lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

2.

September 2011

It was the middle of September when Pia got a chance to see another karting race. This time they were at Kartodromo Val Vibrata. It was just 30 minutes drive from the Italian coast. The Italian weather was preparing itself for autumn, so temperatures reached a maximum of 20 degrees. It was so much more enjoyable than the hot temperature in Sarno.

Pia now looked like true Italian thanks to her tan. Her mother took her on holiday during the summer break of F1. Greek sun gave her the opportunity to feel like an Italian at least for a month. When she smiled now, her white teeth were even more noticeable. The sun made her brown hair a bit lighter, but she didn't mind it. She decided to wear dutch braids for this weekend, so it wasn't visible anyways.

This time, Pia wasn't just wandering around the track. She was actually looking for Charles. It took her a while before she spotted him. To her surprise, he wasn't alone. Next to him stood an older boy who looked similar to him, so Pia assumed it was his brother.

"Hi, Charles," she tried to pronounce his name with the best French accent she could do. She surprised herself with how good it sounded. The attention of both boys was on her, causing her to blush a little.

"Pia? You look different." She noticed how his cheeks heated up when he realised he was staring at her for too long. She looked even prettier than he remembered.

"Yeah, I finally look like Italian," a few giggles left her mouth while looking at her tan arms. "I brought you something," she took out a red Bull T-shirt and signed driver cards from a bag. "I thought you might like this," she handed him the present from her.

"Signed drivers cards? Are you crazy? How did you get them?" he asked while looking through them. Before Pia could answer, he spoke up again. "There's the whole current grid. That's so awesome," he exclaimed happily and pulled Pia into a hug without thinking about it.

"Dad works in F1," Pia brushed it off quickly. She didn't like to tell people what her father's job was because many people in motorsport would treat her differently based on that. At the end of the day, you wanted to make an impression on Anthonie Teunissen because he could get your child into Formula One. He was the manager of the world champion and future bright star Daniel Ricciardo.

She wasn't telling the complete truth about the source of those cards. It was Sebastian who helped her with whole this idea. Her dad was too busy for such a thing, so she didn't even bother to ask him for help.

flashback

"Hi, champ," Pia exclaimed and ran to hug Seb. She could be with him since he didn't have to be part of a press conference on Thursday morning.

"Hi, twinkle." He missed Pia dearly. He missed her teasing him about the championship, her cute laughter and her crazy ideas. He just missed having her around.

"Is everything alright in school?" Seb always used to ask her about school. Her father never seemed to be interested in her marks, but Seb cared.

"Yeah, I passed this year with flying colours," Pia said proudly. She was indeed proud of herself that she managed to pass her classes excellently despite travelling quite a lot.

"Well, then you deserve some present, what do you say?" he smiled at her. Deep down, he knew he'd buy her something even if she failed all of her classes. He couldn't resist that smile of hers.

"Actually, can I have a request?" She asked with puppy eyes.

"Go on."

"Well, you know, I met... I met one boy in Sarno." Pia was stuttering, and Sebastian found that adorably cute. "Ehm, do you think we could maybe get him signed driver's cards and some cap or t-shirt?" Her gaze was on the floor, but he noticed that her cheeks flushed.

"That depends... Will you tell me something about him?" Even though he found this whole situation cute, he was still overprotective of her. In his opinion, she was too young for those kinds of things.

"His name is Charles, and he's Monegasque... He cried after the race, so I want to make him happy." A delightful smile appeared on her lips. Sebastian adored how kind and caring she always was. There was no way how he could say no to those sparkles in her eyes.

end of flashback

"Thank you so much, Pia," he said, and then he noticed Jules's expression, which gave him a clear sign he'd need to explain this afterwards. "Oh, Pia, this is my friend Jules. Jules, this is Pia," he introduced them quickly. Pia learnt that her assumption was wrong - he wasn't his brother.

"It's nice to meet you." Jules was surprised by a 12-year-old in front of him. She wasn't shy as he expected. She was so different in comparison to other kids. "Are you racing as well, Jules?"

"Nice to meet you too, and yes, I do, but our season is already over, so I came here to support Charles. What about you? Are you karting as well?" Jules had the same accent as Charles, but Pia would swear he looked Italian. It was something she didn't notice before, but now she was almost sure that some of his ancestors needed to be from Italy.

"Just for fun," Pia said, thinking about the times when Sebastian had secretly taken her on go-karts. He knew Thoine wouldn't allow it, but he was too excited to see if Pia had inherited some of her dad's talent. It turned out that she did. He regretted that talent like hers was wasted, but on the other hand, he understood why Anthonie didn't want her to race.

"Really? We should go karting together." Charles exclaimed when he rejoined the conversation.

"Yup. I think that the track should be free tomorrow afternoon." She suggested while thinking about an excuse for her father. Maybe she could tell him she would go somewhere with Max since he liked him so much.

---

"Are you ready to lose this race?" Pia said with confidence as she was getting into the go-kart. Charles lent Pia his racing suit. It was too big for her, but she didn't care since it was just for an hour. Her cheeks flushed when she realised that her belt said that she was Leclerc. Maybe one day, she thought. Little did she know Charles was thinking about the same thing. He liked to have his name on her. Pia Leclerc didn't sound bad after all.

"If you're so sure, let's bet. If I win, you kiss me, and if I don't, I invite you for ice cream. Deal?" Charles suggested. Jules was watching those lovebirds from a distance. It reminded him of times when he was in love for the first time. Jules fell in love with Italian as well. He probably shared this weakness with Charles. They have so many personality traits that are so lovable. They're passionate, gentle, good-humoured and beautiful. Or maybe he idolised them so much because of his Italian.

Jules was the one to start their race. Pia seemed to have a better start than Charles, and thanks to that, gained the lead in their little race. Charles was quick to react to her actions. He took a racing line around the outside in order to have a better exit into turn two, but Pia defended her position. Jules was impressed by her talent. She really belonged behind the wheel, and it was a pity that she wasn't karting. Charles eventually overtook her in turn six because Pia had a poor exit, but she didn't stop fighting. The two go-karts were going into the last corner wheel on a wheel. Jules noticed that Pia backed out a bit. There was no doubt that she had done it on purpose because otherwise, she would've overtaken Charles.

"I won. I won." Charles cheered for himself when he got out of his go-kart, but it wasn't Charles who grabbed the attention of the young Frenchman. Jules' eyes were on Pia, and he could see that she was smiling when she took off her helmet. She was happy that Monegasque won.

"Yeah, you won," the Italian tried to sound a little annoyed, but thanks to her delightful smile, made that hard to believe. Charles didn't care who won. If Pia won, he would buy her ice cream and kiss her afterwards anyway.

Pia took a step closer to Charles when he didn't seem to make a move. His eyes were staring at the ground, and his cheeks were heated up. Pia adored how shy he was. She was the one to lift his chin up, then looked into his greenish eyes and shyly pressed her lips against his. They were both innocent teens who experienced their first kiss. His lips were soft, warm and seemed to fit into hers perfectly. When they pulled away, he was smiling and looking proud, smug, and satisfied. He was quick to pull her closer and kiss her again, so there they were, kissing after losing the bet that she intended to lose.