Hello! How have you all been?
I'm so tired, but I needed a break from everything so I found some time to write this chapter :) I haven't had the chance to proofread it so please watch out for some mistakes!
Enjoy!
*****
July 25, 2025 - Hungary
My hand was clasped tightly around Charles' as we walked through the paddock. The atmosphere between us got lighter when I agreed to his offer back in the hotel room but we still spent most of our time eating breakfast in silence. Despite the silent agreement to forget about our problems for the next three days, you can't really control the emotions you feel.
He was going to attend the press conference first before heading into free practice. I chose to file a leave today, surprised that Adeline was so understanding about it since I messaged at the last minute. I wanted to savor this weekend and doing work was going to keep me from doing that.
Charles didn't want to leave my side so he ended up dragging me into the room dedicated for the press conference.
"Will you be okay here?" He asked, stopping by the third row and brushing a few strands of hair away from my face as his other hand landed on my hip. His press officer was behind him, talking to a few of the journalists present. When I looked into his eyes, I could see the apprehension of not being beside me. Ever since we left our hotel room, he hasn't let go of me except when we got out of the car.
It was like he was afraid that having me physically out of reach would mean he'd never see me again.
"I'll be fine." I smiled, finding it amusing how he was gushing all over me. Who knew Charles Leclerc was such a softie? "Go and do your job."
Upon hearing my tone, Charles rolled his eyes at me and gave me a peck on the lips before turning around. I watched as he sat down beside Sebastian, clapping him on the back before sending a wave at George and Checo. I took a seat by the end of the aisle, waiting for the press conference to start since from what I heard, they were still waiting for Lewis.
Ten minutes later, he walked in and I raised an eyebrow at the amount of jewelry he was wearing. He was wearing three watches– two on the right and one on the left– along with a few bracelets on his wrist. Around his neck, he had about three necklaces on but I was sure there were more underneath his shirt. Both of his ears were pierced with silver stud earrings and he had one on his nose as well. My eyes moved to his hands where every finger had a silver ring on it, my eyebrows raising up in surprise when I saw one that stood out.
A gold band.
"He's protesting." A voice on my right said and I glanced up, my eyes widening upon seeing Adeline smiling at me. She was dressed in a violet pantsuit along with matching black stilettos. Adeline carried herself with so much grace and elegance that a royal held for themself. "Can I sit with you?"
"Yeah, sure." I said, unsure of what was happening. I moved over and she dropped down on the seat beside me. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to watch the conference." She said and I raised an eyebrow, not caring if she was my boss. Technically, neither of us were at work so she wasn't my boss at this very moment. "I'm here for–"
Before she could even finish her sentence, someone spoke on the microphone to start the press conference. I gave Adeline one more curious look before turning to the front, my eyes immediately landing on Charles.
The first few minutes covered the events of the previous race and how each of the teams plan to go through the weekend. One of the reporters then brought up Lewis' appearance and the question mentioned the no jewelry rule that drivers needed to follow. Apparently, they weren't allowed to wear any jewelry while they were in the car unless it was a wedding ring. Lewis then argued that the reason why he couldn't remove his nose piercing was due to an infection yet the FIA still fined him for it.
The conference was about to move on when one of the reporters raised their hand. "Lewis, are you wearing a wedding ring?"
Whispers filled the conference room as I saw the camera zoom in on Lewis' hand, the gold band on full display.
Everyone waited for the world champion to speak until he showed a small smile. "Yes, I got married last weekend."
I don't think the questions would've stopped if one of the FIA officers in attendance hadn't calmed down the crowd. The drivers in front whispered amongst one another, mainly Charles, Seb, and Lewis. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Lewis inclined his head at our way and I turned around just in time to see Adeline wink at him.
My lips formed a smirk as Adeline met my eyes. I briefly glanced at her left hand and found a matching gold band, identical to what Lewis was wearing.
"Should I be calling you Mrs. Hamilton now?" I teased, my voice low so that no one else would hear.
She shook her head, a joyful smile on her face. "There's no way I'm letting go of the name Toussaint. Besides, I've worked too hard to make a name for myself. Not even Lewis could make me change it."
"I see congratulations are in order." I told Lewis when I walked out of the building with Adeline by my side. Beside him, Charles smirked before moving to stand beside me, hand settling on the small of my back.
"I'm a very lucky man." He grinned, kissing Adeline's cheek who smiled in return.
We chatted with the newlyweds before Charles and I headed for the Ferrari motorhome where he had to prepare for the first free practice session. I sat on top of what looked like a storage box as Charles and Andrea passed a football around, a bench in between them.
I couldn't help but smirk when I caught Charles' eyes as he glanced at me. Andrea glared at him and threw a towel at his head when he missed the ball because he was looking at me. "You have all the time to go all loverboy later." He said before passing the football again and this time, Charles caught it.
"Oh, I plan to." Charles replied, making my spine shiver at his tone of voice and I was sure a blush had crept up to my cheeks.
After two free practice sessions and a debriefing afterwards, Charles and I were heading out of the paddock around eight in the evening. Their meeting had run longer than expected due to the power unit issues he experienced during the second session but he reassured me they were going to have it fixed by tomorrow.
"Where are we going?" I asked him when I noticed he turned opposite the road that was supposed to take us back to the hotel.
Charles glanced at me before returning his eyes to the road, a small smile on his lips. "Somewhere."
I was silent for a minute, looking around as we passed by different kinds of establishments. "And where is somewhere?"
"Nova, I'm not telling you."
"And why not?"
"Because it would defeat the point."
"Of?"
He sighed, pulling over in front of what looked like a restaurant. Charles took off his seatbelt and I was expecting him to get out of the car but he turned towards me, elbow placed over the center console as he stopped his face inches in front of mine. "It's a surprise, so would you be patient and just let me spoil you?" I gulped and sealed my lips shut, nodding my head. Charles smiled at my lack of reply while I rolled my eyes in return, pushing his face away. "Wait here."
He was back in the car less than five minutes later, holding a brown paper bag. He placed over my lap and I couldn't help myself and took a peek, seeing two cartons with what looked like pasta and another one with chicken underneath. "No drinks?" I asked, turning to face him just in time to see a smirk form on his face.
"We'll get it there."
There was probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It felt like heaven for someone like me. If I was being honest, the way to get there was a bit sketchy since Charles and I had to walk through a small alley that barely had any light to guide our path. At the end of it was a red door of a three-story building with nothing but a sign that said closed and a few orange tulips planted by the sides of the door.
I gave Charles a curious look as he knocked twice on the door which opened not a minute later to reveal a woman in her late fifties, eyes widening in recognition upon seeing Charles.
"Mrs. Olah?" He asked and the woman nodded her head, opening the door to let us in.
"Mr. Leclerc! It is a pleasure to meet you." She grinned, closing the door behind us as they both shook hands. My eyebrows furrowed when I caught whiff of coffee beans when I moved past her.
"Thank you for accommodating us on such short notice." Charles said as we followed Mrs. Olah through the building. From the door, there was only a hallway which led to another door that was closed.
"It is alright, Mr. Leclerc. When it comes to these things, I would gladly close down my shop for the night."
What?
Before I could even ask Charles if he really requested the shop to be closed, Mrs. Olah opened the door and my feet stopped, not expecting what was on the other side of it.
The walls were covered in books, so high that I was sure it covered all floors of the building. Dim lights gave the entire room an academia look as chairs and tables were set up in the middle of it all, none of them identical as if they were taken from different antique shops. I felt Charles place a hand on the small of my back, gently pushing me into the room as I felt both his and Mrs. Olah's eyes on me.
I couldn't help but lift a hand to my mouth when my eyes landed on a few books that were placed inside glass casings, books that looked like they were decades old. "Is that–?" I asked, turning to Mrs. Olah who grinned when she realized which book I was standing in front of.
"The Great Gatsby, yes." She moved forward until she was standing beside me. "It's a first edition and was collected by my grandfather back then. It's one of the few signed editions that are shown publicly."
"Did you just say signed?" My eyes widened and she nodded her head. "Holy shit."
"When you said she was a bookworm, I didn't know she'd be the vulgar type."
"Wouldn't have her any way else." Charles smirked and I shook my head at his tone, feeling Mrs. Olah's eyes flicker between us.
"Why don't you two find a spot and settle in? I'll come back with some drinks." Mrs. Olah gave us one last smile before slipping into another door that I failed to notice.
When the door clicked shut, I couldn't help but cross my arms over my chest and smile at Charles.
"What?" He asked, setting down the food on a table in the middle of the room before walking towards me.
"This is very romantic, Charles."
"It's just a cafe with a library in it." He shrugged his shoulders but I could see a small smile on his lips.
"Uh-huh."
When Mrs. Olah came back with drinks, Charles and I began eating. The second round of drinks contained a cup of coffee for me and tea for him since he can't stay up late tonight. We probably spent about two hours in there, with me taking half an hour to pick which book to read while Charles watched in amusement. We settled into a brown leather couch when we both found our chosen stories for the night.
At first, I was sitting on the right side of the couch since I wanted to be more comfortable. I saw him frown when I didn't return to our previous table where he waited for me while I picked a book. From my peripheral, I saw him stand up before sitting on the other side of the couch, his feet crossed and almost touching mine.
I didn't mind him, too invested in my chosen novel. It was when he wouldn't stop bouncing his knee that I finally met his gaze and found him already looking at me. "What's wrong?" I asked, putting down the book with my finger wedged between the pages I was currently on.
"Nothing."
"Charles." I raised an eyebrow at him, glancing at his body language.
"Nova." He replied, moving a bit so that one of his legs was on the couch while his left arm moved over the back of it. It clicked inside my head when he began tapping his fingers on his thigh.
"You could've just said so." I said before moving towards him. I moved his leg that was on the couch before turning around, my back to him. When I was properly seated in front of him, he lifted his other leg, caging me in between his body. My back leaned on his chest and I opened my book once again to resume my reading.
"Thank you." He said, kissing the side of my head before one of his hands began playing with my hair.
I felt my stomach flutter at the gesture before I ignore it and went back to reading. Honestly, it was a challenge with Charles being so close. The warmth from his body was radiating off of him in waves and the fact that he moved his hand to settle on my stomach didn't help either.
Eventually, he finished reading his book since he only chose to read The Little Prince while I picked The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It's been a while since I last read a classic, so I used the opportunity of having the older editions within reach.
He placed his head beside mine, eyes reading over the lines of the book as well.
"Done?" I asked him, leaning further into his touch.
"Yes." He nodded his head and I turned the page.
The night went on with us reading together and eventually, he'd tap my knee when he was done reading instead of me asking him every time.
As I flipped each page and we delved deeper into the story, I couldn't help but wish that we could stay in this place forever.
Because here, it felt like I wasn't the only one in love.
*****
I would literally die if someone does this for me
✧Reese✧