«The odds are stacked against us, friend. I know that our short time depends on it.»
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The situation gave the impression that the only reason she felt happy nowadays was because of, unsurprisingly, New York. She slipped the topic in every conversation, and it was no longer about any country in Europe, not The Netherlands or Italy, not even Monaco. Her focus was all about New York. Vivianne noticed this change right away, especially after Sloane herself reacted with confusion when the manager suggested she could go to the race in Barcelona to support Charles if she wanted, to spend time with him. Something told Vivianne for a moment Sloane had forgotten entirely about that...or Charles. She kept that to herself though.
At the time she felt bad because she'd missed Imola and Miami, and remembered how people decided to keep theorising about a possible breakup over her absence. Then she felt even worse when she realised going to the race in Barcelona sounded more like a duty than something she willingly wanted to do. Discarding those thoughts away, Sloane ended up agreeing with Vivianne...about Barcelona. And the race. That was.
And now she was there. Scrolling through her phone. Distracted by checking flats in — again, not a shocker — New York.
"I've been searching for you everywhere," Aurora slid onto the space next to her side of the bench she'd found in an attempt to sneak away from the Ferrari hospitality.
The phone nearly slipped out of her hands as she jolted startled, locking the screen like someone hiding a private conversation. She turned to her friend with a smile, the phone facing down on the table. Aurora studied her, perhaps the smile looked too mechanic or forced. She relaxed her face, and it worked, Aurora softened her expression and returned the smile with one of her own.
"I asked about you earlier when I arrived but Valentina told me you were busy with Silvia. I didn't want to interrupt." She explained.
Her answer to this was a simple nod. "I didn't expect you to make it today. Just thought you'd be too busy with New York stuff." Aurora nudged her with the elbow, cracking a sweet smile.
Part of her mind said I wish, while another muttered You're being an awful girlfriend. But she was there, wasn't she? That counted. "You know Vivianne, she loves to be in charge of all the serious things so I'm leaving most of the New York stuff to her." She shrugged one shoulder. "And I'm here to support, as always. Go Ferrari!" Unenthusiastically she lifted her fist in the air, letting out an awkward chuckle.
God.
Aurora didn't seem to catch any weird behaviour. "Remember when you bantered about me enjoying the races and the cars...look at you now."
"Let's be honest, Rory, it's not the cars for me." She arched an eyebrow. "Unless it's not the cars for you either."
Because Aurora was Aurora, she dropped her smile, and her cheeks turned into a rosy colour. Nothing to do with the Barcelona weather, for sure. Sloane remembered her friend's silly crush on Sebastian Vettel all the time. Sometimes she also liked to jest with Pierre, though Aurora appeared to be immune to him — not very astonishing, and she understood why his pathetic flirting didn't work most of the time — so perhaps their friendship wasn't along those lines. She laughed when the girl softly slapped her arm full of disapproval.
Aurora pointed a warning finger. "Sloane, don't start. We've had this conversation before." One too many times for Aurora's liking. It was friendly banter anyway.
"You seriously don't find any of them attractive in the slightest?" Leaning against her side, she gave her a playful smirk.
It took two seconds for Aurora to push her away, and Sloane chuckled, throwing her head back a little. Before she could continue with the teasing, her friend averted her gaze somewhere else, naturally, she did the same and followed the new point of concentration. Coming from the hospitality area, Charles wedged his way between people in an attempt to walk in their direction. He waved his hand and smiled when she met his gaze, Sloane waved back with a bit less energy. By her side, Aurora was already mid-standing up to leave, she reached to stop her by grabbing her arm and gently pulling her back onto the seat.
"He'll start believing you genuinely dislike him. Come on, at least say hi." She pleaded with big eyes. Aurora parted her lips to say something but eventually sighed and nodded. Politeness was above everything else.
When Charles wandered close enough to their bench, he took a stand right by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sloane looked up at him, the sun obstructing her vision a bit. Letting go of Aurora's arm, she shielded her eyes to properly observe her boyfriend. He was all smiles, lightly squeezing where his hand lay.
"I thought I'd lost you, ma belle." He joked, trying for one of his famous winks. She beamed in response. Charles then turned to greet Aurora. "Hi, Aurora. How are you?"
This one shifted in her seat, and when Sloane switched her attention to her, she was giving him a tight-lipped smile. "I'm pretty good. How about you?"
"That's good, great on this side as well. Thanks for asking." They were such coworkers, Sloane comically thought. She felt like the three of them were in the middle of a Ferrari staff meeting or debriefing. It was quite funny.
To this, Aurora replied with a single head nod, shifting back to Sloane. "I really need to go back to work in case Silvia needs me, but I'll see you later, yes?" She bobbed her head in a yes to confirm. Aurora already pushing off the seat, glancing at Charles again. "Good luck with the race, Charles." Simple as that.
"Thank you."
"See you in a bit, Rory."
Her friend waved her goodbyes, and both of them followed her steps as the distance between them increased. Charles, of course, focused back on Sloane first, whilst she maintained her eyes glued to Aurora's shrinking figure for a couple of seconds more. When the girl was finally out of sight, she turned to him, and he smiled down at her, hands moving to hold her face. She felt guilty again for thinking of it as a duty before when he clearly enjoyed having her there to support him.
The wind blew her hair, and he tucked it away. "May I kiss you now?"
She snorted, placing her hands on top of his to cover them. "Were you waiting for her to leave?"
"She asked for appropriate workplace behaviour, I'm trying to give her appropriate workplace behaviour." He shrugged it off, pursing his lips into a frown.
Sloane gasped. Her eyes went wide in mock surprise. "So understanding of you. But yes, you can kiss me now. It won't get you fired."
It wasn't like he needed to be told twice, not regarding that, so he proceeded straight away and bent down to kiss her. The position was a bit strange. She straightened up and tilted her head to make it more comfortable, her hands slipping away to hold onto his arms. For the first time in the entirety of their relationship, she was overthinking in the middle of a kiss. It wasn't something bad though, just that maybe, Vivianne was right and she had to enjoy these moments. That she needed to get her head out of New York for a bit.
When he pulled away, she slightly creased her brows. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be doing pre-race stuff with Andrea right now? Last time he called me distracting."
He chuckled, taking a step of distance and leaning against the table in front of her. "I was on my way but got caught with Daniel and Lando. They were talking about getting Max drunk later, or something. Apparently, he broke up with his girlfriend, Zoe?" Her face twisted into a grimace, not placing the name. Her brain was truly more there than here. Fair enough, she could barely remember herself sometimes. "It's not important." Charles waved his hand dismissively.
"You're getting too gossipy, but I'll blame it on Pierre."
He lifted his hands in the air. "I was passing by with Carlos and they asked him for clubs, it's not my fault."
"Of course," The only reason she found out about certain details regarding some drivers was because Charles made sure to let her know. "Poor guy though. Max, I mean." Breakups were not cute.
Charles scoffed, and she narrowed her eyes at this reaction. "I don't think he's that afflicted about it, to be honest."
"Poor girl then." She was probably getting to the wrong assumption but she would mourn a failed relationship. At least a little bit. People weren't interchangeable. "Does this mean breakup season is around the corner?" The question was intended to be humorous.
But instead, it caused confusion. "Breakup season?" He tilted his head to the side, arms folding across his chest.
"It's a joke," Sloane rushed. "Sometimes couples start breaking up around the same time so people say stuff like oh Mercury's in retrograde. Silly things." Some of her model friends synced their breakups a little bit too well. Now she doubted those were coincidental at all. "It's not a real thing, and Mercury's not in retrograde if you were interested in knowing."
A very amusing concept to think of. "I feel like this is something Lando would agree with."
"It sounds really stupid though," She snorted, staring down at her boots.
"Nothing to worry about then," With one of his shoes, he tapped her boot. The action willed her to glance back at him.
It was a bit surprising they were having a laugh about that at the moment. Maybe it'd been her perception, or he'd felt it as well — who knows — but ever since the news regarding New York dropped, both of them had been walking on eggshells when it came to the relationship. As if any minimal inconvenience or thing could affect what they'd already settled for, therefore messing up their established long-distance agreement.
It would be nice if they could avoid all the talk about breakup season. Even if it wasn't a real thing.
"I should go with Andrea," He blurted out when she didn't seem to be planning on retorting with another quip around the topic. Sloane nodded, her lips curving into a smile. "But I see you before the race? For our good luck thing?" He asked as if she had forgotten about it...which she probably would have.
Fine, she was being a terrible supportive girlfriend that day. Perhaps that would finally make her father proud.
"Of course, as always," She assured him.
They shared a quick kiss, with another on his cheek before he forced himself to jog away to find his trainer. She watched him go and stayed silently staring into the abyss for a few seconds more. Once her mind came down to earth, she recalled her New York flat exploration before everybody decided to interrupt. She would leave that for another more appropriate time. Not when she was supposed to concentrate on something, or someone, else.
In her phone, there was a new message from Vivianne waiting to be replied to. She assumed it would be her manager requesting more documents, most of their texts have been an exchange of that, or dates and contract resolutions. It was a lot to go through.
Vivianne: Has the race already started? If not, let me know if I can call you.
Pre-New York Vivianne would have called no matter what. She wondered if she'd reached the point where Vivianne seriously believed she would go insane if Charles and her didn't spend enough time together before she had to move to New York for real.
Sloane: You can call, I'm not doing anything right now :)
The reply came in the form of a thumbs-up emoji and seconds later, an incoming call. She looked around, making sure no one would intrude this time around. As per usual, Vivianne asked how was she doing, and about Charles, if she was enjoying and taking care of herself. Sloane guaranteed everything ran smoothly on her side and returned the courtesies asking some questions of her own. The woman scoffed every time she questioned if she'd been taking her sedatives to reduce the stress — the one Sloane caused for the majority of the time.
"I called to let you know we need to be in New York by Monday the 30th. It's only for some routine meetings and final paperwork for now. They'll be taking your measurements and digitals for their portfolio as well." Vivianne informed, business-like voice returning. "I booked our flights for Friday next week, so we can have the weekend off to rest and explore, maybe. It'll be a long flight, I couldn't find direct ones so if your father happens to have a private jet he can lend us for next week, that'll be appreciated."
She snorted, picking at her cuticles. "I don't think he's that rich, so no private jet I'm afraid." Then she did the maths in her head with the dates and everything. Sloane parted her lips. "It's Monaco next weekend."
"Huh? It's Monaco every weekend for you."
"No, the race in Monaco is next week," She explained as if that would be of any relevance to her manager of all people.
The woman couldn't care less if it was the race in the Vatican and God himself would come down from heaven to race in a Ferrari. "Well, good luck to Charles, I hope he has a great performance. I'm sure you'll have a lovely weekend in Monaco next year with him if possible, but this year we have to be in New York. Is that clear clear? Or is there a problem, Sloane?"
Little memories of what happened in Monaco the year before flashed in her mind, and her father's insistence about how she wasn't her boyfriend's therapist. Sloane blinked, a bit worried with the mush of thoughts in there. No. There wasn't a single problem with that. She had to be in New York and she'd be in New York.
She cleared her throat. "Sorry, all clear. New York next week."
"It'll be only a few days and then we're back in Europe, okay?" Her voice softened to show she wasn't bordering on the line of exasperation. "Maybe you can be there for the one in...Azerbaijan, is it? Your boyfriend should hire me at this point. Even I'm aware of his schedule sometimes."
It was an innocent joke that made Sloane feel quite at fault. The only reason Vivianne knew there were races happening was because of her shenanigans and all the things she'd been through in the past year.
"It is Baku, yeah." She confirmed with a strangled chuckle.
"That one, yes. You can go to Baku." Another change. Pre-New York Vivianne wouldn't have said those words ever. More on the side of no, you can't go to Baku. "We're leaving from Schiphol so I'd appreciate it if you're back home in time to pack what's necessary. We can make the trip to Amsterdam together. Alright?" She hummed in agreement, unaware that she was also nodding. "It is Sunday so I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day, and the race. Take care, and if you need anything, call or text me."
She thanked Vivianne for everything, like she constantly did, and ended the call after bidding their farewells. No Monaco for her. That wouldn't be a big deal. As she drew the phone away from her ear, Sloane huffed a laugh filled with sarcasm, already imagining the breakup rumours her absence from that specific race would bring. She didn't attend his home race. Boo-hoo. She had to get used to it sooner or later, it would get worse when the time to definitely move to New York finally came.
But the relationship was worth all the trouble, wasn't it?
—
Fuck. She heaved a sigh, listening as they announced Charles' retirement from the race because the car was...no words, really. The rest of the people in the hospitality were showing the same signs of disappointment and frustration. She still didn't know Italian, but a lot of translation wasn't needed to recognise the harsh expressions and whispers.
"Has this team ever built a good car?" She asked Aurora, who widened her eyes immediately and gestured with her hand for Sloane to lower her voice. Right. "Sorry, sorry." She pretended to zip her mouth shut. "It's just...very annoying. For him, that is."
"I know, Slo. They know." Aurora's hand motioned at the shot of the Ferrari garage on the screen. Gloomy faces on Charles' side. It was the first of the season. "It's still early in the championship though." And that was the reason Aurora religiously watched racing and Sloane didn't even pay attention to it before dating Charles.
She drifted her gaze from the screen to her friend. "Yeah, you're right." The race soon resumed. George taking the lead now. "I guess it is my time to go and fulfil my role as a supportive girlfriend. In good and bad, right?" Her father would lose the last remains of his patience with her if those sentences ever reached his ears. On the other hand, it seemed Aurora tried to figure out if she was being sarcastic or serious. "I'll just...go." She pointed randomly with her thumb to the other side of the motorhome, and her friend nodded. "Hope Carlos does well." Or gets to finish the race.
Reluctantly, she abandoned the space by Aurora's side, exchanging a weak finger wave with the girl before clearing her way out of there to where she knew Charles would make it eventually. Sloane leaned against the door of his driver's room, fingertips tapping on the surface. At that moment, as she waited to offer a hug of comfort or a kiss, whatever made it a little less depressing, Vivianne decided to send a copy of her flight information for their trip to New York.
That guilt of feeling happy and excited solely over New York settled itself in the pit of her stomach again.
She glanced around from time to time, expecting Charles to appear at any minute. It was taking more than usual, or maybe she was more aware of all the time she spent with him now, she never thought of that before. After a few more minutes, he came into view, his trainer by his side, squeezing his shoulder and sharing some words with him. Charles only nodded, eyes fixed on the ground. She pushed off the door, and when Andrea took notice of her presence, he simply gestured in her direction and told the driver something else. Charles looked up, their gazes met and she gave him a sort of comforting smile. He didn't return one back.
Okay, she understood. It wasn't nice. The year before there weren't many expectations, but this year it was different. The disappointment would be heavier.
They were left alone when his trainer stalled behind, turning around to walk back from where he'd come from after patting his back. Soon enough, they stood face to face in front of his driver's room. The moment felt strangely hefty.
"Sorry about the car," Normally this would be the time when he reached to hug her, but he didn't. "If you'd like, I don't know, we could go somewhere after you're done here? Maybe where we went last year with—"
"I'd like to get some time alone," He cut her off, not rudely but certainly not with sweetness either, and attempted a little smile, which only became a tug of the corner of his mouth. "Just a bit."
Oh. That was a new one. It wasn't like every time he had a shitty race they had a moment similar to that one in Monaco from last year when she tried to cheer him up, but he had at least asked for a hug the other times. To some extent it made sense, with the exception of Imola, things seemed to be going well for him and the team, winning races or getting podiums, this was the first time in the season he had to retire from a race. So she could comprehend, it was just strange.
"Sure, I—absolutely. Sorry. That's not...I can go." They exchanged another glance. There was noise everywhere, but somehow the moment lacked it at the same time. "I'll be around, in case you need...you know."
She stepped aside to give him space, and for a second, didn't know where to move. When the wires connected in her brain again, she placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned to kiss his cheek before walking past him to leave him be. He got into his room, and she watched as he closed the door behind him. Alright.
Sloane didn't go back to Aurora because she wasn't that interested in keeping up with the race or confronting her friend's slightly furrowed brows if she showed up by her side again too soon. Perhaps, she thought, she wouldn't be that missed during races when she had to leave.
And that was great.
—
When the first notes of the Dutch anthem hit from somewhere in the circuit, she had to look up from her phone, following with her gaze the direction where it came from. That meant Max won the race. Her first thought was how she would be subjected to one of his stupid songs randomly playing at the supermarket while she tried to peacefully get some groceries back home sometime next week. The guy who sold her favourite greens loved the Dutch driver far too much so she definitely expected something from him. But she could survive it until leaving for New York the following Friday.
Her second thought was someone does not get easily affected by breakups, remembering the information gained earlier from Charles. Nothing important. She went back to what she'd been doing before the distraction: searching for ways to go back to Rotterdam. At first, she had been tempted to ask Vivianne for help, but she wasn't as useless and incapable of searching for a stupid way of travelling by herself. She used to do it all the time to visit Aurora. The anthem slowly faded to different sounds typical of a race weekend. Celebrations and different music. Whatever. Spain wasn't proving to be very entertaining that weekend.
Whilst she scrolled through different flights and whatnot, regretting the decision of never learning how to drive because she could've had some pretty entertaining road trips alone — all the music she would've played, ugh —, her formerly crestfallen boyfriend, Charles, no longer wearing his racing suit but a Ferrari polo and jeans, approached her. It took a second or two for her to notice him, but when she did, she set the phone away and returned the slight smile he was showing.
He sat across from her, and they looked at each other in silence. "Hey, ma belle."
"Hey,"
"I looked for you at the hospitality but they told me you didn't go back." Or Aurora told him she wasn't around. He'd asked her first. At least the girl collaborated and even added a sorry for the situation with the car.
She pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose. "I'll be honest with you, I didn't want to keep watching the race."
"You didn't miss much. They told me Max won."
His tone got a scoff out of her. She wanted to tell him she knew because it would be hard not to recognise the anthem from her own country. "If I were his ex-girlfriend I'd be so pissed off. What do you mean you're winning a race and not wallowing in self-pity and regret after losing me? That's unacceptable." She rolled her eyes in fake indignation.
"To be fair," His hands inched closer to hers, not yet grabbing, only brushing. "If you were his ex-girlfriend, I think he would indeed be wallowing in self-pity and regret." And he finally took her hands in his, not breaking eye contact. "I'm sorry about before. I don't know why I talked to you like that."
She peeked at the hold, then back at him. "Charles, you didn't talk to me like that. It's okay to want to be alone when things turn out wrong." Being alone is good, she nearly slipped out. "You deserved a better race, it was going pretty well before. I'm sorry." All he did was nod, and for some reason, she felt like her words weren't being enough. "Anyway...don't worry about it. It's fine." She thought of something to loosen the moment up. "But you did miss a great hug."
While he groaned, she chuckled. The sound of it was relieving. "Maybe I can get it later?" They were good with each other. "And if the offer still stands, I'd like to do something with you after I'm done here. You mentioned visiting that place from last year? Or we could join the others at the club?" He suggested with a hopeful tone. "I think Daniel misses doing tequila shots with you."
She did love a good party, but perhaps in other circumstances. "I don't want to crash Max's opposite version of a stag party. We haven't found our way to that level of friendship yet. Besides," She paused, biting the inside of her cheek for a second. "I was planning on going back home tomorrow, so it's better to skip it this time around."
"We're going back to Monaco anyway," He smiled, leaning forward on his side as if that helped to get closer to her.
They were not on the same page regarding home. "No, I mean home as in Rotterdam." Knowing Charles the way she did, he was thinking it was still about the wanting to be alone thing so Sloane quickly proceeded to clarify. "I didn't have time to tell you earlier because you were getting ready for the race and all that, but I'm going to New York this week, with Vivianne. We have some meetings and agency things next Monday so she booked the flights for Friday. It's better if I get home and pack in time. We're flying from Amsterdam so there's that too. She'll feel more reassured if I spend most of the week back home."
It made total sense, it was just the idea of Sloane in New York still hadn't settled in its entirety. Sloane in Rotterdam didn't even settle sometimes. "I could go with you in case you need help with anything, then go back to Monaco before Thursday."
She shook her head no. "It's just clothes, Charles. Don't need a lot of help with that. You shouldn't worry." There was no need for him to go through all that trouble. "Vivianne said we're coming back a couple of days after that Monday, so I'll make it to Baku. Sorry, I'll be missing Monaco."
"That's alright." The dynamic would switch to that very soon, he could start getting used to it already. Step by step. "Does this mean I will miss the piano concert this year?" He smiled.
Looking down embarrassed, she felt her face growing warm. "Sadly I cannot offer that ever again, but it won't be necessary anyway." Someone would've to hold her at gunpoint to make her touch a piano once more. Seriously. And Charles wasn't the exception anymore. "You're believing in the Monaco curse a bit too much for my liking."
"There won't be a good luck kiss this year so I'm starting to think it might be real." He quipped and Sloane snorted.
Were those good luck kisses actually bringing him any luck? Sometimes, maybe. "Can you come here?" Letting go of him, she beckoned him to her side.
The Ferrari driver nodded, standing up and rounding the bench to approach her. Sloane scooted over, allowing some space for him to sit there. Their arms touched, and she hooked hers with his, leaning to rest her head on his shoulder. He took a deep breath. His fingertips loosely traced patterns on her thigh.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go to Rotterdam with you before you leave for New York?" He asked one more time to confirm. In spite of the jokes his younger brother made from time to time, he wasn't a bad boyfriend, really.
She rejected the offer by shaking her head. "No, you should stay in Monaco and prepare for the race...all those things you do." Her other hand gestured nonchalantly in the air. Plus if her mother found out Charles was in Rotterdam she'd organise another one of her infamous dinners and Sloane didn't want to go through that. "This will be like a test...well no, more of a simulation, of how is it going to be for us after I move to New York. It's good."
What was a weekend without her when there were many more to come in the future? Being alone is good.
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a/n:
sloane in new york and charles in monaco...what could go wrong?😺