Running From The Flames

Confessions

I couldn't remember falling asleep but I did remember Pierre carrying me back to bed. One moment I was laying there with our arms and legs entangled, my head on his chest using his heartbeat as a metronome to keep me in time and not frozen in the past, the next I woke up to a bright room and my arms empty.

I sat up and spotted Pierre in the chair beside the wardrobe. He was already dressed in his team uniform with his headphones on and juggling three tennis balls like he did for his reflex exercises. The balls dropped from his hand when he saw me move and he rose from the chair.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice raspy from sleep and the result of my screaming when I woke from the nightmare.

He took a seat at the headboard and gave me a good morning kiss before answering,  "almost 9am."

"What!" I pushed him away and rushed out of the bed, happy to find my leg was not nearly as sore as it was when I went to bed. "You're so late! Get your ass moving Gasly."

He was still sitting on the bed trying to stop his grin and I crossed my arms over my chest. "Something funny?"

His lips pressed even tighter but it hid nothing as he got up and walked over to me, pulling me into his arms. "Not funny, mon amour, I just love it when you get bossy with me. You are beautiful, even when you are mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, babe, but Otmar will be if you don't get your very shapely butt to the paddock." I pointed to the front door with one hand and opened the wardrobe with the other. "Go, I'll catch up. Why didn't you just wake me up?"

"You looked peaceful and I didn't want to disturb you, and I didn't want to leave you to wake up alone."

I dropped the clothes I was looking at choosing for the day and looked at him through the door mounted mirror. Everything from last night came rushing back but it wasn't the nightmare that took my breath away. Compounded emotions hammered into my chest and I realised that little by little in this short week together I had come to love this man. It shouldn't have been possible but then again there are people who know their soulmate the moment they make eye contact. Is that what had happened?

My eyes stung as they began to water and Pierre rushed forward, turning me around to face him properly. "What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing, nothing," I choked as I tried to control my emotions. "I just...you're so sweet and kind and I...love it, I love you, Pierre."

His eyes widened a split second before his smile did and then my feet were off the floor as he spun us around. "Je t'aime," he gushed between the kisses we shared. "Je t'aime." He placed my feet back down into the plush carpet and clutched my hands to his chest, his forehead resting against mine. "I was too nervous to tell you first."

"You'll race a car at 200 mph with no fear but this makes you nervous?"

He smiled at the jest but it dropped as he turned serious. "If I hit the accelerator the car speeds up, I know how the car will react. I didn't know if telling you the truth would scare you."

"How about only the truth from now on?"

"Deal." He sealed it with a kiss before his phone rang and I saw the name of his Brand Manager and friend, Ilies Nadri, showing on the Caller ID. "I should take this."

The call wasn't even on speaker but I could hear Ilies asking where Pierre was so I donned the first dress my hands touched and rushed to brush my teeth and make myself look half presentable. The two were still on the phone by the time I was ready and Pierre grabbed his keys and my handbag before opening the door for me.

"We're on the way now. Yeah, yeah, just put up some of those shirtless photos you love so much, that always distracts them." He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and hit the elevator button with a little too much force.