Love, Eternal

Fancy

"Congratulations!" Nola said jumping up and hugging Carlos. Just ahead of the qualifying session, Ferrari announced that Carlos had extended his contract with them. Nola was glad because he was a good driver and him and Charles got on so well, it worked well for the team.
"Thank you" Carlos put his arms around Nola and gave her a hug before shaking hands with Charles and being congratulated by the rest of the team. Charles pulled Nola back suddenly and pinned his sister to him when he saw Logan come past. He knew Nola hadn't spoken to him since that night and it wasn't fair to just ignore him, not when he worked on the team. Nola patted Charles arm and gave him a nod to say she was okay before going over to Logan and asking to speak to him.

"What did you tell him?" Charles asked as they walked towards the garage, hiding from the rain still.
"I firstly apologised for not actually speaking to him, but that I was already seeing someone and it wouldn't be fair to Logan" Nola said
"And he apologised?" He asked
"He did, which made me feel better. I'm not prepared for another breakdown" Nola said joking
"Nola" he said in a warning tone
"Charles I'm only joking. If I don't joke about it then what's the point?" Nola said, Charles chuckled and nodded, she was right. He put his arm around her as they walked.

By the time qualifying came, the rain had lessened a bit giving them opportunity to push more. Until Carlos spun round and crashed into the wall. Thankfully it wasn't a big thing and he got back to the pits and got fixed before going out again. By that time the rain was coming down again, Nola was back to a bag of nerves, praying her brother came home safely. Pierre was already back, he was out in Q1, which was disappointing. But it was a sprint grid this week so there was opportunity to better himself.
Charles came back into the pits after all qualifying sessions were finished, being in second on the grid for the sprint. Carlos tenth. Not ideal for him, but still plenty of opportunities to better it.
Charles come in and bumped fists with people on the team, Nola could see he was annoyed he didn't get first but second was still good. The rivalry between himself and Max, although it was only on track, it was intense.

"Ça va?" Nola asked him. He nodded, "you've got plenty more you can do, don't worry. Second is brilliant Charles" She said to him
"I know, thank you Nola" he side hugged sister and rested her head on his shoulder. "I've got to go and do media, let's go" he said. Nola nodded and followed him out of the garage and along to the media pen where she stood on the sidelines. The beauty of being here is she knew a lot of the drivers and therefore was never alone for long.
"Nola Nola Nola" Lando saw Nola as he came out of the media pen, Daniel followed him and he ducked under Nola's umbrella and stood with her, Nola smiled at them both and waved
"Hey kiddo" Daniel said waving back at her
"You guys okay?" Nola asked
"Not bad at all!" Lando said hugged her
"P3, well done" Nola said to him, she had seen the results, he high-fived Nola, she then looked over at Daniel. "You good?" She asked
"Could be better but I've also been worse, not nice to be outperformed by your team mate, but that's the way of the sport" he said shrugging
"I'm not the media, you can tell me how you really feel" Nola laughed
"Crap" he said chuckling. "The sprint tomorrow, we go again" She nodded and laughed with them.
"Pierre is coming, are you guys okay now?" Lando whispered
"Yeah pretty much, just going to stop being a control freak" Nola said laughing
"We'll leave you to it then, see you later" Daniel said in his thick Australian accent, Lando bumped fists with Nola before ducking back out and under the umbrella he and Daniel were using. Pierre saw Nola and smiled as he walked up and stood next to her
"Chatting to your best friends there?" he smirked
"I love them two" Nola said smiling going back to speaking French with him
"I wanted to see what your plans were later?" He asked
"Laying naked in bed, wanna join?" Nola said, she looked up at him and his eyes nearly fell out of his head, she smirked at her own comment, she was winding him up and she knew it
"Nola..." words escaped him, Pierre wasn't even sure what to say in response. Nola laughed at him
"I'm teasing you, far too early for that" She said
"Right. Yeah" he was still flustered
"What we're going to ask?" Nola wondered
"Oh erm, I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner. Go on our first proper date" he whispered, being more aware of their surroundings. It was Nola's turn to be speechless
"A date?" She asked, clarifying his words
"Yes, I want to take you on a date" he said quietly. Nola didn't know what to say so she just nodded. She would have to find something to wear, get ready, and now she was nervous and panicking. "Great I'll pick you at 7" he said smiling
"Fancy? Or casual?" Nola asked, making a mental list of the clothing she had with her
"Fancy" he said. Nola panicked a little, fancy. She wasn't sure if she had anything fancy enough and it was her first date with Pierre. He sensed her concern, Pierre put his hand on Nola's arm "Don't panic. I promise we'll have a great time, it's with me after all" he said which made Nola laugh and he smiled again. He was great at calming her down apparently. Charles approached the pair and greeted Pierre before getting under the umbrella with his sister and taking it from her, holding it above their heads.
"I'm taking Nola out later" Pierre said to Charles
"Don't be late home, no funny business, be a gentleman, don't hurt her" Charles said, which made Nola laugh
"You have my word" Pierre said. They could not be seriously having this conversation, Nola shook her head as they both laughed at one another
"Well let's go back Nola, you'll need to get ready"
"Sorry is my attire currently not appropriate" Nola said to him making Pierre smile
"Damp jeans and a hoodie with a Ferrari jacket. Not sure Pierre would appreciate the team rep" Charles said laughing, which made Pierre and Nola both laugh as well. She wasn't sure when the last time was it was the three of them, it would usually be the four of them, but they would never have that again, the three of them together was great, but there would always be a missing piece, it would never be the same. Nola and Charles said goodbye to Pierre and left the paddock.
"Is that okay with you?" Nola asked Charles as they stepped into his car once he was done for the day
"Of course! Don't be silly, you're an adult you do what you want to do" Charles said starting the engine, "Anyway, we're having a team dinner tonight and I don't want to bore you" he said laughing
"That's ideal then" Nola said, they made their way down the wet roads of Italy back to their hotel.