𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 - Charles Leclerc (CL16) [Book 1]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

Today is the big day. Raegan, Flora and I will be celebrating the release of our magazine cover with all of our friends. The three of us have been preparing everything perfectly for this big evening all morning.

We originally thought about opening the bakery to customers all day and having live music playing and offering free snacks, but we wanted our friends there too and that just wouldn't have worked out the way we thought.

"Guys, when did the DJ say he wanted to come again?" Flora sticks her head into the kitchen and looks at us in panic. I think she's even more stressed than my best friend and I.

"Flora, sit down and relax, please. He's coming at 5 p.m., the party starts at 7 p.m. So we still have 3 hours. Everything is ready." Raegan gives her a reassuring smile.

Raegan is right, we don't really have to do anything anymore, it's all done. The last thing I need to do is put the cake that I baked for today in the fridge.

"Maybe the three of us should toast before things get chaotic later." I suggest and they both nod in agreement immediately while I already take the bottle out of the fridge.

We raise our glasses to the sky...

✧·: *✧·:

"...Dear family and dear friends,

Today, we gather to celebrate an incredible journey of Liana and my friendship and success. A few years ago, the two of us embarked on a journey to open "Little Britaly '' and through hard work and dedication, we've achieved something truly remarkable.

Today we want to celebrate with you our first ever cover in the most important culinary magazine to ever exist. Who are we to tell but hard work pays off.

To "Little Britaly", our baby..."

Reagan turns from looking at our guests to me. Her expression is an exact copy of mine. We both have tears rolling down our faces. She takes my hand into hers, takes a deep breath before she continues. "To our friendship. Our shared dreams have turned a simple bakery into a sensation. Here's to our unwavering friendship and the sweet success of our bakery. Cheers!"

Our friends immediately join in and a loud 'Cheers' rings out through the room.

I pull Raegan into a long hug and whisper in her ear "I love you!" before Lando pushes himself between us and plants a kiss on both of our cheeks.

"I'm proud of you, ladies!"

My best friend hasn't stopped crying since the first people came in earlier. Still now as our friends gradually come up to us and congratulate us, she still has tears rolling down her face.

The party has been going on for a while, small appetizers are being served, guests are enjoying drinks from the makeshift bar set up behind our counter and the music is raising the mood even further.

It's already 9 p.m. and for the first time this evening I have time to steal a small bite from one of the trays and enjoy a little moment for myself. I let my gaze wander through the crowd. Raegan and Lando stand in a corner with Pierre, Kika, Kelly and Max having a lively conversation. A smile appears on my face at the sight of my best friend and her boyfriend. It looks like last week's problems are a thing of the past. Lando has his arm around her waist and she has her body snuggled into his side.

I look around some more for a moment. I see a lot of familiar faces. Not only friends from Monaco, who ended up here mainly because of Raegan, but even some former classmates from the culinary school made their way all the way to Monaco to follow our invitation.

Suddenly I notice that someone is missing. I knew Carlos wouldn't come. But there is another person from the red team who I actually expected to be here.