Love, Eternal

Competition

Little bit of a trigger warning in this chapter, mentioning anxiety, panic attacks and things like that.
Sending love to anyone that suffers with any illness❤️

Of course they were going to celebrate the victory! They made their way back to the hotel to get changed and start the festivities, Nola knocked on Charles' room door when she was ready and Charlotte opened the door.
"He's still getting dressed" she said rolling her eyes and opened the door wider for Nola to walk in
"You're telling me two girls just got ready before he did?" Nola said laughing as she went and sat on his bed
"I heard that!" He called from the bathroom making the girls laugh
"Where are we going?" Nola asked
"Not sure, Daniel recommended a club I think to Charles so he knows where" she said. Nola nodded
"Right I'm done" Charles said coming out of the bathroom, "you two look lovely" he said as he put his arm round Charlotte and kissed her cheek. They were so cute.
"Whole Ferrari team?" Nola asked him
"Only a few, not many, and then Lando, Daniel, George, Alex and I think Pierre and Yuki as well"
"Do you guys always follow each other round?" Nola asked him
"Well you've got the twitch quartet, they go everywhere" Charlotte said laughing. Them four were honestly so funny, they were always messaging in some group chat, it was like they were at school. It helped that most of them lived in Monaco as well anyway. Yuki and Pierre lived in Italy and George resided in England.
"Oh by the way, after this race we're going to Italy" Charles said, Nola looked up, that was random for her. Normally Charles had a schedule and she wasn't aware of Italy being on the plan
"Why?" Nola asked. She thought they were going home
"I need to do some work at the factory and with simulators so they've switched plans around, it's also easier because the next race is Italy" Nola nodded as Charles explained
"You'll get to see Pierre" he continued and winked. Nola rolled her eyes at him before playfully shoving him
"And I will be going home" Charlotte said. That made Nola sad, she loved her being here. But she had work herself and couldn't travel with Nola and Charles all the time.
"We've got two more days here" Charles said hugging her again. Although it was a different plan, Nola was excited to be in Italy anyway, knowing they had extended their stay was great. She couldn't wait to explore, she did like Italy, very much
"Come on, let's go celebrate the wonderful talented being that is my brother" Nola said standing up. They both smiled at her and they left the room, meeting various team members down in the lobby.

"Hey Nola, can I talk to you for a minute?" A Ferrari mechanic had spotted Nola, he had met her before at previous races but seen her around the garage a lot and with Charles in recent weeks, he knew her and her name and knew she was Charles' sister, but he hadn't spoken to her at all. Nola didn't know his name, all she knew was he was a mechanic for the team. He had grabbed her arm and had a tight grip on her. She felt trapped.
"We'll wait in the car for you" Charles said, he hadn't noticed the grip Logan had on his sister, he assumed Nola was fine and it was confirmed when Nola nodded and turned back to the guy.
"You okay?" Nola asked wondering why she had been called
"I'm Logan by the way" he said with a smile, holding out his hand, Nola took it and shook it, this is very formal.
"Hello, what's up?"
"I just wondered if you're free at all to maybe go for a drink or dinner?" He asked. Nola was in shock, "I know it's a bit forward but we met last year at a few races, and obviously you're now around all season and I've been plucking up the courage to ask as I think you're absolutely stunning and such a nice person" to Nola, he wasn't an unattractive person, but she didn't know him and all she could think about was Pierre.
"Oh erm well thank you, that's so kind of you" she said to him
"So do you want to?" He asked
"Erm I'll have to get back to you on that as I'm not sure of my plans at the moment if that's okay" Nola told him, she was politely letting him down but he didn't really take the hint it seemed
"Of course take your time" he said, "have a good night celebrating" he said, he kissed Nola's hand that he still had hold of after grabbing her to her her attention, he disappeared into the lift. Nola was in a daze as she got into the car that Charles and Charlotte were in with Carlos
"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked
"I'm not even sure"
"What did Logan want?" Charles asked
"To ask me on a date" Nola said looking at him. Carlos and Charles burst into laughter, Nola must of looked confused because Charles calmed down. She didn't understand the humour, she was also confused as to why he had even asked her in the first place, she didn't speak to him at all, and the way he grabbed her arm made her uncomfortable, it was all a little much and it put Nola in a weird mood
"That's cute, did you tell him about Pierre?" He said trying to be more serious
"There's nothing exactly with Pierre but I can't tell anyone that anyway can I" Nola shrugged, they hadn't discussed anything and she wasn't about to go around telling people
"I cannot believe one of our mechanics asked you on a date" Carlos said.
"Why? Am I not date worthy?" Nola was deflecting and turning her confusion and lack of comfort into sarcasm and defence, she turned to face him as she was sitting beside him
"Oh you are, most definitely. I just think it's funny" Carlos said. Nola nudged him with her elbow making him laugh more. She rolled her eyes and tried to shake the feeling from her head

They walked into the restaurant and saw everyone sitting there, they all banged the table and cheered for Charles, it warmed Nola's heart to see it. They were all rivals on the track, but once off it they were such a close knit group. Pierre caught Nola's eye as she walked in and smiled at her, Nola saw the vacant seat beside him and walked over and sat down.
"Awwww cute" Lando yelled eyeing us. Nola scowled at him, she was still feeling a bit weird and peoples comments were not helping her
"Piss off Lando" Nola spoke in French. Making Pierre, Charlotte and Charles laugh.
"Hey hey no fair! What did you say?" He asked. He was sitting across from Nola
"I said you're the best person in the world" Nola smirked, her words dripping in sarcasm. Lando and Nola always teased each other, she didn't mind it. The normal behaviour from him helped her forget she wasn't feeling 100%
"Go back to your boyfriend"
"Oooh touchy" which only wound him up further. In the end he laughed and put his fist up and connected it with Nola. Both of them laughing with each other
"I hope you told Logan about your boyfriend" Carlos said from a few seats down
"Logan?" Pierre asked, Nola froze. Her distraction failed and she was back to overthinking the whole thing
"Yeah, one of our mechanics just asked her out on a date" Carlos said. Okay he's the worst secret keeper, not that is was a secret at all, but it's like he was waiting to put that into the conversation
"Oooh Pierre you've got competition" Daniel said from next to Lando, "did you tell him about Pierre?" He continued, Nola shrugged and sipped her water quietly
"There's nothing to tell" Pierre said, it sounded snappy and Nola gave Charles a look. She wasn't feeling okay, and it was now escalating. Charles could see his sister was uncomfortable. Most of the time she was fine, but once something was a little off, it became a very fast downward spiral, something he didn't want to get close to. He didn't like seeing her like that.
"Nothing to tell because you know what the media will do" Charles said looking right at Pierre as if to test what he meant
"Exactly, plus there is no competition" Pierre replied. This was so awkward for the whole table, let alone Nola
"Pierre mate, you're digging a hole here" Alex said
"I didn't mean it like that" he answered giving Nola a look now, it didn't feel friendly. His normal blue warm eyes were icy and empty
"What did you say to him anyway?" Lando asked
"That I would see what my plans were, which was obviously an excuse because what can I tell him" Nola said. She could feel Pierre's burning into her. She looked back towards Charles and Charlotte for help. Her anxiety was at the surface, she felt so overwhelmed, she wanted to run, cry, scream, leave.
"Let's move on, this is unnecessary" Charlotte said. "Charles, can your order our drinks?" She continued as she stood up. Charlotte was well aware of Nola's struggles, she wanted to try and calm her before it became worse. Charlotte gave Nola a look and she stood with her and the girls went towards the exit.

Nola was shaking, her breathing was all over the place. She was confused, she couldn't think of anything happy or nice to calm her down, she didn't know what that was about, she didn't know why she was feeling like this. Logan made her uncomfortable by grabbing her and springing something like that on her, but Pierre seemed off, snappy, cold, and that worsened Nola's feelings. She didn't want to hurt him or worry him. This is was exactly what she was afraid of all along. It was silly because there wasn't even anything to say or worry about.