Fifty Shades Of Red | Charles Leclerc

24. Eyes Off Of You

Charles' pov

I pull my phone out of my pocket, looking at the time.

9pm.

Where the hell is she?

I thought she would already be back by now but she's nowhere to be seen. I sent her only one text earlier because I didn't want to bother or annoy her but I'm genuinely starting to get worried. What could be taking her so long? Did she get lost or something?

To distract myself I've been switching from playing on the simulator with my friends to making some business calls in order to keep myself occupied but none of those things helped me keep distracted.

Alright. That's it.

I get up from the couch and take my car keys that are lying on the coffe table before quickly grabbing a jacket on my way out.

But before I can walk out of the door, someone knocks on it.

I immediately open it and standing on the door footsteps there's Hailey. I exhale, relieved at the sight of her, all safe. I drop my jacket to the side, taking her by the arm and pulling her into my embrace. Only once my arms are wrapped around her, do I start feeling more at ease.

"Charles?" Hailey says a bit out of breath "You're suffocating me."

I unwrap my arms from her, taking a few steps back to give her some space.

"Where were you?" I ask concerned.

"I told you." She says, walking inside the house "I had some business to take care of."

"I was worried!"

Hailey doesn't say anything. She just takes her shoes off and walks to the couch, sitting down and leaning her head on the back of it.

"Are you okay?" I ask while looking down on her "You seem upset..."

"Why do you care?" She mumbles, loud enough for me to be able to hear it.

I sigh and take a seat next to her, our shoulders brushing with each other.

"If something's bothering you." I say and turn my head to look at her "You can talk to me if you'd like."

She doesn't say anything.

"Or you can just give me a name, and I'll take care of it."

With that she raises her head from the back of the couch, looking at me confused.

"You out of all people should know that I can run a car off track and make it look like an accident." I say which makes her giggle.

There's that smile.

"It's not like that it's....my mom." Hailey says and repositions herself on the couch, facing me this time and I become all eyes and ears, my full attention on her "She came to visit me today."

I'm assuming by the way that she's rubbing her forehead that her mother paying her a visit isn't something that she wanted.

"And you're not happy to see her?" I ask softly, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable by my questions.

"I hadn't seen my mom for over a year, I don't even know why she's here." She stares down at her hands, deep in thought.

"She didn't say anything?"

"She wanted to meet up and talk, but I haven't made a decision yet." She shakes her head "I went on a long walk to try and figure out what to do, but...I have no idea what I want."