Apex | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 70

"I'm waiting for the but." I interrupted her and Gabby stopped pacing in front of me. She moved to stand beside me and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"But I am so in love with him." She breathed out, eyes looking up to inspect the night sky. "I'm well aware that I could easily pull anyone I wanted and past experiences have proven that thought true, but Max is different. He knew I wasn't ready, yet he still waited for me. He knew that I wasn't easy to deal with, yet he still stayed. He knew that my past wasn't all good, yet he doesn't see it as a bad thing. Nads, I told him about my dad."

"I thought you told me he already met Paul?" I asked her, recalling how she once brought her parents to Monaco. Gabby's mom remarried when she was just five and Paul was the best thing that could've happened to the both of them, being the husband her mom needed and the father she never really had.

"I'm not talking about Paul."

"Oh." Gabby nodded her head, sighing deeply. "I get it, though." My words caught her attention as she met my eyes. "Max doesn't have an easy relationship with his dad as well. Everyone knows that. Besides, his patience outside of racing goes on for miles so I'm not surprised he waited three years for you."

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm going to do something stupid that would end up with me losing him." Gabby frowned and I didn't hesitate to pull my best friend into a hug. "I have absolutely no experience when it comes to love. What if I mess it up?"

"You will." I said and she pulled back before punching my arm. "What? Would you rather I sugarcoat everything for you and give unrealistic advice?"

"No." She grumbled, arms pulling me back in.

"Gabs, everyone messes up when it comes to love. It's a package deal. You just have to find someone who's willing to go through all of that to reach the finish line."

Later that evening, Charles and I were each having a glass of wine as we played a game of chess. The original plan was to have the match on the bed since he dropped down onto the mattress as soon as we came back to his flat, body drained from all the hours he spent on the sim. It was when I opened a bottle of wine that we both knew would not be easy to drink if we sat on the bed.

Which is why we were currently in his living room, sitting down on the hardwood floor with cushions placed underneath us. The doors leading to the backyard were open since it was surprisingly warm tonight.

"I think I found one thing you're not good at." Charles smirked when he took the king, eyes filled with triumph.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved a hand, glancing at him as I took a sip of my wine. "You never told me how you got so good with chess." I said, watching as he rearranged the pieces, placing the white ones on my side for this round to be fair.

"Believe it or not, this was the first training exercise I was taught when I got into racing."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. From what I've seen, their reaction times were usually trained with physical exercises, not mental.

"When it was evident that I was going to move up, Jules would come over to our house every week to teach me how to play chess. He said that being a racecar driver required both physical and mental strength. When you drive that fast, you have to take note of every possibility, knowing what to do next whenever one of them occurs." I was distracted as we both made our moves, my attention completely placed on him. There's a certain aura around Charles whenever he talks about his father, Jules, and Anthoine. It's clear that he's never gone a day without thinking of them and he always keeps in mind the memories he cherishes that involved them. "I did the same thing to Arthur when he got into F3 since Jules wouldn't be there to teach him."

"My dad taught me how to play the piano." I said, moving my bishop to take one of his pawns. "Esma and I used to fight a lot when we were younger and he used it as a lesson for the both of us. Learning how to play the piano is challenging, but having to do it with patience is even more difficult. You can't rush into anything because you'll end up pressing down on the wrong keys. You can't rush through a song either, because then it wouldn't sound right. Each tune has to make sense and blend with the ones that come before and after it."

"What does that have to do with you and Esma fighting?" Charles smiled, inclining his head to the side.

"He made us play the piano together every day. I'd use one hand and Esma would use one of hers. It was a way for us to get along, and every time we got into a fight because one of us pressed the wrong key, we'd have to play for another twenty minutes. He wanted us to realize that relying on each other is far better than going at each others' throats."

"You have to teach me again when we get back home." Charles' smiled widened before he made his move which resulted in my third loss of the night. "You absolutely suck at this, Nadia."

"I'm well aware." Charles didn't make a move to fix the board so I guess that was the last one for tonight.

"What's my prize?" He asked, downing the wine he had left before he began to clean up.

"We never talked about a prize." I did the same with mine and picked up the glasses, heading to the kitchen to wash them up.

"I won three times. I deserve a prize." He said, following after me and I shook my head at him, picking up the sponge. "I already have one in mind."

"Why do I feel like you've been thinking about this for a while?" I teased, rinsing the glasses and placing them on the rack to dry off. I wiped my hands with a towel before leaning my back on the counter of the sink. Charles was across from me in the same position, only he was leaning on the kitchen island.

"Only a few hours." He shrugged, stepping forward. "Why do you think I invited you to play chess?"

I rolled my eyes at him and leaned my hands on the counter by my sides. "Alright. What do you want?"

His green eyes brightened as he stopped in front of me, fingers moving until they were skimming over my collarbone. I immediately felt goosebumps appear on my skin as he continued to lightly touch me, going in the direction of my jaw before lifting my chin up so that I could meet his eyes.

"This." He said, eyes trained on my lips. When he leaned in, I thought he was about to meet his lips with mine, but instead, I felt the cool metal chain from my necklace being moved.

I looked down to see one of his fingers hooked around the chain that was now sitting on top of my shirt, his wedding band on full display. I gulped, meeting his eyes to see nothing but determination in them. "Are you sure?" I asked him because this was probably the biggest step he's ever taken.

It was one thing for him to spend time with me. It was one thing for him to hold my hand. It was one thing for him to kiss me whenever he wanted.

Those felt like tiny baby steps compared to this.

If he wears this, it'll feel like he's finally acknowledged the fact that we were married.

That he was with me.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

*****

☺️🥹

We've only got 11 parts left after this!!

✧Reese✧