fallin' all in you | c.l

Two.

It was very rare for Mila to be asked to take charge of an entire marketing campaign's direction as a freelance content marketer. Coordinating multiple moving parts to align with a brand's vibe and voice? That was a beast she typically avoided. But when her close friend Eva called in a pinch, Mila found herself agreeing despite her already-packed schedule.

Apparently, their friendship ran deep enough that Mila could be guilt tripped into taking on the job despite the holidays coming up. While she didn't regret saying yes, it didn't stop her from feeling bitter about leaving the comforts of her shared apartment with Alix for an eight hour promotional shoot.

At least the gig was based in Monaco, which wasn't too far from home.

The sun was more relentless than she was expecting, and something she was unprepared for. Squinting at her iPad, she cursed herself for forgetting her sunglasses. At this rate, she would go blind by the end of the day. Apparently, the days getting shorter did not correlate with the sun's brightness.

A pair of sunglasses landed in her lap, like an answer to her silent prayers. Knowing such miracles were rare, she tore her attention away from her tablet, startled.

"Don't tell me you're the star of the shoot," she smiled in lieu of a proper greeting.

"I give you my sunglasses and that's the thank you I get?" Charles laughed, his grin disarming.

The universe was cruel for having him appear like this in front of her again, right when she had pushed their last interaction out of her mind. She knew that Eva's team had already chosen a model for collaboration, but Mila had literally worked around that knowledge completely, focusing on the branding and messaging. Lack of foresight on her part for not asking, not that Charles being the star changed anything.

But of course it had to be him.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. Plucking the sunglasses from her lap, she put them on, finding relief in the way the world dimmed around her. "Don't let me forget to return these to you later."

Charles gave her a polite nod before he was whisked away for makeup retouches, leaving an empty space for the social media manager to take over. That only led to a long conversation about what kind of social content would be helpful to tie the campaign together.

Three locations in six hours. One lunch break. A mile-long list of deliverables that she could not leave the shoot without.

Her job? To keep the whole shoot on schedule and make sure that all marketing materials were captured to perfection by the end of the day. Seemed simple enough. Well, at least until she factored in Charles.

The man was a walking distraction if she ever saw one, and Mila had to remind herself every five minutes to not get distracted by their attractive model. So not easy.

"You know," one of the makeup artists joked, fanning her face dramatically. "He might be a good enough reason to get into Formula One."

Mila smirked. "Not sure you can even see his face while they're zooming around in fancy circles."

The laughter that followed was unanimous, though Mila understood. The way all of the women around her fawned over his good looks wasn't unwarranted. Hell, even their male shoot director seemed infatuated with him as he called the shots. Charles Leclerc was the epitome of a prince straight out of a fairytale. No one would deny that.

Somehow, in the week since she last saw him, he had gotten hotter, which seemed impossible. It may have been her own imagination. The deception had everything to do with the fact that his toned arms were on full display and his hair was styled to look more tousled than normal. Or maybe this was what he looked like last time, and the alcohol and darkness had impaired her perception completely.