Formula 1 | One Shots

Breathe with Me | Charles Leclerc

Authors Note: Done in reader POV. 
--------------------------------------------------

It was a beautiful and sunny morning here in Monte Carlo. I had just arrived to my flower shop to prepare for the day and open up.  It was always my dream to own a business that I was passionate about, and at 26 I had finally achieved it. I had moved to Monte Carlo 5 years back, from Italy, in hopes of achieving my dream. 

I came from a wealthy family, however I always wanted to create my own success aside from my parents. We have been a huge success, and even have had some notable celebrities in my shop. I loved what I did, and everyday as looking for ways to improve our success.   

The back door popped open and two of my associates walked in. "A cappuccino for you Lia, your favorite" my younger associate Cara said. "Merci cherie! I'm excited to start the day, it's likely going to be busy this weekend/week with the Monaco grand prix next week." 

The F1 Monaco Grand Prix was one of the biggest events we had in the area aside from the Monte Carlo Masters. People from all over the world traveled here for the event, so local businesses got a lot of foot traffic and influx of customers. I was excited, while we had great business all year long, this week would certainly help boost our name and hopefully our social media following.

This morning I had two younger associates with me, Cara and Marc, who had been working for me for two years. They began preparing the shop for opening, while I booted up the register area. Once everything was set Cara, who had the most creative inspirations, began creating some pre-made bouquets for the day. 

I took my cappuccino and moved to the front of the shop, unlocking the door and flipping the sign on the door to, open. I began peering through the glass windows, sipping my coffee. It was quite busy this morning in the streets. Once Cara was done creating a few bouquets, Marc uploaded some photos to our shops Instagram page. He was a social media genius! He was always coming up with fun and viral ways to market our shop.  We were quite a popular attraction here by the harbor, as we sold custom bouquets, offered classes and did events.

I recently added a corner of the shop for custom charm bracelets. I had always loved charm bracelets growing up, so I thought it would be a fun addition to the shop. You were able to choose your own chain, length and I had thousands of colorful charms to choose from. I was in charge of the charm bracelets when my other associate Sera was off. She was the pro and the one who helped me with the idea. 

As I began organizing the charm bracelet area for the day, a few customers started walking in. Marc and Cara began helping them. A slightly older woman came over to me asking about the charm bracelets. She mentioned she absolutely adored jewelry, especially custom made. She mentioned her son was also a big fan of jewelry, specifically things that represented his personality. She happened to be walking on her way to work when the shop caught her eye. 

She was really sweet and her French sounded like she was from the area. She confirmed my suspicions when she said she had been living here for 30 years. I helped her pick out a couple of cute charms and she asked if we had anything related to racing- which was a bit unexpected. She mentioned she was a huge fan of Formula One. I did have a new shipment of little gold F1 car charms in the back, which I was planning on putting out next weekend for the race, but she was so sweet that I offered to grab it for her. 

She finished choosing her charms and I told her it would take about 30 minutes to complete. She asked if it was okay that her son would pick up the bracelet later as she had to head to work. The order name was under Pascale and I assured her that her son could pick it up anytime before closing. I also told her that her son can pay for the bracelet when he came to pick it up. She then kissed my two cheeks and headed out, wishing me a nice day.