Unexpected Vacation [CL16]

Chapter 8

Delilah was looking at me in shock after I entered the room excitedly and gave the Singapore news. She got up from where she was lying and was looking at me with a look that didn't understand what was happening. She was confused and probably thought I was kidding. "What Singapore? Where did that come from, Irene?" she said in a surprised tone. To explain everything, I first put my things aside and sat on the sofa. "I will explain," I said.
On the one hand, I was breathing rapidly. Even I couldn't understand what was going on. Everything sounded like a joke. My heart shuddered at the thought of Charles's kind offer. Delilah would probably say a lot of judgmental things but I thought that was something she would want too. "Charles offered" I said first. Delilah was still staring at me in surprise. "Irene, can you tell me from the beginning, please? I'm so confused" she said. I understood her so well. Suddenly, I said we were going to go to Singapore. I smiled and started to explain. I spent almost the entire day summarizing it. She still had that puzzled expression on her face, but she didn't look confused. She continued to stare at me silently for a while after she had listened to all I had said. "I can't believe it, it's like a joke!" she said excitedly. I thought she was going to judge, but she looked more excited. I knew it was something unexpected. I realized even more that I wanted to be with Charles. Of course, I also knew that there were some truths that I had to accept. It was a friendly offer. There was no point in having an empty dream. We could think of it as a response to Delilah's holiday surprise for me. "So what do you say?" I said calmly. Delilah looked at me and smiled. "Are you crazy? That's amazing, I guess we can't thank him enough," she said. I thought so too. I decided to message. Since we haven't received our numbers yet, I sent a message on social media.
I: Thank you very much for your kind offer today. Delilah was very happy.
C: It doesn't matter! I hope you have a pleasant time.
I: I hope
I put the phone on the couch and turned on the kettle. After going through so much, I was going to prepare herbal tea to rest and unwind a little. Delilah was excitedly making a phone call. She was probably telling Evan what was going on. Our whole family knew how enthusiastic she was about Formula 1. As I slouched on the couch and turned on the TV, my phone vibrated with the notification sound.
C: Irene, well there was something I forgot today.
I: What is it?
C: I forgot to ask for your phone number.
I: Hahaha
Mr Leclerc, are you flirting with me? I laughed again at this thought that went through my head and warned myself to return to real life, and then gave my phone number. It was turning into a truly unexpected vacation for me. Who would have thought that we would spend a day with Charles Leclerc and then get an invitation from him for Singapore. I wouldn't think. I knew that I had to break away from my dream world and return to the real world. After this holiday was over, everything would be as I used to know.
Days passed quickly one after another, we came back from vacation. London again spreads its gloomy air to the whole city, and my mood was falling without the sun. During these few days, Charles and I had texted frequently. We were talking about daily routines and sometimes race preparations. I also assured myself that we weren't flirting, by reminding myself that we were friends whenever possible. Evan was constantly making fun of me about this and talking about how sad I would be at the end of the day. I felt heartbroken when I saw pictures of him on social media with his girlfriend. But still, I didn't look at social media too much in order not to upset myself even more. "How do you think the weather is in Singapore?" Delilah entered the room. Sometimes I thought she was asking silly things. Before answering her, what I would do would be to look at the weather conditions on those dates. Still, I answered with a smile without arguing with her. "Probably hot," I said. She left the room thoughtfully. We were going to Singapore this weekend, the long and tiring flight was waiting for us. This time, I prepared my things without waiting for my sister to be told. When the day of the flight came, I put on my most comfortable clothes and settled into the plane. From time to time I would sleep and wake up, eat something and go back to sleep. After about 17 hours of flight, we started to prepare for landing. After getting off the plane and taking our luggage, we saw someone holding our name at the exit door. Delilah and I looked at each other in surprise and walked toward the man. "Were you expecting us?" I said in surprise. "Yes, Mr. Leclerc has requested that I assist you, please, I will accompany you to your hotel" said the man, smiling. Delilah raises her eyebrows and smiles at me. "Yes, but we had booked a hotel" I said quickly. "I think you should cancel" he said and kept walking. Delilah was looking at me as if to say, 'What's going on?' but I was just as surprised as she was. When we got to the hotel, I was feeling a little nervous. It looked like a very majestic place compared to the place we booked. Charles was waiting for us at the reception. "Irene!" he said, smiling. I looked at him with a smile. "Charles, there was no need for that, we had everything arranged" I said. My sister nodded to me. "Don't be ridiculous, you're my guest." He said in a gentle voice. After we had the procedures done, we got our keys and came to our room. The tiredness of the journey was beginning to make itself felt. I took a quick shower and went to bed. Not long after, I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, the room was bright. Jetlag was evident. Delilah was still asleep. I looked at my phone and noticed that I had a few messages.
C: Hey! How are you? I think you're sleeping.
I: Morning, I'm awake now. I think I passed out yesterday.
I put the phone down and went back to the bathroom. It looked like it would take me through the weekend to get rid of all the tiredness. I got ready quickly after I got out of the shower. My heart was ringing. I tried to wake Delilah, but she wouldn't wake up. At that moment, I was startled by a knock on the door. When I opened the door, Charles was in front of me. "Aah! "Charles" I said in surprise. He was looking at me smiling. "I thought you were hungry. Shall we eat something?" said. I looked inside at Delilah, she didn't look like she was going to wake up. I left a note on the paper and grabbed my bag and left the room with Charles.