Love in thirds

2.1 Charles & Sofia

The last two months have passed by in a blur. After the night with Charles, you exchanged numbers and said goodbye after having breakfast together. He's been making time for you on a daily basis, and even though it's not the same as being together, it is a sign for you that he is willing to try. You're trying to not fall too hard for Charles, you haven't known him for that long, but it's already hard to calm your heart when you see a message of him popping up. It has been a while since you were last in a serious relationship, and the age difference makes you quite nervous too. There is a gap of eleven years between you two.

You sigh while looking out of the window of your apartment. The sun is setting, and this is by far the most beautiful time of the day. Yet you're not enjoying it a lot. You can't help but think about Charles and how this could ever work out. You tried keeping your distance at first, but it's so hard. He is really everything you look for in a partner. The support he shows, the way he doesn't mind you being independent, he is a great listener and always wants to give advice when you ask for it. You're already thinking too far ahead maybe. You know you don't want children; you're not interested in having a baby of your own. If he does want children, you don't want him to waste his time dating you when that'll never happen. It might be smart to talk about that with Charles, on the other hand, you're not even officially together, children talk might be too soon.

You're interrupted by your thoughts when your phone rings, it's a FaceTime call from Charles. "Bonjour ma chérie" he says smiling brightly. You blush a bit from the nickname, "hola amor." It seems impossible, but his smile looks even brighter after you said that. "How was your day off?" you tell him about the workout you did, that you went to the stores to get groceries and bought a few new pieces of clothes that you've been eyeing for months. "Show me?" he asks excitedly. You nod and place your phone in a way that you can show him before running to the bedroom to put on the new clothes. Charles nods approvingly to the new pieces you bought, saying how he wishes he was there to take a better look. You giggle before putting on your chill outfit since you weren't planning on leaving the house tonight.

"I have a proposal for you Sof" Charles looks at you rather nervous. You nod, trying to figure out what he could ask you. "So, as you know the Austrian and the British GP are coming up, and I wanted to ask you if you would like to come to Silverstone? I know you won't be able to have time off in time for the Austrian GP, but I would really love to see you again and I would love it even more to have you in my garage and have you see me race..." you think about the schedules for the next few weeks. It's summer season now, but your boss told you last week that you should use some of your vacation days because you're almost always working. You realise you haven't responded to Charles at all when he softly says that it's okay if you don't want to. "No, no! Sorry I was just thinking about how many vacation days I have; I think I can take a few days off!" you say, seeing Charles light up when you finish talking. You can't help but mirror the smile he has on his face.

After speaking through the details and Charles begging you to accept him paying for your plane tickets, you hang up with the promise of texting each other tomorrow. You send an email to your boss asking if you can come in for a chat tomorrow, he replies quickly with a yes, and you chuckle when you realise, he's at home, yet still answers his emails.

Charles: I am so happy that I will see you in a week and a half! I can't wait xxx

You smile while replying to his text, before getting up and clearing up the stuff that was laying around. It's 10PM by the time you're done with cleaning and making sure you have everything for work tomorrow. Now that you know it will only be 10 days before you're seeing Charles, you desperately wish time would go quicker. You'll arrive on Thursday afternoon; Charles will try to pick you up himself from the airport and he was already chatting about taking you out for dinner. You smile to yourself. Seeing each other again will also give you a great opportunity to talk about the future and what you both want.

The next few days pass quickly, work is keeping you busy and it is a nice distraction from your nerves of seeing Charles again. Your boss was happy you were taking some vacation days, saying that you should enjoy it because you had been working hard. Before you know it, it's Wednesday and you're having a crisis figuring out what to bring. Lisa is coming over soon, hopefully to mend your crisis, but also to fetch Boji, because you won't be home for 10 days. You and Charles will be flying to Monaco after Silverstone because he wanted to spend some extra time with you and show you his home. This doesn't make the packing situation any easier though, considering England will probably be wet, and Monaco won't. Eventually you manage to get everything, and after having dinner with Lisa, she leaves, telling you to have the best time ever and to not let your doubts take away the fun.

When you walk out of the airport, you look up to see all these people waiting for their loved ones. It's weird during the pandemic, everyone is wearing masks. You can't imagine how long some people haven't been able to see friends or family, and it makes you a bit emotional to see all this. While roaming around you notice a very badly disguised guy with flowers waving at you. You smile while making your way over to him, and you can see the smile wrinkles around his eyes when you reach him. "Hola!" you say excitedly, Charles greets you with even more excitement before grabbing your hand. "Let's go now, do you have everything? I made a reservation and then when we had dinner we can go to the hotel and maybe watch a movie!" His excitement is contagious, and you happily follow him through the airport, into the car towards the restaurant.

Dinner had been amazing; you and Charles have been catching up and having a lot of fun. It kind of feels like you saw each other last week, and not two months ago. You're now both sitting in the cosy restaurant he chose with a coffee, your hands resting on the table while you look at Charles. He places your hands in his and rubs your knuckles. "I'm so happy you're here, I actually can't believe my eyes" he says, and you smile at him. "I'm so excited to see you race in real life! I have never seen a F1 race in the real, and to imagine that I'm going to be sitting in your garage!!" Charles chuckles at your enthusiasm and starts telling you all about the things the team can show you while you're in his garage. After finishing your coffees, Charles pays the bill, and you make your way back to the hotel. The idea of watching a movie was quickly dismissed when you both realised how tired you were.

Practice on Friday went well for the Ferrari team, a lot of the team members enjoyed having you in the garage and were kind enough to explain everything you asked them. That evening you and Charles ate with the team, before going to bed early. You enjoyed being around him, even though he couldn't make a lot of time free to show you around himself. Saturday was an amazing day with Charles qualifying as 4th. He was so excited afterwards, but even more determined to try and get that podium. "I think you are my lucky charm chérie" he said while you were walking towards a small restaurant close to the hotel. You look at him smiling, and he intertwines your hands. "I love this race weekend, but I'm even more excited to spend some time in Monaco together. I can't wait to show you my favourite places." Being with Charles was so easy, you both knew when to give the other some time for themselves, and you could talk about anything. You felt like the luckiest girl alive.

Sunday's race was insane! With Max out of the race, Charles managed to get P2, another podium! He was so happy after the podium ceremony, wrapping you in his arms and spinning you around. "You really are my lucky charm!" he says after letting you down on the ground and pressing a kiss on your lips. You blush, even though you've been cuddling and holding hands, there hasn't been a lot of physical stuff going on. You weren't that worried since Charles was focused, but it was nice to feel his lips on yours instead of on your cheek before falling asleep. After celebrating the podium and having a lovely team dinner, you guys make it back to the hotel room very late, giggling from the champagne you had. After stripping from your clothes into a shirt from Charles, you slip under the covers where he's already waiting for you. He wraps his arms around you before softly kissing you. The kiss turns quite heated, until he pulls away reluctantly. "We have all the time for that in Monaco, let's sleep now so we're in Monaco sooner." You kiss each other goodnight before falling asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning doesn't fully go as you expected. After packing and making your way to the airport, Charles gets a message saying that due to multiple covid cases he has to stay inside for a few days in Monaco, just to be sure. "It's okay, we can at least spend that time getting to know each other even better and cooking together and stuff." He says, "and if all goes well, we will still have a few days where I can show you around before you leave." You nod and smile while you make your way to the private jet that's waiting. You can't wait to be in Monaco, to spend time with just the two of you, and to hopefully talk about the future.

Because even after such a short time with Charles, you can't imagine a future without him.