The Blackout ⤖ George Russell

T H I R T Y T H R E E

"No, no, no," Nora said and placed both of her hands in her hair. She walked around and shook her head. "That cannot be true. I saw what..." She swallowed. "He's obviously in love with you, not with me."

"No, he is not. He is not in love with me, and I am not in love with him. You are the only person he loves," Aubrey told Nora. "Besides his family," she added softly. "I cannot speak for him, but he wants you. And he thought he lost you, or that he didn't have a chance, because he thinks you're in love with Ben."

Nora's eyes widened, and she looked lost at Aubrey. "God, no. Absolutely not. Ben's a nice man, but no, we're just friends...and he's my doctor after all."

"Don't tell me, tell him," Aubrey said and pointed towards the door. "Listen, Nora. I would never steal a man who's so in love with you from you. We have bonded over the weeks because we were in the same situation." A small smile captured her face. "It's so obvious, even before it all happened. It honestly was a miracle how long you both were denying it. Everybody saw the love, the chemistry, the sparkle between you two, only the two of you did not see it."

Nora couldn't believe it and shook her head. "No, you're lying. George...he can't love me, no." He told her he loved her in Abu Dhabi, but things changed. And Nora believed the feelings as well, which was not true.

"We do stupid things when we're in love, Nora."

"I have to speak to him," Nora distractedly said.

"He's in Australia..."

Nora parted her lips; right, Australia. She lowered her arms and looked down. He was on the other side of the world and probably asleep. Her eyes locked with Aubrey's again. "That's why I'm going to Australia." It was impulsive, but she needed to go.

Aubrey's eyes widened. "You can't go to Australia, Nora. You are not allowed-"

"I don't fucking care."

"No, you can't. To Switzerland was a slight problem, let alone flying to Australia... On your own."

Nora looked bitchily at her. "You better book a flight for me, Aubrey. And don't you dare to tell someone," she said on a threatening tone and walked away. "I'm high on medicine, I tend to do stupid things all the time!" Nora yelled and walked to her room.

△

Being recognised everywhere was new for Nora. She used to get recognised by some people in F2, but it seemed like everybody knew her. At the airport of London plenty of people looked at her and said hi, some even took pictures of her. The flight crew knew who she was, people at the airport in Perth knew her and when entering Melbourne...it was a whole party. What a nearly deadly accident can change the knowledge about a person. It seemed like everybody knew Nora.

When flying to Switzerland, things were a lot easier. Nora was flying under the radar, the flying crew knew about Nora, and the airport was informed too. This time it was different; nobody knew about this impulsive action, and nobody was prepared on it.

"You are Nora Clarke, right?" The Uber driver looked in his mirror and locked his eyes with Nora. The traffic was horrible, especially now: the race weekend.

Nora pressed her lips into a thin line and looked outside of the car. She was away for over 24 hours now, but she has been more recognised than the past year.

"I didn't see it happen, but a mate of mine did, he was in Abu Dhabi. I'm glad you're okay, it must have been a shock," he said.

She knew he meant it kind, but she didn't see the fun in it anymore. "Thank you," she politely said.