lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

24.

August 2014

Pia and Charles decided to spend their holidays together in Italy. Pia's mother had a house in Positano. Well, it was Anthonie who bought the house, but because of divorce, it was now Gianna's. Anthonie could keep his apartment in Monaco, and Gianna got the house in Genoa and this one, but perhaps, a holiday house in Positano wasn't enough to compensate for how much Gianna suffered.

Pia was sitting on still a little bit wet grass. It was still wet since there was a storm last night. She wasn't bothered by it since the sun shined directly at her. She was the centre of the universe for that moment. She could hear a few birds singing from afar. It sounded like they wanted to sing louder, but they didn't want to disturb her peace. So, there she was, sitting in the garden with sunglasses on, and yet the world didn't look so black and white. It looked colourful, perhaps even more colourful than usual.

"What are you doing here all alone, missy?" The Monegasque suddenly asked her a question. Pia didn't hear that Charles was coming, but she didn't mind that he disturbed her. He was her lover. He could do anything in this world, and she wouldn't be annoyed by it.

"Oh, I'm just enjoying the sun," she said without really thinking about it. She didn't want to make him worried about the things that were running through her mind. She didn't want to tell him about pregnant Joanna, sorrowful Jules, or Daniel, who seemed to be ignoring every warning sign.

"Really?" he asked her. He could recognise when something was off.

"Oh, it's just mum and dad. Mum is freaking out because they still don't have names, and Seb is freaking out just from the fact that the twins will be born in a few days." A brief smile appeared on her lips. She looked stunning. He would dare to say that she looked breathtaking in that white floral dress. Charles couldn't look away from her.

A light breeze was playing with her hair, but she didn't even bother to fix it with her hand. She didn't want to break that harmony. Everything seemed so right at that moment. Things she wasn't sure about suddenly seemed clear. Life made sense in that brief moment.

"What names are they considering?" he asked her curiously. He imagined in his head that one day he would be picking names for his children with Pia too. He was pretty sure it would be a mess too.

"Matthias, Lukas, Gabriel, Theodore, Tristan, Alexander, Christian and I could go on and on," Pia sighted. "The worst thing is that this's just a half of the mess because my mum wants to give them Italian second names... At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they picked something like Günther Perceval." She said with a disgusted look on her face. She didn't really understand how someone could name their kids like that.

"Hey, what's wrong with Perceval?" Charles asked, clearly insulted by her opinion, while sitting next to her on the ground. He immediately placed his hand on her thigh.

"What's right with Perceval? That's the question," she said to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm Perceval. Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc." It was clearly hearable that he was proud of his name. Pia wasn't aware that he had so many names. She knew that his second name was Marc, but that was it because she had never thought of asking him about it.

"Oh, thousand times sorry, lord Perceval," Pia made fun of him.

"It's alright, milady. May I ask you to dance with me?" Charles asked and bowed.

"I am certain I cannot decline this offer of yours," Pia said with her chin up. She looked alluring like that.

Charles took the phone out of his pocket, turning on the music. He held his hand out to her. Pia hesitated for a while because this whole scene was so cliche and ridiculous. In the end, she placed her hand in his. He was totally beguiling, and Pia was bewitched. He grinned at her while pulling her into his embrace. His arm was curling around her waist, and then he started to sway.

Pia put her free hand on his shoulder and smiled at him lightly. She was so lucky to see right into Charles's eyes, and she found out she had a wordless definition for joy. There was something in those greenish yellowish eyes of his that was so beautiful, so safe and warm. In just one look, she felt home.

"I'm a horrendous dancer," he says as they glided around the old tree in the garden.

"I ain't any better," foot forward. Backward.

"Nah, you're perfect," he murmured, then kissed her on the temple. "Well, that bought some colour to your cheeks," he said when he noticed that she was blushing. Charles felt mesmerised by Pia. He would be a fool not to love her.

Suddenly, without asking, Charles placed his hands on her face. He could feel how smooth her complexion was. It was almost like he would be touching silk. He looked into her emerald eyes before planting a kiss on her lips. Her whole body tingled under his touch.

They used to kiss often, but this time it felt special. Her hands were in his hair, pulling a few strands from time to time. His hands were on her lower back, pulling her closer to him than before because he couldn't get enough of her.

"Kiss me longer, won't you, please?" she asked him innocently and looked into his eyes. The sunset was reflecting in his eyes. His face was worthy of sin under the tangerine rays of the sun. At that moment, she was able to appreciate his splendour before Charles placed his lips on hers once again.

Uncontrollable feelings surged through Pia's body, and her fingers tingled in delight. Charles's hand brushed across her cheek softly. Pia's body was acting on its own, with no chains to hold her back from this pure paradise.

"I love you. I love you so much," Pia whispered while fighting the urge to kiss him once again. "Sometimes, I feel like this is way too good to be true," the Italian admitted with closed eyes.

"I love you more. I don't know how I deserved you," Charles frankly said before he placed another kiss on her plump lips.

"Oh, Charles," Pia moaned when her boyfriend was placing wet kisses on her neck. She wanted to protest when he suddenly stopped kissing her, but then she realised he grabbed her hand, pulling her away. He led her inside the house.

---

In the morning, Pia was awakened by the sun's rays shining directly into her face. Her eyes wander around the room, examining the ground. Her white floral dress was lying in front of the door. Charles's white T-shirt was just a few steps away. His shorts were next to the wardrobe. A white bra from Victoria's secret was lying on the top of a chest of drawers. Pia's eyes wandered closer to the bed, and she found the lower part of this white set. Black boxers from Calvin Klein were next to it.

Her eyes stopped at the edge of the bed. She ran her hand lightly over the white silk sheet. It was perhaps even more pleasant to the touch than the view. Pia's hand slid lightly on the white cloth, but in the end, she allowed it again to hide under a duvet that looked like freshly fallen December snow.

She threw her legs over the edge of the bed, stepping on the bushy carpet, which she would gladly walk on all the time. It was so pleasant. After a while, she gathered her courage and stood up, wrapping one duvet around her.

A smile immediately spread across her lips as she watched Charles for a moment. His brown hair was sticking out in all directions. A soft smile played on his face, so Pia assumed he was dreaming of something delightful. Perhaps about the last night.

She took a few steps to the bed. She knelt with one foot in the duvets so that she would be directly above him and give him a kiss on the forehead. He looked like an angel.