Apex | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 23

This race week just got even more depressing. I can't believe we're losing four drivers on the current grid (I'm not a fan of Latifi but maybe some of you are). My feed is full of posts of Seb and Daniel and now Mick :((( 

Enjoy!

*****

February 25, 2025 - Monaco

"So..." Gabby trailed off as she looked at me through the phone. "Does this mean you're going to start getting some PR stuff soon?"

"Gabby." I groaned and I heard her laugh at me.

"Nads, I've only been gone for a few days and you've already gotten yourself into such a huge mess." I gave her a play by play of everything that went down last night but only managed to do so through voice messages. I left the office at around seven, trying to ignore the media frenzy Charles has caused, and went home straight after, turning off my wifi and closing myself off. By the time I realized what time it was, Gabby would've been too busy at work.

"I don't know how to fix this." I said, completely being honest. I knew a lot about the law which I think would come in handy in this situation but a majority of it was related to the media. My image has never really been a priority unless it's on the professional side. The only time I've witnessed the ins and outs of a scandal was when Gabby used to force me into watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

"What did you guys talk about?"

I bit my lip as Gabby waited for me to answer. "We talked, but we never actually got to making up a solution." After my panic attack yesterday, I left Charles in the bathroom and returned to my office, drowning myself in paperwork and keeping my door shut.

"We'll, people won't stop talking about you. You're literally the topic of F1 Twitter right now." She said and her screen turned black for a second before she came back. This time, I could see she was scrolling through her phone. "You guys look good together, especially when you were leaving the club."

"We're not together."

"Why are you being so defensive? I only said you looked good together." She smirked and I rolled my eyes at her, grabbing my phone to get something to eat in the kitchen. "You should go out tonight."

"What makes you think I'd be willing to party on my own?" I raised an eyebrow at her, pulling out a mug to make a cup of coffee despite it already being seven o'clock in the evening.

I feel proud at myself for not having an alcoholic drink ever since Gabby went back to Boston. The habit would've been very unhealthy if I continued it, but listening to music has been a constant. Right now, I had a soft tune playing through the speakers that were in the living room, the sound reaching the kitchen.

"Because Charles is at Jimmy'z right now." She said and my phone vibrated to show she had sent a photo. As the coffee machine poured the brown liquid into the mug, I opened the photo and saw one of Charles that was taken from afar, most likely by a fan. He was surrounded by a group of friends, wearing a gray hoodie, straight cut jeans, and his usual Converse. "Come on. I'll help you pick out something to wear!"

"Gabby, being seen with him would only make things worse." I said and I knew I was right. There could even be a risk of someone getting my name and finding out everything about me. The only social media account I had was Facebook and it's kept on private but it's not really that hard to search someone these days, even if they're not a celebrity.

"The way I see it, this is your fastest way of talking to him. You don't have his number nor do you have an Instagram or Twitter account. How do you plan on contacting him?" She asked and I didn't get to think of a reply. Basically, I was just hoping I'd run into him again with the amount of times we've seen each other in Monaco. "Don't tell me you're leaving it up to fate."