Love in thirds

4.1 Charles & Sofia

The last few days were spent inside Charles' home, before you finally got the green light that you could go outside again. Charles took you on a hike to his favourite viewing point the day after. He had made a small picknick and you spent a few hours admiring the view and talking about anything that came to mind. He then drove around the city, showing you the famous spots and the spots only locals know. He had taken you out for dinner at his favourite restaurant, before taking a stroll along the beach. It was nice to spend time with him like this, the carefree Charles you could see made your heart tingle. Slowly but surely, you were both breaking down the walls that had been created over the years. It was scary, but it happened so naturally.

You smile while turning towards him in bed. This was the last full day you have together because tomorrow in the afternoon your flight will leave, and you'll need to go back to work. Even though you spend the last week chatting about a lot of things, you never really talked about what will happen after this, when you're both going back to work. Charles has said a few times that he wants to make this work, but you still don't really know how that would go. Your thoughts are interrupted when a sleepy Charles presses a kiss to your lips. "Bonjour mon ange" he mumbles while wrapping his arms around you and putting his head in the crook of your neck. "Good morning" you say while pressing a kiss on his hair.

"What were you thinking about?" he says, and you sigh softly. "Just thinking about how we can make this," you gesture between the two of you, "work. With me working full time and you traveling the world. I guess I'm just being quite anxious about it." He hums before laying his head on the pillow before turning you on your side so you can look at each other. He brushes the bangs away from your eyes, "now I can look into your pretty eyes." You smile at each other. "Upcoming race weekend is Hungary, but after that I have 3 weeks of summer break. The first week and a half I will spend with family and friends, but after that I can come to Portugal and stay with you? I know you'll be working but maybe we can manage to plan it in a way that you also have some days off? I think I can stay for five days before I have to get back to work fully."

You nod, it is possible for you to take some days off then, if you can work some more the weeks that he's away. "Okay, I can do that, that's a good plan." He smiles before pressing a kiss on your lips. "I would like to try and see if there are any races that you can join me to, if you'd like?" he fiddles with the hem of your top nervously until he sees that you're smiling at him. "I'd love that actually!" he smiles before yawning and rolling to the side of the bed. "Let's get up and go to the beach today? We can go out for dinner tonight?" he asks, and you nod. You get ready together in the bathroom, making sure that you hair is up in a bun so you can at least try to not get it too wet, before washing your face.

"Let's drive past one of the boulangeries here to pick up some breakfast and lunch? We can bring something to drink from home and then just enjoy the day at the water." You nod while packing your bag. You're already wearing you swimming suit, a white bathing suit that shows off your tan. You throw a pink, floral sundress over it before grabbing your sunglasses. You put towels into a huge beach bag, as well as a book and UNO, which you and Charles have been playing a lot in the evenings. He comes back from the bedroom in his swimming trunks, and you admire the gorgeous man in front of you. "Please don't look at me like that chérie, we won't make it to the beach then." He says, winking at you.

You've been relaxing on the beach for the past few hours. Charles pulled some strings so you could enjoy this as privately as possible. It is still quite weird to realise how big of a name he is, and then there's you, just a random girl from Portugal. You shake your head, it doesn't matter. As long as you're both happy, nothing else really matters. You look up when you hear Charles sigh on your left, and you see he's dozing off with the book he was reading still in his hand. You smile before letting your hands rake through his hair. "Hmmm" he hums, and you giggle. He opens one eye with a lazy smile, before closing it again. You focus on your book again, while listening to the calm lapping of the waves.

It's 5PM when you and Charles walk back towards the car, dazed from the sunny and relaxing day. "Let's take a shower and get dressed at home before going to the restaurant, okay?" he asks, and you nod. Before you step in the car, he traps you between his body and the car, looking into your eyes. You smile at him, and he strokes your cheek with his hand. "You're so pretty" he says, before pressing a long kiss on your lips. "Okay, let's go!" he claps in his hands before walking towards his door and stepping into the car.

By the time you're sitting at the restaurant it's 7PM and you're waiting until your food is brought. You're sitting on the outside terrace, overlooking the sea. Charles' thumb is rubbing over your knuckles while you tell him a story about a customer at the hotel who went completely nuts. "Wait, she didn't pay, but told everyone she did, and then accused you of having her pay three times?!" you nod, and he shakes his head. "I don't understand how anyone would think you of all people would do something like that." You smile at his words. Before you can ask him something you're interrupted by the waitress bringing your food. "Merci beaucoup" you and Charles say in sync, making you both laugh.

You're talking about the upcoming race while eating. You're enjoying the way Charles' eyes light up when he talks about racing, and you can't help but wonder what in life makes your eyes light up like that? It's been a while since you've thought about that, and you quickly shrug it off. Time to think about that later, not right now when there is a wonderful man sitting on the other side of the table. You decide to share a dessert after dinner. You're both too full to have one of your own, but the desserts look too good to pass. After finishing that, Charles tells you that he would like to stroll towards the beach to watch the sunset. You nod and after paying you both make your way downstairs to walk towards the sand.

You sit down on the sand with Charles sitting down behind you, laying your head down on his chest. You sit in a comfortable silence for a while, enjoying the sound of each other's breathing and the sound of the waves. "I wanted to ask you something..." Charles says, and you hum. His arms tighten around your waist while he swallows. "I think you know by now that I really like you, and the more time I spend with you, the more I get these, uh, papillons I don't know the English word but okay, when I'm around you." You turn around in his embrace, looking into his eyes. He swallows nervously while rubbing your waist. "I wanted to ask if you would like to be my girlfriend?" he whispers softly.

You look up at him with a shocked expression before your face breaks into a big smile. "Yes! Yes, I would love to." You press your lips on his, and he strokes his fingers over your cheeks. You smile while staring into each other's eyes. "I just want you to know, that even though it might be hard with the distance and everything, I am so serious about you. About us." He says before pressing his lips on yours again. "I am too, we can make it work. Every relationship is hard work, as long as we continue to communicate and respect each other's feelings we will be fine." You say, and he smiles at you. He nuzzles his face in your neck, pressing kisses and nibbling on the tender skin.

"Let's go home now, girlfriend, and enjoy our last night together."