lights out › charles leclerc.

14 | miami

I pressed my eyes closed, and turned around pretending I wasn't fucking scared.

—Yes sir, of course—. I walked towards him, spinning my head rapidly to see Pierre making a thumbs up.

—I'm sure you're aware of the recent news that has been circling the internet—. He started, I frowned genuinely, cause I wasn't entirely clear what he was talking about.

—I'm afraid I'm not sure what news, Sir.

—The rumors that Mr. Leclerc and you are on the dating path—. He made air quotes and then stopped and so did I, my heart skipped a beat and all I could think was goodbye career. —Are these true? I want nothing but the truth.

—No Sir, they are not true—. I responded quickly and confidently, as I wasn't lying. —I was invited to the Gala by the team itself, and Charles it's just one of my best friends on the track.

—I'm glad to hear that Camila, I know you are very professional and understand the rules as you had. But, I'm going to ask you both to shut down the rumors in the next Grand Prix. For your tranquility and the FIA's.

I nodded and he just walked away; I sighed deeply. I needed to talk to Charles.

My feet moved as fast as I could to the Ferrari Motor Home, the team saluted me as I searched for his little get-ready room. I knocked on the door and heard a loud groan, a sad and tired Charles greeted me, he slightly smiled when he saw me and moved to the side to let me in.  He was silent, and I was afraid to speak, his body stood tall in front of me and I opened my arms for him.

—I'm so tired of this—. He spoke, and I shook my head.

—You'll get past this, you'll learn from your mistake, Charlie—. He sighed, and I rubbed his back. He broke the hug and went to sit down on his red sofa, I followed carefully.

—I guess so—. He shrugged, and I leaned my head on his shoulder, letting him know I was there for him. My stomach lit up in strange twitches, similar to butterflies. —I'm better now that you're here, thank you for coming.

—Always.

We stayed silent for a little while, just resting from the adrenaline. Holding space for the unsaid, and having some time to really bond again after what felt like the end of a friendship.

—What are you thinking?—. He asked, and I sighed wondering if I should say it.

—Masi told me that we need to shut down the rumors—. I said bluntly, he separated from me to observe my facial expression.

—He heard—. He affirmed more than asked, and I nodded.

—We need to do so in Miami.

—Oh sure, that's fine—. His eyes wandered somewhere else, and I did the same. It felt weird, like it was hard for us, like it was against our nature.

What are we getting into, Charlie?

—So... We'll do that—. I added, and he looked at me once more, I felt electricity traveling through my veins as we looked at each other's eyes, their blue color was now diminished because of the strong pupil dilatation.

—We'll do that.

ººº

Miami, here we are. The first Miami Grand Prix ever, and I get to experience it firsthand. It has been all crazy since we are here, the amazing shows and visits to the nearby stadiums. It feels like a real fever dream, with all that is going on.  Today is press conference day and one of the multiple reasons I'm so nervous; is cause it's time for me to open up about the rumors that had been going on.  As I'm sitting in the chair next to Dr. Ian, my palms feel drenched in sweat and I'm so scared that I'll drop the microphone.