ma chérie | cl16

chapter nine

tw: anxiety, anxiety attack

"I'm here!" A girl sitting at the café started waving at Adeline cheerfully. Her skin was like a hot mocha, and her smile could light up London in the dark. She saw her blonde best friend in a blue pantsuit entering the door, and she simply couldn't hold back joy.

"Hazel!" Adeline shrieked, running to hug Hazel. They had seen each other a week ago, but it felt like an eternity. Plus, Adeline had tons of news to tell her.

"So, how did the court go?" Hazel asked after the two girls ordered some coffee and cheesecakes. They were in desperate need of caffeine and sugar.

"It was a huge success. The company actually offered me a full-time job after I finish my course next year," Adeline replied with a smile on her lips. She was overwhelmed with emotions but didn't let it fully show—that was kind of a habit of hers. It was hard to read from her, but Pierre and Hazel recognized what was going on in her mind.

"What?! Addy, that's huge! I'm so happy for you!" Hazel shouted out, happy for her best friend. She wasn't able to hide her emotions at all—she was an open book, the total opposite of Adeline. They basically completed each other. "Your hard work paid off! Maybe if I worked harder, I'd get a job too."

"What are you talking about? You're talented as hell, Hazel." Adeline disagreed. She believed that Hazel would make it very far in her fashion design career.

"I'll design you a custom pantsuit." A smile appeared on Hazel's full lips. "But tell me, what about your weekend with Pierre?"

"It was terrific. The drivers are amazing, and the open bar and free food are even better," Adeline laughed. She had to admit that the race weekend had been really fun. "Something happened, though. I fucked up."

"You fucked up something? What the hell could Adeline Manon Edwards fuck up?" Hazel couldn't believe Adeline's words. Usually, she was the one to mess up, not Adeline. Her best friend had to drag her out of trouble more than several times.

"I got absolutely hammered. And embarrassed." Adeline bit her lower lip. She still felt a little bad because of what had happened.

"You got drunk? I can't believe that, miss Always-having-everything-under-control," Hazel widened her chocolate brown eyes.

"I did. Charles gave me his shoes, removed my makeup, and put me to bed. On top of that, I didn't even remember it!" Adeline let out a sigh. She couldn't even recall how many times she had apologized to Charles—but the fact that he wasn't making a big deal out of it made her feel a little better.

"Wait, is that the French Ferrari hottie?" Hazel gasped in shock. She almost choked on her cappuccino.

"You know him?" Adeline lifted her left eyebrow in surprise. "Also, he's Monégasque. Not French."

"I follow every driver on the grid on Instagram, duh!" Hazel exclaimed. She wasn't exactly watching every race, but since she had known Pierre thanks to Adeline, she liked F1 and rooted for Pierre. "And do you realize that you just agreed that Charles is hot?"

"I certainly didn't!" Adeline protested. "He's okay, I guess," she added, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She didn't think that Charles was hot. No, not at all. However, she couldn't get his mesmerizing emerald eyes and cute dimples off her mind.

Hazel shrugged her shoulders. "Honey, that means hot in your grumpy language."

"Gosh, can we stop talking about that guy?" Adeline groaned. She didn't want to focus on Charles, she wanted to focus on her raspberry cheesecake.