𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 | 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗰

Chapter 42

It was the final lap of the race, things were tight between Charles and Max as they each kept switching between position 1 and 2 each moment they were able to. Reaching the 14th turn of the circuit, Max was ahead of Charles but not by far, however everyone knew Monaco wasn't the easiest track to overtake on so Charles would have to take the chance as soon as he got it. I heard his engineer tell him how many seconds Max was in front of him and Charles came through the other side saying 'not for long'.

As I continued to focus my eyes on the screen in front of me that showed Charles and Max, I saw Charles slow down late on the 17th turn, then go on the inside of the track, overtaking Max, who for some reason had stayed on the outside white line. He was leading the race, being only moments away from the finish and I could feel excitement building up within me as I held tightly onto the top of my jacket, holding it over my smile which I couldn't hold back.

I couldn't believe it as I watched him cross the line as the winner of the Monaco grand prix. One of his hands went up in the air as he slowed down slightly so he could begin the cool down lap. The engineers were cheering for his accomplishment whilst also cheering for Carlos who had managed to finish third, not far behind Charles and Max. One thing about this weekend is that it was good for Ferrari, with both their drivers being in the podium celebration.

Charles walked in all smiles as his engineers tapped him on the helmet, congratulating him on his win. I couldn't see his smile but I could tell it was there from his eyes, which were darting all over the garage. I didn't realise he was looking for me until his eyes stopped as soon as they landed on me. I waved at him and he didn't think twice before making his way over.

"My lucky charm" he said, hugging me tightly, his arms being round my neck. "I can't believe I won that, Max gave me a good challenge"

"I told you you'd win" I said, smiling as I could hear the happiness laced in his voice. Also, as he held me in this hug, due to our chest being together, I could feel the beating of his heart ,which felt like it was going 60 mph.

"Remember what I told you this morning, be at the front," he said "now I have somewhere to be, don't be late to my celebration Pavelli."

"I would never be late, Leclerc"

Both Charles and Carlos had to leave for the podium celebration with Mattia and me and Isa weren't planning on setting off towards the area much later ourselves as it was soon going to be underway. As we went to leave, Lauren walked in front of us, almost stepping on my foot as she wasn't watching where she was going as her nose was too deep into her phone, as always. Normally, that would've annoyed me but I was too happy right now and I had better things to focus on than her.

Monaco's podium wasn't full with fans like the other grand prix's, instead fans were able to gather on a balcony, which directly faced the podium. However, me and Isa did have to squeeze through a few of the red bull engineers, who gathered to celebrate Max's position. Ferrari's engineers were happy to allow us to stand in front of them, as they knew we were closely linked with Charles and Carlos. Unfortunately for Isa, she ended up standing next to Lauren and when she realised she turned to me rolling her eyes, which made me laugh.

Two girls dressed in white with red carves, stood next to the podium and began unveiling the trophy, out of quite a fancy case, as Carlos was the first one to make his way out. Whilst he made his way over to the heightened floor, which had a 3 engraved in it, people cheered for the Ferrari driver, including the engineers, me and Isa. Max made his way out and was soon followed by Charles. Charles seemed so content stood on the number one position and his smile only got bigger when the trophy was handed to him He lifted it in the air, causing the fans to cheer for him but he also looked down, straight at me and gave me a subtle wave with the hand that wasn't holding the silverware.

Charles didn't stay on the podium for long, only for the champagne, before he was making his way down to where we stood. There were no gates between us down here as there were no fans, meaning nobody was having to be held back. He went over to the engineers, who pulled him into a group hug, tapping his helmet again like they had done in the garage. He then completely avoided Lauren as she put her arms out to him, coming to me instead.

Grabbing my face, he pulled my lips to his, his fingers caressing my cheek the deeper it got. Had he forgotten that there were plenty of people watching right now? I didn't pull back and neither did he as we stood there like the only two people in that moment. Once our lips did come apart, his arms snaked around my waist. I could see Lauren standing mouth wide open and I could hear Charles laugh as he turned his head, clearly noticing her too. Before he took my hand in his, he gave her a quick wave and then nodded his head at Carlos who stood smiling at both of us.

I didn't hide my smile as Charles walked me through the paddock, heading for the exit. He told me he had no reason to stay but I found that hard to believe as he had just won and I'm sure there were plenty of people that wanted to speak to him right now. In fact, I had heard people shouting his name as we were walking but he told me not to look and keep walking so it didn't seem like he was ignoring them on purpose. When we reached the exit, I could see his car was already parked up ready for us to get into so it was clear that he had planned to get off straight away.

When we got into the car I knew that there were so many questions I wanted to ask him about what he had just done. I wanted to know why he did it in front of everyone knowing what happened in Australia would probably happen again now. I wanted to know why he wasn't as worried about his image now as he was just over a month ago. These questions I were thinking of I did plan to ask, but I was going to wait until he had dropped me back off at my house and then I planned to invite him in and ask him there. I must've thought about all the possible answers he could give me on the drive back to my house and the drive seemed to go slower than it should've. There was quite a bit of traffic we got stuck in as it was busy around the location of the track but also Charles seemed to be driving at a much slower speed than usual.

When we reached my house, I did invite him in and he didn't refuse as he took his seat belt off and got out of the car after me, locking his car as we walked up the path to my house. Opening my front door, I placed my jacket on the coat rack and waited for Charles to enter before I closed the door behind him. I led him into my living room and ushered him over to where my sofa was once he took his shoes off. Both of us sat looking at each other and he had a smirk on his face, showing that he knew I was trying to figure out what had just gone.

"What was that for?" I asked him, not having to say what 'that' was because he knew what I was referring to straight away.

"I told you I was giving her an idea of what was to come."

***
Writers note
This is my shortest chapter I've wrote but it's because the next one will be longer if I have planned it right in my head.

I feel like this isn't the best chapter I've wrote but I did want to be quite simple and to the point because spoiler alert I'm going to be developing Charles and Alena's relationship in the next chapters now. <3

thank you for 58k reads!❤️

~Mel