Ophélie

Part 38

I nod, linking arms with Arthur. "I'm okay guys. Thanks for helping me out of there Max. Arthur will walk with me to the garage." I give Kelly a quick hug and then we head toward the garage.

"Oph, you're pale. Are you okay?" Arthur whispers.

I shake my head. "I need Charles."

"Okay. I've got you, keep your head down. We'll be there in a few seconds." Arthur wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him, rubbing my arm as we walk.

I focus on my breathing while we walk. This is the longest it has ever taken to walk through this pitlane.

"There you are!" I hear Charles say.

I look up and watch as the smile on his face fades into concern. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Some weirdo grabbed her. He pulled her through the barrier." Arthur explains. "He wouldn't let go of her. Max had to step in and force him to let go."

Charles looks at Arthur and then back to me, pulling me towards him, his hands on my face as he looks over me."Are you okay?" he turns back to Arthur. "Where were you? Why didn't you help her?"

"He was talking to fans, he didn't see. It's not his fault." I mutter.

"Ophy-fille. Are you okay?" Charles whispers, looking over me. "Where did he grab you?"

I point to my arm and Charles immediately pushes my sleeve up to inspect my arm.

"Can we go to your driver's room, please?" I whisper it's barely audible, but he hears me.

He immediately grabs my hand and leads me to his room.

When we're in the room I look into his eyes and then I break down, the panic attack that I was trying to suppress submerges. I'm shaking, gasping for air.

"Ophy-fille," Charles whispers, taking my hands and guiding me over to the couch. "You're okay. You're here. I've got you. You're safe."

I nod, trying to take controlled breaths.

"Look into my eyes," Charles says.

I look up.

"Let's look around the room. Tell me something you can touch," he says quietly.

I look around. "The mirror."

"Good. What else?"

"The desk," I whisper.

"Yes. Tell me something you can smell." he presses, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand.

I look around again. "You. Your deodorant."

"Good Ophy-fille. Now, look at me. Let's count to ten."

I nod, counting slowly with him. By the time we reach ten, my breathing has slowed and I am not gasping anymore.

He sits and waits for me to speak now.

We sit in silence for a bit while I just breathe. I watch my hands as they slowly stop shaking.

I sigh, putting my head in my hands. "I'm sorry. I got such a scare. I thought he was going to hurt me. I asked him so many times to let go of me. I've never been more relieved to see Max before." I say the last part with a light chuckle.

"Where else did he touch you?" Charles asks, gently placing his hand on my belly.

I shake my head. "He just had my arm. I don't know what he was trying to do."

"I'll thank Max for looking out for you when I see him. I'm glad you are okay Ophy-fille." he pulls me to him and kisses the top of my head.

I smile. "You best get ready to get into the car. You can't be in here comforting me."

He smiles. "I choose you over everything, always."

I smile widely at him. "And I'm fine now, so get in that car Leclerc."

He laughs. "You've got it, boss."

We stand up and I follow him out to the car for our pre-session ritual. Arthur has brought everyone down to the garage, and we all stand around his car.

"Que Dieu bénisse cet homme, cette voiture et cette équipe" I say, holding Charles hand, he's squeezing my hand tightly, watching me.

I kiss his helmet and then lean down. "I'm fine baby. Focus. I love you."

He nods and then everyone moves and he's directed out of the garage and into the pitlane.

Lily grabs my hand and I bring her over to sit with us, while Lorenzo guides everyone back up to the paddock club.

"Are you ok? Arthur said-" Lily starts.

I cut her off. "I'm fine, Lil. All good. Let's not talk about it, please."

She nods and then I sit between her and Isa to watch qualifying.

The garage is dead quiet as qualifying proceeds. Everyone is stressed. This is the most important race of this season for Charles. I silently pray that he's not distracted by what happened earlier.

Everyone's speeds are so close, they're moving up and down on the board. I'm squeezing Isa's hand so tightly that she eventually taps my hand and tells me to ease up. I laugh lightly, apologizing.

Q3 starts and I'm leaning forward, watching intently. Both Charles and Carlos are flying, but so is everyone else. It's so close. Max and Checo lock out the front row, with Charles and Carlos right behind them in the second row. It's not the best result, but it's good. The guys can work with that.

I jump up and go over to wait for Charles, with his water bottle and towel.

He gets out of the car and I hug him tightly. "Good job! Really good job! I'm proud of you!"

He smiles, kissing my cheek. "Merci, mon amour."

We rush to his driver's room and then we head out to do his post-qualifying interviews.

Charles is smiling during the interview, and he looks hopeful. He's feeling confident about the race for tomorrow.

While he's talking I lean over to Lily who came with us to the interviews. "Charles is going out with the other drivers tonight, for Seb's farewell dinner. What do you say we get dinner with the boys?"

She nods enthusiastically. "That sounds awesome."

After the interviews we go meet up with everyone, they all congratulate Charles on a good qualifying as we walk out of the paddock.

I ask Arthur, Lorenzo, and my brothers if they want to join Lily and me for dinner. We ask Pascale and my parents if they want to join us and they politely decline, saying they're already tired.

We all walk out to our cars and we agree on a time to meet at the hotel so that they can pick me up. Charles says good night to everyone and then we get into his car.

He looks over at me as he drives. "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

I nod. "I'm fine. I just got a fright. But I'm fine now."
He nods. "I'm so glad you're okay, mon amour. When I saw how pale you were I got so scared."

I smile over at him, placing my hand gently on his leg. "I promise you that I'm okay."

He nods, smiling at me. "Are you looking forward to dinner tonight?"

"Yes! I wish I could go with you though. But I know you guys are going to have loads of fun! It's never a dull moment with the bunch of you." I laugh.