Doomed - Charles Leclerc

14

-Charles-

As he stepped out of the car, it was Vera who congratulated him. It wasn't Lora, but he was still glad there was someone there who would be happy for him. He hugged his friend as Carlos called out to them.

"Vera, I thought you were here for me," Carlos said as he got out of his car.

"That doesn't mean I can't congratulate your teammate on his pole position," she replied.

"But I am your brother," Carlos argued.

"Then qualify better, like Charles," she said, purely to annoy her brother.

"Congrats, Charles," she said as she kissed his cheek. He knew it was only to provoke Carlos, since she was currently dating someone.

"Hands off my sister, Leclerc."

"Don't worry, mate. I am married," he said as he let go of Vera Sainz.

It was when he turned around that his stomach dropped. Though he only saw her back, he recognized her. He would recognize his girl anywhere. Happiness filled him; she had come to support him after all. As he watched her hurry away as fast as she possibly could, he realized she probably saw what had just happened without the right context. It must've looked like there was something going on between them now that he and Lora weren't in such a good place. He needed to make sure she would know that was not the case.

Without excusing himself, he ran out of the garage, trying to catch up with her. She was surprisingly good at making her way through, better than he was. Due to all the people trying to stop him to congratulate him, he'd lost her in the crowd. Shit.

He stood there for a moment, thinking about what to do. Then, it hit him: he had to find Kika. He made his way over to the Alpine garage, hoping to find her. Though it looked like luck wasn't on his side today. Even Pierre was unfindable. Great.

-

That night he was unable to reach Lora. Though he got the pole position, he wasn't able to enjoy that feeling. He hoped she would be at the race tomorrow, so he could speak to her. After all, she'd flown out to Miami to support and surprise him.

As he layed in bed he sincerely wished Vera wouldn't have been there, so that his Lora would have surprised him. He imagined what it would be like. She would surprise and congratulate him, and give him a hug. More than he'd gotten since her accident. His stomach ached with how much he missed her. God, he missed her.

Since her accident, things obviously hadn't been the same. He'd managed for Aurora to fall in love with him once, god knew how. Now, he had to make her fall for him once again. His wife, who he loved with his entire heart, didn't love him back. He'd only felt miserable since her accident. His fingers ached to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, to tell her how much he loved her, though he knew she wouldn't want that. She did not remember loving him; fate was cruel.

Her flying out here felt like progress, while simultaneously today felt like a step backwards. Then and there, in his hotel bed, he vowed he would make her fall in love with him again. She fell for him once, sure he was able to make her fall from him again?

-

As the lights went out, he pushed his throttle, propelling the car to high speed. In the first lap, he managed to stay ahead of Verstappen, but distractions soon took their toll. Unable to focus on the race, he still hadn't seen or spoken to Lora, and his mind was consumed by thoughts of her. The stupid race became insignificant; all he cared about was her.

In the second lap, his mind wandered to Lora, causing him to be overtaken by Max. Would she be here today? Overtaken again, he blocked out his team radio, realizing he needed to refocus on the race. Despite his efforts, after a few laps, he accepted that he just couldn't. As he drove past the checkered flag, he had dropped down to 15th place. What a shit race.

As he drove his car back into the garage, he hoped to see Lora there. Disappointed but not surprised, he noted she wasn't there. Getting out of his car, he ignored any team members, attempting to leave the garage immediately. However, before he could exit, he was halted by his PR manager.

"We have to get you to your post-race interview," she told him.

"I can't," he said, trying to walk past the middle-aged woman.

"Charles, you have to, you know that," she sighed with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Fine, can we make it quick?"

"Sure, let's go," she agreed as she walked him to his interview.

-

"Charles, what happened today?" the interviewer asked.

He didn't want to answer, though he knew he had to.

"I got distracted," he honestly told the interviewer.

"By what?"

He considered telling the truth but decided against it. He and Lora had agreed to keep her accident and memory loss out of the press. Therefore, revealing anything about it would raise questions he didn't feel like answering.

"No comment," he said as he walked away, leaving everyone behind. He had to find Aurora.