𝙾𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢┃ Charles Leclerc┃

Chapter Five - The First Qualifiers

Charles shrugged as he smiled. He stood by the table where I sat, his red overalls hanging around his waist and his fireproofs clung neatly to his torso. He was in the process of slapping down his gloves on the tabletop as he spoke. "I'm just here to see how are you are doing. How are you doing, Annie?"

"I'm doing okay." I smiled, signing the next T-shirt that was on the tabletop pile. "Though, I'd prefer if that nickname didn't stick."

"It's stuck."

My eyes rolled. "Great." I continued to sign the next piece of merch as I conversed with Charles.

"You need to focus more on your work than on me." He had his arms folded across his chest and was smirking.

I frowned. "Don't be so egotistical, Charles. I am focused on my work!" My mouth hung open as I pointed at the growing mound of signed products. "Look at all of this stuff I've signed!"

Charles stood on the opposite side of the table to me, placed his hands upon the wooden top, and narrowed his eyes on me.

I gulped.

"If you're so focused on your work, then why have you just signed my glove?" He asked, eyes flicking between by own and between the merchandise in my palms.

I looked down, and up. And down. "Oh, fuck!"

Indeed, there in my hands, was Charles right-handed racing glove. And it did, indeed, have my signature scrawled all over it in black ink.

"I just signed your glove." I was shaking my head in disbelief. "I just signed your fucking racing glove!"

Charles was simply laughing at me, taking his newly signed racing glove from my hands. "It's okay. You're signature might give me luck for the race. It's not like the session is going all that well for me so far anyway. The practice this morning was a huge failure."

I frowned. "You're going to race in them? Ferrari will kill you!"

Charles shrugged. "Let them. Your signature improves the look of them, anyway."

"Charles-"

"Leclerc! I seem to have found you in my garage." Said McLaren Managing Director, Zak Brown, as he entered the paddock.

Charles held his hands up innocently. "I'm sorry, Zak. I was just making sure that Ana was doing okay and was prepared for the qualifiers."

"I've been busy away Zak, signing..." I smiled, eyes catching ever so briefly on the glove in Charles' hands. "Merch. Signing merch."

"Good. I'll get Mel to start sending these out again." Zak smiled at me, before nodding in Charles' direction. "Qualis are due in forty minutes. You both need to be getting a move on."

Charles cleared his throat. "Of course, yes." He turned to me. "Good luck, Ana."

The corners of my lips were resisting the urge to turn upwards. "Thank you, Charles. I'll see you out there."

With that, Charles disappeared from the garage, leaving me alone with Zak and my piles of merchandise.

"Ana, I need to know that you're focused." Zak said, his voice bouncing between the walls of the room.

I lifted my eyes from the tabletop and looked at him, eyebrows lowered and lips parted. "What do you mean?"

Zak exhaled heavily. "It was a big undertaking getting you on the grid this year. Now, I've always believed in you, especially whilst you were in the academy, but not everyone has done. Being the only female and the first racer with a major health condition has led to people have doubts that you can do this. I don't have those doubts. Don't prove me wrong."