Doomed - Charles Leclerc

18

-Aurora-

The rest of the week passed without them speaking. It would be safe to say she didn't understand Charles and why he chose to deny her the truth, especially if he did remember those four years. It bothered her that her brain couldn't provide her with possible scenarios and persons due to the missing context. She avoided Charles as much as possible, not wanting to engage in small talk with his lie hanging above their heads.

"... which is why we decided I wouldn't come to Italy." As Kika's voice regained Aurora's focus, she looked up at her friend with a guilty expression.

"You zoned out, huh?" Kika said, taking a sip of her smoothie.

"Sorry," Aurora sighed, gazing out the window.

Kika seemed to engage in an internal dialogue before deciding to speak again. "How are things with Charles?" she asked as casually as possible, though they both knew it was anything but a casual topic. Aurora must've remained quiet for a moment too long because Kika chose to speak again, "What happened after the fight in the paddock, Auri?"

For a moment, Aurora wondered if she should confide in Kika, but then she remembered Kika had been nothing but a good friend to her.

"We kissed," she said, her cheeks turning red, and tried to avoid her friend's eyes by sipping her smoothie.

"You—"

"And then he lied to me," Aurora interrupted before Kika had the opportunity to form a proper response.

"He... lied? About what?"

"The morning after we kissed—after we got back home—I woke up, and he was gone. When he finally got back, he wouldn't tell me where he went off to. He even came back with flowers, as if to apologize for God knows what," she blurted out, focusing on anything but Kika. "When I asked him who it was, he said it was 'no one', as if that doesn't make it worse," Aurora sighed.

"You don't think he's cheating on you, do you?" Kika asked quite seriously.

"I don't know anything at this point," Aurora admitted, reaching the bottom of her glass.

"Have you talked to him about all this?" Kika asked as she too reached the bottom of her glass.

"We haven't talked since Monday when he got back from his disappearance," she shrugged.

"But Auri, it's Sunday," Kika stated.

"I know. I just— I can't talk to him when I know he isn't being honest with me. He has to want to be honest with me. The ball is in his court; he's the one who should start this conversation."

Kika nodded, "I suppose you're right, but Charles isn't big on openness, and this is hard on him too."

"I know. I just wish he would be honest with me despite all that is going on. Because this is only making it harder on the both of us."

-

As the sun woke her up on this early Monday morning, Aurora felt the need to do something with her day; to be productive. Just sitting alone with her thoughts would not help her get any further. She had errands to run, groceries to get, places to be.

As she was walking around the house, looking for her shoes, she bumped into Charles.

"I'm leaving today," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Where to, or can't you tell me?" she said indifferently as she continued the search for her shoes.

"For work, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is this weekend," he said as he leaned against the door. She wasn't sure what to say, which is why she said nothing.

"Why are you currently creating an enormous mess?" he asked, apparently insisting on a conversation before he left Monaco.

She rolled her eyes, "I can't find my shoes."

He smiled. He fucking smiled. This was not funny.

"They're probably on the balcony," he said, nudging his head to insinuate where the balcony was, as if she didn't know that by now. As she opened the doors to the balcony, she was annoyed to find out he was right; they were on the balcony. After she put on her shoes, she walked back to the hallway, where Charles was still leaning against the door.

"I need to go," she stated, still avoiding his eyes.

He sighed, "Lora."

"I have places to be, Charles," she said, crossing her arms.

"So do I," he said, not moving.

"Could you just please step aside?"

"Lora."

"What is it, Charles?"

"I am not cheating on you," he stated, searching her eyes for thoughts.

But how could she know he wasn't? He was not being honest with her, and why would he feel the need to deny he was cheating when he actually wasn't? She wanted to believe him, and somewhere she did, just not enough.

"I need to go," she said, reaching for the doorknob as he finally stepped aside. She walked through the door, not looking back at Charles. Because those eyes... Those eyes could ruin her at any moment.

"Lora, please," his voice finally cracked in desperation. She wanted to leave like that; she wanted him to know how mad she was. She just wanted him to be honest with her. She wanted a lot of things, but she couldn't leave like that. Without looking at him, she spoke, "Good luck, I'm sure you'll do great."

Before he was able to have any sort of reaction, she closed the front door and got into one of their cars. She really did have errands to run, groceries to get, places to be.