ma chérie | cl16

chapter five

The bar was filled with people and the music was too loud for Adeline's taste. Or at least sober Adeline; she was perfectly able to ignore all of the noise and actually enjoy it after a few drinks. It was also incredibly hot there, and for once, she was glad she didn't choose to wear one of her iconic pantsuits. She was wearing her favorite little black dress with three quarter sleeves, tight enough to compliment her hourglass figure.

Pierre had reserved a VIP booth in the club, only for them and other drivers. When Adeline and Pierre finally got to the booth through the crowds of sweaty people, Adeline immediately saw some guys and Lily with Alex sitting next to each other. Alex had his arm on Lily's thighs, and they were laughing about something. Adeline had to admit that they were the cutest pair she had ever met. When the couple saw Adeline, both of them started to avidly wave at her.

"Hey guys," Pierre greeted everyone at the table, pointing at Adeline with his index finger. "So, this is Adeline, she's my best friend. She's a law student, a little too sassy and mean, so if she's making fun of you, you're one of her many victims. But she's the best person in the world," he added with a shiny smile.

"Well, thank you for this horrendous introduction," Adeline rolled her eyes. The two guys who were strangers to her, stood up to shake hands with her. "And please, call me Addy."

"Good to have another British person here, Addy," said the tall guy with a very thick accent. "I'm George," he introduced himself and gave Adeline a very firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you, George!"

"I'll join this little British club, may I? I'm Lando, by the way." Lando smiled at the blonde girl he had never seen before, even though he could recall that Pierre had been talking a lot about some Adeline. "Although, I'm half Belgian."

"Well, I've got dual citizenship too!" Adeline exclaimed, looking at the McLaren driver with curly, brown hair. "I'm half French, which is a fact that Pierre's obsessed with," she added.

"He's a douche," Lando smirked, making Adeline laugh. Lando had to admit that her presence felt really good, which made him understand Pierre's babbling about her.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Pierre coughed. "By the way, where's Charles? I was hoping to see him," he said as he was sitting down with Adeline. There was a spot for one more person in their booth, and Pierre really wanted to see Charles.

"He's gonna join us, don't worry," Alex said, grabbing a mojito in his left hand. "Poor guy, he could've won the whole race."

Everyone silently nodded. Charles was absolutely dominating the whole race, but sadly, a DNF happened. Adeline was watching the whole race from the AlphaTauri garage, obviously rooting for Pierre. However, her eyes sometimes slipped to the red car with number 16, and she felt bad for him after he had to retire from the race.

"Hey, someone's calling you," Pierre tapped on Adeline's shoulder, pointing at her phone that was on the glass table. Adeline sighed in annoyance, as the waiter just brought drinks and she just had to answer the phone.

"Sorry, I'll be right back," Adeline said to the group, taking the phone in her hands. Some unknown number was calling her, but she was kind of sure that it was someone from her company.

She made it outside of the club; luckily there weren't any people, and she could take her phone call. She thought to herself that it was someone important, as it wouldn't stop ringing.

"Adeline Edwards, hello?" Adeline swiped the green icon on her phone, greeting the stranger on the other line.

"Addy, thank God. You picked up!" The voice sounded so relieved, but Adeline frowned immediately, feeling the blood in her veins boiling up.