Complications | Formula 1 | On Hold

3

Leonelle Moreau

"Elle." A whisper sounded beside my ear as I frowned, turning away so I can go back to my dream.

"No, c'mon. We're gonna be late." The same annoying person whispered, shaking me lightly.

"Step aside, she won't wake up like that now." Another person intruded and that person's voice sounded familiar and something deep in me told me I should get up now or I'll regret it later.

"Pierre, wai-" I guess it was too late now as I was fully yanked off the bed.

"Ow! Espèce de bâtard!" I exclaimed, sitting upright right away and staring at Max and Pierre, both whom where laughing and...Charles? He looked more on the shocked side, though, but was still laughing.

"Pierre, gros chiant!" I threw a pillow at him, which he dodged gracefully. "Dégage, ducon!" I threw another one that actually hit Max, who now fell to the ground laughing.

I huffed, pushing myself up by the help of the bed while grumbling a bunch of curses on my way to the bathroom to wash up. How and why are they even in my room?

I brushed my hair, parting it to pull it into two Dutch braids cause a pony tail made it very itchy under the balaclava.

"It's quali day, Elle! Hurry up!" Max yelled from outside while I squinted my eyes at myself in the mirror.

"Shut the fuck up, Max! I swear to God, I'm not letting this go!" I yelled back at him, coming out once I was done with my hair.

I directed my middle finger at both Max and Pierre, who seemd to find existing so funny at the moment. White biker shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top with a Red Bull oversized zip up hoodie over it did it for me as a fit for the day. I sat on the bed now once I was done, grabbing my running shoes and putting them on, not bothering the laces since I don't know how to tie them.

"I'm ready, let's go." I spoke, grabbing what I needed with me and shoving them in my backpack.

"No way!" Pierre exclaimed dramatically. "I thought we were gonna skip quali and go straight to the race." He shook his head in disbelief while I went up to him, punched his gut then turned to feed my cat.

"We'll meet you at the garage." I heard Charles say while guiding them outside and before Pierre could protest, the door was already shut and he had no way in.

"That was more stress than they put on us in the races." He made a 'phew' motion with his hand while I simply smiled.

"I'm sadly used to it since I've been stuck with both for ages." I chuckled at my misfortune, making sure that Lan had enough food and water for the day before I stood up, gave him a small kiss on his head and now stood before Charles as he unlocked my room door. Grabbing my keycard, he let me walk out first then followed after me, shutting the door after us.

Awkward silence swarmed us while we waited for the lift. I glanced at him from the corner of eyes before fully turning to him and sucking in a deep, encouraging breath. "Comment va ta, heu, copine? [How's your, uh, girlfriend?]"

He seemed to not have expected the question as he took a bit to answer me, the small smile on his face dropping. "Elle va bien." He murmured, shifting on his feet.

I sighed, knowing these antics and assuming what's going on. "Tout va bien entre vous? [Everything good between you?]" I asked, already knowing that I might be overstepping boundries.

The lift dinged, him taking it as a chance and looking at me expectantly. I walked in first as he wanted and he followed after, standing next to each other.

"Je sais que c'est pas à moi de dire quoi que ce soit. Mais, parfois, nous pensons que ça va aller, mais au fond de nous, nous savons que ça ne sera pas le cas. [I know it's not my place to say anything. But, sometimes we think it's gonna be okay, but deep down we know it won't.]" I spoke, now shifting on my feet and looking around to try to think about something else but my last relationship. "Ça devient addictif... la pensée... tu ne pourras pas l'arrêter, Charles. Mieux vaut maintenant quand c'est encore frais que plus tard... ça empire, beaucoup. [It gets addicting... the thinking... you won't be able to stop it, Charles. Better now when its still fresh than later... it gets worse, way worse.]"

Silence fell upon us and I turned to see him zoned out on the corner. I bumped my shoulder into his to get his attention once again. "Je ne veux pas gâcher les choses pour toi, je viens d'y être et c'est un conseil que j'aurais aimé que quelqu'un me donne avant. C'est peut-être pas la même chose pour toi, mais au moins je suis en paix avec moi-même maintenant. [I don't mean to ruin things for you, I've just been there and that's a piece of advice I wished that someone told me before. It maybe not the same for you, but at least I'm at peace with myself now.]" I smiled lightly at him just as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out together this time.

"Si t'as besoin de parler à quelqu'un, je suis là. Pierre aussi, puisque tu le connais depuis plus longtemps que moi, et que tu lui fais probablement plus confiance. [If you need someone to talk to, I'm right here. So is Pierre since you've known him longer than me and probably trust him more.]" I said in finality, spotting Pierre and speeding up towards him to leave the Monagasque with his thoughts.

I bumped into Pierre intentionally to get his attention and he turned to me after. "T'as fait?" He asked and I nodded at his question, letting him guide me to the car.

I turned one last time to take a final look at Charles, to find him already staring our way with a slight frown on his face. Our eyes locked for a couple seconds before I turned back to the man beside me, asking him how usual Qualis go to rid the silence.

***

I was once again now rested in my room, waiting for qualification to start. All suited up, laces untied as always and top of the suit hanging by my waist, earphones blasting in my ears with my door slightly ajar for if my trainer, Julien, would like to get in to tell me somethings before quali.

My alarm sadly rang, indicating that it was time to go.

I sent Vivi a message, telling her that it was time for quali before I turned off my phone and set it aside. Counting from 1 to 15, I stood up and left my room, heading down to the garage.

I fully wore my suit, taking my balaclava from off Julien's shoulder and putting it on, no more itch from my hair this time, while he tied my laces for me. I was given my helmet by one of the engineers and I took a quick look at it before putting it on.

I was helped into the car and had to wait till Max was out before I had to follow him out.

A round-about lap went around, all cars walking after another in a straight line with Max leading the way, the two Ferraris were after me as I noticed the numbger '16' on the car behind mine.

Friends outside, enemies on the track. And Charles is coming back strong this year, so I should be careful and try to defend my place as much as I can.

"Leonelle, you have the go. Give it your all." James, my race engineer, spoke in the radio.

"Copy that." I spoke back, barely seeing the red cars speeding past me before I woke up and followed after them. Braking at the corners and speeding down the straights, not letting anymore cars zoom past me, I made it to Q3.

People would probably think beginner's luck, but I've known this car for long to be able to handle it like a pro, as well as wanting to make Checo proud of his choices, of course.

I sipped from my bottle, looking up at the night sky. Marks from the balaclava on my face reminded me of how good I did on the track and how fast I went.

"Elle, time to go!"