The weekend at Austria had been a good one so far, it was race day. I went straight to the paddock club to find Lily and Nat.
The three of us stood in the balcony, looking at the cars zoom by. Today, I could actually see that happening thanks to Charles who reminded me to bring along sun glasses.
The weather conditions at the track were changing every minute, the one thing that remained consistent was the gusty winds. I tied my scarf around my head, I'm order to keep my hair and glasses in place.
"She's so focused." I heard Lily talking to Nat.
"Huh?" I zoned back in.
"Hello Tara, welcome back to earth. While you were gone Lily got a glass of champagne for you." Nat laughed offering me one.
"Thank Lily!" We clinked glasses.
The race came down to the last lap, with Charles being very aggressive and Max defending very well. I found myself literally yelling, which made Lily laugh. She found my passion for the sport adorable.
The race ended with Charles settling for second place, quite an improvement from the last race. He was smiling as he headed to the driver's room but his eyes said something else, he was hungry for more.
I waited for him at the Ferrari unit with Andrea, I congratulated him for being an incredible trainer and helping Charles bounce back. He downplayed every compliment with "ah it's nothing." And a big smile.
Charles walked in through the doors, he looked exhausted. There was a smile on his face, he was becoming himself again and that's all that mattered.
"Congrats champ!" I gave him a tight hug.
"Thank you!" He held on tighter.
"Alright I better get back to the hotel, see you in two weeks." I let go.
"Where are you going?" He looked at me.
"Hotel? Flight's at 8 tonight."
"Don't go, stay another day." He insisted.
"For what?"
"Team dinner! I'll pick you up at 6." He winked.
I walked out of the place with literal butterflies, I had a big smile on my face. He wasn't going out to celebrate his podium with the other drivers, he was going to join his mechanics at a pub.
There was something about this gesture that made him adorable, I told Harriet about the change in plans and spent the rest of the evening putting together an outfit.
It was six at last, I headed to the lobby, he was already there. He looked angelic in his dark turtleneck and neatly gelled hair, we headed to the pub.
Everyone was hooting and cheering for him the minute he walked in through the doors, he was their hero. His chest swelled with pride, he was in his element and I couldn't help but blush over how happy he looked right now.
The atmosphere of the place was great, it was loud and noisy. I couldn't hear my own thoughts, but I got to see him in a different light. The laid back, all smiles and light hearted side of him.
After a good while of laughing around, we finally got back to the hotel. I thanked him for taking me along, I had fun. With a big smile on his face he wished me a good night and walked to his room.
The next morning, we drove to the airport. He went his way and I went mine, he was off to Belgium and I was off to Nice. Harriet and Julia were at the airport with the biggest smiles on their face, I was attacked with hugs the minute I was within arm reach.
"So...How was Austria?" Julia asked
"It was great! The whole town was like literally painted in RedBull colours, the track was beautiful, the weather was unpredictable and Saturday's session-"
"Shut up about F1 and more about Charles!" Julia interrupted me.
"No no no ew- I don't want to hear about my sister's sex life!" Harriet cringed.
"Oh my gosh Harriet shut up!" I nudged her.
"She doesn't want to but I sure do!" Julia smirked at me.
"No. Julia, we haven't done anything." I glared at her.
"Reallyyyyy?" She looked at me.
"Yes, that's the truth."
"Then what did you do all week?"
"I went around town, he was with his engineers."
"How boring!" Harriet yawned.
"I had fun! I got to see so much and I ate good oh and then on Saturday after the qualifying session we went on a drive to this small town nearby."
"How romantic." Julia smiled.
"Yeah, it was." I blushed.
I thought back about the time at the music school, I had butterflies. I missed his hands holding mine in an attempt to warm my fingers, I could feel heat in my cheeks.
The days went by pretty quickly, Gabriel and I went down to Pascale's house on Sunday to watch the race. All her boys were out on the track, she wanted to watch the race with someone.
The three of us watched the race, screaming and shouting at the TV screen as if Charles and Arthur could actually hear us yelling at them.
After 2 hours of yelling at them it boiled down to the last two laps. Charles leading the pack, George in the Mercedes right behind him and Arthur holding behind Max.
There were corners where it looked like George was going to get the lead, but Charles defended himself very well. It was the last sector, Gabriel was yelling in French, Italian, Spanish and just about anything he knew. Pascale was chanting in French, this was too precious to not be recorded.
It was done, Charles crossed the checkered flag with George less than a length of a car behind him. We rejoiced! I think the whole of Monte Carlo did, we heard claps and whistles from the neighbouring houses too.
He hopped out of the car and the first thing he did was look at the sky as he always did, thanking Antoine, Jules and his papa, dedicating his win to them. His eyes were glistening, Pascale was in tears looking at her boys.
"Oh Pascale you're so precious! You remind me of my mother!" Gabriel gave her a big hug.
"My boys did it!" She cried hugging him.
We resumed watching the podium celebrations, with both the brothers having a good time spraying each other and George with champagne. Charles looked happy but eyes said another story, he looked bittersweet.
I decided to take the two of them to get gelato, it's all I could afford but their good performance did deserve a celebration, Pascale could not stop the tears.
While we were at the gelato bar I had an incoming FaceTime call from Charlotte, I could see Mia with a big smile on her face.
"Papa won!" She beamed.
"Yes Mia! Your papa won! He did so well! Did you watch it all?"
"Yes I did! Mama, Leo and I watched the whole race and cheered for him- Are you eating gelato?" She asked me widening her eyes.
"Yeah! I'm with your Mamé and Gabriel, we're celebrating his win." I smiled.
"Without me!?" She pouted.
"Next time you're here we'll eat gelato again! Besides I've eaten all my best gelatos with you." I smiled.
"Yes! You have. Now I'm going to show you Cali!" She got up and started running towards the door.
Or that's what it looked like, she flipped the camera and I could make out she was standing in a very pretty backyard with lots of flowers. She ran towards a bush and all I could keep saying was slow down!
"Look!" She pointed at a small butterfly with blue wings resting on a delicate little flower.
"That's so pretty!"
"I know! Now I'm going to call up papa. Bye bye!" She abruptly ended the call.
He was probably going to be busy for the next two hours, so I just decided to send him a congrats text and how I couldn't wait to see him again. Which I ended up deleting, it felt a little too desperate.
I headed home, Gabriel came along because he had nothing to do either. We ended up spending the evening watching more rubbish reality TV shows, I got a text from Harriet saying she and Julia would be coming home late so I should start with dinner.
The two of us took meal planning in our hands, as always we settled on an easy pasta recipe. While setting up the table I got a call from him, I couldn't help but smile at my screen like an idiot.
"Congratulations Champ!" I beamed.
"Thanks Tara, so how was the race?" He asked.
"I don't know, you tell me!" I laughed.
"Thank you."
"For what?" I asked him.
"For saying what the others didn't have the courage to say, see you real soon!" He ended the call.