Meet me at the hotel room

Chapter seven

Are you falling in love? I've got a feeling you are. Are you falling in love with a feeling?

(Ollies pov)

My break finally started. I have been busy with racing for the past few months.

I regret not writing to Sofia. I wonder what she had been up to.

"Ollie, get your ass out here" Arthur screamed. I have been in my drivers room for about an hour now. I got stressed about this race somehow. I have been racing since I was a toddler. Why am I stressed?

...

Arthur crashed into my room.

"Mate you have to get out of here. Don't be depressed like my brother. Trust me it's not the best characteristic."

Arthur is my best friend. Wemeet when we started karting. We always competed against each other, but in a friendly way. And now we drive for the same team. Arthur is from Monaco, where we're racing this weekend. I'm staying over at his place with his mom.

His brother Charles is in F1 and drives for ferrari. He's known as the depressed beauty. Since he joined Ferrari he has been very unlucky with their strategies and their car malfunctioning.

Charles was away this weekend couse of some race. Pascale let me sleep in his room as they were doing some renovations in their guestroom.

...

My strategist came into the room.

"Oliver, you have to get out. The race starts in about half an hour. Get yourself dressed and go to the garage."

The race. I forgot all about it for a second. Now I'm stressed again.

I put on my fireproofs and my race suit half up. That way it's more comfortable to walk.

I made my way through the paddock and got to Prema's garage. The car and all the mechanics were ready.

...

"It's lights out and away we go"

I could feel the pressure. Thousands of people were looking at me. Watching every move. Every decision.

I just got to the famous Monaco turn. The famous hairpin.

I made it.

...

The first few laps had passed. I was getting tired. My head hurts. I had concentrated too much on everything.

I couldn't do it anymore. I was at turn 6 again.

"Time to shine"

I went through the turn perfectly and saw some drivers crash in the mirror.

"Who was that,who just crashed?" I asked on the radio. "Was it Arthur?"

I was worried for my teammate. Arthur started p8, a few places behind me. He had not passed me throughout the race so it could be him.

"Fortunately not, Arthur is right behind the crash and is now behind you."

I was relieved. But I still didn't know who it was. But the race had to continue.

...

I got out of the car.

"P2 Ollie congratulations"

I made it. The podium was nice. Especially the champagne spraying. But it was now time to rest. I walked to my drivers room, and took off the racing stuff. Put on a hoodie and jeans, and walked to Arthurs room.

He was laying on his massage bed waiting for the masseuse. Arthur had a tough race. His car was malfunctioning and he tried fighting back. It was all worth it. He ended the race in P3 right behind me.

...

We were done in the paddock so we could finally go back to the apartment.

His mom made some nice pasta topped with pesto and parmesan cheese.

"Mmh I love pasta. Thanks mrs. Leclerc"

"Oh please. Just call me Pascale. And thank you. Arthur said you like pasta so I just quickly made some".

Pascale was really nice. I loved talking with her. Although she tried to teach me French every occasion she got. I only know some words but it's still pretty fun.

...

"Mate, have you seen Sofia's story? She's playing in Brazil the same weekend as us. And btw I didn't know that she was that good. You have to introduce us"

Arthur came into the room with his phone in his hand. It was 5:30 in the morning.

"Arthur, it's 5:30. No wonder your screen time is 13 hours a day. Go to sleep and let me sleep."

I got up anyway. It was still dark outside and the lights in the apartment were all turned off. I went to the kitchen and got some water.

My phone beeped. Arthur had shared something with me on instagram.

It was Sofia's story. She was heading to the airport to go to Brazil.

But whose hand was that? In the video you could see a guy's hand on the gearbox.

"Hey Arthur. Since you're not going to bed, can you do something for me?"

I didn't even have to ask twice. He got in the kitchen faster than I thought.

"Are you jealous mate? I knew you would notice the hand haha"

"It's not funny Arthur. I was on a date with her back in Italy. I just want to know if she's still single"

"Uuuu. Are you falling in love, Ollie?" Arthur mocked me.

But it was true. I was in love. Sofia made me feel a certain way. A way not even racing made me feel.

I went back to sleep. We were flying to Brazil in a few days. So it was time to explore Monaco. Arthur grew up here so he knew a few places. We went to the mall where I got a few pieces of clothes. I didn't bring enough from England, so I pretty much had to.

Arthur showed me a nice cafe where they had all sorts of milkshakes and smoothies. And that's how the days passed.

But I still couldn't stop thinking about Sofia. Arthur made it even worse as he kept reminding me about her. He kept asking about her and comparing her to Carla. Even though it was pretty fun once in a while, I just kept missing her.

"Mate, what do you want to eat? I can make some pasta or something. You have to eat something."

Arthur came into the room. I was on my phone editing "The Bear necessities". I've had the fans waiting for it. I have this blog series where I show how my life looks. That's how people found out about my smoothie obsession.

I've been testing for haas in the last few days so i've been in the us. I'm mostly staying with Arthur no matter where I go. He and I just kinda come as a 2 in 1. You invite one, you get both.

I was starting to pack for a charity go-karting session, for Jules Bianchi. Arthur had invited me to come along as a form of support. I knew we were going straight to Brazil afterwards so I packed more.