3rd Person POV
"Yes, good afternoon to you too, kind sir," she smiled and put her phone on the windowsill, next to the sink in the kitchen.
"Unfortunately, the sun's not even here anymore. It's so dark outside, see?" Lando opened the curtain of his hotel suite and showed Clarisse the evening night in Baku City.
Clarisse paused washing the dishes for a while and furrowed her brows, looking at her phone screen. "You're only two hours ahead of me but, sure, sure, Mr. Time Traveller," she sassily teased.
Lando chuckled at her cheeky joke and took a good look at her. She was wearing her casual home attire; just an oversized grey t-shirt and plaid shorts. Not too short and looked very comfortable at the same time. She also wore a rather old looking apron. Cute.
"How are you and Carlos? I heard that the internet is currently crazy of your bromances, or whatever they call it."
The british on the other side instantly groaned in desperation. "It's all because McLaren's dropping so much content including us! It's their fault."
"Congratulations, you're a celebrity now."
He laughed lightly, shaking his head, "No, we're athletes."
Clarisse shrugged her shoulder while moving onto the next dirty plate, "Pretty much the same thing, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, answering your previous question, yes, we're both doing fine. Just a lil tired from all the exercise and the shooting stuff."
"Ouch... to be a celebrity,"
Lando jokingly glared at the screen, "Stop it!" he laughed instantly. "Okay, no more about me. What matters is you, little lady. How are things going in Monaco?" Lando couldn't help but got a little curious since she returned home so suddenly.
He thought she would say goodbye first or text him and the others at the very least. They're friends, right?
"Everything's okay here. I'm doing very well. Mama suddenly needed my help with the house because some of the in-laws are coming this weekend." She expertly made up the lie.
"I see..." Lando wondered. His blue-grey eyes wandered elsewhere while he lied onto the bed, holding his phone up. "We miss you, Clarisse." he continued.
"I miss you too... it's only been a week but I miss you guys so much." Clarisse never really had many friends her age to begin with. It was honestly the first time she could have a fun time with people close to her age. She spent her entire life with the Leclerc's after all. The people in the house were pretty much all the people she interacted with.
Seeing Lando only smiled and didn't give her another response, she thought he might have expected more from her answer, so she continued.
"Don't worry, I never miss the broadcast. Even though I'm not there with you physically doesn't mean that I'm not keeping an eye of you guys. I can spot every track limit corruption you all did." she pointed at him jokingly.
Lando chuckled nervously. "Uh oh, I think I'm in danger. Your eyes might be even sharper than the FIA's."
They continued to chat with each other and before Lando realized it, the clock almost struck midnight. Clarisse noticed he started to look even more tired than before. "Lando, are you sleepy?"
The boy instantly jerked up his body and did a little stretch. "No, no. I'm wide awake."
"No. You deserve rest. You said you're gonna have exercise with your trainer tomorrow right?"
"True, but, Clarisse.." he paused, "Have you seen the articles about you and Charles?"
Clarisse could sense the worry in Lando's careful tone, afraid that he might touch a nerve or make her feel uncomfortable, which isn't the thing at all. "Yes, I've seen a couple of them," she sighed.
"Now the media labeled you as just a 'family friend' of the Leclerc's and not his sister," Lando mumbled to himself.
"Well technically, they're not wrong." She always thought of them as her family, but the facts could never lie. She's no one.
She honestly had an idea of why Charles would suddenly say that to the media, even looking like he needed to deliver that statement. But she might be wrong. In fact, she didn't even want to think about it now.
"Speaking of Charles... how is he?" she carefully asked him. Her heart instantly beat a little bit faster than before.
Lando looked at her in disbelief, "You're not in contact with him?"
"Well, um... no. He's always been pretty distant with us though, haha." nervous chuckle.
Lando on the other side hummed, "Honestly... I don't know. He's not being himself lately, but not drastically. I can still sense some subtle changes like.. He's worried about something. The others can tell too but we don't think it's our place to meddle."
"I hope he's okay."
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During the last days until the Azerbaijan GP, Clarisse often face-timed with Lando when they had the time, which surprisingly was pretty often. Funny, with the time difference and all, at the end of the day they still could make some time to call each other.
In the evening after the quali, after the instantly famous "I am stupid" line, the boys spent some time hanging out in Pierre's hotel suite. They ordered pizza and played cards while having a video call with Clarisse.
"Clarisse, ma chérie, believe us, we all miss you!" Pierre half-shouted from the corner of the room, making sure she could hear him.
"Yeah, yeah, I believe you. Calm down, boys."
Carlos, Pierre and Lando fought for their turn to share how their day went to Clarisse. They find it very refreshing to talk to her and hear her jokes and comments.
Carlos was in the middle of his lame dad-joke when the door opened abruptly, revealing Charles carrying a hefty shopping bag full of snacks and chips. "You all started without me!" he shouted at them, grinning.
"Hey, man! Let me see what you got!" Lando immediately rummaged through the shopping bag, while Charles lifted his head to look at the screen. "Who are you guys talking to?" it's a bit far from where he stood so he couldn't see clearly.
"It's your sister, Clarisse!" Pierre said and turned towards the screen. "Charles is here. He had the worst crash in quali so the treat's on him," he said excitedly to her.
"Pierre, she's not-"
"He's not my brother, Pierre." she let out a light laugh.
Honestly, hearing her voice for the first time since they parted ways left a butterfly running in his stomach. Could he hear more of that laugh again, please?
Pierre slapped his own forehead, "Ah, yes, I forgot about the articles." he groaned. He was about to ask more about the truth behind the two but Clarisse cut him.
"Looks like I'm needed in the kitchen. See you later, guys. Have fun tonight and don't forget to drink lots!" she quickly yeeted away because Charles was there.
"Bye, love!" Lando shouted from the pantry. Charles knitted his eyebrows, what did he just say? Maybe it's just a british thing to say?
The others also said bye and the call got disconnected. They all had fun times together, eating snacks and playing cards for a few rounds before finally settling on the couch to watch Netflix. It was a boring show about wildlife nature or something, but surprisingly the other guys looked like they're enjoying it very much. Like... they're having an online lecture class or something.
Charles silently fished his phone from his pocket and opened the messenger. He opened and closed it again a few times, hesitating. Should I?
After half an hour of contemplating, he hit send.
"How are you holding up there?"
-Sent [00:16]
As soon as the message delivered, he closed and threw away his phone. Too afraid to expect anything. Will Clarisse reply? He hoped so, but at the same time he kinda wished she wouldn't.
He fluttered his eyes close and drifted away through the boring show.
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A/N:
Hey guys, I'm sorry if it's rather a boring chapter. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless :"3