Mastermind

Monaco, August 18th 2022

Charles's POV

I had meant to check on Pierre last night, I really had! But shots had made the time slip away, even after the fight. So here I was at 9 in the morning knocking on my friend's door. There was no answer, I tried it again, waited two minutes and let out an exasperated sigh. Fishing through my pocket, I grasped my phone and hit his number. I heard the ringtone inside the apartment, but there was no answer.

Okay...

This is an invasion.

What if he brought someone back?

He would've texted

Right?

My hand moved hesitantly to the handle and with a slight twist, the door moved and I entered his apartment. Quickly, scanning the apartment, I saw shoes poking out from behind the couch. Slowly, I crept over and peaked around to find Pierre seated on the ground leaning against the bedroom door. His gaze slowly moved to me and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"Hey Charles,"

"What the hell are you doing?" That's when I realized he was still in his clothes from the party last night. The bruise on his eye had darkened and his knuckles were bright red. I had been down on the dance floor when the fight broke out, so once I noticed, Daniel had already begun hauling Lando away with a cut lip and bruised cheek.

"Norris has good aim, I'll give him that." My friend gestured to the mark on his eye and laughed softly.

"I am going to ask again...what the hell are you doing?" His lack of emotion was beginning to worry me.

"She left." His voice was hollow.

"Who? That girl who wouldn't leave you alone last night?" He gave the smallest shake of his head.

"Who Pierre?" I had the smallest inclination that someone had tamed the paddock playboy (their name not mine). But, he hadn't given me a name. I knew it was during summer break because whenever I called, he was never in a club or anywhere like that. And...he probably thought he did a good job, but I could hear a small female voice in the background of our conversations that was not his mother. He appeared to be trying to hold back something like his mind was fighting with his heart. Then his lip quivered slightly and I couldn't take it anymore. "Have you been sitting here since last night?" I looked beside him and saw a pillow had been taken from his couch as well as a throw blanket had been laid down on the wood.

"I– I tried to go sleep in the bed but it still smelled like her."

What the hell had happened.

"Okay...uh you go get changed and shower. We'll have some breakfast and coffee, how does that sound?" The only response I got was a nod. I helped him up and slowly, he turned the knob, hustling to the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him and I took in the scene. The covers were undone on both sides and he had all the pillows out. The next thing I noticed was the sweatshirt and pants that had been thrown in the corner.

He never threw his clothes around like this...and he hasn't worn either of these in forever.

Once the faucet began running, I decided to strip the bed for him and throw everything in the wash. He needed to sleep. Before I did so, I rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the rubber gloves that were still unopened under the sink. I love my friend...but I don't like to imagine what has happened on these sheets.

The shower finally shut off as I was beginning to search through his fridge for food. I decided on eggs, sausage and a croissant for us both and got to work. He emerged from the room looking a little better. The marks on his face and hands were still glaringly obvious but they would fade with time.