LOVE OR RIDE | LESTAPPEN

chapter seven - sweet throw

Charles

"They forbade you to wear a Ferrari jersey, so you painted your face?" Verstappen mocks my nervousness, still calmly leaning against the wall. I was so wrong about him!

"You fucking motherfucker, how the fuck could I have been so stupid and thanked you yesterday!" I shout, barely in control of myself. In a second I'll do something I'll deeply regret, and I'll probably derail my whole life with it, because I'll get kicked out of Formula, but he deserves to be taught a lesson.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Leclerc? Did you hit your head?" he parries, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't fuck with me more. Why are you talking about these rumors! Fuck, what good does it do you! Someone made it up so long ago, and you're running around happy, poisoning my life by telling these lies!" I yell, not paying attention to the fact that everyone can probably hear us despite the loud music.

He is a good actor. He wrinkles his eyebrows, pretending that he has no idea about anything. Just as he is about to say something, out of the corner of my eye I notice Norris enter the room with a cake. There are no candles on it yet, and everyone stands in a circle, starting to sing a hundred years for the birthday boy. Ricciardo is holding the candles he wants to put in the sugar mixture, but at the same moment I act without thinking about the consequences. I just instantly find myself next to Lando and take the cake, hitting Verstappen with it.

Suddenly the chanting stops and the room falls silent. I watch with satisfaction as the Red Bull driver stands all covered in cake, masa and whipped cream. He has all his hair and face in whipped cream, and there are pieces of sponge cake and strawberry filling attached to his clothes.

"Fuck off." I hiss quietly so that only he can hear it and turn the other way pretending to be surprised. "Oh my, sorry! I tripped!" I say concerned, and everyone sighs in relief.

"Nothing happened, I was afraid Max had done something again." Daniel assures me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Besides, to your face in cake." He adds to his friend, who loudly takes air into his lungs, and after a moment lets it out.

The silence is broken by music. Everyone suddenly forgets about the cake and moves to the dance floor. I all I need is alcohol.

"Shall we go drinking?" I glance at Pierre, who has suddenly appeared next to me, as if reading my mind. I nod eagerly. A smiling Lando appears on my other side, laughing quietly under his breath at something.

"What?" I ask, taking a seat at the bar.

"Nothing, I just continue to be amused by Max's appearance. Now he's standing in the bathroom trying to wash that cake, and Daniel, already completely drunk, is still annoying him." He starts laughing out loud, saying these words. I myself lift the corners of my mouth up, listening to this.

I don't know how much we sit like this, but I forget about the situation with my enemy. I laugh at Lando's jokes, drinking a non-alcoholic shot every now and then. I'm doing the driving for a friend today, which I don't like at all. Lando avoids the lines, not wanting to get drunk. Pierre has a different opinion, as he drinks a glass one after another. He's got a strong head, so I'm not worried that he's about to pass on the table and won't get up, or at least I hope so, because the last thing I want is to babysit a drunk friend.

"Guys, and remember how I once drove into a wall!" shouts Lando, laughing before finishing his sentence.

They put me in a much better mood. I was already about to leave the party, after the cake incident, but I'm glad I decided to stay. It's fun. I love parties with them, especially when there aren't so many people. Because even though they hold back in front of others, if there were a bunch of people we trusted here, I would probably cry from laughter if they started dancing.