Mr. Obnoxious
Hey! We still cool for tonight?
Also great playlist by the way!
Big fan of Noah Kahan 😊
Bluntina
Yeah, got nothing better to do I guess,
and I know. I have great taste!😉
I'm getting myself ready to go out tonight, whilst on FaceTime to my best friend, Claudia. She's currently in Milan shooting a new campaign.
"So hang on, you finally had a conversation with Lando and now you're going on a date with him?" Claudia questions, in absolute shock. Her face is a picture, I rarely see her this flustered.
"It's not a date. I'm going out with Oscar and he invited Lando." I huff, trying to defend myself.
It's not a date. Well it's a mate date. A colleague date? "Plus I sort of know of him if that counts. My brother is friends with him."
I pull another possible outfit from my wardrobe however it doesn't look how I imagined it would so it gets thrown to the growing pile of clean clothes adorning my bedroom floor.
"Uh-huh, so you don't have a crush on him or anything?" Claudia smirks as she enters another room with better lighting.
"Why would I have a crush on him? I've spoke to him once." I chuckle, "The only things I know about him is that we're on the same F1 team; he collects stress balls. Oh, and he likes Noah Kahan apparently."
She looks at me with that same playful look I've become all too familiar with. "Right, right... So why are you suddenly obsessing over your outfit?"
Shit. She's right.
"I'm not I just can't find anything nice to wear." I defend, stood in my mountain of clean clothes. She doesn't believe me, I can tell.
"So you don't find him attractive?" Claudia pry's, trying to get more information out of me.
Told you. I'm a useless liar.
"Oh no. He certainly is attractive." I blurt out without thinking, a wide smile forming across my lips.
Claudia glares at me, I can see her trying to hide her smile but she's making a poor attempt at it.
"I just don't know the guy very well. Plus, he puts me on edge." I try and justify, my face now resembling a ripe tomato.
Is it possible to talk to a guy once and like them?
I thought that just happened in the movies.
Claudia snaps me out of my thoughts, "How does he put you on edge exactly?"
I think about it for a moment, "I don't know he just makes me nervous I guess..."
I'm digging myself a deeper hole here aren't I?
"Uh-uh. Like a good nervous or a bad nervous?"
My best friend questions, seeking yet more information.
This woman should be a detective.
"Just, you know, nervous." I mutter, picking a pile of clothes up off of my bedroom floor. "I just struggle making friends, this is foreign knowledge to me."
I mean, I wasn't technically lying.
"Just be yourself. Stop overthinking everything." Claudia chuckles, sipping on her coffee. "If he doesn't like you, that's his loss."
I look at the items of clothes in my hand and hold them up in front of me admiring them in there mirror.
"I think we have found a winner. You have to wear that outfit!" Claudia grins proudly, she always did have an eye for fashion. "Now go. Have fun. And tell me all the details!"
"Bye Clauds." I smile slightly before ending the call, turning back to the mirror and studying the outfit.
I grab my guitar and climb into the Uber, making sure to ring Oscar to let him know I'm on the way.
I arrive at the Camden Eye a short while later, heading inside and straight toward the bar; handing my case to the bartender for safekeeping.
"Hey Vee, haven't seen you in a while. Your usual?" He greets happily, putting my order into the system.
"Been busy, and yes please." I offer a small smile, and tap my phone on the card reader.
"Well it's good to have you back!" He grins before handing me a bottle of lager. "Next act finishes in 20 minutes then the stage is all yours!"
I grab my beer and scan the room for an empty table, "Thanks James!"
I find one and head over to a free booth just in front of the stage, where I take a seat and scroll on my phone for a little while.
"Ah, there she is!" A familiar voice shouts out, I look up to see Oscar and Lando coming back from the bar.
"Took you long enough." I smirk as they reach the table. I glance over at Lando and my stomach does a strange flutter.
Oh no.
"Hey, got you a drink. You look nice." Oscar compliments, sitting down beside me.
"Thanks. You look, like you do everyday?" I chuckle, before turning my attention to a certain curly haired F1 driver. "Hello Lando."
"Hello Valentina. Nice outfit." he grins, and takes a seat opposite me.
There's that feeling again.
I take a sip of my beer and can't help but check Lando out a little more, he does look good. "Thanks, I bought it myself."
"When you going on?" Oscar gestures to the stage, snapping my focus away from my teammate.
I look up and squint my eyes slightly, the bright lights obscuring my vision somewhat. "In about 5 minutes, I think they're just wrapping up."
We sit quietly for the next few minutes, just watching the act on stage finish their performance.
The stagehands clear their instruments away, replacing it with my guitar.
I stand up and take a deep breath. "That looks like my cue. See you boys soon."
"Can we all please welcome to the stage, Camden Eye's resident guest.... Valentina DeLuca." The voice on the tannoy announces, causing the audience to clap and chant "We love Vee, We love Vee!"
How traumatic.
I look down from the stage, and smile at my teammates before picking up my guitar and taking a deep breath. "Thanks guys, it's good to be back here after so long! I'm glad you've missed me! Anyway... This is Drops of Jupiter. I know you guys know the words."
** Drops of Jupiter - Taylor Swift **
The crowd sing along, including Lando and Oscar, Lando turns to his teammate and I see him mouth something, but I can't quite work out what it is.
I end my first song and the crowd erupt into applause and cheers, causing me to grin from ear to ear. I take a quick sip of my drink and compose myself, before playing the second song in my set.
** Too Close - Hannah Trigwell **
I look down at the crowd, "Who here likes Ed Sheeran?"
The crowd cheers, of course they like Ed Sheeran, I mean who doesn't?
Well, Claudia doesn't, but that's a story for a different time.
"Thought as much!" I chuckle, playing the intro to Shivers.
** Shivers - Amber Leigh Irish **
"You know the drill by now, Any requests?" I ask, the crowd shouting out a few songs; including Oscar and Lando.
"Eminem!" Oscar shouts.
"Eminem... are you being serious Oscar?" I scoff, trying to hide my creeping smile. "Do you want to get up here and do it? I'm sure someone has a sandwich lying around!"
"Noah Kahan" Lando shouts out.
** Anyway - Noah Kahan **
I watch him as I play the song, he's singing along with me, he notices me looking and flashes me a cheeky grin, making a love heart with his hands.
My god, this guy knows how to woo a lady.
"As per tradition, the last song of my set is always an original." I look in the direction of the bar and nod to James the bartender.
I wait for a minute or so before continuing, taking the time to tune my guitar. "However this song requires more than just me and my guitar. So my good friends at Camden Eye have agreed to help me out."
A few people enter the stage with instruments, including James, who enters stage right with a keyboard. "Let's give a round of applause to James, Drew, Luke, Mikey and Sven, because without these guys this place wouldn't exist."
The audience clap and cheer for the staff that work in this amazing establishment. "Thanks for having me back, this is Another Love. Take it away James."
** Another Love - Tom Odell **
I head off the stage and back to our table, gulping down my drink.
"Wow!" Lando beams with pride, as he pulls me in for a hug. Now I'm not normally a hugger, but I have to admit I definitely enjoyed it. "Now that, that was amazing. You were amazing!"
"You did good Vee!" Oscar grins, tapping me on the shoulder, being all too familiar with my no hugging rule.