Ferrari Love~Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc

Chapter 12

I storm out of the pits and look for a bathroom. I can't believe he actually had the nerve to say that to me. I thought Carlos was one of the nicest guys in Formula 1.
I locate the women's bathroom and fix my smudged mascara. I can be upset but I will do it looking hot. I stay in there for a few extra minutes just in case Carlos is still outside somewhere.

I leave the bathroom and check my phone. It's 5 o'clock. Charles should be finished training now. I'm not really sure where to go, and I don't want to risk seeing Carlos by waiting for him in the Ferrari paddock, so I call him. He picks up on the second ring.
"What's up. I just finished training." his voice calms me.
"I'm outside the Mercedes paddock. Where will I meet you?"
"Hey." I drop my phone and spin around. He's standing there laughing.
"Charles!" I scold him, but also laughing. I pick up my phone and put it in my pocket. He pulls me into a tight hug, resting his head on mine.
"How was training?" I ask.
"Yeah, it was fine. The sim felt good so that's good for qualifying tomorrow. How was the flight? Did Chigs get you here alright?"
"Yeah, the flight was good. We didn't crash, so that's something." I joke. "And Chigs is great. Not to brag, but we bonded over Taylor Swift. He's basically my new best friend, no big deal." I smirk. He playfully gasps.
"How dare you? Singing Taylor Swift with Chigs is my thing!"
I chuckle.
"So where are we off to now?" I ask.
"I have some leftovers from yesterday's dinner at home, so I was thinking we could just head back to mine. Unless you want to eat out."
"No, leftovers sounds great, I'm exhausted." He smiles.
"Perfect."

We walk through the paddocks on our way to his car.
"Have you spoken to anyone yet?" he asks.
I'm not sure wether I should tell him about Max or Carlos. or neither.
"Yeah, actually. I ran into Carlos." He must be able to tell from my expression that it wasn't a great interaction. His expression turns to subtle worry.
"What happened?"
I don't want to tell him that Carlos and I almost kissed last week because it could jeopardize what we might have.
"Oh nothing, he just thought I was an intruder messing with his car." It's not exactly a lie, just not the whole truth. His face slackens a little bit.
"Yeah, that would worry me too."

We are almost at Charles' car when we walk past Max. As if I hadn't made it clear enough, he winked at me as he passed. I roll my eyes. Charles seems to notice.
"And I also met Max. He's charming." I say sarcastically.
"He hit on you."
"Yeah."
Charles clenches his jaw.
"It's fine though, I made it pretty clear that I'm not interested, so hopefully he will back off." I continue. He only nods.

He opens the door of his car for me before stepping into the driver's seat himself. He revs up the engine and starts driving.
"I only live ten minutes away." he tells me.
I admire the views of the bay. The water is a beautiful oceanic blue-green. I'm glad I brought my bikini because I will definitely be swimming.
Charles notices me staring out the window in awe.
"It's amazing, isn't it."
"It's beautiful. I can't believe I've never been here before." I agree.
"I can show you all of it, if you want. I've been living here my whole life."
"I'd love that. My own personal tour guide." I smile.
"At your service." he says with a small mock bow, making me laugh.

"And here we are." he says as we slow to a stop outside and apartment block. I look up in shock.
"Oh my god, you live here?!"
His laugh wakes up those butterflies.
"I do."
Its about twenty storeys tall. Decadent marble pillars line up outside the apartments, and there's an orange carpet running on the steps and through the doors of the main entrance. He leads me to the elevator and presses the button for the top floor. After being in the elevator for two minutes, we step out into the hallway and Charles unlocks the only door with his key. The door swings open and we step inside.