Charles Leclerc Imagines

Going Public

If you had told me two years ago that I would be dating Charles Leclerc, I would have laughed in your face. The man was an F1 prodigy and completely untouchable, in every sense. However, by some luck I had, we met and fell in love. It was completely by chance too. I was getting coffee in a new cafe I was trying out near my apartment and he was running in to use the bathroom. He was hustling to the back of the coffee shop when we collided and my drink spilled all over me. He felt awful, muttering many 'sorry' and 'I can't believe I did this'. It wasn't until I averted my eyes from my stained shirt to him that I realized who he was. I didn't want to freak out or fangirl because those reactions to celebrities always made me uncomfortable, so I just admired him from afar and told him it was okay. But then he insisted on buying me another coffee and paying for the shirt that was no longer wearable and then we exchanged numbers and went on our first date. Now, two years later, I call him my boyfriend. The public knew Charles was in a relationship but they just didn't know who, which was partially my decision. When things started getting serious, we sat down and discussed going public. That's when I told him how I wasn't sure if I was ready for that and if the anxiety that came with being "Charles Leclerc's girlfriend" was something I was capable to withstand at that moment in my life. That's how I became "Charles Leclerc's girlfriend" who had no identity. We still went out on dates and dinners to hang out with his racing friends but we kept a low profile, only going to exclusive restaurants where people wouldn't care that Charles had a girl on his arm.

The first moment where Charles and I got the hint that the other was ready to fully go public was at a dinner with Carlos. We were at another one of those exclusive restaurants that only the elite Monaco residents had access to but, for some reason, there was a group of girls who had clearly recognized him and Carlos and were making a bigger deal about it than it had to be. Squealing in the corner and trying to sneak photos of the three of us. When their phones came out, Charles made the move to leave, but I stopped him, telling him we didn't have to go and a few photos wouldn't hurt. I saw the flicker of hope in his eyes and I just smiled at him, not knowing when or where the conversation would go if we opened it up right there. The second time was when those photos came out and, even though you couldn't really see my face in the dimly lit room, I didn't freak out. Charles had rushed to my side, apologizing and telling me that we should have just left, but when he saw that I wasn't as scared as we both thought I would be, he asked me if going public was a problem anymore. It didn't take me more than a second to know that it wasn't and the next day, two photos of us smiling at each other in front of the Eiffel Tower and another of us kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower were posted to his Instagram. If Charles hadn't included the caption "amore mio", the photo could have been explained away as a friendly gesture, but then he posted the one of us kissing and that really sealed the deal.

The photos went everywhere. Multiple Instagram accounts who followed F1 news were posting about it incessantly, "Charles Leclerc's Girlfriend's Identity Revealed!" everywhere. I was in my last year of college and when I stepped into class that morning, all eyes were on me. People I hadn't even known were in the class were coming up to me asking for free tickets to a race and girls who had rolled their eyes at me countless amounts of times before were acting like we were best friends. The nagging continued throughout the class and when I was trying to leave too. I was being stopped and interrogated with every step I took by a different person. As I was about to get into my car, a group of younger girls approached me. I didn't think anything of it until they started to pull out their phones and record.

"Are you Charles Leclerc's girlfriend?" One of them asked. I felt like I was being cornered in high school, intimidated, and overwhelmed.

"Uh... yes." Confused was an understatement of how I was feeling.

"Oh my god," One of them said pretending to gag.

"He could do so much better. You look nothing like the girls he's dated before." Another one said as I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. I didn't think this would happen when I decided I was ready to go public. I knew that there would be hate comments, I'm not stupid, but these girls were recording me and laughing at me, ridiculing me. They continued standing there, spewing off how much of a downgrade I was from his last girlfriend and how they were convinced it was a PR stunt, which didn't even make any sense. I was completely shocked that I just stood there, taking in everything they had to say. After a few minutes, I came to my senses and just shook my head, thanking god I was able to stop the tears from falling down my face, as I got into my car. They continued filming me, calling me stupid and a coward, as I drove off. The situation hadn't fully hit me until Charles' face lit up the screen that had once been displaying the music that was playing. I took a second to reel myself in, not wanting him to worry and answered the call.