In Our Secrecy

Her Ring

When I sent that message, I wasn't really aware of the reason for it. I didn't really think of the why and how. I just knew that I wanted Capri here with me. Like in our hotel room. Each morning when I woke up to go about my day, I saw her wandering about and something inside of me changed. I don't know what but something did. I heard the knocks on my door and waited to see if it was relevant for me to open. "Who is it?" I really didn't want to be bothered. "Capri. I belived you wanted me to come. If that changed, it's totally fine-" I didn't give her the chance to finish before I opened my door. "Oh, okay. Are you alright?" She sounded surprised and I couldn't blame her. I was as surprised as her. "I just needed someone here. I didn't know who to ask for." That's a lie. I did know. "Oh... do you need me to go search for Jamie? Or somebody else..."I shook my head eagerly. I didn't want her to leave. "I'm sorry, I know it's weird but I always did call for my girlfriends when my races ended badly." I looked down, avoiding eye contact. I saw in the corner of my eyes that she had aknowledged what I had said. I lifted my head up and she looked at me worried. What was it? "Charles you have a little blood on your eyebrow." She looked at me and pointed on herself where it was. I lifted my hand and hissed at the contact."Wait, don't touch it." And then in a second she was on her little mission. She went to my sink and took a damp towel out with her. "Lay down. I'll take care of it." She knelt on the ground while I was down on the couch and asked me if she could wash the cut. I nodded and she pressed gently on my injury, wiping the blood away. She looked so focused and her eyes looked a deeper shade of blue than before. "Thank you, you're good at this." I took her wrist in my hand and smiled at her. She shivered at my touch and my teeth grinded. "Its the least I could do. I have a little sister who loves to run, so it's very common for me." She laughed and made her dimples appear. I smiled wider and let her continue her work. "Yeah, I saw. She seems like an angel though." She nodded. "Yeah... she is. I don' know ever since-" She stopped herself at once. "Why did you stop?" She looked at me shocked  "Oh, hum... I didn't want to bore you." I frowned at that. "You could never be boring. Please, let me get to know you better." Her eyes met mine and we stayed silent for a small moment that felt like forever. "When my mom and my step-dad died, the only time Amelia would laugh was while running around. And then, with time she smiled more, but the only time she really lets go is while playing with me in our house. That's the only plausible reason why she can run in the house." Capri laughed lowly at the last part and I smiled at her with empathy. "It must be hard taking over a huge role, such as being a parent, that young." She nodded and I moved my hand to rub her other hand that was right beside my body. "Yeah well, it was either that or her living in a foster family. We don't have a lot of family around." I sighed and moved to hold her hand. She looked at me again and I felt like she understood me. "I saw... about your father, your friends... I'm very sorry about it all." She told me and I smiled sadly. "Thank you. I had my fair share of grief too." Instead of undermining my experience, she ofered me a squeeze to our joined hand and a soft smile. She got up from her knees after sighing. "All good. Where can I put the dirty towel?" "You can leave it on the table. Someone will come later for the laundry." She hummed and stood there. "What do you want me to do now?" I could feel she was uncomfortable, probably not knowing why she was in here in the first place. "Oh hum, you can go if you want. Sorry for keeping you hostage... See you in the hotel room!" She smiled and came forward to give me a hug. "You did your best out there. I don't know much about motorsport but I do know how a man who is passionate for what he does looks like, and you surely are." She gave me a warm smile and left. Leaving me shocked.

When I gathered my stuff to head to the hotel after a meeting with the team and some press time. I went to the bathroom and noticed something shiny on the counter. I went to pick it up and noticed it was Capri's ring. She must have forgoten it when she wet the towel. I took my chain off and slid the ring in. Since I wore this chain all the time, I wouldn't be afraid to lose it that way.

I took off from the track and headed to the hotel. I went to see Carlos and told him I wouldn't go partying today but congradulated him on his P4. It's great how we are still making points for the constructors championship but it still hurt how this GP turned out for me. When I entered the suite though, my thoughts were silenced by Capri's voice and what sounded like an other person speaking on the phone. I wasn't one to eaves drop but I somehow found myself stuck to the her room's door.  "I think she just feels the seperation anxiety today. I told her you would call and she basically cried on and off all day." The person on the phone had a feminine voice and I bet it's the person who is in charge of Capri's sister Amelia. "I feel so bad. I'm so sorry Kalie, you shouldn't have to deal with this." Capri's tone was low and sad. Something in my chest tightened. "I told you not to worry about it. I love you and I want to do this for my best friend. I'm going to go get her, wait." What an amazing friend Capri hummed and it took a moment before we heard something from the other end of the call. "Capri?" I small voice said, I assumed it was Amelia. "Yes baby?" My fake girlfriend's voice was hoarse. Had she been crying? "I miss you Cap. I want you home. When are you coming back?" Cap? It was a funny nick name, but in this moment it felt very wrong to laugh. Amelia was sniffling between every sentence. "I know, I miss you too honey. I don't know when I'll be back. In august probably. I know it's a long time but we'll call every week okay?" "Okay. Will you tell us where the story books are? Kalie doesn't know and I really want to read Snow White." She proceeded to talk some more with her sister and her best friend and then she hung up. She cried. Her cries made my body tense. I didn't know how bad it was. I knew she felt homesick, but her crying after recomforting her little sister and having no one here by her side made me feel bad. I don't know why I did it, but I entered her room after knocking gently. Capri didn't bother to wipe her tears away. She simply looked at me and her eyes blew open. "I'm sorry... was I being too loud?" She was appologizing for crying. How could someone do that? "Oh no! I just overheard like... the entire conversation, I'm sorry. I wanted to offer you a shoulder to cry on?" She looked at me like I had grown another pair of eyes. "Well can I come give you a hug?" I asked, further getting into her room. "I would love that... please?" Her broken plea made my heart break. I didn't know why, in that moment, comforting her seemed to be the only thing important to me on this planet, but it was. And that scared me.