carlos and elara left the hotel they were staying at, milo excited someone was joining them on his walk. "i heard you're at mercedes this year" carlos spoke.
"yeah, and you're a ferrari driver. i guess new teams for both of us this year, huh?" elara said, looking up at the spaniard. carlos nodded his head in response, "so what made you come on this walk with me and milo?" she asked.
"i don't know, the guys kept talking about testing and the new season, and i just got bored"
"so i'm just an excuse," the girl said, rolling her eyes playfully. carlos could only smile at the girl walking next to him. "c'mon i saw this small cafe on the drive to the hotel" the pair continued on their walk, finding the cafe elara mentioned, only to find out it was closed.
"ay caramba"
"yeah, i really wanted to have their food tonight" the girl sighed, disappointed that she went out to find food but couldn't have the food she really wanted. carlos seeing this, took her free hand and started walking back to where they came from, "where we going carlos?"
"it is a surprise, vamos amor" he responded, the two not holding hands anymore but walking closer together for sure. the occasional brush of the back of their hands put a smile and faint blush on their faces. carlos had led them to an ice cream shop he saw as they left the hotel. they approached the vendor, "one vanilla please,"
"and one chocolate vanilla swirl" elsra finished, reaching into her bag to grab her card, only to find out carlos had beat her to it. before she could ask why he paid for it the two were handed their ice creams, a thank you and gracias were said to the vendor. "why didn't you let me pay for it?"
"because the cafe was closed and you were sad, so i got it to cheer you up" carlos replied, smiling down at the girl who had a smile on her face when she heard his response.
"you're too sweet you know that right" the ferrari driver laughed, nodding his head, slowly starting to enjoy the presence of elara more and more. he definitely wouldn't mind hanging out with her again. "wanna head back to the hotel? it's getting late, and we both have a big two weeks"
"yeah, i am down" the two drivers walked by each other in peace, milo leading the way back, stopping to smell the sidewalk every once in a while. by the time they made it back, the lobby was cleared out, leaving just the two. getting in the elevator, elara couldn't help but suppress a yawn, tired out from all the travel and time change.
"tired there?" carlos asked her.
"mhm," she had leaned her head against his shoulder as the elevator took them up to their floors. the bell dinged letting them know, elara's floor was first, "i'll see you tomorrow, goodnight carlos" giving a slight wave as she hopped off the elevator, milo right behind. both eager to get some sleep,
"buenos noches elara," carlos said, returning the wave, right before the elevator doors closed.
+++
there was a loud pounding on her door this morning, waking the poor girl up from her sleep. a muffled, "ELARA WAKE UP!" rang through the door, milo scratching at the door. grumbling, the girl reluctantly got out of bed and headed towards the door. opening it she came face to face with max who was ready to knock on her door again.
"go away," she said, closing the door, only for max to get his foot in the way, making his way into her hotel room.
"it is noon elara," he said, sitting down in a chair while the girl got milo his breakfast/lunch ready. the poor dog was used to having his food at the most random times of the day, it was just how elara functioned.
"how did you even find my room?" she asked her former teammate.
"leah gave it to me" he responded with a slight shrug. "anyways, i came to say that there is a required driver dinner at 7. and that you now have plans to come to the pool with the other drivers, and i"
"when?"
"now," elara glared at max, before digging through her suitcase for a swimsuit.
"are you going to leave so i can change?" elara questioned the boy.
"no, because if not you're going to fall back asleep and not leave until tomorrow when we go to the track" max said, elara groaning before heading to the bathroom to change and get ready. pulling the green-floral bikini set on, with the matching coverup, she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, before heading out the door to grab some items.
"why are you bringing a book to the pool, it'll just get wet"
"too read it?" elara responded, there was a book, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat placed into a tote bag. she slipped her sandals on, before grabbing milo's leash and key card to enter her room. "can you grab my phone while you're over there?"
"yeah, by the way, you got some texts from nico," max said, passing the girl her phone and walking out the door, elara following. the two plus milo made their way to the elevator, before heading up to the roof where supposedly everyone else was.
the two former teammates reached the roof and saw that most of the drivers were there, some in the pool, others at the bar, and george tanning. elara headed over to a chair, setting her stuff down before heading over to the bar.
"can i get an irish coffee and water," she asked the bartender. handing over her card to pay, she grabbed her drinks and headed back to her chair. whistling for milo to come to get some water, the dog came running over and happily accepted the water.
finally getting around to looking at her phone, there were quite a few notifications and texts from her brother; well brother from another mother.
messages with nicotine
hey
hi
belle
hello??
it is noon in bahrain rn
hi nico
what do you want
nothing
just to check in on you
im 24?
i know
then why check-in
because i can
you are infuriating nicholas
so are you
idiot 💀
anyways when do you come home next
may, i think
boo, that's too far 👎🏻👎🏻
goodbye.
__
setting her phone down, she looked around to see the pool area. milo was running back and forth on the side of the pool, barking while wagging his tail at the same time. she was glad to see him enjoying his time, a couple of the guys were in the hot tub relaxing and talking.
lando was in the main pool with carlos, charles, and max. he waved at her to join the guys, but she just leaned back on her chair, pulling out her book to read. milo ran up to her at one point, then ran back. that repeated for a couple of minutes before elara put her book down to see what was going on.
carlos was leaning at the edge of the pool, looking at the girl. "c'mon join us elara. it'll be fun" flashing a smile at the girl. "even milo thinks so" he pointed at her dog who was chasing after a tennis ball, then brought it back to max who threw it again. carlos still waited at the wall for the girl, before she gave in and put her book back into her bag, taking off her coverup she stood up and walked over to the edge of the pool.
"just get in lara!" lando yelled at her. elara still stood there, not really wanting to get in.
"c'mon campbell!" max joined in. so lando got out without her noticing, and ran up behind her before pushing her in. the girl was now in the water, and as she came up to the surface, pushing her hair back, her eyes turned to lando who was laughing at the edge of the pool. everyone's attention was now on the pool, where the big splash came from.
elara decided to just grab the boy's hand and pull him into the water. lando screeching as he fell in. "AGH ELARA"
"payback norris" she shouted at him. the younger boy began to splash her with water, so elara started swimming away towards the stairs where she got out and made her way to the hot tub, taking a seat next to lewis. "hey guys, what up"
"saw you got pushed into the pool over there," lewis told the girl.
"that's not me" she replied.
"that's not you?"
"nope"
"alright if you say so" lewis chuckled at the girl.
++
it was now time for dinner and elara had left the pool a while ago and gone up to shower and rest before seeing them all again. she had thrown on a black long sleeve and a mid-length blue silk skirt. checking her phone, she grabbed a pair of heels and a mini purse before saying bye to milo. "be good babes, i'll be right back" giving a kiss goodbye, she walked out the door and headed downstairs. stepping out of the elevator and walking into the lobby, she found mick talking with sebastian, which she promptly joined.
"hi lara," sebastian greeted her, pulling her into a side hug. "how have you been?"
"hey seb, hi mick. just chilling, ready to get some food" the girl replied.
"me too, elara, me too"
"you excited for this season mick?" elara asked the young boy.
"yeah, really excited, but kind of nervous too" he replied.
"don't sweat it, it'll be good fun. and if you ever need anything, come find me and i'm down to help always," elara said. "i keep my word, right seb?"
"she does, plus everyone knows her so if you ever need anything lara will get it settled for you" sebastian added on.
"alright, thank you" mick laughed a bit.
"i'll catch you guys later, bye!" elara waved bye to the two germans before finding her own friends. spotting max and charles, she walked over to them, slinging her arms around the two guys. "hey boys!" she grinned at them. the two drivers looked at her as the group started moving to the restaurant down the street.
the three held a conversation until they approached the restaurant where they found a seat at the table reserved for them. elara took a seat next to lewis at the table as food and drinks were brought to them.
dinner came and went, and a few drivers got a little drunk, mainly max and elara. they had a drinking contest later on in the night, elara won somehow. so it was fair to say she needed some assistance getting back to her room, carlos just happened to be the closest. "how was your dinner elara?" he asked her as they began walking back.
"very good, tasted delicious" she replied, almost tripping over a raised sidewalk. luckily carlos caught her in time, keeping her steady.
"eres buena amor?" the spaniard asked her, too and she just nodded her head, gripping onto carlos's arm as they walked back. reaching the hotel a couple of minutes later, carlos continued to help her up to her room. "what room number elara?" the girl dug around in her purse, before taking her hotel room key out.
reaching her hotel door, the ferrari driver opened it, and elara flopped onto the bed. "elara you need to change and get ready for bed" carlos said, helping her up from her bed and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her as he waited outside.
ten minutes later the girl emerged, make-up off and in her pjs as she got into bed. milo jumped on the end to go to sleep. "buenos noches amor" carlos said, leaving the sleeping elara and making his way back to his room. it was going to be difficult for him to not fall for her.