Faking it || Lando Norris LN

53

Friday, Belgium Grand Prix

Charles drove both of them to the circuit on Friday. He'd spent about five minutes figuring out which playlist he should play in the car —any option seemed wrong. Upbeat music might make Olivia uncomfortable, and he was scared soft music could make her cry.

"Play whatever you want," Charles smiled and handed his phone over as he pulled out of the parking lot and began driving.

She scrolled for a few minutes before locking his phone and staring at the window instead. Charles swallowed hard. Seeing her like this was breaking his heart. Olivia had never jumped into a car with him and decided against playing music. A cold drop of sweat threatened to escape from Charles' forehead.

Olivia didn't have the best practice sessions. At best, she'd managed a P8. Lando hadn't done well either, settling for a P5. He hadn't had such a poor result in a practice session in years. Even during previous times in which his car had had some damage that affected his performance during the sessions, it was weird for him to place outside the top three spots.

After freshening up, Olivia scrolled through Twitter to kill time until Charles was ready to go. Her eyes stumbled on a few pictures of Lando leaving a nightclub in the early morning hours. That explains it, Olivia thought about his result. He's probably too hungover or too tired after fucking someone. It didn't make it hurt less, though.

She stood up from the couch of her private room in the Ferrari Lounge when she heard someone knock.

"Let's go," Charles smiled softly. She grabbed her things and joined him.

Still, his smile was tough to keep on Charles' face. A pang gripped his heart as they both made their way through the paddock and occasionally stopped to chat with a couple of people they stumbled upon.

Olivia was excellent at acting like everything was fine, and it formed a knot inside Charles' throat instead. People may notice she was a little quieter than usual, but that was about the only thing they could've possibly found out. However, her mask would fall as soon as they got back inside the car. Olivia let out a sigh and perched some sunglasses over her nose.

Charles didn't know this, but she'd bought them at a random store near the hotel. Yesterday, Olivia stepped outside the hotel to get some fresh air and walked for a couple of minutes. As she walked back, she saw a group of photographers at the end of the street. She nervously dug through her purse, looking for some sunglasses to cover her puffy face.

Only to find Lando's sunglasses at the bottom of the purse.

Her face had gone white. Her legs were wobbly. She put them back inside the purse in a heartbeat, almost as if she'd accidentally touched a burning surface. Olivia rushed to buy a new pair at a souvenir spot three stores away. They had only been five dollars and looked almost comical on her, but she didn't care.

Her body was still freezing cold as she slammed the hotel room door behind her and tried to get rid of Lando's sunglasses, but she had only managed to hide them from herself at the bottom of her suitcase.

"This isn't the way to the hotel," Olivia said as she realized Charles was driving in the opposite direction.

"I know," Charles muttered, barely managing a slight smile as he made another turn.

He drove for 20 minutes. The Spa Francorchamps circuit was way behind them as they moved through the suburbs. Charles parked the car at a small building, but instead of entering it, they walked a couple of blocks to one of the stores next to the avenue.

Olivia's eyes widened as she realized they'd entered a rage room. Charles gestured for her to begin gearing up as he walked over to the 17-year-old behind the desk with a hundred-dollar bill inside his hand, but before he could deliver them, Charles sighed and looked at her.