Love in thirds

12.1 Charles & Sofia

You smile when you see Charles' face pop up on your phone screen, placing it against your mug before answering it. "Bonjour mon coeur" he says. Smiling at you with a little wave. "Hey babe, how are you?" you ask him, frowning your brows a little when you realise he's at the airport. "I have a surprise for you" he says, wiggling his eyebrows before turning the camera around and showing you the airport of your hometown. "Wait, why are you here? Weren't you supposed to be in Maranello?" you ask him, confusion written all over your features. "I lied to you, but I'll tell you when I'm at your place, I'll see you in a bit, love you!" he smiles when you blow him a confused kiss through the screen before he ends the call.

You quickly clean up your apartment a little bit, your laptop and papers were sprawled all over the table. You started your new job at the beginning of January, working for the F1 social media team. It meant writing fun articles about the races, you did the fun parts while your analytic team members did all the number things, and you managed the Instagram and twitter page as well. It meant working closely with Nell as well, since she did a lot of photography work for the F1 teams, and you were excited to do that even more once the winter break was over. You had gone home after Christmas, Charles had work duties and you wanted to get into the grind of working again as well. You had not seen each other for a few weeks now, so you were excited to see him.

You rush towards the door when you hear the bell ring, opening it to reveal a happy and relaxed looking Charles. "Bonjour ma belle" he says, wrapping his arms around your body while burying his face against your neck. "Tu m'as manqué" he mumbles, shuffling into your hallway while you're still wrapped in his arms, kicking the door closed with his foot. "Também tive saudades tuas" you mutter back, running your fingers through his hair. He looks down at you when he pulls away slightly, stroking the hair out of your face before kissing you softly. He smiles during the kiss, breaking away from you to look into your loving eyes. He sighs, "I've been wanting to do that ever since you went home again."

He walks into your kitchen, leaning against the island while he looks at your papers and laptop. "Were you working?" he asks, and you hum, closing the laptop before organizing the papers. "But tell me, why did you lie about working in Maranello?" you turn towards him, cocking your head sideways while he chuckles. "Because I was planning our valentine getaway! Which is why I'm here now. I'm picking you up, because we're going to Ireland!" he claps his hands excitedly before walking towards you and resting them on your hips. "Wait, what?" you say, letting the words sink in while he strokes his hands over your hips, humming when you put your hands on his shoulders.

"I've booked us a nice little place in Galway, overlooking the water. You told me about the trip you took there a few years ago, right? You said that it was very romantic, but that you were on your own there. I figured it was the perfect place to celebrate valentines there, together" he looks at your widened eyes, gasping softly when he sees tears in them. "Oh, mon dieu, is it such a shitty idea?" his voice sounds concerned, so you wave it away quickly. "No, no, it's lovely. I don't know why I'm getting all emotional, I'm just not used to someone doing things like this for me" you whisper, and he shakes his head with a smile before pressing you against his chest. "You deserve it mon amour."

You look out of the car window while Charles drives the two of you towards Galway. The radio plays softly, and Charles' hand is caressing your thigh while he focusses on the road. "It's so pretty here" you say, looking over at him when he smiles with a hum. "So different from where we live, I like the change of scenery. I hope you packed some sweaters though" he chuckles, and you nod with a smile. "I did, Marie knitted one for me and Nell for Christmas, so I brought that one with me" you tell him, smiling at the memory of when you opened the package in the mail.

You walk into the living room after accepting the package from the delivery man. You open it quickly, curious to see what's inside. A card lays on top of some pink and white fabric, and you frown in confusion before reading the card.