Aurora suspected something had happened between her best friend and the infamous driver. From Sloane's vague texts about how she wouldn't be able to make it to the race a day before, to Charles acting like she was an enemy while Aurora worked at the Ferrari garage. In all honesty, it was none of her business. Sloane was her friend and Charles was, well, he was Sloane's fling? Or boyfriend? She still wasn't sure what was their stance.
The problem started when whatever happened between them, affected Aurora's job. With Charles acting like Aurora was selling strategy secrets to Red Bull or something like that, people wondered what had happened. Even Carlos had asked if everything was alright because it wasn't normal for Charles to be so hostile with someone, especially with Aurora.
They weren't friends; they merely knew each other because of work and because Charles slept with her friend Sloane, but there was always respect and animosity between them. He was a nice guy, and Aurora had treated him with nothing but politeness ever since they met.
But then, it seemed like his animosity towards her depended a lot on his situation with Sloane. Which again, didn't seem to be in a good stance.
"Sloane, I don't know what you did to your little boyfriend Charles but I need you to tell him that I am not the one to blame for whatever happened between you two." Aurora sent yet another voice message to her friend.
Nothing. And she wasn't even receiving the messages. She didn't care if Charles hated her guts, but she did care about her job and the possibility of losing it simply because she was friends with someone who ruined a driver's life. Or whatever had happened between them.
She also cared about Sloane. Aurora knew how much she liked Charles, it was strange.
She sat on the bed and threw her phone somewhere around. If Sloane refused to answer her last five or six messages, she was not getting an answer anytime soon. The day was already bad enough for her to get yet another thing to worry about but there she was; worrying about a relationship that wasn't even hers.
A drink was very much needed.
She thought some peace could be found. Did she really have to worry about other people's problems? Even if they could potentially involve her job? She could manage, at least she thought so until the sound of the loudest knocking on her door almost made her spill her wine and have a heart attack.
So much for peace found.
When she was about to snap at the person who interrupted her —because really, it had been a long day— Aurora had to stop herself from anything. Charles stood in front of her door, looking miserable and reeking of alcohol. He'd had a harder day than hers, she was aware of it, and it just seemed quite obvious from her current view.
"Charles?" Aurora gripped her door as he looked at her and frowned. Maybe he had issues with her. "Are you okay?"
"Your friend." He said and pointed a finger at her. So it was about Sloane, Aurora thought.
Aurora looked around, there were some people around in the hallway and they were peeping. It would definitely cause some gossip at some point.
She took a deep breath and opened the door wide open, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside her room. It was not a hard task to manage considering the guy was almost about to kiss the floor if he didn't hold on to something. One could say she did him a favor. Aurora closed the door behind her and turned around to face him; he was completely lost.
"Charles, do you want me to call someone?" Aurora tried to call his attention.
"Where is your friend?" He ignored her question and looked at her. "Sloane. Where is she?"
"Well, now it's you and me both wondering that." She crossed her arms over her chest. Charles chuckled, probably thinking she was lying. "I've called and texted her and she's not answering. I have no clue where she is."
He seemed to believe her for a moment, at least. "Your friend, she is..." Charles shook his head, stopping himself from saying anything bad about Sloane.
Again, Aurora had no idea what happened between them, and if it was Sloane the one to break his little heart, she could be a bit worried. The girl was fascinated with the driver since the moment they met; it just didn't make any sense.
Charles tried to hold on to the wall, almost tripping on his own from how drunk he was. Aurora reacted almost immediately, holding him by the arm.
"Alright, come on." She led him to her bed and helped him sit there. At least he seemed grateful for that. This could be the most time they've ever spent together without Sloane or people from work being around. "I don't know what happened Charles, but if I knew anything about Sloane, I would tell you. I'm also worried about her, it's not me just trying to distract you or something."
He stared at her right in the eyes, as if trying to figure something out. Aurora cleared her throat when it started to get awkward. "Do you need anything? Water, maybe?"
Charles shook his head. "Do you have a towel?" Aurora nodded. "Thank you." He closed his eyes and grimaced. The guy was almost gone.
She gave him one last glimpse before walking to the bathroom. Aurora rummaged through her things trying to find a clean towel, it was not an easy task to be in a hotel room for various days. Her lips turned into a smile when she finally found a clean towel with the hotel logo; success.
"Here, I found this—" Aurora stopped short as she heard Charles snoring while plopping on her bed; he was asleep. Her day could not get any weirder even if she tried. "Great." She sighed staring at Charles on her bed.
There was only one person who could help her. She just wished he wasn't just as drunk as Charles. Aurora walked over to her bed and grabbed her phone, trying not to disturb the unexpected guest laying there. If anyone else saw such a scene, she would never hear the end of it.
As she waited for the other person to pick up her call, Aurora stared at Charles. He was so deeply asleep, that it almost made her feel bad. What had Sloane done to this guy that he'd reached that point?
"Hello?" Aurora could listen to the music in the background as soon as the call was picked.
"Pierre, you need to come to my hotel right now." She said, wishing the driver didn't have any issues listening to her. Aurora felt bad for ruining his celebratory night or whatever he was doing, but she also needed help.
Pierre Gasly chuckled. "Really? For what? Have my insinuations finally paid off?" Aurora rolled her eyes.
There were no such insinuations. "No, but your friend Charles is sleeping on my bed right now and I don't know what to do." Her hand motioned at Charles as if Pierre could even see them in her room.
"Charles? As in Charles Leclerc?" The background music had quieted down so Aurora assumed he'd gotten out from wherever he was. "Wasn't he dating your friend Sloane? Aurora!"
Her brow creased. "What? No, we—I am not with him on the bed!" She almost stumbled over her words, cheeks getting red. Oh God, she thought. The mere thought made her feel bad. "It's a long story, but he was drunk and I let him inside my room and then he fell asleep. I don't know what to do."
"Alright, I'm not one to judge." She would kill him.
"Pierre." Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose, sounding tired. "Can you help me?"
"I'm on my way, don't worry." She breathed in relief.
As soon as she ended the call with Pierre, Aurora noticed the text notification on her screen. Sloane. She peeked at Charles as if he would notice she was getting a text from Sloane, the guy was long gone, he was barely breathing quietly.
I broke up with Charles.
And that was the message, no explanation as to why and how things happened. Her friend just pointed out the most obvious and useless information. That had to be one of the longest nights she ever had in a while. A disappeared best friend and said friend's boyfriend —or ex-boyfriend— laying on her bed completely knocked out. It couldn't get any weirder, could it?
Aurora looked over her phone at Charles; things certainly happened and it would be awkward from now on.
Or so she thought.
