Racing | C.L (English)

33

.·:*¨༺ NEXT WEEK ༻¨*:·.

Alice couldn't stop looking at her watch during the whole journey to the paddock. Charles was driving with his hand resting on her thigh as he usually did while he drove. His thumb was making circular motions, trying to calm her down, but nothing seemed to work. All she could think about was the conversation she was about to have with her dad. She was about to quit her job at Red Bull. She was about to be free after so many years.

"Love, breathe," Charles said, bringing her back to reality. When she turned to see him, she realized they had already parked in the paddock.

"I am breathing," she lied, then looked at his hand and placed her own hand on top of his.

"Don't lie to me. You could lie to everyone except me," he said, taking her hand and making her look back at him.

"I could lie, and you wouldn't notice. I'm an amazing liar," she lied again. In fact, Pierre used to tease her a lot about how bad a liar she was. Whenever she lied, she started laughing out of nowhere, and she couldn't look at the person in the eyes. But this time, she was trying her best.

"You look adorable trying to lie, so I'll just agree. Yes, love, you are an amazing liar."

"See, I told you," she smiled at the dumb conversation they were having. All she needed right now was that - having a random conversation to stop overthinking what she was about to do. He leaned in, his hand still on her chin, and pressed his lips into hers. But Alice wanted more, so he pressed his lips even more and started moving them slowly against hers, deepening the kiss and trying to clear up her mind.

"I need to go now, and if you keep kissing me like this, then I won't be able to go," she said with her lips touching his. And for the last time, she kissed him before getting away. She smiled at him one more time before opening the door.

"Babe?" Charles called out once her hand was on the door. "I love you," he said once she turned to look at him. She smiled. Even though it had been more than a week since they had said those words, they still felt unreal.

"I love you too," she said, pressing her lips on his one more time in a soft peck before opening the door and walking to the paddock. Now it was time to deal with the problem - her dad. She walked down the paddock after showing her pass. During her way to the Red Bull garage, she couldn't help but think how her life had completely changed from the beginning of the season. She used to arrive at the races next to Max, hating every second of it, hating pretending to be someone she wasn't. And now she was dating such an amazing guy who loved and respected her, and whom she truly loved. She was willing to lose her place in Red Bull just to continue being with him, something she would never have done for Max, even when she had already realized that she was going to end up with him no matter what. But her feelings for the Monégasque driver were something she had never experienced before.

Once she arrives at the garage, she sees Max talking to her dad and his engineer, just like in the previous race weekend. It was Thursday, and she had traveled the day before on a flight booked by the team to Barcelona, the next race on the calendar. Even though they didn't practice today, Thursdays were used to make final changes and fix some details for the car. She keeps poking at them, waiting for her dad to see her, but Christian wasn't the first one to see her; it was Max.

He stops listening to what the engineer was saying when his eyes meet hers. She was as beautiful as always, with dark brown hair and those stunning brown eyes that he could see every day for the rest of his life. He didn't even notice when he fell in love with that girl, but every action and their conversations about the team made him fall in love. Now, there was nothing he could do about it. She was happy and in love with another guy.