Apex | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 72

"Yup. You should listen to this." He disconnected the phone from his headphones so that we could both listen to it at the same time.

I want you

Yeah I want you

And nothing comes close

To the way that I need you

I wish I can feel your skin

And I want you

From somewhere within

It took me a few seconds to register which song this was. I remember the two of us dancing on the balcony of the apartment we were staying in, the two of us barefoot as a musician from across the street sang the song. It was the night I asked him why he chose to have the agreement with me when he could've had anyone else who was more willing.

"Just the little things." I said, shrugging my shoulders, and I saw Estelle's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"How does it feel that he hasn't remembered the big things?"

"It feels weird that I'm not that bothered by it."

"So, hypothetically, if Charles doesn't remember any of the big things, you'd be okay with that?"

"Not entirely." I said, biting my lip. "I mean, I do hope that he will remember all of it, but if there's one thing everything has taught me— all the pain and agony I went through— is that the little things are just as important as the big things. I've learned how to value everything in my life because I know how easy it is to lose them."

After the session, I went over to the track to hopefully see Charles before he had to prepare for the race. "Nadia!" Someone called for my name while I was walking in the paddock and I turned around to see Kika and Pierre riding a scooter.

"Hey." I smiled as Pierre stopped the scooter and Kika got down to give me a hug. My smile, however, slipped when I noticed a bunch of cameras trailing behind them.

"Not a big fan of Netflix?" Pierre asked, eyes teasing as he gave me a kiss on both cheeks.

"I have a habit of running away from them." I sheepishly said, catching how the cameraman's eyes widened upon seeing me. "Mind if I borrow your scooter?"

Pierre shook his head, passing me the scooter. "I'll see you later, meu tudo." Kika said, smiling at him as Pierre smirked back at her.

"You're way too flirty for your own good." I told the two of them as Kika got on behind me, her hands moving to my shoulder.

"We know." The two of them answered and I shook my head at them.

Just as Netflix was about to stop right in front of us, Kika and I moved in the direction of the Mercedes garage. We weren't going that fast since there were a lot of people in the paddock with it being race day.

"You really hate being in front of the camera, don't you?" Kika asked and I nodded my head, smiling.

"The only camera I'm confident to be in front of is my best friend's." We stopped in front of the Mercedes garage and I hopped off, expecting Kika to move over to Alpine but she parked the scooter instead.

"What? I'm here to scout the competition."

The garage was bustling, people moving around as they made the last minute changes to the car. George unfortunately had a penalty but finishing in the points was still certain. Because of this, they were trying to maximize everything so that Charles would be able to attain for a podium position.

"Ah! We have an intruder!" George said as soon as his eyes landed on Kika and she rolled her eyes at him. "To what to we owe the pleasure?"

"I've been given the task to spy on one of the top teams." I left the two of them to look for Charles. I was about to check George's side of the garage when I bumped into Susie.