Forever and Always

Threatening Love Notes

Charles needed to recover in peace. Emilia needed to stay away, hide from whatever her ex-boyfriend was coming up with. So, for the next three weeks, they both tried their best to stay away from the media. Of course it was impossible because Charles was still going to his races, but they managed to do it enough that they felt like they were succeeding in their small mission.

A quadruple-header that had started in Austria made quite a challenge for Charles. The first of the next three races was Silverstone in the UK, then Hungaroring in Hungary, and finally off to Belgium before the break. The week prior to all of those, the few days after his accident, Charles made sure to have plenty of rest and do plenty of stretching. And as the races rolled around, it seemed to have paid off somewhat, even if his neck still hurt and he had to wear a brace for his wrist.

Silverstone, a race track known to have quite a few high-speed corners proved very tough for him and his neck. He hurt during that race - a lot. Charles managed to do well in the practices however, and got P2 in qualifying, which he took into the race and came second with. He was pretty proud of his performance after that race. He'd done it with a half-crippled neck and a fractured wrist. After the race and podium, Mick came up to him. 
"Hey, I'm so sorry about last week, Charles. I feel so bad. I just got caught up in the moment thinking I had a chance to get in front. I'm gad you're ok though. And congrats on the podium", Mick had said.
"Yeah, thanks Mick. I'm happy to see you're all good as well", Charles replied, then turning away and walking off, feeling a slight fire burning in his chest.

Hungary bought disappointments for Charles. It seemed like whenever Ferrari started to have a good streak, it had to be bought back down with a good old engine failure. He'd been going so good all weekend, with good pace and feeling healthy again. His neck sprain was so close to being non-existent again, and his hand was getting better, but as soon as he entered the race, everything went downhill. The first lap was chaos, with at least six drivers being involved in a crash at the first corner, with Pierre, Max and Carlos being some of them. He thought at this point, he might be able to have a possible win. But then, as soon as the red flag had lifted and they started to race, a plume of smoke erupted from the back of his car.
"Fuck! Why, why, why?! Why does this happen?!", he cried as he parked his car up on the side of the track and jumped out. Luckily, when he got back to the garages, Emi was there to calm him down before he started yelling. He was thankful for that.

In the last round before the break, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium brought a very interesting race. Pouring rain the entire weekend, no one got a break. It was classic Spa to bring some sort of downpour - it always rained some time during the weekend. Charles got decent results in practice, not ideally where he would like to be, but it was hard with such poor visibility and no grip on the slippery surface. In qualifying, he got a P2, which he thought was ok but not the best. And when it came to the race, everyone was slipping and sliding everywhere! For a brief while, the race was red-flagged until the race died down. Then, they were back on track. With there not being as much rain, and a little better visibility and grip, Charles was able to race away from most of his competitors, even though he had Verstappen and Perez right on his tail. He finished the race in first though, his first win in what seemed like forever and a day. He was so happy, cheering as he got down from his car and hugging Emi before going to anyone else. Then after seeing his team, he collected his trophy, which he proudly held up in the air for the whole world to see.

That whole time as well, the flowers kept coming. Every week. Monday. Around lunch time. All different sorts of flowers that looked so beautiful but where instantly thrown away by Emi when she saw them. They all came with notes too.

I know you saw my first note, baby. You can't ignore me forever. I'll find a way to make me the center of your attention. xx

I keep seeing you with him, baby. You know once I have you back, you'll never see him again. Enjoy the time while it lasts. xx

You really are ignoring me so blatantly, baby. It's ok. Once I have you, it won't ever happen again. And the time is coming closer. Watch your back. xx

"Emi, we need to talk about the flowers and the threatening little love notes you keep getting", Charles said after they had got home from the Belgian Grand Prix. Emi looked him in the eye like she had just seen a ghost.

"It's nothing to worry about, Cha. It's nothing. He's going to do nothing", Emi told him, taking her eyes off of him. He watched as she anxiously fiddled with one of the rings on her finger - an obvious sign of her distress. She always fiddled when she was nervous.

"I can tell it's not nothing, Em. It is very clearly something. Something that can't be hidden forever either", Charles said seriously, reaching for her hand and squeezing it.

"Charles. Please, it's ok. I'm fine", she tried.

"Emi. When are you going to wake up and realize it's not fine! He is threatening you. What if something actually happened? What would you do? What would I do? I'd be so lost! Please, stop saying it is fine when you know it is not. Stop pretending", Charles told her. She looked up into his stone-turned green eyes, surprise coating her expression. He could tell she hadn't expected Charles to say anything like that when they had first started their conversation, but there they were. 
"Please, Em", Charles whispered, desperation in his voice.

A moment of silence followed his quiet plead as she looked at him with emotionless eyes. He'd never seen her drained of so much emotion.

"I don't know what I can do, Cha. I-I can't go anywhere near him. I'm too scared", Emi whispered, her voice shaking and a single tear falling down her face. Charles quickly wiped it away with him thumb and rested his hand on her cheek.

"Ok. It's fine. Don't worry, I'll handle it", he whispered, planting a soft kiss on the other side of her face.