It's You ✮ Charles Leclerc

Cɦɑpteɾ 32

♬But if I'm all dressed up, they might as well be looking at us
And if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once
And if I'm gonna be drunk, might as well be drunk in love ♬

Natalie Beaufoy POV

I was about to enter the car when I saw the little bag with the store's brand on it, and I took it out.

"Can you put it on me?" I ask excitedly, and he smiles happily.

"Sure!" He says, and he picks up the little box, and I put my hair to the side to help him.

Once he does the job, he kisses the curve of my neck softly, as if his soft touch wasn't enough to keep me on high alert for his presence so close to me. I turned around to thank him and I saw the same necklace around his neck, proudly displayed for everyone to see.

"You have one too," I am still perplexed but he is proud.

"It was a good idea, I had to have one too. Do you mind?" He asks, and I see a hint of nervousness, and I shake my head.

"I love it! I wasn't counting on it, it's great! It looks good on you," I say as I gently run my hand through the gold chain, and he puts his hand on top of mine, pulling me close.

"It looks stunning on you," he whispers before kissing my lips softly, I think he was being careful about my lipstick.

"Let's go," I say excitedly as I enter the car.

The door is closed and he gets in his seat, driving us to the nightclub in a few minutes thankully. Only people with invite could be there so I wasn't worried about any leaks or rumors but sometimes friends of friends show up and for someone like Charles that is a big deal, and he has enough on his plate already.

We got out and headed inside together, greeting the bouncers as we walked by them. As soon as I stepped inside, I had a drink in my hand; Marina wasn't playing around.

"Hello birthday girl!" She says happily before hugging me.

"Hey! Thank you for the drink," I say excitedly and I see how Charles' hand left my waist and he took a step back.

"Charles! It's good to see you again!" She greets him and he smiles.

"You too, Marina. I will leave you girls to it," he winks before heading in his brothers' direction. I wave at them and their girlfriends. I also greet some drivers who came to the party, as I requested them to.

I spent so much time hanging around Charles and Arthur that I ended up befriending a lot of people. I went with Marina to our friend's side, and I talked with them about trivial things: the new job, how my dad was, how traveling so much was, and what I was going to do during my vacations, which lasted for two more weeks, and I honestly have no idea yet.

"You have quite a few celebrities here," Sarah, the cute petite blonde, comments as she looks around, and I nod.

"Working in Formula 1 has its advantages," I say happily, and they laugh.

"Hanging around with the most gorgeous men I've ever seen is one of the biggest ones I must assume," Marina comments as she was obviously facing Charles as he spoke to Pierre and Arthur, that man is so damn handsome.

"You look damn good tonight," I hear a male voice behind me and I turn surprisedly.

"Jean? What- But-" I am instantly confused by his presence here, I didn't invite him.

"I always come to your birthday parties; why would this be any different?" He asks with a smile as he hugs me.

"Because I didn't send you an invite, and we haven't talked for months," I think it's obvious, but his obliviousness confuses me.

"She invited me," he says as he points to Marina and I nod as I look at my best friend. My eyes were just asking her why and she shrugged and looked at Charles.

"Give us a second, please," I say as I drag Marina to a more secluded place.

"What?" She asks as I face her with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Why did you invite him?"

"Why wouldn't I? You invite him every year for some fun, and since you claim there is nothing between you and Mister Leclerc over there, then you can have some fun with your fuck buddy, you are single, and he was your go-to guy here," she was testing me.

"What a great idea, that way I can have both options at the end of the day. Thank you," I felt the need to call her bluff.

"What—No. Wait, you are not seriously comparing Charles Leclerc to Jean from down the street, right?" She followed me as I walked to the bar. She was perplexed, and I smirked before turning around with an innocent expression.

"You did it too; why can't I?" I ask with a smile and she shrinks her eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Fine, you called my bluff. I will get him out," she gives up, and I laugh.

"Let him be; I like Charles' jealous version," I say calmly as I get my second drink and head back to the group.

"Don't do that," she warns me before I join them, and Jean smiles as he wraps his arm around my waist.

"Thank you for coming," I say as I hug him in a way to sneakily look at Charles who was confusedly looking in our direction and I don't think he saw me looking because I used my hair to disguise it.

"I will always be here when you need me, you know that," Jean says as he puts my hair behind my ear. I smile as I look up at him, the closeness startling me.

"Thank you either way," I say as I kiss his cheek before taking a step back. 

He is not the one I want tonight, and I know that Charles and I are nothing; we aren't dating, and we sure aren't exclusive, but I will pretend like we are because if I saw Charles kissing another woman, I sure as hell I wouldn't be leaving this party with him even if we aren't a thing, I call it dignity and self-respect.