lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

~ diciannove ~

🌸 note 🌸

Hiya! I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as you can 🤍 We're in the middle of the summer break, and yeah, I miss Formula one desperately. I think you do too.

I know some of my moves and motives in this book may not resonate well with you. However, I'm trying my best. Trust me. I fully understand that some actions may look silly and unreasonable, but once the story unfolds, I believe everything will make more sense.

Loads of love, Anna <3

•   🌸   •

Great Britain, July 2019

"Congratulations on the podium," Pia said to the young driver dressed in red overall. Charles just smiled at her and hugged her lightly. This podium was the fourth in a row.

"Thank you. Hopefully, I will win in Germany," Charles joked. He was still waiting for his maiden victory in Formula One.

"Yeah, the victory is coming. I can feel it in my bones," the Italian giggled. She always believed in Charles. She knew he would make it this far. The Monegasque just smiled at her. He was grateful to have someone who believed in him from day one.

"Red really suits you, you know?" Pia said. "You remind me of Jules a lot," she let out before caressing his cheek like she had to make sure it was really Charles and not the Frenchman she missed dearly.

She knew that there was a part of Charles which kept going because he was continuing in Jules' dream. 

"Red suits you as well," the Monegasque said. He was talking about the red Ferrari team t-shirt that was tucked in her black tennis skirt. He loved her the most in yellow, but red was fine too. Actually, she looked breathtaking in any colour.

"I thought I'd see you in orange more," Charles confessed. He had seen her in McLaren team wear a couple of times, but she still seemed to support Ferrari more.

"Once I'm wearing something in support of my dad, and the other time I wear something to support Lando," she clarified. Charles secretly hoped she wore red for him.

It was Charles' first season to have Seb by his side as a teammate. At first, it was a bit weird. He was the dad of his ex-girlfriend after all, but they both got used to each other pretty quickly. Neither of them ever bought anything about Pia up.

Charles somehow sensed that Pia didn't really talk about the reasons behind their breakup to Seb or maybe to anyone. He did the same. His mother and Arthur always wanted to know why the petite Italian was no longer visiting them, but Charles never told them. He just let his mum think that he was the one to screw up because he knew how much she loved Pia.

"Aren't you wearing red to support me?" The Ferrari driver joked flirty.

"In your dreams," Pia winked at him. Little did she know, she indeed figured in the Monegasque's fantasies. Charles couldn't even count how many dreams he had about the Italian. Sometimes it was just memories coming back to him. On other days it was visions of the future with the brunette who was now standing by his side.

"I have to go. Lando is waiting for me," Pia announced while looking further down the paddock. The McLaren driver was indeed there casually chatting with Max by his side.

Charles could see Lando looking at him as if he had stolen the Briton's favourite toy. He might steal her away for a few minutes, but in the end, she always came back to Lando.

The Ferrari driver just saw her skipping away like she was twelve again. Sometimes she was still that little girl he knew so well. It warmed his heart to see her like that.