Formula One - One-Shots Collection - Complete

Elf - Charles Leclerc

"Yo, Elf!" I heard my brother shout as I sipped on the cocktail I had been nursing for around the last hour. I looked up as I saw him bounding over to me, he certainly had a spring in his step as he got to me. "I'm going to make a move," he told me with a smile. "I think I might have pulled." He tilted his head back towards where a girl was standing, looking around him I glanced in the woman's direction. 

"Wow," I rolled my eyes as I looked her up and down. She was exactly what I expected when my brother told me things like this. Blonde, stick thin and holding a cheap designer's purse. I looked back at my brother and shook my head, "You can't leave me here."

He groaned, "Come on, look I'll pay for your taxi or you can drive, you can do whatever okay? Just don't ruin this for me."

"George," I warned him. "I am not getting a taxi at this time."

I watched as he looked around the room, his head movements were rapid as he realised the girl would leave if he didn't hurry up. "Okay, I'll sort you out. Just leave it with me." He leaned down and kissed me on my right cheek before he left me not even saying goodbye before he left. 

Holding my drink close to me I narrowed my eyes as he left with his arm around the blonde. Well, that was lovely, he'd just left me here. I was stuck at a party for all the drivers in the Formula 1 season and their plus-ones. I didn't expect him to leave me here alone as soon as someone showed him a little interest, but then what did I expect from him really. 

"Elf, right?" I looked up at the person who was talking to me. In front of me stood Charles Leclerc, I knew it was him because George had made me keep up with the latest in his sport, therefore I knew who most of the men were who he worked with, not personally, but I knew what they looked like and their names. 

I pressed my lips into a thin line before I spoke, "Elizabeth," I corrected him. "My name is Elizabeth." I wasn't mean, I just didn't let anyone who didn't know me use my nickname. "Can I help you?"

"So, yeah, right," he seemed to be stumbling over his words as I looked up at him. "George text me, he asked me to make sure you get back to the hotel okay."

Rolling my eyes, I sighed, "Isn't he thoughtful?" I shook my head to myself before I sipped on the drink in my hand before I looked back at Charles. "How are you going to help me then?"

He raised his eyebrows as he watched me, I knew he was trying to work me out. "Unfortunately for you if you want my help you'll have to accompany me to the afterparty because we're about to leave."

I turned my head and looked towards the door where there was a small gathering of the guys and a couple of girls. "Where's your plus one?" I asked him as I turned back to him and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. 

"My sister had to leave," he told me with a smile. "Lucky for you, hey?" 

Placing my drink on the table I stood up, my heels bringing me to an awkwardly short height of only 5"4. "I don't know if I would go that far," I teased as I kept a straight face. Sometimes my English humour was not funny to people who didn't understand the dry side of my humour. 

He watched me with wide eyes, "Are you sure you and George are related?"

I laughed at his question, "I'm pretty sure. I guess he got his genes from both our parents. I am a bit of a black sheep." I didn't often talk about how I felt when it came to my family but if someone mentioned how different me and George were I felt like I had to justify it somehow. 

George definitely had a little of each of our parents, his nice attitude from our mother, his silver tongue from our father, and our father's need to be close to any woman that showed him attention. I was left with some of the less redeeming qualities, a harsh, spiteful tongue that I had learnt from my mother when she was angry with our father and my father's anger, he had a temper and it was something that I had been lumbered with. I had tried to whole being nice thing, it just sounded like I was being sarcastic or playing a joke on people. My grandmother told me I just hadn't found the right person yet, the one person who could bring out the good in me, I had always hoped I would find whoever it was soon, because I really didn't like me. 

"How about we go to this party, I'll buy you a few drinks and then at some point we might get you back to the hotel?" Charles offered kindly as he put his arm out for me to put mine through. 

Biting my lip I looked at the arm he had extended for me, even after everything I had said so far he was still being nice to me. "Okay," I agreed as I put my pale arm through his and let him lead me towards the waiting group of people. 

"What's the Elf thing about?" He asked me as we walked together. 

I smiled, "Haven't you guessed yet?" I looked up at him with wide eyes as he glanced at me. "I'm only 5"2 without these stupid heels," I lifted my right foot up to show him the large red heel on my foot as I smiled at him.