Love, Monaco

00.04

"Come with me" the guy says while holding out a hand to me, I peer at the stranger hesitating, "is it weird of me to ask what your name is first?" I ask, he laughs, "I'm Charles" he tells me while smiling, "I'm Della" I reply and gently place my hand in his for him to walk me over to a kart. I squeeze his hand because of my nerves, it makes him look back at me, "sorry" I mumble while blushing, "just relax Della" I nod and he gently tugs me next to the kart before letting go of my hand. "First things first lets get that helmet on you" Charles says while grabbing it out of my hand, I look into his eyes as he gently pushes it over my head, "does it feel okay?" he asks, I nod and he grins before securing the strap under my chin. "Okay Della, time to take a seat" I take a deep breath before lowering myself onto the seat. Charles crouches next to me, he explains the controls to me, which ramps up my nerves again. 

My gloved hands clutch onto the steering wheel tightly, "relax your hands, no need to squeeze the wheel that hard Del" I peer over at him, "thank you for doing this, I know i'm being a major wimp about karting" I say my voice slightly muffled because of the helmet, "this just means that you owe me double now" I let out a laugh relaxing slightly. "In all seriousness you truly don't need to worry out here, I grew up on this track and safety is a priority, next to having fun" he adds with a reassuring smile, I nod feeling better because of his statement. "I'm ready" I say with determination a few seconds later, he pats my helmet and stands up, "get out there Della and have fun" I nod and step on the gas leaving the pits to get onto the track. 

☕️☕️☕️

After a few laps on the track I drive back into the pit lane stopping my kart where I started, I'm grinning from ear to ear as I stand up. I pull my helmet off, "did you see me?" I ask my two friends who are smiling at me, "we sure did Del" Émie replies as I bound over to them, "that was amazing, I don't know why I was so scared" I exclaim happily. The two brunettes laugh but I'm busy looking for Charles, I spot him a few feet away smiling at us, I run over and throw my arms around him, he stumbles a bit before bringing his arms around me too, "thank you so much for getting me out on the track" I say, "you remind me of me after my first time out there" he replies as I step out of his arms feeling as if I crossed a line with the hug. 

A cough makes me look over my shoulder, Émie and Wren are looking at me as if I have two heads, I wave them over happily watching them walk over unsurely. "Charles these are my friends, Émilie and Wren, girls this is Charles the guy who saved me at the coffee shop that one morning" their eyes light up at the introduction, "it's so nice to meet you, this girl has been talking about you so much since then" my face heats up at Wren's statement, "you are a godsend, making sure that we got our coffee" Charles laughs but is looking at me as I try to hide my red face. "It's nice to meet you too, i'm glad that I could step in when needed" he says to my two friends. Once I feel that my face has cooled down I look over at the three of them to see their eyes on me, "stop that" I exclaim hating that their attention is on me, Wren laughs but then winks at me, "we love you Del" Émie says making me roll my eyes, "love you too" I mumble but feel the smile on my face. 

"Well I should go, I have to be somewhere" Charles says after a few minutes of chatting with us, "we're going too, Del we'll meet you at the car" I look over at them with wide eyes, but they just smile at me innocently. Once i've stumbled out of my race suit I take my bag from where I left and walk next to Charles to leave the track. "Your friends aren't very subtle" he says making me smile, "yeah that's for sure, sorry about that" I respond, "I don't mind, it must be a bit much for you though" I shrug, "i'm used to it by now" he laughs and I don't want him to stop. We get to the parking lot, walking towards the few cars that are still there, "it was great to officially meet you Della" I peer over at the brunette still smiling, "yeah it really was" he pulls out some car keys from his pocket and my eyes spot the trademark logo of Ferrari on them. My eyes widen, "the Ferrari is yours?" I ask shocked, he smiles sheepishly, "yes...is that bad?" I shake my head vigorously, "god no, I was admiring it when we got here earlier, my older brother loves Formula 1 and his favourite team is Ferrari so I took a picture to send to him" I explain embarrassed. The way Charles tenses up confuses me, "do you like Formula 1?" I shrug, "if its on i'll watch, but I don't know any of the drivers and the only team I somewhat know about is Ferrari because of the brother" I reply, he relaxes at my response but I don't ask him about the weird behaviour. 

When we stop next to the dark grey sports car Charles turns to me, "I would really like to see you again Della" I smile at him, "I would like that too Charles" he smiles and proceeds to take out his phone, I take mine out as well, "we won't be able to do that unless we can contact each other" I nod and we swap phones after unlocking them, I type in my information while smiling. I finish, giving the device back to him and he hands mine back, "I'll text you later" I say he nods and surprises me by bringing me into a hug, after a few seconds he lets go while smiling, "bye Della" I wave and watch him get into the gorgeous Ferrari, sliding on his sunglasses before giving me one last smile and driving out of the parking lot. I sigh as I walk over to our rental car a few feet away where Émie and Wren are waiting, "did you secure his number?" I laugh at the wording, "yes" they squeal making me cringe, "so happy for you babe" I smile looking down at my feet thinking about the guy that helped me face my fear in a matter of minutes.