Sparks

IV

After parting ways with Mick, I walked to the casino where I would be meeting this mystery date for dinner. Of course on the way in, I got stopped a few times for autographs and pictures, but finally, I made it to the reserved table. 

People whispered and glanced over at me, but soon eyes were off me and on the new person who just entered. In walked Charles in a black Armani suit, whose confident look turned into a joking one his eyes met mine. 

"Daniel is very tricky." he chuckled as he sat down. 

I rolled my eyes. "Gotta love him though." 

Our waiter came to take our orders and soon we were launched into conversation. There was no point in denying the attraction between the two of us, yet this could be a rather tricky endeavor. Like I pointed out earlier, it wouldn't be wise to date a teammate, but who knows how it would work out since F1 really hasn't had this problem before. 

"So...why did you start racing?" Charles asked about half-way through dinner. 

"It'd be weird for me not to right? To be honest I didn't even like racing in till I got into F2. Before that, I did it because I knew I was good at it." 

Charles looked at me with a slightly confused look. "How did you win so much in your former years before F2 if you didn't love it?" 

I shrugged. "Everyone thought I would burn out. I love it now, there is no way I would keep doing this if I didn't love it at this point." 

"Not for fame, money, etc.?" 

"A car flew over you last season. If it weren't for the Halo you would've died. Jules, who we both hold dear, died. My father died doing what he loved but nonetheless died in a race. No amount of money, fame, or recognition will ever be worth risking your life unless you truly love it." I stated. 

Charles smiled back at me. "You speak the truth." 

"Of course, no point in lying to a future world champion," I whispered in my native language taking Charles by surprise. 

"You never speak french, even when you are here or in France." He stated. 

A habit of mine, I usually only speak in English or other languages that I've happened to pick up through all the travel that I do. "It reminds me of much of my parents," I whispered. 

Suddenly my phone began ringing and I looked down to see it was from Mick. I excused myself from the table and heard background noise like he was somewhere other than my home. Trying not to get mad, I took a deep breath. 

"Mick, I know I'm not your mother, but why the hell are you not inside the house?" 

"Exactly, Aunt Gigi, not my mother. If you must know look to the roulette tables," he replied. 

I whipped my head around to see the drivers and Mick enjoying themselves around the table. I watched as Mick smile at me before cheering as apparently they won something. Charles came beside me a noticed the tears beginning to well in my eyes and led me outside.

He kept walking till we got to the beach with was now empty. Shedding our shoes, we continued our walk on the sand while under the moonlight. 

"You know Mick will always be you Godson, even though he's so grown." He whispered. 

"I'm not good with change. There's been too much change in my life for me to be okay with it. Mick is all grown up and he's going to enter F1 at some point. I don't know if I can protect him from it all." 

"You can't protect him forever. He'll have to learn from his mistakes, and he'll come out stronger for that. Then when you're sitting down watching the races with you multiple trophies, and he began to break your record, you'll thank me." Charles replied. 

"I just....the things I've had to go through to get up here." 

"For example?" 

"Lying about someone on the grid making me feel uncomfortable and saying things about me, that in any other case wouldn't be acceptable, but instead having to shut up since it's such a tightknit community." 

Charles froze in the sand while clenching his jaw. "We all know you and Hamilton have problems, like how you recoil from him or start to shut down when he's near you." 

I stared out into the water lit up with that moon and stars. Someday I just want to fly away from this life never to return again. Of course, my phone began ringing this time it was from Max. 

"Giselle, you need to get back here right now!" he yelled through the phone. 

Charles and I began running back. "What's wrong?" 

"There's a fire at the casino, and we can't find Mick." 

I stopped short as I saw fire trucks swarming the part of the casino that was burning. Charles split up and went to look for Mick while I found the other drivers. 

"Daniel and Max...please tell me my Godson isn't inside that burning building," I whispered and Daniel sent me a grave look. 

"We don't know," he replied as the building groaned. "But Sebastian went inside and hasn't come out. 

I took a deep breath and located the nearest door inside the Casino. "I love you guys," I whispered before bolting inside the Casino, ignoring the screams from the drivers. 

When I entered I quickly lost my breath and could barely see anything. It was hot and dark, so I pulled out my phone and used the flashlight while yelling Sebs's name. I wasn't going to lose another person to a fire, not today and not ever. 

As I made my way around the Casino, hiding from the Firefighters I hear my name being called by the other drivers. By now I was becoming light-headed and my vision swam every once in a while. 

Out of nowhere, a pair of hands landed on me and I made eye contact with Seb who was also struggling to breathe. My heart bounded as a piece of flaming ceiling fell near us. 

"We need to get out now!" he yelled before guiding me out the rest of the way. 

Covered in soot but back in the safety the drivers and paramedics swarmed around us to check on us. When we were deemed fine they left and Seb took me to the drivers. Tears were rolling down my face as I shook uncontrollably as the adrenaline war off. 

Next to me, Seb was also shaking in the shock blanked the paramedics gave us. He wouldn't let go of me, even as we moved. 

Sebastian finally turned to me, his face red with fury. "Are you stupid!" he yelled. "Giselle, are you actually crazy enough to run into that firery building? How could you be so stupid and irresponsible?" 

"Someone had to save you," I whispered. 

"I'm not worth it." he cried not being able to hold the tears back any longer. "I'm not worth you risking your life." 

I turned to look into his eyes. "You're my longest-lasting friend, who is worth running into a fire for." 

Seb wrapped me in a tight hug and for a moment I forgot about the situation we were in. Sometimes you'll meet people in your life that aren't any good, but you might also meet people who are worth running into fires for.