Still Learning [C.L]

Arguments

I walked along the paddock, smiling at the last few mechanics that were headed off for the night, scrolling through the notifications on my phone to catch up on what I had missed that day when I bumped into someone, dropping my phone to the floor in doing so

"Oh god, I'm so sorry" I bent down to pick up my phone at the same time as the stranger
"No it's my fault, I should have been looking where I was going" he laughed lightly, handing my now cracked phone over to me
"Shit" I groaned, inspecting the damage before standing up to meet the stranger's gaze, his bright blue eyes burning right through me.

"I'm really sorry about your phone, I'd be happy to pay for a replacement?" He smiled sympathetically "oh I'm Mick by the way" he held his hand out for me to shake
"Yeah" I smiled dopily, lightly gripping on to his hand whilst he shook mine, unable to stop myself from blushing whenever he smiled at me
"You want a replacement?" He asked
"Oh no no no, I'll get that don't worry, my insurance will cover it" I smiled, my nerves getting the better of me
"Well I need to make it up to you somehow. Can't walk around breaking phones and not repay you" he smirked
"Honestly, don't worry about it, it's an old phone. It was probably about time it got smashed" I laughed off his offer
"A few of us are going out for drinks after the race on Sunday, if you'd like to join?" He suggested
"Oh yeah, I think Charles and I are going to come for a couple, depending on how the race goes" I half smiled
"You're with Charles?" He asked sounding slightly disheartened which left me confused

My eyes were drawn to a pair of red T-shirts further down the paddock as Charles and Arthur walked towards us. I thought I could make out a slight frown on Charles' face as he became clearer in my eyesight but I shook it off

"Yeah, that's actually him just finished there so I'll have to head off but I'll see you out on Sunday, bye!" I smiled before brushing past him and down towards Charles
"Yeah definitely!" Mick called out after me, giving me a wave

I wrapped my arms around Charles as he pulled me in close to him, preventing me from seeing the glare he was directing towards Mick.

"What did he want?" Charles asked in a low voice, still looking over my shoulder
"Who?" I followed his gaze "Mick?" I asked as he was the only other person still on the paddock and Charles nodded in response "Oh I literally bumped into him and he was just introducing himself"
"Mhm" Charles grunted and Arthur half smiled at me "let's go" Charles continued

The three of us headed back to the hotel, Arthur and I still arguing over who had to sit in the back before we arrived and had a quick meal in the restaurant together before going to our rooms. Charles had been quiet since we left the track and it was mostly Arthur and I keeping the conversation flowing over dinner.

"Is everything okay?" I asked Charles, running my hands over his back as he searched through his suitcase on the bed "you've been really quiet tonight"
"I just didn't have much to say" he shrugged off my comment and me physically as he made his way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him

I took the opportunity to change in to my pyjamas and get in to bed, looking through the Instagram posts I missed today.

@mickschumacher started following you

I followed him back and set my phone down on the bedside table to charge and waited for Charles to come out of the bathroom.
10. 20. 30 minutes passed as Charles still hadn't reappeared. My body couldn't hold out much longer and I fell asleep before he came back to bed.

- -

The next morning I awoke to an empty bed and Charles was nowhere to be found in the room. I quickly checked my phone to find a blunt text from him