Lock Up ⏐Charles Leclerc

Chapter 54

So.....who wants to cry with me? I can't even describe the pain I feel for Charles after hearing his radio. I'm at a loss for words and you can really hear the frustration and anger in his voice. I hope Carlos gets the best result he can have.

Btw, this chapter was written days ago and it is just a coincidence that this happened in the story as well. It's not the same thing but it's within the same context.

*****

No one knows about my conversation with Grey aside from Ace and Navi. So as not to draw any suspicions, I went out for a walk while Ace dropped off Grey at the airport. I'm eternally grateful for him for going through twenty minutes of awkward air around Grey but I think Ace would've done what he could to make it comfortable for the other. He texted me when he was near the house so that we'd arrive back together and no one noticed anything.

That night, I told Navi what happened and she listened intently. I feel like when everyone knows, they're going to have the words I told you so plastered on their forehead and I'd like some time for myself where I don't have to hear those words.

The rest of our stay in Tuscany was spent exploring the countryside. Charles and I avoided one another as much as we can, but when you have friends like Milo and Pierre, a few conversations can't be prevented. Nevertheless, we got through it without any of our friends asking any questions. It was difficult however, to answer the questions they had about Grey– Is he back in London? When's his last game? I gave one sentence answers that didn't give them the chance to ask more and quickly changed the subject. Sometimes, Navi would help me so as not to be obvious that I didn't want to talk about Grey.

Today, the second half of the season was about to begin. I was watching at home in L.A. at seven in the morning, waiting as Martin Brundle conducted interviews on the grid. Ace and Charles were occupying the front row of the grid with Ace in P1 after a fantastic qualifying time yesterday. Behind the two of them, Carlos was in P3, Max in P4, George in P5, Daniel in P6, Lando in P7, and the two AlphaTauri drivers following afterwards. Milo was watching the race since his break from acting was starting today so he'd be present for the rest of the season.

The race got off with a good start, no crashes happening during the first turn. Charles had a good start but he couldn't overtake Ace yet so he and Carlos tried to defend against Max who was ruthless during the first lap. This was the circuit with the least amount of laps but no one underestimates Spa. As usual, there was a slight fear in my head whenever I watched them race. It wasn't just Charles anymore. I'm close with four other drivers who aren't afraid to take risks on the track, fighting for the same competition.

I was going through some papers for work while I watched the race so I was sat on my carpeted floor to be nearer to the table. We've already finalized the remaining roles that were left to be filled and I had a meeting with the newly casted members yesterday in order to know them personally.

I briefly glanced at the television screen to see that time has passed by and they were now on the thirtieth lap. I was about to move my eyes back to the production schedule in front of me when a loud crash sounded through the livestream. My head whipped, eyes seeing the words red flag  flashing on the upper left but they weren't showing who crashed. I watched as slowly, Charles' name dropped from the rankings leaving him in the bottom of the grid with Stroll's name after him.

Fucking hell.

I scrambled for my phone which I couldn't find at first with the amount of papers around me. "Fuck, where is it?" I mumbled to myself frustratingly and then I heard my phone ringing. I found it underneath a folder on my right and Milo's name was flashing on the screen. "Milo, please tell me that's not who I think it is." I immediately said as soon as I picked up the call and I could feel my heart stop as I waited for him to answer.