Apex | Charles Leclerc

Bonus Chapter #1

Hello! It's been a while hehe I managed to get a day off from school and decided to begin writing the bonus chapters :)

Enjoy!

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December 30, 2029 - France

"How did you even find this place?" I asked Gabby as the two of us gazed at the house from the backyard. It held three floors, exterior walls painted in yellow that were matched with green shutters and white accents. The house blended with the trees surrounding it and I would've thought it was a normal house if it weren't for the sign by the front.

Sunrise Street

"I met a client a few months ago who wanted to auction some of her old jewelry and asked me to take some photos. She invited Max and I to the event where we found out most of the money from the auction was going to be donated to different orphanages in France. Max was eyeing a home for kids who were victims of natural calamities when he saw this one. I think it reminded him of Michael." I frowned upon hearing Michael's name, remembering the accident he went through which completely changed his life.

It hit Mick the hardest and as much as Charles and I tried to be there for him, nothing can really lessen the pain of seeing your father in a state like that. With both of their fathers being race car drivers, the two frequented the race weekends when they were younger and Max developed a father-son relationship with Michael. He was just as much as a mess as Mick when the accident happened.

"We're thinking of making it an annual thing." Gabby said as we both walked back to the house and I smiled at a group of kids who were walking and signing at one another. I remember one of them from the art class Gabby held earlier and she sent me a wave.

"Just tell us the time and place, and we'll be here."

We went around the house to look for Max, Charles, and Mick. Hazel was currently reading to the kids on the second floor, so we decided not to disturb them upon seeing how enraptured the kids were.

After about ten minutes of looking around, we found them at the rooftop where a greenhouse was built along with a few chairs and tables so that the older kids could hang around.

"How's Hazel doing?" Mick asked upon seeing us. He was wearing gardening gloves and the plain white shirt he had on was covered in dirt.

"The kids love her." Gabby smiled and Mick grinned. Out of the three of us, Hazel was the natural one when it came to children. I did fairly well because of my experience as an older sister, while Gabby was on the other side of the spectrum.

It's a good thing some of these kids could understand her humor or else we'd be nursing a few tears for the rest of the afternoon.

"Have you seen my husband?" I asked Mick, looking behind him and hoping to see a mop of brown hair.

"And mine?" Gabby smirked, knowing that whatever work the boys were doing, Max wasn't participating in any of it. Mick rolled his eyes at us and beckoned for us to follow.

We entered the greenhouse and my eyes immediately landed on Max who was sitting on top of a table along with two other kids who looked to be drawing the plant Max was holding.

"He left us because he said the kids need to be supervised, but we all know he just didn't like getting his hands dirty." Mick chuckled and I held in my laughter upon seeing Gabby raise an eyebrow in his direction. True to Mick's words, Max's clothes were squeaky clean and free of any dirt.

"Hey, Diva! What did I tell you about dumping all your work on Charles and Mick?" Gabby marched forward and Max's head snapped up, eyes widening. Beside him, the kids grinned at the obvious trouble the adult was in, and I'm sure they knew what the look in Gabby's eyes meant.