Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

Nobody puts a Horner in the corner

Y/n withdrew her hand, almost out of instinct.
"I was just dropping by to see how you were" she pulled up with her nose at the tears "I'm leaving now"
"Thanks for coming" Christian said smiling "you look tired, do you need anything?"
"No thanks..."
"Do you want some water? I'll have someone bring it to you"
"I'm fine, thanks. Bye..." she couldn't say the word dad. She couldn't, not after what he had done to her. He looked into her eyes, understood perfectly what his daughter was thinking and felt like a failed father.

"Bye Y/n"

Y/n closed the door behind her and saw Max sitting in front of the door looking at his mobile phone. As soon as he heard the door close, Max looked up and stood up to walk towards her.
"Were you able to change his mind?" asked Max referring to some healthy rest for Christian.
"You know better than me that's impossible."
"I've never seen a man as stubborn as him."
"You, for example?" the two smiled and the air thinned a little "I'm going now, Max. See you."
"Shall we have coffee? You slept here after all.."
Y/n remained silent, hesitated for a moment to answer, and when she was about to say something....

"Hey guys!"

Max and Y/n turned around. It was Checo, who had also arrived to visit Christian.
"Checo!" Y/n approached him and the two embraced. Checo holds her tightly to him, like a father would.
"I missed you a lot!" he said with his Mexican accent "do you want a coffee?"
"Yes, thanks!" perhaps that answer sounded too quick compared to the one not given to Max. Y/n felt she needed to talk to Checo, she knew she could only trust him now.

*CHARLES' POV*

"So? How did it go on the boat with Y/n?" Arthur had just hit Charles on the back with his tennis ball while his brother was distracted
"Ouch!" Charles threw the ball back at Arthur.
"We're curious," Lorenzo, the older brother, urged.
"...It went well, yes..." said Charles clearing his throat and becoming serious
"You don't exactly look happy. Did something go wrong?" asked Lorenzo
"...he went out with his best friend, what did you expect?" replied Arthur, a little know-it-all.
"Can we play, please? I have practice with Andrea later" Charles cut short, as if they weren't really talking about it.
The three Leclerc brothers played in silence and for a while no one touched the subject of "date with Y/n".
But then Lorenzo became serious and asked his brother again what had happened on that yacht last night.
"Nothing, everything went as I hoped."
"So what?" again Lorenzo, while Arthur stood there listening to them
"I don't want to talk about it" Charles smiled, as if to hide the discomfort that conversation caused him. He hit the ball with his racket and resumed playing but Lorenzo caught the ball with his hand and stopped the game.
"I'm sure we can help you..."
"I don't know if we are doing the right thing."
Those words echoed in his brothers' ears. No one expected such a cold response from Charles, but it was as if it came out of him on the spur of the moment.

Then, feeling the pressure of his brothers' stares, he continued to speak, trying to defuse the tense climate: "and I feel terrible because she is fantastic"
"I think it may seem strange at first. You've always been best friends. But it's only a matter of time, you'll get used to it"
"I was thinking the same thing, but after she left because of the issue of her father I was left alone and there I got to thinking..."
"Did you tell her?" asked Arthur who had finally spoken.
"Of course not. She was already quite shaken by the news about her father. Besides, I'm still too confused to tell her anything. I don't want to make her suffer further and unnecessarily."
"Did you...?" asked Arthur with a sly nosy manner.
"I'm not telling you that, little brother! This is grown-up stuff" the two began to nudge each other good-naturedly.
For a moment things seemed to have loosened up, but it was Lorenzo who got them both serious again.
"You need to think about how you feel about her, Charlie."
"Yes" Charles stopped joking with Arthur "I just want her to be happy. She has suffered too much in life"
"it's normal you feel that way. You don't want to ruin your friendship, right?" even Arthur was back in earnest.
"that's right, but maybe you're right" he turned to Arthur "maybe it's just our friendship I want to preserve. I don't want to lose it, of that I am sure."

"Have you heard from each other today?" asked Arthur, placing his racket in his rucksack. It was almost afternoon now and Charles was supposed to train with Andrea later.
"No, I don't want to bother her" Charles wiped his sweat with a towel.
"You should write something to her" Lorenzo suggested.
"Lorenzo is right, don't disappear" Arthur shouldered his backpack and together with the others headed for the exit.
"I think this is a very delicate moment for her. She will be with her father now, I don't want to intrude" Arthur and Lorenzo looked at each other, deciding not to push it any further. He would write to her when he felt more comfortable.

In fact, later that afternoon, after training with Andrea, Charles had placed himself on the couch to rest. He took out his mobile phone and, although he was not so sure what he was doing, he texted her.
He deleted and changed the content of the message a million times. He didn't want to be intrusive, he didn't want to text her how her father was doing, he didn't want to ask her how she was doing herself, not in a message. He felt like he was walking on broken glass. He was beginning to feel unsure of what to ask her, how to ask her. It was as if he had suddenly lost all spontaneity towards Y/n.

Do you feel like coming this race weekend? We'll be in Miami.