unconditional

chapter thirty five

I knock on Charles' door and he opens it immediately, with a smile on his face.

I smile back and shut the door, immediately hugging him tightly.

"You did so well today" I say as I kiss him on the cheek.

He puts his hands into mine, "Thank you, Ella." He says with a smile as he leads me to sit down on his bed.

Instead of just sitting down, I get into his bed, smiling as I pull the bed sheets over me.

He laughs and also gets in bed with me. He puts his arm around me as I lay on his chest.

"I've got to ask" I say as I turn my head to look at him.

Charles nods, "I had no idea she was coming. I'm just as angry as you are." He instantly responds as he begins to play with my hair.

"Turns out she's friends with Georgina" I reply as we both look at the television.

"The girl from the yacht?" Charles asks as he flicks through programmes.

"Yep. Don't you think it's weird? Charlotte and her are friends. It all seems so elaborate" I say as I point at a movie to watch.

We settled on Inception, which Charles didn't object to since he loved when we first watched Interstellar together. God, that feels so long ago but I still remember all the nerves from that night.

"I agree. I'm just trying to stay away from her" Charles says.

That's when we hear a knock on the door.

"Shit" Charles says, as I quickly get up and head to the bathroom. "It's probably Carlos"

I nod and shut the bathroom door, locking it.

I hear Charles open his door.

"Charles" I hear a girl say with the same accent as Charles'. That's when I knew who it was.

"Charlotte" Charles says, "How did you find my room?"

Charlotte laughs, "Room 116? You always do that. I know you, Charles. Remember?" She replies. I roll my eyes at the sound of her voice.

"What are you doing here?" He asks with a stern tone.

"I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?" Charlotte says.

"No" He responds.

"Why?" Charlotte says, her voice now sounding louder, so I knew she came into his room. "If you're waiting for that girl, you shouldn't."

"What girl?" Charles asks.

"You know who." She replies, "Looks like she's picked Lando. I saw her leave his room 20 minutes ago"

"Yeah, right." Charles says with a laugh.

"I'm not lying. You can ask him and Georgina." Charlotte says, "It's okay. I'm still here"

I wanted to burst out of the bathroom and shout at her, but I couldn't.

"Don't touch me" Charles shouts, which startled me.

What the fuck was she trying to do?

"Why?" Charlotte asks, with a sultry voice that made me feel sick, "Don't lie, you miss my touch. I know you do"

I hear Charles laugh, "I don't." he says.

"You did a week before the race in Monaco. Remember?" She claims.

"That was a mistake. That was before-" Charles stutters.

"Before you met that stupid, English girl? You can't have her, Charles. You know that." Charlotte says.