It's You ✮ Charles Leclerc

Cɦɑpteɾ 8

♪ It all can push you over the edge sometimes
Make you wanna jump off the ledge sometimes ♪

Natalie Beaufoy POV

I just have one question. How is everyone in the Leclerc family gorgeous? Fucking Christ. My family has some ugly people in it but this family never gets ugly. I looked at Pascale, I saw the hope in her eyes, and then I looked at Charles; that man was embarrassed and petrified of this conversation; he just shook his head and mouthed an apology.

"Yo! Little guy with fast little legs. Slow it down, please," I say as Lucas passes by our side with Arthur holding his hand; he is the younger guy. I Googled him.

Lucas looked up at me expecting what was coming next, everyone else was just having different reactions to my way of talking to the infant who ignores everyone. He is a kid, he doesn't care if we do high-pitched voices or if we are sweet.

"Your grandma's birthday is tomorrow. Do you want me there?" I ask casually; he looks from me to Pascale and back to me.

"Yes, please," he says in his very quiet tone, and I nod.

"Fine by me. Lucas, send me the address and time for our next date and make sure you are dressing accordingly. I will meet you there. It is very nice to meet you, Pascale," I say happily, and she nods.

"It's just a lunch at home; there is no dress code, just dress comfortably," Pascale tells me, and I nod.

"I will see you all tomorrow," I say as I receive a notification that my dad has arrived; I am a daddy's girl; he would've never let go from Nice to Monaco in a cab, not if he could prevented it.

"Hello, darling. How are you? You seem happy," he says excitedly once I enter the car after putting my bag in the trunk.

"I am happy. Work is very hard, but it's very cool. I made some friendships, some unusual, but I am loving this. I am glad I got accepted and that I decided to change it up and try something different, thank you for the suggestion," I say happily, my dad was the one who suggested this to me.

I finished university two years ago and went to the same job as I pursued my master's. I have it all done now but I was getting burned out and dad saw the opening for Ferrari, I knew French, Italian, and English, so why not? And here we are.

"What unusual friendships have you made? Also, you better get me some tickets for the Monaco Grand Prix in 3 weeks," he jokes, but I know he would never accept it.

"So, Charles Leclerc has a kid. He has some trauma or insecurity, and he is mostly non-verbal; I became friends with him on that first-class flight, and you upgraded me. We have been communicating since then in our own way, he is a cool kid."

"You don't normally enjoy being around kids, I am definitely surprised. What happened to the little guy?" He asks worriedly and I shrug.

"Mom left two years ago, right before he turned 3, no evident abuse, professional help was obviously hired. Everyone in that family is so worried. Something is stopping him from talking because he can talk, and his intelligence is obvious," I explain, and he nods.

"I never knew Leclerc had a son but I also don't go around searching for their personal lives, he seems like a cool guy, he is first on the championship, and the man is doing good. With a kid to raise alone, that must be hard, especially with such a huge barrier in communication," he is saddened by the situation, and nobody will understand Charles' situation better than he does; my mom left too, so he knows what that is.

"I came with him and Max Verstappen on Max's private plane. It was so comfortable, and his mom also invited me to her house for lunch because it's her birthday, and she wants to see Lucas happy."

"It was not my idea that my daughter would be an F1 wag when you went to work in Formula 1, but it is what it is; if the kid likes you, then Charles will have no way out," he jokes, and I laugh.

"No! He is Charles Leclerc, the man smiles at a woman and she will drop to her knees, that's not on the cards. He just likes seeing his son happy, there was a thing I told him Lucas wanted to do and Charles was so close to tears from seeing Lucas so happy, his mom sobbed on the phone while her kid facetimed her," I explained as I remember the moment and he nods.

"Well, I am glad to know you can bond with kids; I really thought I had no chance of being a grandfather; things are looking better for my retirement," he says happily, and I try not to laugh.

He told me about all the things he has been doing; I never left the apartment I grew up in, I was saving to buy my own apartment because Monaco is expensive, and my dad got in a better financial situation as years went by, so he is almost retired, he works from home, travels a lot and is doing thrilling stuff to feel alive while I feel like I could die while he is bungee jumping or whatever he thinks is cool.

I got home and told him more details about the Lucas situation, he was lowkey interested. We are very similar so the way my dad treated me is the way I am treating Lucas, I can easily assume they would get along well too.

I was finishing dinner with my dad when I received a message from an unknown number, which I quickly realized was Charles so I saved the contact.

Charles

My mom saw your stories, she wants your father to come too. Tomorrow at 11 AM, I will send you her address, I'm sorry for her insistence. Ps: This is Charles, not Lucas.

No problem, my dad said he would gladly come. Ps: He is a massive fan of you.

I will prepare some stuff for him then. He won't leave empty-handed ;)

I smiled at the text and I put down the phone while I saw my dad working through his wardrobe to find clothes for tomorrow, he refused to show himself badly dressed in front of Charles Leclerc and company. You can see how I ended up like this, right?