it should've been for how he was laughing, but Sofia always made everything funny.
"So I was like, 'Why?' And he goes, 'I don't know, he said I don't have the facilities.' I was like, what a weird word. I didn't know what to say, and he said someone else would take care of it and to not worry and enjoy my cake. I was pissed and so confused. I still got charged and whatever, but I got that fixed. So I ordered the pizza again, but this time, I called the shop to see what the issue was. The guy spoke Italian, and so I obviously spoke Italian back to him, and so I was like, 'Ciao, uh, I've got a mini question. I just ordered a pizza, and the driver said you refused to give it to him.' And so he was like, 'Is this Sofia?' And I was like 'yes,' and he said, 'Yes, hello, uh, it would have been a big risk.'"
"A big risk to deliver pizza?" Lando raised his eyebrows with a snort, "It's not gold."
"Exactly!" Sofia sighed and continued with her story, "So the man was like, 'the driver came on a bike, and that is risky.' Like what? How is that risky? So he said, 'The pizza! The pizza! What if it shifts and ebbs and flows inside the box?'" Sofia dragged a hand down her face and then mocked the man, "'What if it shifts and ebbs and flows inside the box?!' Like, bro, I do not care! I promise! I just wanted my pizza! Like, let the pizza ebb and flow, babe! Let the pizza ebb and flow! It's my pizza! I want it to ebb and flow, okay?! So I'm like, 'listen, I don't care if the next person comes on a camel, a horse, a rat— give them the pizza. Give them the goddamn pizza!"
"God, I am never ordering pizza in London." Lando snicked.
Sofia slapped his arm playfully, "Let me finish. So he was like, 'Are you sure? At your own risk?' Like yes! At my own risk, holy shit. I just wanted my pizza—"
Sofia's running shoes halted abruptly when someone accidentally ran straight into her. "Hey!" Sofia exclaimed as she lost her footing, grabbing Lando's arm to prevent herself from falling over. "Watch where you're going."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The girl dusted her hands off and reached her hand out to steady out Sofia, her brown eyes apologetic as she looked down at the designer. "Oh my god, I love you so much!"
Sofia internally groaned as she looked up, not saying anything yet to see who the fan was talking to because, at that point, it could've been her or Lando.
"Could you take our picture?" The girl shoved her phone in Lando's hands without notice and moved to stand next to Sofia. "I love your brand so much!"
Sofia let out a surprised laugh when the girl stood next to her, "Oh, um, thank you!"
Lando cleared his throat to stifle a laugh and positioned the cellphone camera at a good angle. "Okay, uh, three, two... one!"
"Thank you so much!" The girl exclaimed with a wide grin as she took her phone back.
"No problem. Have a good day!" Sofia nodded with a thin-lipped smile
"You too!" The girl left with a wave and disappeared from view.
Sofia cleared her throat, rubbed her hands along her athletic shorts, and looked at Lando with a sigh, "Do you want me to continue ranting?"
"Absolutely!" Lando nodded right away and resumed walking."I need to know how you got your pizza or if you even got it at all."