Silverstone was definitely something.
I'm very proud of Carlos on his first win it was about time!! He did a great job of fighting against the Red Bulls, especially with Max in the beginning. That crash during the first lap was absolutely terrifying and I'm glad all drivers who were affected are now okay.
Ferrari however, wow. I'm not an expert when it comes to the timing of pitstops and all that but I've seen some tweets that Ferrari could've had a double podium finish if only they pit Charles as well. He was offered like bait out there with the other drivers on softs. It's just disappointing how he hasn't gotten a podium finish since Miami and none of it is his fault. He's an amazing driver and he proved that right by going against Lewis again yesterday. I honestly don't know what Ferrari is doing anymore with their drivers.
Anyway, at least we have this story and I hope that some of it would happen in real life.
Thoughts on the Silverstone race?
Enjoy!
*****
It's currently the fiftieth lap out fifty seven and Max Verstappen was leading.
Once again, I was standing inside the Mercedes garage with Milo and Elliana but my focus was on the red car currently in P2. The gap was closing as Charles fought to be within the DRS range, coming from having a gap of three seconds. Behind him, Ace was following but he was too busy fighting off Carlos who was less than two seconds behind.
The last seven laps were going to be a dog fight and this proved to be true as Carlos took advantage of a lock up from Ace, gaining enough time to be within DRS range. By the fifty second lap, Carlos managed to overtake the Mercedes driver, taking that podium position. Groans emitted from the Mercedes garage as we all watched Carlos pull away from Ace.
The fight for first was now getting closer as Charles moved to be within DRS range, waiting for the perfect opportunity to overtake Max. Four laps later, Max began to slow down as his radio went on, reporting an engine problem. The Dutchman kept on cursing on the radio as he tried to defend against Charles but there was no use. Charles overtook him at the beginning of the last lap, causing cheers to erupt from the grandstand as he widened the gap. Carlos was closing in on Max as well but he didn't get to overtake as they crossed the finish line.
I didn't even know I was holding my breath as Charles' radio came on and he began cheering, pumped fist punching the air. I tried to hide the smile on my face but when Milo glared at me I only shook my head at him, kissing his cheek.
The top three headed for the cool down room and thankfully, there was no sight of a certain model within the area. I gave Ace a comforting hug as he returned to the garage, going straight to his driver's room for some privacy. Elliana and I left them alone to head to McLaren and congratulate both Daniel and Lando for finishing in sixth and seventh respectively. Daniel still had a smile on his face even though neither of them reached the podium.
I made sure to pass by the AlphaTauri garage as well, getting a glimpse of Pierre who was speaking with his engineer. He finished in P8 which was two places down from his start but still within the points.
"At least you didn't crash." I said when I stood beside him. Lance Stroll caused a yellow flag when he hit Alex during the straights, his rear tire completely coming off.
"Could've been better, but yeah." He shrugged and closed his eyes as he leaned his back against the wall. "I'm exhausted." He was sweating as well coming from the race. I don't even know how they can manage under these conditions.
Grabbing a tissue box nearby, I passed it to him and Pierre wiped the few beads of sweat on his face. "Look at it this way, we'll be having fun in Coachella next weekend."
Pierre grinned as he dabbed his face with the tissue. They were all sleeping over at my parents' house before we headed to the valley since it'd be useless for them to book a hotel when they already had a place to stay. My house wasn't big enough to hold all of us and besides, my parents were currently in Paris until next month.
"I'm ready to see Harry Styles live." I laughed at the obvious excitement on his face, not expecting him to be a fan. I've met Harry a few times and he's probably one of the most genuine people I've ever met. The guy's just a walking ball of sunshine.
"Do you want to meet him?"
"Valentine, you better not be joking."
Three days later, I found myself living in a house with twelve other people. Milo, Ace, and Elliana arrived with me straight from Miami and the couple took advantage of the small amount of people in the house by picking the room farthest from mine and Elliana's. Daniel arrived with Heidi, Lando, and Luisa after spending another day in Miami to attend the after parties. A video of Daniel carrying Lando on his shoulders while singing to Post Malone's Congratulations was actually circulating online right now. Pierre and Yuki had to stop by Milton Keynes and arrived on Tuesday evening, leaving Carlos, Isa, and Charles to arrive from Italy earlier today. The last three to arrive were still adjusting to the jet lag while everyone did their own thing inside the house.
I was about to head out to buy some lunch for everyone when Pierre caught me by the kitchen. "Want to come with me?" I asked, grabbing a bottle of water.
Pierre nodded his head and put on some shoes before heading with me to the garage. "Keys, please." He said and I sighed before dropping the keys into his hands. He chuckled and opened the car doors before we both went in. "You should know that F1 drivers don't like being passengers."
"I know." I scoffed and he laughed at me. "I spent a month in Italy with one and he only let me drive a handful of times with him in the car."
At the mention of Charles, Pierre asked, "How are you guys by the way?" He was the only person I told about my conversation with Giovanni and the anger on Pierre's face after telling him the story was scary.
I sighed as Pierre drove out of the house and followed the GPS I had set. "They only arrived a few hours ago so nothing as of now. It doesn't help that we're going to Coachella either."
"I think you should tell him."
"I don't want to stress him out even more, Pierre."
"Yes, but it's stressing you out." He emphasized and I had to agree with him. I'm not gonna lie, that conversation with Charles' manager rattled me a bit and I wouldn't put it past him if he decided on it with Chiara.
We arrived at the restaurant and quickly made our orders since there weren't that much people inside. As we waited, Pierre and I decided to stop by a nearby cafe to grab some coffee. Well, coffee for him and tea for me. I noticed a crowd of people forming outside of the cafe while we were inside and Pierre saw this as well.
"We better hurry because the paparazzi in L.A. are fast." I told him as we walked out, taking a few pictures with some fans. We were near the restaurant when we heard the first click of a professional camera.
"Valentine! Give us a smile!" I ignored them and walked faster, Pierre's footsteps following beside me.
"How long have you two been dating?"
We weren't.
"What about Charles?"
What about him? He has a girlfriend.
"Should we be calling you a WAGnow?"
Definitely not.
By the time we reached the restaurant, there were so much of them that we had to fight through. It took us less than thirty seconds to pick up the food and it was even harder to get to the car. One of the paparazzi was too close and managed to push me, my body almost meeting the ground if Pierre hadn't caught me just in time.
"Watch it." He glared at the paparazzi as he helped me get inside the passenger seat with a hand wrapped around my shoulders before moving over to the other side.
He didn't waste any time, turning on the engine and immediately driving out of there.
I breathed out and turned on the air conditioning, closing my eyes as I leaned my head back. "I forgot how ruthless they are here."
"We'd probably be on Twitter by now." He grimaced and I did too. I pulled up my phone and sure enough, a video of us walking along the streets of Los Angeles was being spread.
"Why do I feel like this is just the beginning?"
"They're most likely going to be the same for the weekend as well."
We got back to the house just in time for lunch, everyone already up and hanging out in the living room. Charles' eyes were the first to meet mine and he immediately noticed how off I felt. "What happened?" He asked, causing everyone's eyes to turn to us.
"Paparazzi." Pierre and I said at the same time as he headed for the kitchen and I plopped down on the couch next to Elliana.
"We managed to get through it. Thank god." I said, leaning my head on her shoulder.
"Except when they pushed you." Pierre said when he came back and this alarmed Milo who sat up immediately.
"What?" He exclaimed. I could see the furiousness in Charles' face as well but he didn't speak. "They're really taking it too far." Milo said, opening his phone and I heard the shouts from the paparazzi once again.
"Honestly, I'm used to it." I shrugged before standing up and heading to the kitchen to grab some water.
The topic of the paparazzi stayed with them as their voices got zoned out when I left the room. I grabbed a glass of water and hopped on the counter, grabbing my phone to scroll through Twitter. Some of my fans were ready to defend me but as usual, there were hate comments about me being seen with Pierre.
Before I could scroll down even more, my phone was ripped from my hands and placed on the other side of the counter. "That won't do you any good." Charles said, standing across from me and leaning his back on the refrigerator.
"The challenges of being under the limelight." I said, voiced purely laced with sarcasm.
Charles didn't reply and just watched me which ended up making me feel awkward so I began playing with the red bracelet on my wrist. It was a few minutes later when he finally spoke up. "Something else is bothering you."
My head snapped towards him where I saw his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything because I know he'd see right through me.
Charles took a step forward and stopped when he was in front of me, enveloping me in a mix of vanilla and cedar. "Valentine, what is it?"
"Nothing."
"If it's nothing, then look me in the eye and tell me that."
I met his green eyes and opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. I closed it before opening it once again to say, "I can't."
Charles frowned as he ran a hand through his hair. "You can tell me anything."
"Not this time." I said before jumping off the counter and turning around to leave. I didn't even get to take five steps before a hand wrapped around my wrist and Charles turned me around.
"Why not?" He whispered and I felt my heart constrict at the pain in his voice. I used to tell him everything, especially when we were in Italy. There, I was like an open book and now, I'm like a treasure chest with the key thrown into the middle of the ocean.
I still needed to find a way for him to stay away. It hurts to destroy the small foundation we've built back up when we were in Miami and I don't know how else to explain it to him. The words felt awful as they went through my mouth and all I needed was the look in his eyes to know that it had done the job.
"We're not in Italy anymore, Charles. You're the reason we're in this mess so please drop it."
*****
Damn, we've got a cold Valentine. We're definitely seeing more of that in the future.
✧Reese✧