Hot off the Press | Charles Leclerc | F1

t w e n t y - s i x

The rest of Fia's time in the UK passed quickly. Paul joined her and Sadie for the wedding venue tour, and she was surprised to find that she didn't dislike him quite as much as she remembered. It was an unwelcome realisation. She wasn't sure she was ready to accept that he was a permanent fixture in their lives now. Of course, he was still an insufferable snob. But it helped his cause that he was clearly in love with Sadie.

The venue in question was Castle Howard, a gorgeous stately home set in thousands of acres of lush parkland that had been used as a filming location for several period dramas, including Brideshead Revisited. Sadie fell in love with it instantly – when you saw the grand Baroque architecture, it was hard not to – and even though Paul was eyeballing a more convenient location in the Cotswolds, he visibly brightened at Sadie's enthusiasm. The more she chatted about it, the more amenable he became to the possibility of having their wedding there.

Although Fia tried hard to focus on the pros and cons of the venue, she was distracted. Leaving that note was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She hated confrontation, and the thought of losing her mum permanently terrified her, but what else could she do? She was desperate to salvage the woman Carol Holliday had once been – to bring her back into the world of the living.

She had left her mum the phone number of a therapist (recommended by Sadie) that she offered to pay for and the details of a local support group for people who were grieving the loss of a loved one. It was hard to believe that five years had passed since her dad wrapped his car around a tree. In many ways, it felt like time hadn't moved on at all, and she knew it hadn't for her mum.

Fia said goodbye to Sadie and Paul and flew back to Italy on Sunday night, just in time for race week. She felt an overwhelming sense of relief when the plane touched down; she couldn't wait to throw herself into work and forget all the problems she'd left behind in England. Unfortunately, she had problems in Italy, too – namely, Charles Leclerc. Every time she opened a social media app, he was there. Fans seemed to follow him everywhere recently, even when he went about mundane tasks in his hometown, which left little of his life undocumented. He was inescapable, popping up everywhere and reminding her how different the past week could have been if only she had said yes.

Of course, none of that mattered now. She'd made her decision. And Leclerc had made it eminently clear that his sights were set elsewhere. Maybe a week apart had been precisely what they needed. She no longer had to fill in for his media supervisor – thank god – so she anticipated that it would be relatively easy for them to avoid each other.

As ever, she was wrong.

"Don't hate me," Claudia said to Fia on Thursday morning as she adjusted her camera tripod. She'd roped her into helping with a filming session. "But Charles is coming, too."

Fia groaned. "I thought you said it was just Carlos in this video."

"I lied," she said with a smirk. "Hey, don't give me that look. You wouldn't have come if you'd known."

"Exactly."

Adam, who was lounging on a chair with a magazine in his hands, sat up. "Clauds, the negative energy in this room is about to hit the roof. Why would you do that to me?"

Claudia raised an eyebrow and looked at Fia, who folded her arms. "Leclerc and I don't have negative energy," she muttered.

"One word: Monday's media briefing," said Adam.

"That's three words," Claudia corrected.

He rolled his eyes. "The point still stands."

Every Monday, the press office team and drivers had a lengthy meeting to discuss the media strategy for race week. Fia thought back to the one that had taken place three days ago and cringed.