Doomed - Charles Leclerc

9

-Aurora-

The weekend following Pierre and Kika's dinner at their apartment was marked by an unspoken tension between Aurora and Charles. She had immersed herself in a routine—morning runs, breakfast outdoors, a return home for a shower, followed by reading and intermittent naps. But most noticeably, she avoided Charles, maintaining a silent distance that hung heavy in the air. She knew he missed her. Though, she didn't want to be missed, not by him.

The last thing she remembered from before her accident was moving to Paris. She just turned 21 back then. Just as she recently turned 25, not that she remembered... Before she moved to Paris, she ended her relationship with Alexandre. Not because she necessarily wanted to, no. While she was moving to Paris for her studies, he was moving to Tokyo for his. It might not have been fair of her to make that decision for the both of them, but she knew that kind of distance wasn't going to survive.

Her and Alexandre had been in school together. When Aurora was 15 and started a new year of high school, he entered her class. He had to repeat that year, which made him a year older than Aurora was. They quickly became friends, and after some years of friendship, they had finally started dating before Aurora's 19th birthday. They had dated for two years when they had broken up, due to both of them moving away.

Though Aurora apparently got over him, built a new life, met new people, and fell in love again, it still felt like she broke up with him just a few weeks ago. If she were to be honest, that heartbreak still consumed her, even though it wasn't fair to Charles. She wondered how he was, and more importantly: where? She wondered if he stuck around in Tokyo after his studies, or if he might have moved back to Europe. She was 25 right now, which meant he was 26, just like Charles. She shook her head, determined not to think about him. Like Kika had said to her in the hospital, she had married Charles for a reason. She had to trust herself on that. Still, this was something that was hard to do without remembering having the proper closure with Alexandre.

Today was Monday, the 22nd of April 2024, exactly one year since Aurora and Charles had exchanged vows and committed to a shared journey. But as the evening came, Aurora, lost in the rhythm of her routine, had forgotten the significance of the date.

Today, she had reorganized their book collection in alphabetic order. Going through their books made her wonder if she once already read most of them or just loved collecting books she would never read. She made a mental note to ask Charles about it.

When she sat back down on the couch, her mind wandered back to Alexandre. It wouldn't hurt to check his socials, right? She got herself a glass of water and instagram on her laptop. When his name popped up on the screen she clicked on it. Scrolling through his feed, it became clear he no longer lived in Tokyo. He lived in Monaco.... Of course he did... She put some M&M's in her mouth, one rolling off the couch, which is why she had to position herself in a not so great position to get it back. That wasn't five seconds, right? Going through his highlights to see what he had been up to, her heart finally sank; he was with someone. She knew she wasn't supposed to feel jealous, yet she could not control that feeling lingering in the back of her mind. He seemed... happy. At least that's something.

Then and there, another thought came to her. What did her own Instagram feed look like? As she scrolled through her own Instagram, she felt as if she was looking into the life of another person... She clicked on a photo of her and Charles. He, she, both of them, they seemed happy as well... Since she had woken up from her accident she had not yet seen Charles so happy. Now, he had bags underneath his eyes, his smile never genuine. Though, she couldn't blame him. Imagine waking up to a life where your wife does not remember loving you... She felt somewhat sorry for him, not really having thought about his perspective in this mess.