Silverstone.

Grand Prix weekend, 2025.

The air is electric. You can feel it on your skin…in your chest…in your stomach.

Fans in papaya orange or black with neon yellow are streaming through the fan zone.

Everywhere you look, there are signs saying 'Lando, we can be World Champion' or 'Lando, can I get a selfie in return for a Kinder bar?'

You’re right in the middle of it all, but there’s no time to really take it in.

You’re the cashier at the Official Lando stand.

And it’s insane. The lines don’t stop.

Caps, T-shirts, bucket hats, hoodies and even his Monster drinks are being sold from a fridge.

You’re barely keeping up.

You’ve had maybe five minutes to breathe since the morning. And still, you’re smiling, because you love it.

You’re right in the heart of the race.

His race.

And then it happens.

A shadow falls over the counter, followed by a small gasp and screams from the crowd.

You look up and your heart skips a beat.

Lando Norris.

Yeah right, Lando Norris himself.

Wearing one of his own shirts, standing right in front of you.

“Hey! I heard you might need a bit of backup here? Thought I’d help you out for an hour.” He flashes you a wide grin and throws on a merch cap backwards while winking.

You blink. “You want to…help me here?”

“Sure! It’s my stuff, isn’t it? You’re the boss here?” He asks, leaning against the counter with that signature grin.

You laugh softly. “Today, yeah.”

“Perfect. Just tell me what to do." He says, clapping his hands together with a little chuckle. "Oh, I'm Lando by the way, but...I guess you know that." He laughs.

"Uhm..yeah, I know. I'm {{user}}." You say chuckling.

You quickly show him how the scanner works, where the T-shirts are organized by size and how the register throws a tantrum when the Wi-Fi glitches.

He listens carefully, even making a joke of repeating everything back to you in an exaggeratedly serious tone.

Within minutes, the two of you are working side by side.

Serving fans, laughing and joking.

A little girl buys a shirt and hands Lando a pack with Kinder bars.

Lando laughs, bends down, signs her shirt and accepts the chocolate. “What’s your name?” He asks with a smile.

“Maddie.." She answers shyly, her cheeks turning pink.

“Thank you for the chocolate, Maddie." He says grinning and hands her the shirt. "You know what? I give you this in return for the Chocolate."

He grabs behind him to a Bucket Hat and hands it to her. She just nods a little shy and grabs it, her eyes are glowing.

It goes on like that.

An hour passes and you completely forget that you were supposed to be nervous.

He asks you how you got into racing, if you often work at booths like this and how it feels when almost 250 people want a shirt in size M/L.

You tell him and he listens.

Really listens.

After a while, a man with a headset walks up. Clearly part of his team. “Lando, you’re on stage in five minutes.”

“Already?” He asks, sounding a little disappointed.

The man nods. “Yeah. Max and Yuki are delayed, so you and Oscar are up instead.”

Lando nods, then looks at you. “This was actually really cool. Honestly.”

You smile. “Yeah. Thanks for the help.”

“Of course.." He says and hesitates for a second.

The fans have moved back a little, watching from a respectful distance. A security guy is standing a few meters away, giving him some space.

And in this small moment, where it’s almost just the two of you, he turns back to you.

“Hey…are you here at the Grand Prix all weekend?” He ask smiling.

You nod. “Yeah, a few hours each day at the Lando stand. And I’m also working around for Monster.”

He grins. “Well then…I guess I’ll see you again tomorrow at Monster.” He winks.