Heard it through the grapevine

Chapter 7

Helena made sure to be careful on the day of the race. She made eye-contact with Charles a few times, but no words had been exchanged between them. She needed to lay low after the events of this morning, and she knew Olivia would just believe her even less than she already did if she were to witness any interactions between Helena and Charles. 

She wasn't sure if she should tell Charles about what had happened. After all, it was technically only an issue which would end up affecting her job, not his. And also, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to tell him that even more people thought they were sleeping together. 

But throughout the day, Helena kept it professional and focused on her job. After all, despite popular belief, that was why she was here. It was her last day here before she would be returning to Monaco and Maranello. She'd finally run in to André who had been busy throughout the whole weekend. He hadn't had time to talk, but he promised that they would catch up once they were back in Maranello. It was crazy how the tables had turned since her arrival, and Charles had ended up being her go-to person at her first F1 race, instead of André. 

Her return home also meant that she wouldn't be seeing Charles as much anymore. He would be busy most of the week now that racing season was back for it's second half, and he would be traveling around the world. After Monza next week, they would be off to Singapore, thousands of miles away. 

Helena didn't want to think about that part yet, she was scared that it would mean the end of their already pretty fragile and new friendship. He would most likely forget about her pretty quickly, while she would be constantly reminded of him in both Monaco and Maranello, wondering how he was doing and what he might be up to. 

Helena knew not to expect anything, but she was hoping that he would not forget her. 

The race could almost not have gone better for Ferrari. Max won, as expected by most there, but both Carlos and Charles had put up a decent fight, and it was only the last 3 laps, that Max's fine had looked certain. Perez had come in second, closely followed by Charles and Carlos in P3 and P4. The relief had been visible all across the Ferrari garage, and the two drivers were greeted with claps and handshakes from engineers and mechanics once they arrived with their cars. 

"That was brilliant Carlos!" Helena wrapped her arms around Carlos, who was still in his helmet, once he had escaped the many people who wanted to congratulate him. Well not all. "Unbelievable no?!"  He removed his helmet and his whole face was covered in happiness, just like she'd expected. It certainly was a decent day to be a Ferrari fan. 

Carlos had managed to coerce her into coming out with them later to celebrate, not really knowing who "them" actually entailed. She assumed some of the other drivers would also be there. She had originally said no, not wanting to risk ending up in anymore situations that could potentially damage her career. 

But Carlos, in seeing her hesitation, had assured her that it was only a few people and that the venues generally tended to have pretty strict privacy policies in the VIP sections. "My girlfriend will also be there," Carlos told her. "So will Pierre's.. And some of his friends." Helena appreciated the heads up and the Carlos' sensing that she was probably feeling unsure about attending as an outsider. She appreciated that there were some non F1 people also joining, so that she would not be the only outsider to F1.

Helena had made sure to also take time to congratulate Charles on his performance. She knew it had been a challenging past couple of days, and therefore today also felt extra special. She pulled him in for a quick hug, not lasting more than a few seconds. He had sensed that she was more hesitant that she'd otherwise been during the weekend, but he did not think to address it, and assumed it had to be due to what the girls had said about her yesterday. 

He understood why she would want to create more distance between them in public, it was dangerous for her, being so far down the hierarchy, to have rumours flying around about her ethics. Especially ones that could potentially be damaging to her job. 

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