Always Under Pressure - Charles Leclerc

Chapter 6

3 Months Later

Diana's relationship with Charles had become estranged since the incident involving his girlfriend. In an unexpected guilt-ridden moment, she had confessed that she was the one who spiked Charlene's drink with sleeping pills. In hindsight, she would never come clean if she knew that Charles would have reacted so badly as Charlene was more than fine and back to her boring self.

Charles kept the secret to himself as the conversation between the two became heated in that hospital corridor. Diana had met him there shortly after that evening. Once she told him what she had done, Charles freaked out and threatened to call the police on her. Diana then played the cheating card and she would have absolutely ruined his life should he have decided to turn her in.

They remained professional when meeting at work but there was absolutely no contact between them and he would become borderline rude if Diana even tried to strike a conversation.

She was sat next to Xavi and they observed the data on their screen. The race was nearly over and Charles was currently P6.

"Why don't you call him to box for softs and try to get the fastest lap?" She asked Xavi.

"We are considering..."

"What are you considering? He's got a 30-second margin over Gasly. There's more than enough time."

"Bottas is already pitting for softs, so we'll wait and see if it's worth it."

"Wait? What do you have to lose? Just bloody call him in and try to get that extra point. We surely need it!" Diana said exasperated. She absolutely hated when people were too afraid to take risks.

"Box, box." She finally heard Xavi calling over the radio.

Once the race was over, Charles came into the garage and fist-bumped his engineers and mechanics.

"Glad we got that extra point!" He said to Xavi.

"It was actually Diana's call. Seems like she's learning from the best." Xavi said as he tapped Diana's shoulder.

"Good job." Charles said with a weak smile. It was the first words he had told her in a very long time.

"Only doing what I'm being paid for." She replied dryly and turned her back on him. She pretended she was interested in what a group of mechanics were doing.

Carlos came into the garage as well shortly after and the two teammates hugged it out.

"Are you still proposing next week?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, it's her birthday on Wednesday. I actually can't wait to see her face when I pop the question." Charles replied with excitement.

Diana rolled her eyes and left the garage in a huff. There was absolutely no way she would get that man ever again. It was about time she set her eyes on another prize, she thought as she watched some of the other drivers walk about the pitlane. Then her gaze met beautiful light green eyes as he turned to say hello to her. Diana smirked. Who better than Charles's best friend to get her revenge?

"I've been meaning to ask what's up with you two?" Carlos asked with his hands on his hips.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Diana... since the party in her place that I've noticed you don't even look at each other."

"You're imagining things, mate." Charles said waving a dismissive hand at his teammate.

"I don't think I am... but anyway, if Diana is bothering you let me know. I know she isn't the easiest to deal with."

"It's fine, she's alright." Charles lied.

*****

It was a lovely Tuesday afternoon in sunny Milan. After running into Pierre in the pitlane the week before they had decided to meet up when they were both in Italy. It was a casual meeting as Pierre's friends would be there too but Diana wasn't one to miss a chance and she knew it was the only way she could make an impact on Charles now.

They were all sitting on the restaurant esplanade, enjoying the sunshine when Diana arrived. She spotted Pierre with his backwards cap from far away and he was a sight for sore eyes. She was ready to have some fun. She sat down as she greeted and introduced herself to his friends. She spotted one of his mates' girlfriends eyeing her tattoos with curiosity. Diana slightly raised an eyebrow at the girl before softening her expression. She needed to tone down her bitchiness, for once.

"Nice ink... I've been trying to get a tattoo for ages now, but I'm just a wimp." The girl, named Carolina or Caro for friends, finally said.

"The pain is the best part of it..." Diana said with a wink.

"I got you the same as us... hope you like it." Pierre said handing her a small Peroni.

"Thanks, yes, I do like it." She replied as they clinked bottles.

They were fun to hang out with, a bit too cheery for Diana's taste, but she knew she wasn't going to be with them for the long term.

"Do you know that Guillaume spent all weekend in Monte Carlo?" One of the guys gossiped.

"Really? Fucking hell, he doesn't learn, does he?" Pierre said doing a facepalm gesture.

"Are you going to tell him?" His friend asked Pierre who had a worry-induced winkle showing on his face.

Diana looked back and forth at the two guys talking. She was intelligent enough to understand that by Pierre's expression, it could only mean that by "him" they meant someone Pierre cared about. It didn't take her long to connect the dots.

"What can I do? He's one of my best mates... but is it my business?"

"What are you talking about?" Diana finally asked after being in silence for a while and just hoping that they would confirm what she already suspected.

The three friends looked at Diana not sure if they could speak about it or not. Pierre was tapping his foot, his leg jiggling while he figured what to reply.

"One of our buddies is misbehaving and we found out that he's been sneaking around with a girlfriend of a good friend of mine." Pierre quickly explained, not wanting to leave Diana out of the conversation, but hoping she wouldn't register any more than that.

It took her less than 10 seconds to realize that Charlene wasn't with Charles at the previous GP and she had overheard Charles tell someone that his girlfriend had work to do in Monte Carlo. A smile formed on her lips.

"You're talking about Charles, aren't you?" She boldly asked. They all seemed surprised by the question or by the fact that Diana wasn't stupid. She couldn't tell which one.

"Err, yeah..." Pierre rubbed his neck as for a second he had forgotten that Diana worked closely with Charles. "Don't mention anything just yet. I'll figure out a way..."

"He's going to propose tomorrow..." Diana said casually, trying to fish for more information.

"WHAT?" Caro nearly spitted out her drink.

"Yeah, thought you guys were good mates, huh?" Diana said as she tapped Pierre's leg.

"We are... but I've made it clear before my opinion about Charlene and now we just don't talk about her."

"That bitch is boring, isn't she?" Diana snapped and then observed the group's reaction. No one seemed mad about that statement.

"Let's say she's not our favourite..." Caro added.

Diana couldn't get much more gossip from them as they changed subjects shortly after and she felt it would be pushing too much if she insisted on that topic. However, that afternoon had given her new hopes and she was about to destroy Charles's relationship for good.