Not My Sister - Charles Leclerc

Chapter 11

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A few days later,

The qualifying ended with Valtteri on pole position. Charles found his way back to the private area of Ferrari's paddock and found Sebastian sitting on the rooftop with his phone in hand. He decided to join him.

"Hey man," he greeted him. "Mind if I sit here too?"

The two men chatted with each other and Seb told Charles that his girlfriend, Hanna will join him soon in this week's GP. "Yeah, she's gonna arrive tonight," he said with a grin.

Charles just nodded while smiling in reply. He sipped his drink in silence. Sebastian, being the quick witted man he was, he noticed something right away.

"Where's Clarisse? I haven't seen her around these days." he asked carefully.

Charles instantly groaned, suddenly reminded of her absence was not a great feeling to have right now. "She went back to Monaco to be with my family," how many times does he have to explain this?

"I see. Not trying to meddle with your business... but, are you feeling okay?" Seb asked him.

The young driver didn't answer immediately. He was not okay, obviously, but he didn't want to admit it. He only shrugged, didn't even dare to look at Seb when he opened his mouth to answer. "I..."

"You miss her," Sebastian said, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Charles' mouth fell agape in disbelief. "What? No-"

"Yes, you do." the older man chuckled while patting his head. Charles finally let his shoulders slump down, sighing in defeat. "Maybe a little.." he mumbled.

"You can talk to me. Sometimes we need to speak our minds, don't let yourself sink too much in it. It's not healthy," Sebastian said again with an assuring smile.

Sebastian has been very supportive of him since the first day he signed with Ferrari. He thought maybe it's okay to share this with him, since he wasn't comfortable enough to talk about it with other drivers in his age like Pierre and others.

"What I'm about to say to you might make you vomit," he warned Seb.

The German pouted and shrugged his shoulder. "I've had some bad lunch today, so... can't wait to throw it all out anyways," he chuckled, trying to make Charles to be less tense.

Being the supportive friend he was, Sebastian managed to make Charles spill everything about what happened between him and Clarisse.

"I think I... I'm in love with her. I'm not sure but..." he stammered. "You must be thinking how disgusting I am right now, right?" He looked at Seb in worry.

"Not at all, silly! I completely understand your situation." He patted the young boy on his shoulder. "It's every human's right to fall in love," he said again.

Charles looked up to Seb as if he was searching for the support he needed, and thank God it was there. "She's not related to you. You're just childhood friends, right? You grew up together so you and your family probably know her more than anyone else does. It makes sense, don't think otherwise."

"But... How are the others gonna think about it? I don't think other people can have an open mind like yours," Charles said in worry.

"Here," Seb turned towards Charles so he could see him more clearly. "While you sort those feelings out with yourself, the best thing we could do is to assure the media again that you guys are not related. I believe they're gonna ask about her later after in the interviews. Just slip some casual information about her here and there so that the public is gonna be prepared. It's just a suggestion from me," Sebastian told him calmly. Charles could only nod at the thought. "I suggest you discuss this with your PR manager as well. I'm sure Mia would understand and help you with this."

"Don't think too much about it. You're a Formula 1 driver. Focus on the race tomorrow! Everything's gonna be okay."

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The Chinese Grand Prix ended with Hamilton in first position. Sebastian finished third and Charles fifth. It was a pretty good race for Ferrari since they scored some points but the season was still young and there were still a lot more races to go.

However, Charles still thought it was not good enough. Putting his feelings aside, he walked out to the paddock towards the reporters that were waiting for him. With some consultation with Mia earlier, he did just exactly what Seb suggested.

"All of us here were wondering where is your beautiful little sister? Is she not here with us at the moment?", one of the reporters asked him. He put on his best smile and most neutral answer ever. "She's back home with my family in Monaco, and actually Clarisse is not my blood sister."

The reporters said that they've heard rumors here and there that he and Clarisse were not related and they were glad to have him confirm the info directly. Thank god the interview was not as hard as he thought. Charles was glad he talked to Seb earlier. To finally be able to let some things out of his chest felt amazing rather than keeping it to himself.

Later in the evening, he and Seb met again at the hotel lobby. "Congrats on P3 once again, you deserve it." Charles said while high-fiving him. "Thanks, man. Ah... in a few days, we're gonna leave for Azerbaijan."

"Yes, yes... such tight schedule." He wished he could have more time before the next GP starts so he might be able to go home for a while. "Have you heard from her?", Seb asked quietly.

"Huh? No... not yet."

"Ah... just text her or something. Or give her a call! It's been a while since you've heard from her right? I heard Lando frequently chat on the messenger with her. You don't want him to overtake you in this, do you?" Seb teased him and Charles looked at him, horrified.

"Lando did... what?"

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A/N:

Hey guys! What do you think about the race at Imola yesterday? It was spicy as hell with the rain and the red flags and everything. Netflix's be having so much tea to serve after this xD by the way, did I mention that English isn't my first language? I'm sorry if there's an error here and there. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment :")