Burning Heart // CL16

Seventy Nine

Thursday 3rd October 2024 - Japan

"Come on sweetie, please calm down?" I ask Ruby who is in the middle of throwing a full on tantrum and its just me and Kiraz here to deal with her. Charles is out all day doing media and then filming for Netflix this evening ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix we're in Suzuka for this weekend. "Ruby... you are cute but you are loud and you're doing my head in!" I tell her, walking into my room and putting her down in the cot, lying her and just putting the pacifier in her mouth. I put the red blanket and stuffed dinosaur next to her before just walking out in a desperate hope that she might stop in some miracle.

"Well done - self soothing tactics are real!" Kiraz tells me as I shut the door behind me and flop down on the sofa with her, hearing Ruby immediately start crying as I bury my head in her neck. Kiraz is right though, I need to let her try and calm herself down.

"Oh for fuck's sake - she's giving me a migraine," I whine, chest rising and falling with fake sobs before I move next to her, hating every second of the Ruby crying soundtrack I'd been living with today. "I'm too tired to cry - that would require my body to have had enough sleep to function properly. I can't even just hand her over to Charles because he's getting in the car tomorrow but I mean, if she doesn't sleep then neither of us are going to sleep - it won't even matter that he's in another room. He told me in Texas that the towels don't muffle anything."

"Ooh tough break," Kiraz mutters as she copies me in massaging our temples. "Oh my god do you hear that?" She asks and I look around confused as she looks at me excitedly.

"No, hear what?" I ask her.

"Silence?" She looks at me dumbfounded and I just fall back into the sofa.

"I actually don't - her screams are still rattling in my mind. God - she is loud," I say as I push myself up from the sofa and look around the mess of the suite, instantly going about tidying. I wasn't lying. I was glad Kiraz was hearing silence, she'd only been here for the last two hours.

"Aw sweetie... I'm actually going to escape now, need to get ready for my meeting tonight and I don't want to hear her crying any longer - maybe she just needs space?" Kiraz suggests, taking the toys out of my arms and dumping them on the floor as she pulls me into a hug.

"You're telling me my daughter already wants independence from me?" I ask her with a frown and Kiraz just walks away without another word, confirming my theory. "Real nice - why are you here again?"

"Because I happened to have a shoot in Japan the same time Charles had a race. Also you get bored when I'm not around - bye," she smiles waving as she closes the door behind her and I just look at the pool of toys by my feet.

"Fuck I am tired..." I mutter as I just fall back on the sofa, leaving the toys where they were. I actually wasn't lying - I couldn't really tell if Ruby had stopped crying, the sound was echoing in my ears but when I looked at the baby monitor there was no light to signal that it was being activated. She was finally asleep after too many hours of crying and I spend the next hour pushing through the exhaustion - doing some work and signing off on a few things before opening the dreaded email about potential CEO's.

Alessia,
As requested here are some potential candidates that we think could suit the role of CEO if you did choose to step down. From a business stand point I can see why you think this is a good move but from your father, I think whatever you want to do is what is best. Please don't step away because you think you can't do it because I believe you can, however if it's because you don't want to - I'm also proud of you for that.
What you have built is impressive so have a read and if you think any of these candidates are worth interviewing, just let me know. They have big shoes to fill so don't hesitate to be ambitious. You and the company deserve only the best. Say hi to Charles and Ruby for me.
Best,
Christian