lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

~ dieci ~

Spain, May 2019

"Pia, wake up," Max whispered. He wanted to wake her up gently. He was sure that her head was probably killing her, and her soul probably wanted to leave her body.

"What?" the Italian muttered and turned to another side. Max sighed when he saw that.

"I have to leave for the race. It's little over eight," the Dutchman whispered once again.

"Yeah, yeah," his friend just sighed while curling into the duvets even more. That made Max chuckle.

"Okay. We will talk a bit more after the race, but I will be a bit late. I'm meeting J after the race," Max explained quietly. He would tell her to come to the circuit, but he didn't think she would be able to do that.

"Sure. Enjoy it. Win and be safe," the Italian mumbled. She was always telling him to be safe.

---

After Pia woke up, she decided to go to her hotel even though her head was killing her. She had to collect her things and check out. After she managed that, she stopped for a light lunch at a local restaurant. She was in Barcelona an uncountable number of times, but she never really wandered the streets to explore the city. She only knew two places hotel and circuit. That fact made her a bit sad.

It was a little over two hours in the afternoon when she decided it was the time to come back to Max's hotel. So, she watched the race from the comfort of the hotel bed. It was a boring race like every time these days. Joanna passed Lewis easily in the early stages of the race to grab another victory. Max ended up sharing that podium with J and Lewis. The two Ferraris missed out on the podium once again, but that didn't worry Pia that much. She was more worried for the Frenchman that got the opportunity to race under Red Bull thanks to Joanna. Pia believed the Austrian had good intentions, but it was just getting out of hand lately.

He probably got the opportunity at the worst moment possible. The Red Bull car was mainly built for Max. It was logical that only he could use the full potential of that car, making Pierre look useless. People were comparing him to Max, and it wasn't fair in Pia's eyes. Max was already settled in the team for years. He knew how to understand the car and how to do the best. It was dreadful to see the competition crush Pierre. He deserved so much better.

The young Italian was surprised when Max actually came pretty early after the race, but she didn't dare question him. He didn't look the happiest, so she just decided to wait and ask him perhaps later during the flight.

"So, you came earlier than I expected," Pia said once the plane took off. She knew they would be in Nice in an hour. There wasn't time to beat around the bush.

"Yeah, J didn't turn up." Pia could see that the Dutchman wasn't angry but rather disappointed. He wanted to talk about things and perhaps, try to find a solution, but Joanna didn't show up. It made Max doubt if she even wanted to solve it.

"Maybe she just had to take care of something important," the Italian tried to defend the Austrian. She didn't really know why she was doing that. Pia had enough of her troubles, so why should she deal with Joanna's troubles?

"It's always like that. It's Joanna. She shows up only if it's convenient for her," the resignation in Max's voice was hearable. Pia couldn't blame him. Joanna should've let him know. She could've called or left a message, but she just decided to disappear without saying anything. "Nothing I'm not used to," he added quietly. This sentence made Pia hug him.

"I'm sorry, Max," she said while she hugged him tightly. It was them against the world just like a few years ago when they were sitting together in Jos' trailer in Italian Sarno. That day Pia found out about Jos' relationship with his son. She still remembered his red cheek and Max's puffy eyes from crying. At that time, she couldn't imagine that she would be in the same situation as her friend, but just in a year, she was holding her cheek just like Max after Anthonie slapped her so hard. They were just two kids with shitty fathers. They didn't have another option but just to accept it and keep going.

"Don't be. I don't know what I expected," the Dutchman muttered into Pia's chest. He needed a minute before speaking up again. "By the way," he said and needed to clear his throat. "Charles was looking for you."

"What? Why would he look for me?" Pia asked confusedly. She even doubted she heard her friend correctly.

"Well, he was worried," Max explained, but this explanation confused Pia even more. How did he know she was in Spain? Why was he worried for her?

"Why?" Another question left Pia's mouth.

"Well, you know..." Max looked at the floor because he knew what he was about to say would upset the Italian.

"You know, what?" Pia asked the Dutchman with a disapproving stare.

"He kind of knows about your little night adventure," he didn't dare to look at her while saying that. 

"What? Max, jeez. Nobody was supposed to know I was in Barcelona." Pia was fully aware that she wasn't doing the best job at keeping it secret, but she only called Max. One person she trusted.

"Well, about that. You know... the situation just got out of hand a bit, and I just panicked. J saw us in the lift, and I thought she would help me, but then she had to take a call. So, I called Daniel, but then I realised that he wouldn't help me anyway, so I called Charles because he had already seen you in such a state," Max finished his monologue and apologetically smiled at Pia. He could see if her seatbelt wasn't fastened, she would probably already hit Max.

"So, let me rephrase it," Pia was clearly trying to calm herself down. "I called you drunk last night, and you called like five more people to look at me and do what exactly?" she said and stared at Max. She wanted to hear his explanation for that.

"Well, yeah. I was just worried," the Dutchman explained as if it was the most obvious thing on the earth. He was worried, so he called half of the grid. Pia had to laugh.

"Jeez, Max. Make sure you won't have kids anytime soon," she commented without knowing how touchy a subject it was for the young Red Bull driver. Pia just wanted to make fun of him for being so worried and calling so many people, but Max seemed upset by her remark.

"I know I would be a shitty dad. I told that to J as well," the Dutchman admitted quietly.

"I didn't mean that you would be a bad- wait, what? Why would you tell that to Joanna?" Pia's eyes widened.

"When I was dating Joanna, she got pregnant, but she miscarried." Max looked up and blinked a few times to get rid of the tears from his eyes. It was still hard to talk about it.

"Jeez, Max. How old were you? Eighteen?" Pia was shocked.

"Yeah," She couldn't believe it. Max was so young to deal with such things. He was in F1 for not even two years, and he had already dealt with something like that. Somewhere in the back of her mind Pia was angry at Joanna. Yeah, it was probably fifty-fifty who's to blame, but Joanna was old enough to be the smarter one in this little romance.

"I'm so sorry," Pia said and hugged him for the second time. This flight might only last an hour and twenty minutes, but Pia had the feeling it was never-ending. There had been so many ups and downs, and she just wished Max wouldn't have to experience the downs. He had been through a lot already before he met Joanna.