Meet you in Monaco [F1 - Pierre Gasly / Charles Leclerc / George Russell]

Chapter 23

The first race week was here in no time, Isla thought when the airplane hit the tarmac in Bahrain. Testing the previous weekend went well. She was getting consistent times in her car and she felt in control of it and how it was designed. Thanks to all the adjusting and advice from her race engineers.

Going into this first weekend Isla wanted to keep her focus on racing, not thinking about Charles or Pierre for that matter. She had to keep those little butterflies away, she didn't want to hurt Charles by doing something inconsiderate to him or their relationship.

Isla wanted this race weekend to go well with her team. She wanted to focus on the feel of the garage being positive and encouraging. She entered the paddock by scanning the pass and looked up at the rows upon rows of motorhomes.

The paddock was way busier now that it was an actual race, more cameras, more fans and just more energy. Isla smiled as she entered and took in the crowd's chatter and heard a bit of commotion from photographers that made their way over to snap some pictures of her.

Isla noticed Charles outside of the Ferrari hospitality, she wandered over with still a couple photographers getting a couple more photos of her.

"Hey you," She said quietly as she approached him from behind.

He turned around and had a big smile on his face, the photographers stayed back so they had the tiniest version of privacy they could get in the paddock. "Hey you" he said with a glint in his eyes.

"Best of luck this weekend," She said to him, returning the playful look in her eyes.

"I hope we can celebrate after the race" He said through gritted teeth, so the reports couldn't read his lips

"I hope so too" Isla responded with a wink and a flirty look because the reporters were behind her.

"Hey!!" A loud voice from behind Isla. Pierre walked up and gave Charles a handshake then a hug. He stood beside Isla and put his arm around her shoulder and looked down. "Hey teammate," he said with a wink.

Isla looked  up at Pierre and his smile sent butterflies soaring around her stomach.
"First big race this weekend for you Isla. Nervous at all?" Charles asked so her attention returned to him and not Pierre.

Charles' smile was warm and comforting, but something about Pierre's smile was a little wild and exciting. Isla felt guilty for having those thoughts.

"I am but I have some good track times, similar to someone I know," She said as she playfully nudged Charles' arm. He smiled back at her. They lingered in their goofy grins and looked at each other.

Pierre withdrew his hand from Isla's shoulder "So we should get going to the motorhome?" He asked Isla which shook her out of her eye contact with Charles.

"Actually, one of our staff members has her daughter here, and she is a big Rowley fan, can I take you to her so you can meet her?" Charles asked Isla rather loudly for the cameras to hear. 

"Oh sure, if it wont take too long, we do need to get going" She said

"I'll let the team know you will be there soon then" Pierre said as he turned to walk away.

Charles motioned for Isla to follow her, so she trailed behind him.

He led her into the drivers room, Isla was confused because it was empty.

"I lied" he said

"Clearly, but it was a good cover" Isla laughed as she gestured to the empty room.

"I just had to do this" He said as he wrapped one hand around her waist and the other behind her neck, and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.
Isla wrapped her hands around his body and kissed back. After a couple of minutes Isla pulled away breathless.

"Wow, that was amazing, but I need to go, and don't want to get caught" She said with a grin

"I guess getting caught wouldn't be the best thing. See you on the track during practice" he said as he opened the door and led her back out of the Ferrari motorhome.

She said goodbye and wandered to her motorhome. George waved "Hey George" She said stopping to chat with him.

"Excited for your first race?" He asked

"Yes, who would've thought we would be one day racing each other in Formula 1?" She asked

"I always knew you were great, I just wasn't sure if you could break the barrier to get into F1" he said "You're going to do great" He said sweetly.

"Thanks George, everything we went through, I'm happy it happened actually. I now have you back as a friend"  She smiled

George's face fell a bit when she said friends but he smiled back. Isla continued her walk to the Alpha Tauri motorhome.

She entered the garage and Pierre was there and gave her a high five and they went about their day talking to engineers and strategists. They looked at data from the practice weekends and then got ready for the first day of practices.

The mood was high in the alpha tauri garage and Isla and Pierre spent the whole day Friday and late into the evening in the motorhome. The light was off in the video room as the light from the TV screen lit up the room and Pierre and Islas' faces.

"Do you think we have watched enough videos?" Isla said as she yawned and stretched her arms.

"Just one more is left," He said, looking at Isla who was rubbing her eyes. "You're cute when you're tired" He chuckled

Isla blushed, Pierre smiled knowingly at her and leaned closer.

There was a knock at the window. Isla let out a scream and when she turned around Charles was looking through the window!

"Oh thank god" She said as she spun around and clutched her chest.

Pierre and Charles started to howl with laughter. Isla punched Pierre in the arm. "Hey, not cool, it was dark. I'm jumpy" She laughed

Pierre waved Charles to come in. Charles disappeared from the window then reappeared in the room a minute later.

"Working hard you two?" He asked

"In matter of fact we are" Isla said as she took all her notes and data and turned it over

"Being protective of your information??" Charles laughed and raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ilsa hiding her stuff.

"What can you say, I'm a tad competitive" She laughed

"I can tell" Pierre added with a nudge to Isla

Charles noticed and raised his eyebrow and his face darkened. He looked from Pierre to Isla ''I am competitive too" He said looking at Pierre intensely.

Was he noticing the flirting going on between her and Pierre? She wondered to herself.

"Well it is late, we should probably all get some rest before qualifying" She said as she quickly stood up and grabbed her stuff and wandered back to the hotel. Leaving the boys standing in the room.

"So staying up late studying video?" Charles questioned Pierre when Isla left.

"Uh, yeah" Pierre said tentatively

"I have never seen you at the track this late" Charles said putting more pressure on Pierre

"Uh, just setting a good example for my new teammate?" Pierre said still unsure of what Charles' intention was.

"Just a teammate?" Charles asked

"Well, ya she's my teammate, I guess I would like something more to happen, but she has talked about a guy. Oh well" He shrugged

Charles seemed to be okay with his answer he smiled "Just giving you a hard time, we should probably head back to our hotels to get some sleep" he said

"Sounds like a plan," Pierre said

They left the paddock and headed to bed to get ready for the qualifications.