♬ ❝ You'll always be on my list of all the good things that I miss, you're all the good things that i miss ❞ ♬
»»———— ★ ————««
9 days since summer break started
Tuesday - Monaco
It was the damn smirk that was hard to get my mind off from. I checked my phone after Carlos and Daniel had left but couldn't find anything. And the past two days, that smirk haunted me.
I could've just straight-up asked him, but he was being so secretive about it. He kept saying that he had only texted his sister. But not even those texts were popping up, and he didn't use my phone that long to log in to his own social media account.
In my mind, nothing of it made sense, and the idea of Carlos having done something bad crept inside me. My last hope was Daniel. He had to tell me that the Spaniard was being honest with us.
"Thank you for coming," I said, stepping aside to let the Australian in.
Daniel nodded, his ever so charming smile on his lips, "Of course. Is Carlos coming, too?"
"No."
Daniel let out a silence 'oh,' nodding again. He stepped beside me and walked straight to the living room. Had Daniel expected me to invite him over without Carlos at some point?
"You're not going to ask me why he is not coming?" I asked and followed the Australian to my living room.
"No. I'm actually glad he is not here."
It took me a few seconds to realize what Daniel had said, and I tilted my head. Were Daniel and I on the same page? I opened my mouth, but he cut me off before I could say anything.
"He has not been acting normally these past few days. It is actually somehow scary how calm he has been."
"I am so glad that I am not the only one," I said as a relieved sigh escaped my throat. "Really, I can not get last Sunday out of my head."
"How so?"
"Carlos borrowed my phone. You were getting more booze, but he smirked at my phone. And then, he has been so calm the entire time... I just don't get him."
It was Daniel's turn to be confused, "He borrowed your phone? For what?"
"He said his phone died, and he had to text his sister. I trusted him, and I can't seem to find he did anything wrong on my phone, but that damn smirk."
"Is there anything private on your phone?"
I shook my head as I considered what could possibly be on my phone, something Carlos knew about. Nothing popped up.
"I don't think so."
"You don't think so?" Daniel repeated me mockingly. "But you said you couldn't find anything that would prove he did something strange with your phone."
"I checked everything twice."
Daniel nodded, "Then maybe try to let it go. Maybe he really was texting his sister, and she said something funny."
I exhaled deeply; Daniel was right. There was nothing to find on my phone, and I knew for sure that there wasn't anything entirely private on my phone. But that damn smirk.
It made me rethink everything again and again and again.
I grabbed my phone, about to do a third search. I scrolled through every app that had any purpose for communication. Nothing stood out like nothing had been done the other two times.
Daniel scraped his throat, regaining my attention, "Why does Pierre want to know if you are home?"
My heart skipped a beat at his question, my mind immediately wandering off to last Sunday when I invaded Jasmine's apartment. Had Pierre seen me? Had Jasmine told him anything about my visit?
"I don't know," I said hesitantly. "But I am pretty sure it isn't going to be anything good."
"He is asking me to make sure you will not leave your apartment... Max, what the fuck did you do?"
"Apart from the bet? I did nothing," but my words carried a hint of insecurity. "I did go to Jasmine's apartment on Sunday... Maybe that's why."
Daniel looked at his phone again, "Do you... want to leave? Because I am not going to stop you from hiding."
I chuckled in a combination of laughter and nervousness. Of course, Daniel would be on my side and just let me go. He wasn't loyal to Pierre in any form, nor did Pierre deserve the loyalty. But in the end, I shook my head.
"I really just need to face everything that comes my way."
"Then I am staying here."
"You don't have to."
"You're my friend. I am staying here until the scary Frenchman is here."
I chuckled again and gave him a thankful smile, and the minutes of waiting until several loud, angry knocks were heard on my door were spent in silence. One I wouldn't necessarily say was comfortable, but it also wasn't uncomfortable.
"Verstappen! Open the damn door," Pierre yelled through the door. "I know you are here."
I gulped nervously, stood up, and made my way to the door. Daniel followed me closely, ready to jump in when things would go south. He grabbed my shoulder before I could open the door, raised his eyebrows, and tilted his head just enough to wordlessly ask me if I was going to be okay.
I nodded, took another deep breath, and opened the door, facing an angry-looking Pierre. Although the word anger was long overdue, it was an understatement of how enraged he was.
"What the fuck have you done," Pierre flew at me, and I stumbled back. "I swear I should kill you."
"Pierre," I managed to gasp out, my back hit the wall behind me.
"You are a fucking pervert, you know that?!"
"Pierre," Daniel gained the attention of the Frenchman. "Take a deep breath, please."
"Why are you even here?"
"Probably to avoid him being killed."
Pierre took a step back, and I exhaled shakingly. I mentally thank Daniel for giving me the room to breathe.
"You shouldn't be here, Daniel."
"I am part of the bet; I should be here."
The Frenchman laughed, "This isn't about that fucking pathetic bet, Daniel. This is about Max being a fucking pervert."
"What have I done?" I asked.
"Stop playing dumb."
I felt confusion crash over me. What on earth was he talking about? My gaze momentarily shifted to Daniel, only to see his expression mirrored my confusion.
"Pierre, we are going to need an explanation. Besides the bet, Max hasn't done anything worthy to call him such names."
Pierre's anger seemed to simmer momentarily as he glanced between Daniel and me, his expression shifting from rage to something similar to suspicion. "You're telling me you don't know?"
I shook my head, feeling a knot form in my stomach. "I swear, I have no idea what you're accusing me of."
A silence followed, and I gestured to the living room with my head. Pierre nodded and followed us to my living room. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he sat down in the chair.
"Are you going to tell us what he did?" Daniel asked, taking the lead in the conversation and gaining both my and Pierre's attention away from staring right at each other.
Pierre scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I will," he said and diverted his attention back to me. "In the period you were fooling Jasmine, did you happen to make a picture of her?"
"I have multiple pictures," I answered, confused. "I made them on our dates."
"Any... more— private pictures you kept on your phone?"
<< "Let me take a picture," I spoke in a whisper. "Just a little souvenir. I won't be seeing you in my team colors any time soon again." >>
I shook my head, more in a sudden realization than in an answer for Pierre. Carlos' stupid smirk visioned itself back in my mind.
"That... that can't be," I muttered to myself, but Pierre heard it.
"What can't be?"
I looked at Daniel, knowing he saw the panic in my eyes. There is no way that Carlos would know about the picture, let alone send it to someone.
"Who got the picture?" I asked.
"Oh, so you do know what I am talking about?" Pierre said, rolling his eyes before he scoffed, shaking his head while muttering a quiet 'unbelievable' under his breath. "Just admit what you did."
"Pierre," I sounded more firmly than I should. "Who got that picture."
Another scoff left his throat, almost turning into an angry chuckle before realizing I was serious, "Max... you sent that picture to Charles."
Except I did not. And suddenly, it was perfectly clear why Carlos had smirked at my phone. But why in the hell would he send it to Charles?
Daniel's expression shifted from confusion to realization; he pieced together the puzzle first, "Wait, Carlos had your phone, Max. He could've—"
Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Pierre interrupted, his voice tinged with disbelief. "You're saying Carlos sent that picture to Charles?"
Daniel and I shared a realizing glance; Carlos had somehow obtained and set that picture to Charles.
Pierre leaned forward, and he began laughing in a mocking way, "Oh my, oh my," He started shaking his head before focusing back on me. "He used your phone, didn't he? Probably took advantage of the fact you trusted him, sent that picture, and conveniently erased any trace of it."
My mind raced as the realization kicked in, and everything suddenly made sickening sense. He asked for my phone, and he nearly insisted on it because he was dead... was that a lie, too?
"So, if, and I really mean if this was Carlos's work, why would he send it to Charles and not to himself?" Pierre asked; it almost seemed like he had expected Carlos to send it to himself.
"I don't know," I said and looked at the awfully silent Daniel.
The Australian looked at me, gave me a little nod, and licked his lips before opening his mouth, "Let's not jump to immediate conclusions. We need to confront Carlos and hear his side of the story."
Pierre scoffed again, his patience wearing thin. "And what, you think he's going to confess? You think that sick bastard is going to admit that his part in this bet is sickening revenge because Jasmine rejected him?"
Silence.
"What?"
"Yeah, Max," The Frenchman turned to me. "Carlos wanted revenge on Jasmine. You were an easy bait for him."
Another silence.
"Again, why to Charles?" I asked.
"I don't know. I really assumed he would've sent it to himself to do God knows what with it," Pierre replied, and finally, the anger energy was somewhat leaving his body. "But listen, Charles didn't see the picture. I was at his place when his phone chimed; I thought it was mine, so I picked it up when he was grabbing drinks. I saw the picture and immediately deleted it from his phone."
"Does Jasmine know?"
"I told her yesterday. She deserves to know when her picture is going around."
"But she will think it was me who sent that picture."
She is never going to forgive me.
"We will explain it to her as soon as we have confronted Carlos."
I sighed and wanted to roll my eyes. I actually wanted to call her and explain that everything had been a mistake—a huge mistake.
"Wait, Max." Daniel began talking as if a sudden realization had hit him again, gaining Pierre's and the Dutchman's attention. "Don't you and Charles have those weird contact names?"
"Fuck, yeah, that is right," I opened my phone and went to Charles' contact. "I called him Carlos's Teammate, and I am in his phone as Daniel's Teammate."
"I think we figured out why Charles got the picture," Pierre said.