lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

27.

October 2014

The Monday felt strange. When Pia woke up, she tried to convince herself that it was all just a bad dream, but the news articles proved her wrong. Photos of Jules's crash were out there. The picture of his devastated Marussia MR03 was still in her mind. Even though she knew all this, she still got up and went to knock on Jules's hotel room. She hoped he would open the door even tho she knew it wasn't possible. She just wished he would be there.

It took her a while to go back to her room. She knew she had to pack her things because everyone was leaving Japan today. Everyone was trying to leave as soon as possible and leave the events from this GP behind them. But there were just a few people who could actually do that, and Pia wasn't among them.

Pia was closing her luggage when the door to her room suddenly opened. Sebastian stepped in without saying a word. He wanted to ask if she was ready to leave, but he knew the answer. He was fairly sure that Pia would say that she hoped she wouldn't come back here ever again.

The drive to the airport was quiet. Sebastian was driving, which was weird. Usually, someone else drove them to the airport, but Pia didn't question it. There was nothing usual about this morning. Sebastian wanted to ask Pia if she was okay, but it sounded stupid. Clearly, she wasn't okay. Who would be in her skin?

"Good morning," Joanna greeted Sebastian and Pia when they arrived at the airport.

"Morning," Pia greeted quietly. She wanted to tell Joanna that there was nothing good about this morning, but she just kept it quiet. There was no point in that.

"Are you flying with us?" The Austrian asked the young Italian, but she didn't look like she would respond, so Seb responded for Pia.

"No, I offered her to go with us to Russia, but she refused," Sebastian told Joanna. He talked to her as if Pia wasn't standing by his side. Perhaps, he was right. Pia was there physically, but not mentally. She was looking around and then she noticed Daniel. He was sitting on one of those plastic chairs. He had his headphones on, and a slight smile played on his lips. He was bouncing with his leg to the rhythm of the song that was playing. Pia couldn't believe it. It was a completely different Daniel than the one she saw in his driver's room a day ago. There was no pain in his eyes. No worry and no fear. When Daniel noticed that Pia was looking at him, he just smiled at her widely.

"So, you're letting her fly by herself to Italy in a commercial flight in this condition?" Joanna asked Seb because she was pretty certain Pia didn't listen to them anyway.

"She wants to fly to Nice. She wants to see Charles," Sebastian explained while he watched Pia heading to Daniel.

"Let's do it this way. She can fly with us to Sochi and then I'll lend her a plane to Nice. What do you say?" Joanna offered to Sebastian generously. "Will Gianna be able to wait for her there, or she's busy with the boys?" Joanna talked about Sebastian's sons, which were born just a few months ago. "We can book her a car with a driver. It's just 30 minutes long drive."

"How are you?" Pia asked Daniel when he put down his headphones. He wasn't really in a mood for talking, but he decided not to be rude to Pia. He knew Jules would disapprove of it.

"Alright, I just hope Jules will get better soon." So, this was a reason for his optimism. Daniel believed Jules could recover. He hoped he would make it. Pia lost those illusions after she spoke with Joanna last night.

Flashback

Walking through the paddock, Pia was searching for Joanna. She thought that it would be nice to bring her to Daniel. After all, Joanna knew Daniel for a longer time than Pia. She had a feeling that Joanna could comfort him better.

It took a while before Pia noticed the Austrian. Joanna seemed to be focused on the monitors in front of her. It took Pia a few moments before she decided to approach her.

"Joanna?" Pia addressed her by her name to get her attention, and her plan was indeed successful. Joanna turned around and looked at Pia. Pia expected she would see the sadness in Joanna's eyes, but instead of that, she saw anger. Perhaps she was angry because they should've red-flagged the race before anything happened to Jules.

"Do you think Jules will make it?" Pia asked with a shaking voice. She knew it was nasty, but she wanted to hear that she was wrong. She wanted to hear that it appeared to be really bad, but Jules would be alright.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him," Joanna replied. She wasn't showing her emotions at all. The anger Pia saw just a few moments ago was gone. Suddenly, she was just cold.

"Don't fool me. You're a driver. You can recognise the impact. So, stop fucking lying to me," she exclaimed.

"Do you want my opinion? You better start looking for a black dress. You might need one soon."

"Do you know what, Joanna? Fuck you. You're so fucking heartless." Pia showed the Austrian the middle finger before walking away from her. She couldn't stand to be around her or around anyone else.

"No, don't do this. Don't run away. Don't start your pity party once again. Stay strong for Daniel. Stay strong for Charles," Joanna said quietly to the young Italian.

"I should call him." Pia was now calm as well. Joanna understood that she was still processing her emotions. She knew that she didn't mean any of the things she was shouting.

"I don't think you should. Give Charles a few more hours of bliss ignorance. Give him a few more hours before his life change." Joanna was calm. It looked like she knew exactly how to act in this situation, and it made Pia wonder if she ever experienced something similar. "And don't tell it to Daniel. He will find out eventually, but for now, he needs hope. He doesn't have anything else."

End of the flashback

"Pia?" Sebastian interrupted her conversation with Daniel. "You're flying with us to Sochi. The plane will be refuelled there, and you can fly to Nice from there. How does it sound?" Sebastian asked his daughter. "I will book you a car with a driver to Monaco. Would that be alright, sweetie?"

"Amazing. Thank you so much, dad," Pia whispered and went to hug Seb tightly. She thought he didn't understand how much this meant to her, but he was fully aware of it.

"You should thank Joanna. It's her plane," he said to her without thinking. This whole thing was Joanna's idea. So, Pia went to Joanna.

"Thank you, Jo. I'm really grateful to you," she said. She was grateful to Joanna for many things at this point. She knew that they weren't friends, but perhaps they were acquaintances.

"It's alright. I know that you want to be with Charles. I'm glad that I can help you." Joanna smiled at her. She adored that young love of theirs. "And Pia? Thanks to you too. You took care of Daniel yesterday. I was supposed to be there for him, but I couldn't. I was so angry, so thank you for that." Pia knew Joanna was angry yesterday, but she didn't know why. Joanna didn't seem like she would wanna talk about it, so Pia just let it go.

She boarded the plane without saying a word. Her main goal on her way to Sochi was to sleep a little more since her night was almost restless. So, she just sat down and put her headphone on.

In Sochi, Sebastian waited with Pia till she boarded the plane once again to Nice. He told her to have a safe journey and that she should call him once she landed in Nice. And as she promised, she did. She called him once she was on her way to Charles.

When she arrived in front of the apartment building where Charles lived, she quickly got out of the car. She didn't care about her luggage or about anything else. She just rang the bell and hoped it would be Charles who would open the door. Thankfully, it was him. Pia quickly stepped in and hugged Charles tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," she was whispering into his ear while caressing his hair. She knew that this time it had to be her, who would have to take care of the other.