51. Jona

                                    

                                          
"And then they were just staring at each other, taking up all the space in the restaurant but neither of them really knew what to do." Charlotte explains to Emily about our stunt with Netflix yesterday. 
"They were flabbergasted and I don't freaking understand how they hadn't realised it before." I add, still thinking that it was stupid from Netflix that they hadn't realised they'd been given identical itineraries. "Now help me pick my dress." I say holding up my final two picks for the night. 
"Definitely the maroon one. It goes well with your hair." Emily answers with Charlotte backing her up. 
"It is form fitting, right?" Charlotte asks and I nod in response. "Lando won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." She ads with a wink.
"Alright!" I say taking the dress of the hanger and putting it on. 
"So who is coming?" Charlotte asks as we're in a taxi to the club. 
"As far as I know only us five. I invited more people, but pretty much everyone is enjoying their summer break." I say, a little sad that there aren't more people coming today. 
We walk into the club, being guided to the private vip room we rented, when I notice a familiar face standing in the vip room. 
"Carmen!" I say excitedly jumping into her arms. 
"Jona! Happy birthday." She says, as many more people jump up and yell the same thing. 
A big smile forms on my face, as I realise all the friends I have made during my time on the grid are here. 
"You liars, you all said you were already on summer break." I say pointing at the majority of the group. 
"Well glad to see you are happy were here." Carlos says with a pout, before giving me a hug and congratulating me on my birthday. 
Today's a really good day, being surrounded with all the people I've grown fond of over the past months. 
"Time for shots!" Charlotte says, pulling me off of our dance floor and to the small private bar. Max Verstappen and Emily already waiting at the bar. 
"Let's go!" Emily says, handing me a filled shot glass, as the four of us tip them back. 
"Next one's my pick." Max says, taking the list of shots from the bar tender and choosing the next one. The bartender seems happy to make them, handing us four filled shots. 
*** 
"I'm never doing shots again." I say as I'm hovering over Lando's toilet, Lando holding my hair back. 
"You said that after Austria you know?" He chuckles. 
"Yeah," I say before my body decides to empty my stomach once again. "You should go to bed, you're flying to Croatia tomorrow." I say to Lando, standing up and grabbing a hair tie to get my hair out of my face. 
"What are you going to do?" He asks, looking at me worried. 
"Take some aspirin, chug half a litre of water and get to bed too." I tell him, walking to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. 
I wake up with a throbbing head ache, I hadn't expect anything less. I open the group chat Lando had apparently made with the people who came last night. It is no surprise to see that Max and Charlotte haven't been great, just like me. No response from Emily yet, she seemed to have fun with Max Fewtrell. And I'm not sure, but I think they got into the same room last night. 
I put my phone away, the light making my head ache worse, when Lando enters the bedroom. 
"How are you feeling?" He asks, sitting down on the side of the bed. 
"Hungover." I say, taking the water bottle Lando brought from him and taking a sip from it. 
"How are our two guests doing?" I ask Lando, curious if either of them has made an appearance. 
"Sleeping in Emily's room. Or at least I think so." He says, confirming what I've been thinking. 
"They had fun last night." I say, thinking back about us last year in Brazil. 
"They certainly did." Lando says with a chuckle. 
*** 
"I'm going to miss you." I say to Lando as we're standing at the airport later that night. Emily and I drove Lando and Max to the airport for them to catch a flight to Croatia. 
"I'm going to miss you so much more." He says, putting his hands on my hips. I put my arms around his neck. His lips find mine, placing a meaningful kiss on them. "We'll see each other before you know it." He whispers. 
"I know, but I think this might be the longest we've been apart since we started dating." I say, sadness evident in my voice. 
"Well we will see each other in Belgium then?" He says referring to the fact that I'm going to the Netherlands after we come back from vacation. 
"Or you could come to the Netherlands before that?" I suggest. 
"Maybe I will." He says a suggestive smile on his face. 
I place a kiss on his lips once more before we actually say goodbye. From the corner of my eye, I can see Emily saying goodbye to Max in some awkward way. Things definitely happened last night. 
"So what happened between you and Max?" I ask Emily as I'm driving Lando's car back to his house. 
"Too much." Emily says. "I told you I wasn't going to do one night stands anymore." 
"And I told you, I'm not your babysitter." I say remembering our conversation from a while ago, where Emily told me I had to remind her not to go home with boys anymore. 
"But you said you'd help me to not go home with boys I've barely known." She says. 
"You didn't you went home with me and Lando, heck you slept in what even was your own bed. So I would say you took him home, rather than going home with him." 
"Ugh," 
"But was it good?" I ask Emily, a bright blush on her face. 
"Jona, stop questioning me." Emily responds. 
Mission accomplished. 
***
August 21nd 2022
I've been offline for pretty much the whole break, only using my phone to call Lando every now and then. But as soon as we land on Schiphol airport, returning from a well needed vacation on Mallorca, I realise it was something I shouldn't have done. 
"McLaren's golden couple broke up!" 
"Lando and Jona spending summer break in different countries!" 
"Jona spotted dancing with other men!" 
"Lando enjoying all men summer break. What happened between him and Jona?" 
What the heck is wrong with this world.