La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 37

May 2024

"Are you completely out of your mind?" I asked him as he resolutely climbed into the passenger seat of one of his less conspicuous cars. I towered over him with my elbow on the roof and stared at him in terror. "It wasn't that long ago that you were insulting my driving skills in my own car that costs a fraction of what your cars do. And all of a sudden I'm supposed to drive your Jaguar?" I threw my hands around in exasperation. "Look, it's just a car. It has a maximum speed of only 250 km/h. Nothing special. I wouldn't lend you my Pista though," he declared, and I didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted that he wouldn't lend me his favorite Ferrari with black matte paint and two stripes in the colors of Monaco. Even though I am absolutely not into cars, I could understand why he loves his Ferrari 488 Pista so much.

In the end, we both survived the trip to the restaurant in good health, and even Charles managed to relax at times. Unlike me. "Don't ever ask that of me again," I breathed as I pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. "You can't just drive your Golf for the rest of your life," he sneered. "And why couldn't I?" I turned to him. He was still grimacing a bit, but the last rays of the setting sun were catching on the side of his face, his hair was a perfect mess, several days of stubble was sprouting on his chin and cheeks, and his eyes were the most perfect color. Oh god. Maybe we should have stayed in bed all night.

"Because I can name a million other cars that are more reliable, safer, I repeat more reliable, and above all, much nicer.

"Okay, I could agree with that, but I won't have to drive much anyway since my boyfriend is a professional driver," I objected.

"Sounds like I'm driving a truck," he smirked and got out to circle the car and open my door. He offered me a frame and together we entered the restaurant, where we were seated at a table on the terrace overlooking the beach and the bay of Saint-Laurent.

"Have you checked Instagram lately?" Charles asked after the appetizer. I immediately knew what he was getting at. Last week, a video of me lunging at Charles in the garage after he crashed hit social media. My followers fired up unbelievably even though my posts were worthless and there were even a couple of accounts impersonating me. "I noticed I'm becoming quite popular," I smirked and he did as well. "I know that we didn't want it this way and I know that it's nothing yet. But I want you to know that if it gets too much for you, you can tell me. I don't know what they will write about you or us, but I would never want it to hurt you in any way," he said, and a pleasant warmth spread through my body. I knew he cared about me as much as I cared about him. But every day he never stopped proving to me how lucky I am to call him mine.

"Do you have anything planned tomorrow?" asked Charles in the evening as we snuggled naked after a romantic moment. Or rather after a romantic longer time.

"I don't. I thought I should stop by Thomas if he needed anything, but otherwise, I'll probably just wander around. Maybe I'll go for a run. Why?"

"I have a little surprise for you. They will arrive around lunchtime, so please be here."

"Who?"

"Well, the surprise."

"Charlie!"

"Adri!"

I dug into him with my elbow and gave him a nasty look. "What did you come up with again? You look strange and I'm scared of you."

"I promise you will be thrilled. Really." He smiled lovingly at me and kissed me.