lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

4.

"Dear, call us by our names, and you as well, Gianna." This time it was Hervé who spoke. A kind smile appeared on his lips, making both Italians more welcome.

"Friends call me Gigi," Gianna reacted quickly, letting them know she considered them friends.

"I thought you would come with a husband," Pascale said as all of them sat at the table. Pia was surprised when she saw Jules there. She thought he'd be with his family.

"I'm sorry about that, but he's a busy man. He's coming back from England this weekend," Gianna blurted out with a smile on her face, but Pia could recognise it was a fake one. She knew something was going on between her parents for some time, but now wasn't the time to talk about it.

"Charles told us that he works in motorsport. I'm sure that they'd have a good chat with my husband." Pascale seemed to be a friendly woman. Her husband was quiet, but Charles always said to Pia that he was the comedian of the family.

"Oh, for sure. Anthonie is such a talkative person." Gianna said bluntly. She didn't want to talk about her husband because she didn't want to lie during her first visit here. She was tired of painting Anthonie as the best husband under the moon when he wasn't one.

"Anyway, this is Lorenzo, our eldest son," Hervé pointed out at the oldest of Leclerc's siblings. "The youngest one is Arthur, and this is Jules. He's a good family friend, but he's leaving tomorrow because he wants to spend Christmas with his family." Gianna was impressed with their family. She was also a bit jealous because she always dreamt about having a big family, but on the other hand, she knew that she and Anthonie wouldn't be able to manage it since he was away for almost nine months a year.

"Oh, where are you from, Jules?" Gianna asked because she didn't want to experience the awkward silence.

"It's not that far away. I live in Nice. If you don't mind, I wanted to ask. Is Pia the only child?" Jules asked her in return because even he was taken aback by her age.

"Yeah, she is, but I think it's for the best. Anthonie is away a lot, and I'm busy with my work," she replied. Pia couldn't tell how busy her mother really was. She worked from home most of the time, but it was true that Gianna and her laptop had almost grown to each other. Gianna only put it away when Pia lay on her lap while watching TV. She ran her fingers through Pia's hair, causing Pia to fall asleep. She always carried her to her room and then got back to work.

"Where do you work?" Pascale asked curiously. Gianna was fascinating to her. She looked like a successful young woman, and yet she had already a teenage kid.

"I'm a charity director. We're helping teens who are solving their problems with alcohol or drugs." It was no doubt that Pia inherited her kindness from Gianna. She was the right mixture of both of their parents - ambitious, confident yet kind and caring.

"That's impressive." Those were the last words being spoken at the table because otherwise, the lunch would get cold.

"Char?" Arthur tried to get his brother's attention when everyone finished eating lunch, but elder Leclerc completely ignored him.

"Charles?" he asked louder this time, and Charles knew he couldn't ignore him anymore because his mother would get angry.

"Yes, Arthur?" he asked with a fake sweet smile on his face.

"Is Pia your girlfriend?" Charles' cheeks flushed as he heard this question. Arthur was always so noisy. He didn't seem to understand that he should keep his nose out of Charles' business.

"I- Well," Charles stuttered until his dad decided to rescue him.

"I think kids could go out to see Christmas Market, and we could open a bottle of wine. What do you say, Gigi?" Hrevé spoke up to get his son out of this awkward situation. He saw that Gianna hesitated, so he quickly amended his suggestion. "Jules and Lorenzo will keep an eye on them."

"Okay, but be careful, Pia," she pressed a soft kiss on top of her head before they all left the dining table to get dressed.

While walking through the streets of Monaco, Pia thought about what it would be like to live here. Everything here seemed too expensive, and for rich people, so different from Genoa, yet she fell in love with this place. Charles told her that she would love it even more during the Grand Prix weekend. Pia just replied that she could maybe come here next year to see it.

As they were wandering through the Christmas market, Pia's attention was drawn to the ice rink. She suggested to the whole group that they should go ice skating. It must have been so funny to watch them. Lorenzo skated around the boards because he'd otherwise fall, Pia desperately clung to Charles' arm, causing them to fall on the ice together, and Jules with Arthur laughed at them. It was a film-like scene.

"Okay, now, we need some hot chocolate," Jules ordered when they get off the ice rink. It didn't take them long to find a stall selling hot drinks. Pia was sipping her hot chocolate when she noticed Charles talking to Jules. He whispered something to him, and Jules just nodded. Charles came to Pia and grabbed her hand without asking.

They weaved their way through the busy market while holding hands. He wanted to take her on the Ferris wheel ever since she told him her mother agreed with coming here.

"La Grande Roue de Monaco," Pia read the sign with a perfect French accent. Charles was so proud of her for making such progress in his native language.

It took some time before it was finally their turn, and they could sit down in the booth. Charles confidently put his arms around Pia's shoulders. Her eyes were wandering through the streets of Monaco, and Charles' was on her, admiring her excitement. He swore he has never seen someone more gorgeous.

"Pia," he said to catch her attention, and he was successful with it because she really turned to face him. He placed his hand on her cheek, brushing her cheekbone with his thumb. He pushed her face closer to his and pressed his lips to hers.