𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒: 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬

[ 002 ]

'Your brother or sister may not solve your issues. But they will surely not let you face anything alone.'
- Unknown

"When are you getting here?" her brother Charles' voice rumbled through Luise's phone.

Luise pondered as she sat in the private lounge of the airport in Nice. Her suitcase had already been taken and checked by an airport employee. And just now they were doing the passport control, where she didn't even really have to be there and she didn't have to stand in line. It was simply luxury. Her brothers were celebrities, she herself had been known more or less through her own sports career. So she could no longer pass through the normal entrance without being recognized. And when her own brother's name was Charles Leclerc and he was more concerned about her than anyone else, she was allowed to enjoy this luxury.

"My plane leaves in just under an hour. I'll be at your place around six o'clock," she said, looking out of the window, where an Easyjet plane was just taking off, "No, that's not right. At seven. Time difference and all."

Actually, she didn't like the idea of still having to get on a plane at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, only to have to fly eight hours to Sakhir, Bahrain. But her brother had insisted that she get on the plane to join him after her pre-World Championships press and final daytime practice.

Why? Well, she could only guess. After all, it had been a month since the Olympics. She had changed. Had turned back into the little pile of misery she was when she was eleven. She withdrew, spent a lot of time on the ice or in the gym, even if she generally already trained a lot, and then was rarely with her family, where she was usually every other day. And Charles and the rest of the family weren't stupid. They didn't know about anything, but they noticed the changes. They wanted to help her. Well, and so it came to happen that she was going to follow her three brothers to Bahrain. Her mother had a lot to do in the next few days and because none of her brothers from Bahrain could take care of her, she had to follow. Even though she found excuses all the time, she couldn't compete with her brothers.

The only thing she managed was that she was allowed to fly behind alone and Lorenzo didn't have to stay with her in Monaco until departure.

"I'll pick you up," he said dominantly.

"No, you won't. I'll get a car and drive myself," she began to argue.

She couldn't and didn't want all this petting and patting anymore. She could make it from the airport to the hotel by herself. She just had to either call a cab or rent a car and drive herself. After all, she hadn't gotten her driver's license for nothing.

"Luise, I-"

"Charles, please, stop that," she said harshly, but not too loudly, since others were still sitting spread out in the lounge.

She heard him sigh through the phone. And in the next moment, she was already sorry. He was trying to protect her. He wanted to help her, even though he didn't even know what had happened. He was her brother. A brother who cared.

"I'm sorry." she whispered softly, lowering her head.

She had to tell him sometime. At least to him. Luise didn't have to tell her mother, after all. She would just worry too much and rack her brain. But she had to tell Charles. He would help her, would support her where he could and in the best case get her out of there. But for that she would have to have the mumps to tell him.

"Okay, I'll get you a cab. He'll pick you up and then we can have breakfast together at the hotel. The boys will be there too. Agreed?"

The boys. So the other Formula One drivers. She had always wanted to meet them, since until now she had only ever seen them from afar. But actually not under such circumstances. She would be very interested to know under what pretext she was in Bahrain. What had Charles told his colleagues?