lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

25.

September 2014

This weekend it was Pia's home Grand Prix. Monza was full of Ferrari fans, and one of them was Charles. He was so cute in that Ferrari team wear. In her mind, she imagined that one day he would be here in Monza in that red driver suit. She imagined how Charles would win here in front of Ferrari fans. She imagined jumping grandstands and commentators shouting his name.

"Is everything alright?" Sebastian asked Pia when he saw that she was looking all around the paddock. It seemed like she was searching for something or someone.

"Yeah," she said and nodded. Sebastian had to smile when he looked at her outfit. She was wearing white jeans shorts that contrasted with her tanned skin and a Red Bull t-shirt with Sebastian's name on it. Around her neck was hanging her VIP paddock pass. Her emerald eyes were hidden under her Prada sunglasses that she got from Sebastian last summer. She almost looked like a cut out of the model from a magazine.

"Is the Ferrari fan enjoying himself?" he asked her because he wanted to catch Pia's attention. It was so hard recently. Her mind seemed to be all over the place. Sebastian didn't know why, but he assumed it was probably because of Charles. But the truth was somewhere completely else.

"I would say so. He is somewhere with Jules." She turned around to see into the Marussia garage, but unfortunately, she couldn't see him there. "I still haven't told him that you would join Ferarri," Pia said out of the blue. She didn't really know how to tell Charles that Sebastian would be next to Joanna next season.

"We want to announce it in October, so you still have some time, I don't think-"

"I'm sorry, but can we talk about it later? I need to talk to Joanna," the Italian quickly muttered when she saw Joanna walking down the paddock. Joanna looked different to Pia, but she couldn't really say what was off with the Austrian.

"Hey, Jo. How are you doing?" Pia tried to sound friendly. She hoped that after that afternoon in Italy when Joanna opened to her. Things seemed to be on the right track ever since their last conversation. At least Pia thought so.

"What do you want?" Joanna didn't even bother with greeting the youngster. Pia just saw the old Joanna in front of her. She saw a woman who was rough around the edges and who hated when people saw her weak. She was nothing like that Joanna from Italy.

"I just wanted to tell you that you're doing a great job with hiding the belly," Pia said to her with a smile on her face. The young Italian wasn't sure for how long could Joanna this baby keep a secret, but till now she was doing an excellent job.

"Well, there's nothing to hide anymore," Joanna said before walking away, leaving confused Pia behind her. Her brain went crazy after this sentence. What did Joanna mean? Did she decide that abortion was the best option? No, Pia felt that Joanna wouldn't do that. Joanna didn't know what to do a few months back in Italy, but Pia felt that Joanna didn't think about abortion for even spit second. So, what did happen?

"Wait, Joanna!" Pia chased the Ferrari driver across the paddock. Unfortunately, this scene seemed to interest way too many people for Pia's liking. She understood that Joanna wouldn't say to her anything anyway, so she just gave up. She didn't want to give people there a show.

"What was that about?" Sebastian asked Pia. He watched that whole scene with a raised eyebrow and confused face.

"Nothing. Just girly stuff." Pia tried to avoid talking about it. It was Joanna's thing. She was aware that Sebastian didn't believe her, but he didn't say anything. Looking at her, Sebastian saw a bit of Anthonie in her. He didn't realise that before, but Pia knew more than she should.

"If you say so," he just said unbothered. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but at the end of the day, Pia was almost an adult. She was fully capable of dealing with her own mess. Joanna once told him that he couldn't always help her or protect her because he wouldn't be there for her forever. In her opinion, Pia had to learn how to deal with her own decisions, how to clean up her own mess, and how to fix things she had broken.

"Have you talked to her recently?" Pia asked even though she doubted that Sebastian had talked to her.

"Not really. The last time we really spoke was when she came to visit us. She's quiet these days," Sebastian said calmly. He didn't really look much into that. Sometimes, Joanna tended to shut down and didn't let anyone else in, but Pia made him think about it. Perhaps this time, there was something different about it.

"Hmmm, I'm not surprised," the Italian let out while walking away from her dad. She wanted to tell him why she was worried about Joanna, but it wasn't her secret to tell. Pia was sure that if Joanna wanted to let Seb know, she would tell him once they were teammates.

---

"Do you happen to know where Jules is?" A voice with a thick Australian accent reached her ears. She was peacefully reading a book in Sebastian's driver room when Daniel interrupted her.

"Yeah, he left with Charles like an hour ago," Pia replied. In her mind, she recalled a moment when Charles gave her a kiss on the forehead, telling her that he would go on dinner with Jules. "Perhaps he finally wants to tell him that you two are dating when he has to hide it all the time." She had a feeling that she had to mention it. She had a feeling that she had to let somehow Daniel know that he was not doing an excellent job as a boyfriend.

"Do you think I didn't want to make it public? Do you really think that?" Daniel was clearly annoyed and upset by Pia's remark. He understood that Pia was mainly Jules's friend, but he was so tired of her judgemental faces. He only wanted to do the best for Jules.

"I don't care about the opinions of others. I don't care about Red Bull. I don't fucking care about your dad," he was shouting at her. He was so sick of people who tried to control his life. He was sick of pretending that he loved Jemma when it was Jules who had his heart.

"Yeah, I like boys and what? I'm not scared to admit it, but I just couldn't." His voice got quieter and quieter. Pia could hear how much he fought with himself because he didn't want to start crying.

"I couldn't because I don't think Jules would handle it. I wake up next to him every morning, and I can see his puffy eyes. I know that he spends his nights crying in the bathroom," Daniel admitted, and his voice cracked. Silent tears were running down his face. It was breaking his heart. He was suffering while seeing his lover struggling that much.

"I can see how much he's already struggling because of all of that attention. He's already suffering too much, and I didn't want to make it even worse." He quickly wiped the tears away with the back of his hands. Everything that he ever did since he was with Jules, he did for Jules. He wanted to help him. He wanted to make his life better and easier even though it was hurtful for him too.

This whole time, Pia assumed that Daniel was doing what was the easiest for him. She thought that dating Jemma was about making it easier for him, but perhaps it was all for Jules. Maybe this whole time, Daniel tried to make it easier for Jules.