Lone Wolff | Charles Leclerc

16 - sweaters and sweet kisses

Back in the hotel I told Olivia everything about my conversation with Toto. It was nice to be able to get it off my chest, otherwise I'd probably get in my head. She could understand his point of view as a team boss, but as a father, he had been handling it so wrong. I chuckled softly when she told me that he should start acting more as a father instead of my boss as he often had stated that his family was most important in his life. I bit my lip. I had told Charles with my drunken mind about my family history or lack of it actually, but Olivia didn't know anything, besides that I hadn't seen Toto too often because we had lived different lives. But she didn't know that he hadn't been around at all, thanks to the manipulation of David, my abusive stepdad. We chatted all night and in the end, we were hysterically laughing about everything, but I still didn't have the guts to tell her about my past. I wanted to, but I just couldn't get the words out of my mouth when I thought it was the right moment. But I did catch her up on the whole deal with Charles, which resulted in her teasing me as usual and us laughing all evening to lighten the mood and making sure that my anxiety wouldn't get the better of me.

The weekly quickly past and it was already time to go to Miami, which I was very excited about. I always wanted to go to the US and Olivia and I had planned a couple of days extra in the US after the GP to wind down from the last few weeks. Because this GP was going to be filled with crazy PR stuff and the most famous celebrities and it made me a little bit anxious, because the cameras would be literally everywhere.  We had some fun media stuff planned for the team as well. I was most excited for me and Mick were going to drive around the circuit, or at least he was going to do a flying lap with me in the passenger seat screaming for my life. And Olivia had told me that we'd be doing some video content all weekend around the stadium, and the other teams would be doing the same, it was going to be a crazy weekend. 

I had just arrived in my luxury hotel and I was unpacking my stuff with my Taylor Swift-playlist on. I had slept at the right times on the plane so my jet-lag wasn't going to be that bad. I might have started to get the hang of it not letting it get too bad, hurray! After unpacking necessities and dumping everything else on the chair and on the bed, I ordered diner and got distracted as I was watching some TikTok, when I got a message from Charles, which made my heart skip a beat as I read his name.

Hey Teddy, are you free tonight? 

I just finished unpacking and I was just wondering if you want to chill and watch a movie or something before the hectics of the GP start :)

My smile widened at Charles's text. It was hard to actually see people outside of the people of Mercedes during the GP's and even Olivia I wasn't seeing all the time. We all had a hectic and tight schedule for the weekends, so I was very happy to get the invite to just spend some private time with Charles, as we hadn't really been able to do so even though he had asked about it last GP. I let myself fell down backward on my bed on my back with a very happy smile as I held my phone to my chest as I felt it buzz again.

If you are busy or if you don't want to, no hard feelings of course! I was just wondering 

I probably took too long to react and it made me giggle. I could hear him being nervous through the message because I had left him on read for more than a minute. I thought about it for a second, thinking about my talk with Toto about how every step I was going to take from now on was going to be pulled out of context and twisted into a story if I wasn't careful. I bit my lip as I remembered his lecture. I needed to get used to this whole new chaotic life, but that also meant taking risks and getting out of my comfort zone to explore and do what I'd like to do. I was still young, I had to find my way around this new life. So I texted him back with a smile. I wasn't good at this, but at least my answer was easy.

Hey Charles!

Of course, I'd love to! Which room are you in? Mine is still a mess, so I'll come to you if you don't mind :)