Book 1: Oh love, how could I forget~ (Lance Stroll)

Chapter 55: Aura

"Good Morning!" Lily chirps as they walk inside the paddock. On their day go as the first interviews start. Walking quickly from one place to another until Lunch time came around.

Unknown number calling~

"Hi.. uh.. This is Selena.. I'm with.. uh.. Max and I just arrived outside.." a lovely girl's voice was heard ont he other line and Lily smiles.
"Hi! I've heard from Max. I'll be out in a minute. Do you see the entrance? Meet me there yeah?" Lily waves at Charles as she goes out holding the extra pass she had prepared for her.

She sees Selena very nervous, looking around, and waiting for her.
"Selena!" Lily calls her and waves the pass on her hand. Selena shyly smiles as Lily approaches her. "Here." Lily puts on her pass and guides her to the entrance as they scan their ids.

"She's with me" Lily says to the security as they pass some fans outside. They walk through the media and went inside the Ferrari hospitality.
"I'm Lily Cruz" she holds out her hand and Selena shakes her hand. "Selena Rose" she smiles.

Selena was a natural beauty. She was bare and Lily can't help but look at her. She feels different. Very different from what Max had described her to be. Her aura was interesting. Sure she was shy and timid. Most people would be for the first time meeting other but Lily felt like she was hiding something. Not a bad thing feeling but just something the peeked Lily's interest.

"Today's media day so it's quite hectic but the next days would be a lot more fun I promise" they started to chat about Formula 1 and they did click instantly.

"You hungry?"
"Yeah pretty much"

Selena looks at her phone. Seems like Max texted her. "Dinner date?" Lily teases
"Where?" Selena shows her what Max sent.
"Ohh I think it's around here. I'll ask Charles"

"Thank you Charles for driving" Selena says as she sits in the back.
"No problem" Charles chuckles as Lily gets in almost tripping.
"Ma belle you almost tripped. Your shoelaces are untied" he says to Lily.
"Oh yeah didn't see that. I'll tie it later" she responds.

Selena found this cute. There was this tension that she sees from Charles to Lily. She thought "huh. Charles likes her. I mean, who can blame him. She's amazing". With the few hours they spent together, Selena was feeling really comfortable with her. It's been a while since she felt at ease.
Her friends were... technically not close friends with her. They were nice but most of the time were close to each other and she has always felt that there was a gap between them but with Lily... no. Slowly she was opening up. Slowly she felt relieved.

"Hey" Max greets Charles as they walk into a private room to eat then come Lily that goes in for a hug then Selena. He gives her a quick kiss on lips and automatically puts his arm around her.

"I already ordered thought you guys might be hungry" Max says as they sit beside each other and infront was Charles and Lily.

"Thank youuu" Lily says as she scrolls through her tablet while Charles was smiling at Max at Selena.
"When did you two get together?"  Charles asks. This caught Lily's attention so she closed her tablet and put it down.

"Well.. We might a couple of months back and we've been together since" Max says looking at Selena so lovingly. Selena had continued the story of how Max suddenly confessed that he liked her even after spending just one day together. She was chuckling at it because even now, it seems unreal for her.
"That's why I told her though, I wanted to know her more"
"But like we just met that night, spent the evening together.. Which girl in the right mind wouldn't doubt that." Selena says and Lily does agree
"It's gonna be hard to prove that but yeah, definitely one night can change almost everything" Lily says
"I understand Max. There are some things that just don't need too many reasons for. It's important to follow what your guts are telling you" Charles and Max nod in agreement.
"That's why we're mates" they have a good laugh together.

After quite some time the food came...

"Finallyyy!! I was getting real hungryyy!" Lily says happily as she sees steaks being served.
"Ma belle can you pass me the napkin" Charles says and Lily automatically gets one and passes it to him. So natural. Some things that are just a bit different especially when people live in together.

Selena was observing them.
Little did she knew, Lily was also looking at her.

Lily felt like every other girl is somehow real and unreal in front of the ones they love. It was always up to them whether they give out theirselves to partners, fully.

Seems like there's a little bit of something that Selena is hiding about herself. Not that she needed to explain herself or reveal herself but there was this.. mask.. barrier,, shield? Perhaps.. But it was something behind Selena's aura that just speaks to Lily. Whether it be a past she wants to keep or a personality that's being downplayed and kept from others.

"This is real good" Max says finishing his meal
"Steak is amazing!" Lily says happily
They were all feeling great after the meal.

Lance has sent a message
Lance: babeee you going here tonight?
Lily: I just finished eating dinner with them. I might have to check first. I don't know if Selena is going to stay with me or with Max tonight.
Lance: Message me when you get here?
Lily: Ofcourse babe!
Lance: I love you
Lily: I love you too

"So what's our setup tonight?" Lily asks Selena but then she just asks Max too.
"I have an early meeting with my trainer tomorrow. Can Selena stay with you?" He asks.
"Ofcourse! Only if she likes to?" Lily smiles at Selena.
"Yeah.. ofcourse I'd love to" Selena chuckles as Max pretends to be hurt. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" Max whispers to Selena.

Lily and Charles went out first, making room for Max and Selena to talk for a bit.

Selena went to the parking after a while. She saw Charles putting blanket over Lily while she was asleep. She smiles and thought it was so cute. She knocks lightly on the window and so Charles opens the door.

"So..." Charles whispers trying to ease off the awkwardness in the car.
"So..." Selena trails off as she doesn't know what to talk about too.
Charles starts the car and slowly he drives back to the hotel.
Selena kept debating in her mind if she should start a conversation of something. It was quiet. Too quiet.
"How was your day? Did you like the hospitality? It was quite busy today so we couldn't tour you much around" Charles asks as he feels kinda bad.
"Yeah... I did. It was fun actually.. I got to see the parts that weren't shown in tv. Behind the scenes are always nice to know. It gives more meaning to the sport" She smiles
"I'm glad you had fun. We'll try to tour you around for the remaining days. I'm sure Max would've liked it more if you were with him"
"I would've liked it too... but he's kinda hesitant with all the media and you know stuff"
"They can be real scary sometimes. Even Lily here you know... She's been dealing with quite a lot but she just doesn't say it."
"You.. you care for her.." Selena smiles
"I do.." Charles says as he turns the car ready to park.
"Do you like her?" Selena curiously asks.
"I do... but.. she's with someone now. I just want her to be happy" Charles looks over his shoulders giving Selena a smile.
"Lily?" Charles softly wakes Lily up.
"Are we here already?" Lily wakes up quickly and yawns. She fixes her hair and goes out.

"Sorry I fell asleep earlier. Hope you weren't bored to death" Lily says to Selena as they walk through the hotel.
"Charles you have to meet him tomorrow early. Should I wake you up?" Lily asks when they get on their floor.
"Can you give me a call to make sure?"
"Okayyy. Will do mon beau" Lily says as she waves him goodbye.
"Good night ma belle" Charles gives her a side hug
"Good nighttttt" Lily responds and so did Selena.