Her || Charles Leclerc

21. Monday-weekend-debrief

The bell rang. Matilde looked up from her book, questioning who it could be. She got up from the sofa and made her way to the cottage's front door. It couldn't be her father, because his flight was delayed. Could it be Jens, who missed his flight after all? She opened the door, still holding the book in her hand, her index finger between the pages as a temporary bookmark.

"Hey," Charles smiled.

"Hi," Matilde said, slightly confused how he got here. It was not like she had shared her address, or asked him to be here. Oh, wait, she thought, she had shared the address for the team, for emergencies, to Charles. And define emergencies as sending gifts since many people wanted to send her flowers or small gifts.

"Fan mail," he mentioned, when he saw Matilde eyeing the two big shoppers filled with letters and gifts. "I got permission from Ferrari to drop it off."

"Oh, right. Come in," she smiled and stepped away from the door.

Charles entered the cottage and walked towards the living room. "How are you doing?" He put the two bags on the ground and looked curious at Matilde.

She put a bookmark between the book and put it away. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and slowly nodded. "Fine," she replied. "Not like my old self, but it's getting better."

"That is good to hear." He looked around. "Are you alone?"

She nodded. "Yup," she said.

"Where's your brother?"

"Back home. He needed to go back to work," she responded, removing the clip from her hair. Her curly hair fell over her shoulders.

Charles' eyes scanned her hair. Curls? He couldn't help but admire the curls framing her face. "Curls suit you," he commented, a genuine smile playing on his lips but still a hint of surprise in his voice. He hadn't seen it before; she had never worn her hair like this.

"Yeah," she softly chuckled, running her fingers through her curls. For a split second, she forgot that her hair was not styled yet, nor blown out. She didn't have the energy to straighten it, but she also didn't expect someone to visit her. "This is my natural hair." She looked away. Hopefully, he wouldn't think it was ugly.

His eyes softened as he watched her; she was shy. "It looks beautiful."

"Thanks," she replied, feeling a warmth in her cheeks.

They stood there for a moment, a comfortable silence settling between them. Charles scratched the back of his neck, and Matilde looked at the clock on the wall, reading the time.

"I would have asked you to open the fanmail with me, but I have an appointment at the hospital in an hour," Matilde said and plastered a small smile on her face.

"No worries," Charles said, glancing at the bags. "I'm sure you'll enjoy reading them. And hey, if you want some company for that or anything else, just let me know."

She nodded, appreciating the offer. "I might take you up on that. The company, I mean."

A careful grin grew on his face. "Looking forward to it. Now, I should probably get going. I don't want to keep you from your appointment."

She walked him to the door and unlocked her phone simultaneously. "I'm going to call a taxi," she mumbled to herself. She looked up at him. "Thanks for bringing the fan mail."

"Yes, of course," he replied and smiled warmly. "But call a taxi? Are you going alone to the hospital?"

"Yeah. I don't have anyone to come with me, and I'm not cleared to drive yet." Matilde's dad would join her to the hospital, but his flight got delayed to the evening. Jens was on his way back to Denmark, and her mother was working. And everyone else who could possibly join her wasn't available.