Redemption {Charles Leclerc}

5

It turns out that the team has quite a lot of tasks to do in order to prepare for the race tomorrow and a pair of extra hands apparently wasn't superfluous. You've been helping out for a few hours now, although that also included talking and laughing with members of the crew that didn't have any duties anymore. 

It has already become dark outside and there's actual sweat on your forehead from working in the humid weather. You're pretty tired actually so you decide to see if Seb's ready to go back to the hotel yet. 

As you walk off to the back of the garage, you grab your phone out of your pocket to see if you have any missed messages. You have a text from Skyler who's asking if you want to facetime her tonight. You're totally up for that so you text her back saying that sounds like a good plan. 

You're so caught up in typing your sentence and walking at the same time that you don't hear a figure coming out of one of the doors in the hallway. 

Suddenly your body comes into contact with a slim frame and you winch at the contact. You let out a little squeal and drop your phone on the ground. 

You look up with an annoyed expression on your face to see who dared to scare you like that and you're taken off guard to see that it's Charles.

"Ohmygod Sophia, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that," he says with a worried voice.

Your annoyance immediately disappears when you see that it's Charles and you laugh. 

"Don't worry about it Charles. It's not the first time today. Maybe I'll get used to it," you say jokingly.  

Charles gives you an apologetic smiles and when you kneel down to pick up your phone, he does exactly the same thing and your hands accidently touch right above the device.

Goosebumps immediately appear on your arm as his cold hand comes into contact with your warm skin but neither of you move to withdraw from your touch. You feel his gaze on you as you stare at your touching hands and you look up just to meet his eyes. For a few seconds it seems like the world stops turning as his sparkling green eyes catch your blue ones.

The way his eyes gaze into yours is mesmerizing. They have a gorgeous colour of light green in the middle with a tiny bit of blue around the outside. They are soft yet harsh at the same time, as if they can look right into your soul.

It takes a few seconds before both you and Charles realize that you've been staring into each other's eyes for too long and that your hands are still touching. You rapidly look away and withdraw your hand as he does the same. You both stand up and you run your now tingling hand over your shirt to strike it flat. 

You quickly realize that the weird 'moment' you just shared caught you so off guard that you still forgot to pick up your phone from the ground. You want to reach for it again but this time Charles beats you to it and he grabs your phone from the ground.

He stands up again and inspects your phone to see if it has any scratches before he gives it back to you. 

"Here you go. Seems like nothing's broken," he says with a small smile. 

You take your phone from his hand and smile softly. 

"Thank you Charles. I guess I'm lucky this time," you say with a small chuckle. 

Charles gives you a small smile but doesn't say anything. You scratch the back of your head with your hand as you're awkwardly standing there across from Charles. 

Say something Sophia. Anything. 

"So uhh... did you have fun today?" 

As the words come out of your mouth, you immediately realize that your question couldn't be more stupid. 

Did he have fun today? Ofcourse he didn't have fun today. He literally had the worst day ever. 

"I mean... what I meant to ask... I'm sorry, ofcourse you didn't have fun today. That was really stupid of me to ask," you say as you slap your hand on your forehead. 

You hear him chuckle and you look up to see him smile widely. 

Does he think this is funny? 

"Yeah..," he starts. "That's indeed a stupid question". 

Your cheeks turn red and you embarrassingly look down at your shoes to avoid his gaze. He's definitely done with you now. 

"But it's okay. I'm doing okay. I didn't really have fun but I'm still positive for tomorrow. Please don't feel bad for asking," he says the last sentence with a chuckle. 

You shyly look up into his eyes again. You smile weakly, still feeling embarrassed by your stupid question but glad he's not taking any offense in it. 

"That's really good. That you still feel positive I mean. That's a great mindset," you say with a smile and you mean it. 

How can he still feel positive after today? That's honestly impressive. He's starting from the back of the grid in Monaco, the most narrow street circuit out there. 

"It's the only mindset you can have as a driver really. I can go and mope around, get angry at the team or at myself but it's not going to get me anywhere. I just need to focus on the race tomorrow. That's all that matters."  

You nod impressively. 

"Yeah no, you're absolutely right but it can't always be easy to get there. That's really impressive Charles. That mindset will get you very far," you say sweetly and you mean it. 

A blush appears on his cheeks but you can tell he tries to stay cool. 

"Thank you Soph. Sophia I mean. Thank you Sophia." 

A red blush appears on your cheek as his nickname for you comes out of his mouth. With his thick French accent it sounds more like 'Soap' than 'Soph' but you love it. 

No one calls you Soap.

"No it's okay. Please call me whatever you want. Don't worry about it," you say sweetly. 

"Uhh..... I better go," you continue. "Seb is probably waiting for me." 

You have no idea if that's true but you're sure that you look like a tomato right now and you know it's not going away unless you get away from Charles. 

For a split second there seems to be a sign of disappointment in his eyes but then he gives you a big smile anyways. It was probably just in your imagination. 

"Alright. Goodnight Soap. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Charles. See you tomorrow," you say back as you give him a little wave and pass him.

You quickly walk further down the hallway to Seb's room, almost tripping over your own feet as your pace is faster than your feet can handle. You hear a little laugh behind you and you fasten your way towards Seb's room.

Great way to embarrass yourself even more Sophia. 

When you arrive at Seb's room, you knock on his door and he opens up almost immediately.

"Oh hey Soph. Right on time. I'm good to go."

You silently nod and wait for him to grab his keys and his jacket. He looks at you with a weird expression on his face.

"Are you all good Soph? You look a little bit warm."

You feel your cheeks immediately heat up more as you quickly try to think of an excuse for their red colour.

"Well yeah, I've been cleaning up the garage with your crew in this extremely hot weather. No wonder I'm warm. I should get paid for my great effort."

Seb quickly puts up his hands in defense. 

"Alright, alright. Fair enough," he laughs. "I'm definitely not paying you though," he says as he grabs his car keys and walks out of the room.

You laugh back but internally you scream at yourself for not being able to control your feelings around Charles. You sigh deeply because of your stupid behaviour around him and promise yourself to get it together soon before you follow Seb out of the room to go to the hotel.