Carlos
If he could turn back time and change one thing in his life, Carlos would go back to the night before and kick his past self for taking Diane home with him. It was a stupid decision and he had no one else to blame but his cock.
It wasn't that Diane wasn't beautiful. No she had gorgeous grey eyes and a great smile, and even at risk of sounding like a douchebag- she was pretty good in bed. The only thing Carlos didn't like about her was that she was too clingy, practically hanging from his hip from the time they got to lunch until now. Without a doubt he knew that she'd let the press know about their little rendezvous.
Now standing here at the hotel her sister Alyssa was in, Carlos was racking his brains thinking of a way to politely excuse himself. This was how it always ended, he would hook up with someone, then get wrapped up in an awkward situationship with them the next day which always ended up with him having to slowly ghost them. He knew it was a dick move but he wasn't ready to settle down just yet. He wasn't in the market for a girlfriend.
They were about to drop Alyssa off and Carlos had his excuse all planned out when Diane had whisked him off to where Alyssa's friend, the girl from the night before stood. Sandwiched awkwardly between Diane and Alyssa, Carlos had no other option but to stay put- at least until Alyssa and her friend left.
Her friend looked just as uncomfortable as he felt but she hid it well. She was smiling, almost pityingly at Diane and Carlos didn't know if it was because of him or something else. Slightly thrown off by her stoic expression, he found himself staring intently at her as Diane was prattling on about the lunch. She wasn't like most girls he got involved with. A part of him couldn't help but notice her fit figure, she wasn't petite- instead the perfect ratio between fit and curvy. Her hair was down this time, framing her face making her even more beautiful. She had intelligent eyes, eyes that said that almost nothing ever got past her.
Morgan. Her name suited her he thought and he watched as she politely conversed with Diane. Alyssa was standing beside her, concern etched over her features as she noticed Morgan playing with the watch at her wrist.
"Is there somewhere you ought to be?" Alyssa asked, cutting Diane's narrative of the canapés they'd served for lunch.
Morgan looked glad for the intrusion. "Work," she said, giving Diane an apologetic smile in the process, "I have a flight in a few hours that I gotta catch,".
"Around what time because I have to go to the airport too, I can give you a ride," Carlos found himself saying and quickly amended, "if you're planning on taking a cab there,".
All three of them went silent and he wanted to slap himself for being so forward.
She smiled, a genuine smile thank fuck, Carlos thought. "Mines at 12am," she said as she continued playing with her watch. Doable, he had a flight at 2am but he could just hang around in the airport with the rest of his team until then.
Carlos slowly removed Diane's hand from around his waist, "Perfect. Mines around the same time so I'll pick you up at 9?", he asked. He was embarrassed at how eager he sounded. Morgan nodded, "Okay I'll see you then," and then turning to Diane, "Your gallery was amazing Diane, thanks for inviting me!" she said and before Diane could come up with something coherent to say Carlos watched as Morgan walked down the lobby without so much as looking back.
"What the hell?", was all what Diane could manage to say as she watched Morgan walk
away.
***
If he looked like an idiot for showing up half an hour before he was supposed to pick up Morgan, Carlos didn't care. More like he couldn't help it, he thought as he sat at the hotel lounge and scrolled through some emails. There were a few from his media manager asking him about his recent rendezvous with Diane so that she can handle all questions and allegations the media threw at him. He ignored them, he wasn't in the mood to type out an explanation or give her any details about Diane. She was capable enough to find that out on her own.
He replied to a few texts from his sister and one from Lando asking about his cousin's wedding that he'd been invited to and where he'd meet Carlos once he got back to Madrid. Lando was to spend the weekend with him, a silver lining to the media frenzy he'd face once he gets to Sofia's wedding. He tried to stay positive about events like these, it wasn't only him that was the local hero, his dad was also if not more popular than him and the media would be lining up in front of the church waiting to suck out whatever details they could from his family.
"Mr Sainz," a voice cut through his line of thought and he looked up to find a staff member peer down at him, "The valet wanted to know how much longer till you'd want him to bring the car out?", the man asked. Just then Carlos spotted a familiar head of dark hair and he watched as Morgan made her way down the hall, a small suitcase in tow. "Right now would be perfect," Carlos said as he stood up and on making eye contact with Morgan, gave her a little wave. Her gaze was still hard but it softened a little as she gave him a small smile while making her way towards him.
"A part of me thought that you'd not show up," she said grinning slightly as she neared him. She was dressed in a plain black suit and a pair of shiny black heels. On noticing his stare she waved her hand, "My manager is strict about dress code, I can't show up in my dirty converse," she said, shrugging in the process.
Carlos shook his head, "They're polished to perfection, I wouldn't need a mirror if I had those," he jested. She grinned at that, "I doubt you'd be very graceful walking in heels," she said with a wink as she followed him out of the hotel.
The car was parked out in the front and Carlos thanked the valet as he got in. Morgan followed and they waited in silence as her bag was put into the boot.
"Sweet ride," she commented as he peeled out of the driveway.
"Thank you, thought I'd upgrade from the car I got when I was eighteen."
"Took you ten years to do that?" There was no judgement in her voice, just plain curiosity.
Carlos chuckled, "I got too comfortable with it,"
"Hey I get it. It's not so flashy, you can drive by undetected. I'm sure you're not a big fan of the paparazzi,"
"How d'you guess that?"
She rolled her eyes at him playfully. She was gorgeous in a way Carlos couldn't put a finger on, she was unlike any of the other women he'd gone out with. Somehow with Morgan he felt comfortable enough to relax fully with.
"So where you off to from here?", she asked as she surfed through the different radio stations.
"Madrid, what about you?".
She was silent for a few seconds and Carlos chalked it up to the fact that she was figuring out which radio station to settle on. Her face was pulled into a small frown and her eyes were squinting in focus.
"Not too sure," she finally said.
Carlos stole a glance at her. She was staring directly ahead at the road. "What d'you mean?" he asked after a few beats of silence.
She shrugged, "My manager hasn't told me yet, I have to wait till I get to the airport,"
"What type of work do you do?" Carlos asked, intrigued.
"I'm a financial strategist, I meet up with clients from across the world and help them with their yearly expenses and savings," she said almost robotically. With her unusual work schedule Carlos assumed that she was used to this question a lot.
"So what are your plans till the start of the season?", she asked, shifting slightly so that she could see him fully. Her perfume smelled nice, a mix of something mildly sweet but also spicy. She looked so put together, so professional. Traveling for work may have shaped her to be so.
"Just flying over for my cousin's wedding, after that I need to go to Maranello for work,"
"Damn, I thought y'all started working at the start of next year. Not right now with the end of this season just a month ago,"
"It's mostly planning and strategy when it comes to designing the new car, nothing much,"
She cocked her head to the side, "Are we gonna see a better car this year?"
He grinned at her, "I didn't peg you for a fan,"
She laughed, "Why not? Was it because I wasn't screaming and shrieking when I saw you?"
He thought back to the first time he noticed her at the gallery. Carlos almost laughed, he doubted that she'd have been shrieking in excitement with all the champagne flutes she was balancing. He shook his head, "you look like the type that's far too busy to be focusing on a years long season," he admitted sheepishly.
"Formula one is my guilty pleasure, I try to find time for that,"
"Yeah? And what's your team?"
She gave him a devilish smile, "Now admitting that to you takes the fun out of it," she said.
It was easy to talk to her and soon Carlos found himself discussing the most random things ever. She had a loud laugh that she didn't hide and she threw her head back whenever she did. He found himself laughing at her comments, she had a good sense of humor that was effortless and sincere. And even thought it irked him a little she genuinely looked like she wasn't putting on a show to impress him.
"All I'm saying is that Ted shouldn't have had his kids listening to a whole ass story about their mother who he didn't even end up loving as much as Robin," she said, throwing her hands up.
Carlos shook his head, "But what's the point of telling them about the one basic encounter he had with her and then ending it with and boom she died so I'm with your aunt Robin!" Carlos argued as he took a turn.
She was shaking her head, "I get that giving us the entire backstory was the point of the show but imagine being his kids and listening to him talk about his one true love who turned out to not be their mother! That's brutal!"
"I mean at least they know what to expect from Robin whenever she comes over,"
"I'm sure they got married,"
Carlos looked at her questioningly, "Did they?"
She cocked her head to the side, "Actually, now that I said it. I'm not so sure,"
By the time they got to the airport, they were arguing about which song of Shakira's was a top hit.
"Which reminds me," she said as he parked his car, "Weren't you the guy who set her up with Hamilton?".
Carlos stared at her incredulously, "I didn't you'd be type of fan who was into that kind of drama,"
She shrugged, "sitting alone in a motel after a day of meetings makes you pick up all these habits," she winked at him, her lips parting in the process.
He tore his eyes away from her lips and busied himself with his seatbelt, "I'll give you that. Lonely nights at a hotel aren't always the best,"
She was getting out of the car as she spoke, "I didn't peg you for the lonely kind,"
"Why not?"
"We'll we all saw you with Diane. Not to boost your ego or anything but beautiful women flock towards you like flies,"
It was Carlos's turn to wink at her, "That's true," he said as he took out her luggage for her.
"Slow down Casanova, I didn't mean that as a compliment,"
"Oh but you did,"
"Yeah yeah whatever floats your boat,"
He took out his luggage and they made their way to the airport. He was flying in a private jet so Carlos had to take a different entrance to the rest. He saw his team outside waiting for him. Thankfully there were no cameras around as he gave her a brief hug that took both of them by surprise.
"I guess I'll see you around then," he said suddenly feeling very self conscious.
She was cocking her head to the side, a small smile playing on her lips, "Stay safe Sainz, and good luck for the next season!"
As he walked away from her Carlos couldn't help but feel defeated at the thought that he might never see her again.