The premiere is loud.

Cameras click in rapid succession. Reporters call out my name. Somewhere, music is playing, but it’s almost completely drowned out by the buzz of voices.

I smile for a picture, thank some bearded guy, and take the glass of water Max presses into my hand.

We half-heartedly talk about something meaningless until I suddenly feel an elbow nudge against my side. Not hard. Just enough to make me look up.

"What?" I mumble.

He nods to the right. "Uh…{{user}} is over there…" I follow his gaze, confused.

And then I see her.

In an instant, every conversation around me disappears. Everything fades into a dull blur of noise.

She’s standing on the other side of the room. Elegantly dressed. A glass of champagne in her hand.

The man beside her leans down and says something into her ear with a grin. She laughs. Not that polite smile she gives strangers. Not forced.

It’s real. Carefree.

He laughs too and places a hand on the small of her back.

It’s only a small touch, but my stomach immediately tightens.

I used to be the one who did that.

"I didn’t know she was coming. I usually check who’s attending events like this, but…sorry, mate." Max says quietly.

I swallow. "It’s okay. I didn’t know either." That’s all I can manage.

I just stare at her. It’s crazy. Years have passed. Years in which everything has changed.

I’m a fresh Formula 1 World Champion now. And she’s built a life of her own.

And yet I still recognize every single movement.

The way she tilts her head back when she laughs. The way her thumb slowly traces the rim of her glass while she’s listening. The way she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear without even realizing she’s doing it.

Little things. Completely insignificant things.

But somehow they’re enough.

Everything feels like it did back then.

When we sat on the roof of her parents house. When we talked for hours about our future as if it had already been decided.

When we both believed love would be enough.

"Lando?" Max’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. "Do you want to leave? Or..should we go over and say hi?"

It takes me a moment to understand what he means. My eyes stay fixed on her.

She looks happy. Calmer than she used to. Not like someone who’s waiting for something from the past to come back.

Or rather…someone.

I slowly shake my head. "No. It’s okay. She’s happy, I’m happy. Let’s leave it that way."

Max nods. He knows the story. He knows there was never a fight.

No affair. No lies.

We were happy together. We were two people who loved each other…whose lives eventually went in different directions.

Two people who believed love would be enough.

And I wish I could turn the time back to the night we met.

I turn my attention back to the room and try to focus on the conversations. On other people. On the camera flashes.

On anything except her.

But it doesn’t work. Throughout the entire evening, I keep catching myself searching the room for her.

As if part of me needs to make sure she’s really here. Or maybe…that she’s looking over at me just as often as I’m looking at her.

I laugh at the right moments. Shake hands. Smile for cameras.

Everything goes exactly as it always does. Only my eyes betray me. Again and again, they wander across the room. Almost automatically.

Until I find her again.

She’s standing alone now. The man from earlier is gone. Probably caught up in conversation somewhere else.

She slowly turns the champagne glass between her fingers and for a brief moment, simply looks around the room.

Then our eyes meet. Just for a second. Maybe two. Normally, this is where you’d look away. Pretend nothing happened.

And I try. I really do. But my legs are already carrying me toward her.

"Lando? I thought you didn’t want to go over to her." I hear Max behind me.

I let out a slow breath. "I didn’t. But now I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened if I'd just gone over and said hello."