lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

~ quattro ~

Baku, April 2019

That night was sleepless for Pia. It was six in the morning when she decided she would go out for a walk. Baku was a beautiful city, and Pia always enjoyed walking around. Even though this morning wasn't that pleasing. One of her friends texted her if she and Daniel was really a thing. Pia just replied with a bunch of question marks. Check the news, her friend texted.

The young Italian couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the headlines of sports magazines. Her and Daniel's face was on every single front page. It was a photo taken in Monaco. They were sitting in Dan's car, and he rested his head on Pia's shoulder. Pia had to admit that they looked close, perhaps even like lovers the magazines claimed them to be, but for fuck's sake. It was Daniel. She knew what this meant. She wouldn't get a break from the press. This Grand Prix would be a mess.

Pia thought about how to smooth this situation as much as possible when she was on her way back to her hotel room. Suddenly, she heard the opening of doors. She looked around, and she saw Joanna. She was sneaking out of hotel room number 83. Wait, Max's room has number 83, she thought.

Pia just looked at Joanna disapprovingly. Sneaking out of the room of a taken man this early in the morning had only one reason. They slept together. The Italian had to fake cough to catch the Austrian's attention. Pia could see how her eyes got wider when she realised, she got caught.

"Uhm, hi," Joanna said and waved at Pia nonchalantly.

"Is this what I'm thinking it is?" Pia asked before she sighed loudly. "Oh, for fuck's sake. Can't you keep it in your pants?" Pia just did a facepalm when she noticed Joanna's expression.

"Let's take it positively. At least you're not Kelly." Jo smiled at the girl in front of her. If Joanna had been caught by Kelly, the Austrian would probably have been on his way to the hospital.

"Yeah, brilliant. Do you know what? Just get lost," she said annoyedly. She didn't want to deal with it now. "All you're doing is just creating mess," Pia was brutally honest. Joanna was a beautiful, intelligent, strong woman, but Pia doubted she was worth all that trouble she had caused. Pia knew what Max would say about that. She's worth it. She's worth it all.

The Italian finished the sentence, and she started slowly walking back to her room, leaving Joanna behind her. It was too early in the morning to deal with that bullshit, but as it seemed, Joanna didn't want Pia to enjoy peace. Pia could hear how Joanna rushed after her. Of course, she had to have the last word.

"It's not like you're that innocent either. You're sneaking here as well. What guy were you with? Charles, Lando or Daniel?" Jo asked. Joanna was lucky that Pia knew her well because otherwise, she would think that the Austrian wanted to indicate that she was a promiscuous girl.

"For heaven's sake. You have already read the news, haven't you?"

"I checked my phone when I was leaving Max. I must say, they took some nice pictures of you two," Joanna laughed, and Pia just realised how big of a pain this day would be.

"Oh, fuck you, Joanna," Pia groaned and then she smiled.

"I missed this, you know," the Austrian said as she wrapped her hand around Pia's shoulders.

"I missed this too. Let's go for a smoke." The smaller from the couple suggested. She wasn't sure whether Joanna still smoked from time to time or not, but she probably did since she accepted Pia's offer.

So, there they were - two women standing outside in front of the back entrance of the hotel with cigarettes in their hands.

"So, you and Max? Is that a thing again?" she asked as she took a drag on her cigarette.