Book 1: Leap of Faith -Charles Leclerc

Chapter 18

Chapter 18: August 26th, 2023

Caroline was on her lunch break at work, scrolling through twitter when she got the notification. Her brain immediately went to Charles, hoping that it was somehow him. She still hadn't heard a word from him since Spa and every time her phone went off, she wished it was him. Her second thought was Carlos. She had texted with Carlos a few times, but things had been weird between them since they hooked up. This time, however, it was a text from her group chat with her friends back home, immediately blowing up her phone. She casually clicked into the text, almost spitting out the salad she had neatly prepped that morning.

Kara: DID YOU SEE THIS?!

F1 STAR CARLOS SAINZ JR SEEN DANCING + MAKING OUT WITH MYSTERY WOMAN

EVERYONE'S FAVORITE SPANIARD WAS SEEN CANOODLING WITH A NEW WOMAN AT A CLUB IN MONACO. THE TWO MADE A QUICK EXIT TOO... SEEMS LIKE HIM AND MARIE ARE OFFICIALLY DONEZO!

Emma: Weren't you at that club? Did you see him? Oh my god I can't believe you were at the same club as Carlos and Lando.

Lily: I'm still waiting for my autograph from him that you owe me. Next time you see him at the club you need to try to get with him since he's single and on the prowl.

Emma: I can't believe that Marie and Carlos are really done. That's nuts.

Kara: I don't think they are, that was probably just a one night stand with a random instagram model. I think they're endgame.

Lily: Care, did you get a good look at the girl? Any idea who she is?

Caroline had no idea what to respond. She sat there with the article up, scrolling through the photos that someone had taken of them inside the club. Her memories of that night were hazy at best, but here they were, in a pixelated image. She got lucky that none of them captured her face. Most of them were decently far away with her back turned. If her friend's couldn't recognize that it was her, she was pretty certain that no one else would notice too. Her mind raced, thinking to Charles and if he had seen it.

"Could he have recognized me?"

Her heart was in her throat as she clicked back into the group chat, the messages coming in at rapid fire speeds.

Kara: This too? Damn the Ferrari boys have been getting it lately

FERRARI STAR CHARLES LECLERC SPOTTED HUGGING MYSTERY WOMAN OUTSIDE HIS HOUSE

THE RESIDENT F1 STAR AND NOTORIOUS PLAYBOY SENT ANOTHER WOMAN OUT OF HIS HOUSE AND INTO A CAR, JUST LIKE ALL THE REST! SEE PHOTOS HERE

Lily: Damn! I knew he fucked around too. There's no way you can be that hot and not have a rotation of women around you.

Emma: They're both really enjoying the summer break over there, clearly lol.

Caroline felt like she was going to throw up. She made a quick beeline to the bathroom, phone still in hand, as she flipped open the toilet lid and crouched down. Her head was spinning and the whole world felt a thousand miles from her. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall in the bathroom, letting the tears well up in her eyes.

"He moved on. He hasn't given a second thought to me or that day. He doesn't care at all."

Caroline's thoughts were all circling around the same central theme - she spent weeks trying to get over this guy who went straight back to his roster without a second thought about the words he hurled at her that day.

"Well, you aren't entirely innocent. You did have drunk sex with his best friend and teammate."

Caroline's brain had gone into full defense mode, feeling every emotion of guilt, anger, sadness, and fear. She knew he had every right to be seeing someone else; they were clearly over and were never even dating in the first place. She accepted that she was just a booty call for him, and cried a little more knowing that she had caught feelings for him. The pain hurt worse when she thought about how it was the second time she felt unwanted and unlovable by a guy. She sat in the bathroom for a while, coming to the acceptance that she would never see Charles ever again. She would never be in his arms, smell his scent, fall asleep next to him, have a deep life talk with him, or see his smile. His smile was burned into her brain, and she had no idea how she was going to live without seeing that smile everyday for the rest of her life.