Lock Up ⏐Charles Leclerc

Chapter 3

"Why do I feel like she's up to something?" He asked, pointing at Aurora who was glancing at us as she spoke to the phone.

A chuckle left my lips as Aurora immediately looked away after both Charles and I turned our heads towards her direction. "She always is. Before you arrived, she dropped the bomb on me that she had just gotten married."

"To Leo, right?"

"You knew?" I asked, completely shocked. Aurora didn't tell me for a month yet she meets someone new and doesn't hesitate to introduce Leo as her husband? Ouch.

"I passed by her cafe when I arrived last week and met Leo there by chance." He explained, calling over the waiter to order a cup of coffee for himself as well. The waiter also gave him the menu for the meals that were offered in the restaurant and as we both looked through it, something he said didn't make sense to me.

After telling the waiter our orders, and ordering for Aurora as well, I turned to him with my elbows leaning on the table. "You said you arrived last week?" I clarified and Charles nodded his head in reply. Aurora's words from yesterday caught up to me but before I could ask another question, she came back to the table.

"Sorry about that." We both reassured her that everything's okay and the gleaming look in her eyes was back again.

Since Charles and I weren't familiar with one another yet, we were the topic of conversation. I found out he was Monegasque and could speak both French and Italian. It was amusing to see Aurora watch us back and forth when I started conversing with him in French and she couldn't understand a thing. I told him that my dad was French but didn't go into details about who he was or what I did for a living. He was vague about his life as well, only saying that he was in Italy to take time off for work and that his occupation required him to travel all the time.

Brunch ended with us talking about the wedding party I was planning for Aurora and Charles was surprisingly willing to help, saying that it'd be fun to do a bit of party planning. When we walked out to the parking, I noticed a black Ferrari parked beside my green 400 Superamerica. Charles seemed to notice this as well and a small laugh escaped his lips.

"Is that yours?" He asked, his thumb and point finger touching his lips in amusement. From beside me, Aurora giggled once again and I looked at the both of them in confusion.

I nodded my head in reply. "Where's yours?" He pulled out a key fob and clicked a button, the black Ferrari beside mine blinking its rear lights as a sign of it being unlocked. "I didn't see that in the rentals." I exclaimed as the three of us walked towards our cars.

"It's not." Charles said, opening the door of his car. "I drove this from Maranello."

We all drove back to the house and as soon as my car doors shut, Aurora began asking me questions about Charles. My answers were short since the brunch wasn't enough for me to really get to know him. Our conversation only covered the basics that you'd share with every new person you meet.

With my left hand on the steering wheel, I leaned my right elbow on the center console. There was no rush to go back home and it was obvious that Charles was doing the same thing with the pace he was driving in. "Is he an influencer or an heir to a chain of hotels?" I asked Aurora as we drove through the town.

Aurora hesitated before answering my question. "He's sort of in the transportation industry." She said slowly as if she was choosing her words carefully. I glanced at her and saw that she was looking out the window and completely avoiding my eyes.

"Does his family own a motor company?"

"Nope. Charles is more of a self made guy in the industry. Why don't you ask him?"

I gave Aurora a look that was the definition of 'Are you serious?'. "Because it seems pretty personal and borderline weird to ask. It's like asking how much they make and by the car he drives, it's obviously a lot."

"I asked him the first time we met." I gasped and stared at her for five full seconds before I remembered I was driving. "What? You know how blunt I am when it comes to famous people. Remember how I immediately asked you the first time we met?"

"So, he's the celebrity you were talking about?" I asked and Aurora immediately closed her mouth shut.

"Fanculo." [Fuck.] She cursed, closing her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, don't tell him I told you that because when he talked about it for like five minutes, he seemed like he wanted to run out of the cafe." She rambled on even forcing me to make a pinky promise to her which I obliged to or else she wouldn't stop bugging me about it. "Besides the fame he's used to isn't like yours."

"What does that even mean?" I asked. My head felt like it was going to explode with the confusing information Aurora has been giving me.

"You'll just have to find out on your own."

*****

The following day, I had nothing planned after my workout so I decided to spend some time in the art room I had on the second floor. The room was filled with art supplies on the right and my previous works on the left. On the far end of the room were two french doors leading to a small balcony that gave me a view of the backyard. It allowed some natural light to flow into the room, making me admire it even more.

I connected my phone to the dock that was placed near my art supplies. The four corners of the room were surrounded with speakers that would be able to bounce off the music through the walls. I clicked on my playlist and Yellow by Coldplay began playing.

I grabbed a brand new canvas and placed it on the easel, squeezing some paint on the palette. Without even thinking, I just began moving my paintbrush on the canvas, not really having an exact image in mind. I rarely used a symbol or object to paint, relying on my memory and hoping for the best. There have been a few artworks that I'm really proud of, some of them even hanging on the walls of my closest family and friends. As for the ones that I feel weren't good enough, they were sitting in this room. I've only been painting for a few years, the same amount of time that I began these annual isolations of mine. It was one of the hobbies I grew to love during the month I had to myself.

After an hour of painting straight, I stretched my arms over my head and changed the song, playing something more relaxing. I went downstairs to grab myself some tea that I placed on the fridge, adding about three teaspoons of honey since that's how I liked it.

As I was going up the stairs, I thought I heard a noise coming from outside. I went back to my art room, the low music surrounding me. Without thinking, I walked to the balcony with my tea in hand and searched for the sound of that noise.

Ten seconds later, I heard another sound followed by a curse word. My head whipped to the left and saw Charles standing in his backyard. He was facing the wall while a tennis ball machine stood about a few meters behind him. Every few seconds, a tennis ball would be thrown towards the wall and he'd attempt to catch it after bouncing on the wall. It took him three times before he was able to catch one and the next time it happened was five balls later. After another failed attempt, he picked up a ball and harshly threw it at the wall, a harsh sound echoing until here.

Charles ran a hand through his hair before turning around and shutting of the machine. The disappointment was evident on his face and I knew I should've left him alone to cool off by himself.

I should've, but I didn't.

I pressed my thumb and forefinger together to let out a loud whistle, and his head turned to where I was. The frustration in his face softened quite a bit when he saw me.

"Want some tea?"

*****

Again, I would like to apologize for not knowing how to end chapters lol. This is my first time writing a fanfic sooooo 🤷🏻‍♀️

✧Reese✧