lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

6.

July 2012

Summer break was underway, meaning that Pia was travelling around the world to see F1 races with her father.

This week was on the schedule in Germany. Pia always loved the race in Hockenheimring. Grandstands were full of Sebastian's fans cheering for him. Walking through the paddock, you met most people wearing Red Bull gear and could hear German from all sides.

Pia had this year one more reason why to enjoy this weekend. Jules was driving one of Friday's practises for Sahara Force India. She was so happy for him because he was gaining experience, meaning he would be more valuable in the drivers market for next year. She was also glad that he was here because she could watch the whole weekend with him.

Friday was always boring for Pia. Practices never seemed to interest her. The only reason she paid attention to it today was that Jules was driving. In the end, he had the 16th fastest time, and his teammate Nico Hülkenberg was 6th.

Between practices, it was even more boring than during them. Most of the drivers were looking at data or resting in their driver's room. The only driver that didn't need to look at his data was Jules. They didn't have to tell him where to improve when he wasn't driving the next session, so Pia was determined to find him. She tried to look for him in Force India hospitality, but she had no luck, so she just wandered through the paddock, hoping she would see him somewhere.

She eventually ended up between the trailers. Since the F1 paddock was much busier than the karting one, Pia was rarely here alone. You could meet here mechanics or engineers talking to each other, but you were still able to find a place where you'd be hidden well.

Pia realised she probably wouldn't find Jules anywhere, so she just sat down next to one of the trailers, but she quickly got up again because of the voice she heard. French accent that wasn't as thick as Charles' one hit her ears. Obviously, Pia couldn't find him when he was the whole time here.

"We should probably go back before someone is looking for us," Jules said, meaning he wasn't alone here. Pia tried to figure out whom he needed to meet here. People went between the trailers when they didn't want to be seen. Engineers talked here with journalists, revealing to them secret information about the teams. Occasionally you could see here some drivers with a fan talking about how they should meet and have some fun at night.

"Five more minutes please," said another voice. Pia recognised it from somewhere. It sounded British yet different. That had to be someone from Australia. Daniel!

"I have all-time in this world, but you have to rest and take a look at your data, mon amour," Mon amour? Why would Jules call Daniel like that? It was a pet name used by lovers.

"All I want to look at is your beautiful face," Daniel let out without thinking. He was mesmerized by the Frenchman ever since he saw him for the first time.

He remembered that day sharply. It was during his first Chinese Grand Prix. He came to the circuit on Friday morning, and as he walked through the paddock, he saw a guy dressed in team wear of Force India. At first, he assumed it was just a fan, but then he disappeared into their garage without any problem.

He asked his performance coach if he knew who that guy was. Yeah, that's Jules Bianchi. Ferrari loaned him to the Sahara Force India as a test driver.

He waited for Jules in front of the Force India garage after the first practice. He introduced himself and offered Jules to go on lunch with him. The young Frenchman thought the Australian was just trying to be nice, but Jules understood Daniel's intentions during lunch as he looked at him with dreamy eyes. He was falling for Jules. His smile made him weak at the knees, his soft French accent was a lullaby to his ears, and his every touch was literally scorching.

Jules was charmed by the Australian in front of him as well. He was nothing like his exes. Daniel seemed to have positive views of this world. He liked to be that guy that's friendly, kind and funny. He was that type of human that brought light into your life just by his smile, and that was something that Jules needed. They seemed to be a perfect fit for each other.

"But my face won't tell you how to be quicker," Jules replied to him.

"Trust me. I'm quick enough," Daniel whispered. Pia was almost sure that he had a grin on his face right now. She decided that she had already heard more than enough of this conversation between those two lovebirds. She felt a bit guilty for listening to it in the first place.

"Well, that seems like we don't have a good lunch," Sebastian reacted to Pia's frowning face. She wasn't really paying attention to her facial expression since she was lost in her mind.

"Nah, it's a good meal," Pia responded to him while putting in her mouth a piece of broccoli. She couldn't complain about cooking here because she could choose from a dozen dishes, and it was almost always delicious.

"So, what's with the face?" Seb asked while sitting in front of her. He chose the salad just like her.

"Nothing. I'm just bored." She was playing with vegetables on her plate. She couldn't tell him what was really going through her mind because she wanted to keep Jules' secret safe. Well, she doubted that Seb would tell anyone, but she'd feel bad just because she said that to someone.

"Oh, c'mon. You can watch the youngest world champion on the track. That's the opposite of boring." He exclaimed.

"Maybe for you. It seems utterly dull for me." Pia yawned to make it even more dramatic. She loved to tease him.

"Okay, I'm taking you on an exciting date after second practice, milady. I don't want to risk that you'll die from boredom." Seb used to call their little rendezvous - dates. Pia found that embarrassing, and maybe that was the reason why Seb was using it.

---

"How are things with the Ferrari fan?" Seb asked her while he was driving. Ferrari fan was his nickname for Charles. He called him like that ever since Pia told him about their conversation about her father. Sebastian couldn't blame Charles because everyone is a Ferrari fan.

"Awesome, mum even allowed me to go with Leclerc's on holiday," Pia exclaimed excitedly. Pascale offered to her that she could join them on their holiday in Tenerife while she was in Monaco to see Charles. She begged Gianna for hours until she finally agreed with it.

"Looks like I need to talk with Gianna," he mumbled to himself. Pia might not realise it, but at this point, Sebastian became more of her dad than her real father. Anthonie didn't know that his daughter was experiencing her first love or about her tremendous talent in karting. Seb knew Pia more than anyone else.

"C'mon. You'd allow it to me as well, and furthermore, you love my mum." Little did Pia know, he was indeed charmed by the wife of his manager. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he secretly hoped that Gianna would accompany Anthoine during some of the weekends. He was slowly running out of excuses to go to Italy to see her. He always said he was there to see Pia, but the truth was he wanted to be with both Sabatini girls.

"Okay, I'm quiet," he laughed nonchalantly. Pia might not realise it, but she was Sebastian's support as he was to her. He could talk to her about things he couldn't talk about with anyone else. Everyone around him was too professional and expected the same from Seb, but he sometimes wanted to talk about anything on his mind.

"Where are we going anyway?" Pia asked him when she saw signs telling them they were just twenty kilometres away from Karlsruhe.

"I don't know. I said to Anthonie that I'm taking you for dinner, so I guess we need to find some restaurant." It was a sort of tradition they developed throughout the time. They went to dinner at least once per racing weekend and talk about nonsenses. He'd ask her what happened in her favourite cartoon or if she won a Monopoly against Gianna on their board games night.