On Thursday I go with him to watch him do a challenge with Marcus. They're filming it for Youtube and it's quite hilarious to watch. Charles lies a lot and I call him out on it afterwards. Marcus was at least being honest. Charles sits through a media conference, he has individual interviews and they go to answer questions on a stage. At one point I get bored and go look for Evie and Isaak. I get to the garages and I head towards the Red Bull one when I run into Pierre.
"Have you seen Max anywhere?" He asks.
"I think he's over by the stage waiting for-" I point with my thumb over my shoulder, but Pierre won't let me speak before he starts walking the other direction than the one I had just pointed.
"Okay, thanks!" he yells over his shoulder as he walks away. I just stare after him for a moment. I didn't know he was that worried about Max.
I find Evie and Isaak in Max's hospitality and we all agree to go look for something to do rather than just sit around. I ask her about Pierre and she tells me he's very hyper-cautious about Max, just in case. Well... I've always known him to be a nutcase so...
We find Toto, who we've missed very dearly during the break. I'm not completely sure he's missed us as much during the break, but he smiles when we walk in and then he looks at Isaak. He looked like he expected one of us to introduce him as a new boyfriend but when Evie told him who he was he looked disappointed before politely greeting him. Poor thing thought we'd get boyfriends and finally leave him alone when he's working. Yeah... no.
On the Friday of free practice 1 and 2, I showed up just before the first one started. I didn't want to intrude on Evie and Isaak's quality time, so I just showed up to support Charles when I really had to. We did our handshake before he got into the car. I watched cameras walk around in and out of the garages, people wearing Netflix shirts. I knew Charles had said they wanted to interview him and he might get a bigger part in one of the episodes.
The day after the practice sessions, Saturday, Qualifying day, someone came up to me and shook my hand. He knew my name and asked me if he could speak with me for a moment. I was shocked but I agreed and we went over to Alfa Romeo's offices over on the paddock. He then sat me down and explained he wanted to have a smaller part about Jules in the show they were shooting. It would be in relation to Charles and he just wanted to see if I was okay with it. I told him it was fine and thought that would be it, but he asked me if I had some videos or pictures of him that they could use. Of course I had, but there are enough pictures on Google, is there not? When I told him I'd check he told me he wanted to discuss.
He asked me to be in it and talk about Jules.
I told him a stern no and even added a very stern "never going to happen."
I learnt that people will always try to make money off of me and my dead brother.
Charles qualified p16 and really wasn't happy to qualify that low in Monza of all places. I told him it didn't matter because they still have the race to get through. Charles disappeared during Saturday night. Evie, Isaak, some other drivers and I had agreed to drive into Milan to eat and just look at the city. I thought Charles would want to come. But he said he was busy and told me to go without him. The next day, Sunday, Race day, he came in with Lucie.
I guess she had landed Saturday night and that's why Charles was busy. He also didn't wake me up to ask me to come with him to the paddock. I woke up because Evie called me and was pissed that I hadn't come in at the same time as Charles had. She and Isaak were waiting for me. I got out of bed and put on something blue. It was very important that it was blue. I took my time, went downstairs to eat some breakfast, I took a walk to the track and I walked in through the crowded entrance. Because I couldn't let people think that if she's here then I'm not.
They'll do the math in their heads. He's here with her, they arrive together and they're holding hands. If I arrive smiling and happy to be there, if I'm seen with her acting friendly and happy, then they will realize that the dating rumors were nothing but rumors. It'll make people say that we're just that close childhood friends.
So I put my sunglasses down when I got closer, I walked casually in my dark blue dress and I waved with a smile as people called my name while walking through. I even went up to some people that motioned with their phone that they wanted a picture. I scanned my pass and I went to the Mercedes garage to talk to Toto, I went to the Red Bull garage to talk to Daniel before he went to warm up. I went to Toro Rosso to talk to Pierre. He asked if I was alright with her being there and a part of me had forgotten that he had seen the whole thing play out in my home. Pierre scoffs about her being there and I find it quite comforting, so I stay with Pierre for a while. At least until he has to warm up.
Then I go sit with Evie and Isaak. We joke a lot about all the drivers and team principles, especially Christian Horner. We stay out of trouble though, because we don't want Isaak to get in trouble. If we get in trouble, there's nothing they can do really, because of Charles, Max, Toto, Lewis, Seb and so on. They just wouldn't let it happen. When Evie and Isaak go down to the Red Bull garage before race start, I follow them and head towards the Alfa Romeo garage. Charles is just about to get in his car when I walk in and he sighs with relief.
"Pensavo non saresti venuto, dové diavolo eri? Ti ho chiamato un sacco di volte," I thought you weren't coming, where the hell were you? I've called you loads of times, he says and I shrug nonchalantly with a smile on my lips.
"Monza non mi mancherebbe, Charles," I wouldn't miss Monza, I tell him as I hold out my hand, waiting for him to start the handshake. He sighs and glares at me for a moment, but then does the handshake. I look into the garage and see Lucie sitting with headphones on in the box. "Guidare sicuri." Drive safe.
Then I go to sit down next to her. She smiles as I sit down next to her and grab the other pair of headphones. I keep one of the cups off my ear and she takes one off so that we can communicate a bit. Halfway through the race I walk over to the Red Bull garage. I say hello to Daniel's parents and sit down next to them, watching him instead.
Charles finished p11 and I know he was upset about not finishing in the points. When I knew he had gotten back to the garage, I went back there and he watched me walk in. I told him some speech about how he's good and he asked me where I had been, not caring that I was trying to cheer him up. He cared about where I had been sitting. I wanted to motion to his girlfriend that was waiting for him to come over and had been sitting there the whole race. Why does it matter if I'm sitting somewhere else during one race? I just told him I had been with Daniel's parents at Red Bull and he looked down at the ground, considering us finished with the conversation.
After the race I made sure to talk to Lucie a bit more. I walked next to her, I talked to her, I laughed with her. Especially when I knew there were cameras around. I would never get too close to her. We were being friendly, but we were not friends.
The next race was two weeks later in Singapore. Charles went home for a few days before leaving for Singapore because after that he would be gone until the end of the season. Arthur also managed to be home for a bit before they both had to leave until the end of November. There was Singapore to Russia to Japan to the US going onto Mexico, Brazil and then finally Abu Dhabi.
Of course no one expected me to go to Japan. Why would I ever go to the track where my brother died? There is absolutely no way I will ever go back there. Evie and I had already decided to do something else during that race. Go home, go on vacation, whatever. We just don't want to be there for the race.
Between the race in Japan and the race in the US there's two weeks and during those two weeks, it's our birthdays. Arthur on the Sunday that's free from racing, I'm on the Monday and Charles' birthday is the Tuesday. Of course we're celebrating together and therefore I am being forced to the US race that's the same week.
Abu Dhabi is the final race of the season and I am going to that one whether I like it or not. My dad is going, Pascale is going, Arthur and Lorenzo are going. Of course I'm going. It's a big thing and I certainly wouldn't want to miss it. So it's given that I'll be at that one.
Every race except for the US and Abu Dhabi I was trying to work out if I wanted to go or not. I still hadn't pitched the idea to Charles but I had told Arthur that I wanted to come with him to more races than I originally had planned and he was over the moon.
We hadn't talked about the races or even made up a plan for what races I should attend or when I should go to Sweden to visit my parents or when to come home to Pascale. All I knew is that I had a virtual meeting with a psychologist every Tuesday at 2PM, but other than that we had not been planning anything since I moved in.
So when Charles came in to book all the hotels and to tell me times and actually plan with me, I felt like I had to tell him. I told him I didn't want to attend all of the races left of the season so that I could go with Arthur too. He understood, but it was clear he was disappointed and had been expecting me to be there. I told him to bring Lucie to the ones I couldn't be at, and I didn't say it out of pettiness or anything, I just didn't want him to feel lonely at the races. His face made me feel so much guilt. But he understood of course, Arthur was my best friend as much as he was so why wouldn't I go to watch his races too.
We agreed on me going to the US, Abu Dahbi, Singapore and Brazil. We booked the hotels and we shook hands about it. The rest of the time I would go with Arthur or be at home. Either in Sweden or in Monaco. I'd see Evie less, but after Abu Dahbi we'll both live in the same city again and we'll have so much time to spend with each other without a single race for about four months. We'll probably talk every day anyways and hopefully she can come to some of Arthur's races as well.
The days Charles spent at home, he spent a lot of time with Lucie. She spent a lot of time at our place too. I spent time with Arthur and Charles spent time with Lucie. But then Charles started insisting on the four of us doing things together as a group, like we had done when Evie and Pierre were here. We agreed out of courtesy, but it was not close to the same thing.
We took the boat out. Charles and Lucie spent time on one end of the boat, cuddling up next to each other. Arthur and I played cards or jumped into the ocean on the other end of the boat. I wouldn't consider us friends.
But when Lucie was asked to babysit her niece, she took her over to our house and the two-year old was just so adorable I couldn't stay away. But you'd imagine my shock when I ended up on Lucie's Instagram. A picture of me and her niece playing together. On her Instagram. From there I realized that my plan of making it look like we were friendly but never once making it seem like we were actual friends went to shit.
Indecisive, Leclerc?
The past few weeks have been pretty busy for the Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc, 20, who's currently driving for Alfa Romeo's F1 team. The sport just resumed from their four week summer break and Leclerc made sure we knew he had been busy.
Ever since the childhood friend of Leclerc, Céline Bianchi, came back to Monaco and began making appearances at her friends' races, we have been getting picture after picture of them together. Friendly, of course.
There were rumors during the summer of the two finally hitting it off to start dating, and when the two showed up arm in arm at a Ferrari event in Monaco in August, people thought they were making it official — But we were quickly proven wrong.
Bianchi's absence was noted during the first race back after summer, the Belgian Grand Prix at the famous Spa circuit. Instead, Leclerc walked in with Lucie Thomas, who we all thought he was broken up with since the beginning of the year. Apparently we were all proven wrong once more!
Bianchi was seen arriving with friend, Evelina Verstappen, in Monza the next coming race weekend and reportedly joined her friend on the paddock for the remainder of the week. Thomas also attended the race but was not seen there before Sunday, day of the race. While we prepared for drama, we got once again proven wrong!
Bianchi and Thomas seem to have no bad blood between them as they laughed and walked through the paddock together. Bianchi seemingly watched the race in the Red Bull garage with driver Daniel Ricciardo's parents, which proves just how well she gets along with anyone.
Charles Leclerc is lucky to have two lovely ladies on his side and is even luckier that they are friends, it could've gotten messy!
I got the article through a link that Evie sent me asking me if she had to throw hands because someone is trying to steal her best friend. I told her there is no way, because now I need to stay away from both of them. The article said almost everything I wanted it to say, except for one tiny detail. It said we were friends, while all I want to be with her is friendly.