«Take me back to the basics and the simple life, tell me all of the things that make you feel at ease.»
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Aurora looked at her phone, she tapped her foot on the ground and took a deep breath. She could just text him and ask.
After what happened in France, Aurora hadn't seen a lot of Charles. He was obviously not in a good space after the race, and Aurora didn't want to bother him. Besides, it seemed like he just wanted to get out of there as soon as he could, which she completely understood. If it had hurt her, she couldn't imagine how the driver must have felt after what happened.
It was overall a bad weekend for the team, and as always, the atmosphere was not the best one after such things happened. No podium for Ferrari, it was just not correct.
She sighed and her hand stopped hovering from her computer mouse to move and reach for her phone, unlocking it and clicking on the messages app. She scrolled down her chats trying to find Charles' name, even ignoring an unread message from Sloane. It was better if she didn't think about her before talking to Charles.
When she finally found their chat, Aurora hesitated for a moment; her fingers itching to start typing something, anything. She bit her lip, eyes focused on the blank text box waiting for her to get any words in there.
Aurora grimaced, what was she supposed to write? What if he was still down and didn't want to talk about it?
But she wanted to know if he was doing at least a bit better. Aurora had seen the interviews, she'd heard his radio in the middle of the race. It was such an emotional toll, some people didn't understand what some of those guys went through mentally and emotionally speaking. Sometimes it was worrying.
Hey, she quickly typed, thinking that was a good enough thing to start.
Aurora stared at the word for a few seconds before hitting send. She immediately locked her phone and placed it facing down on the table, as if that would help ease the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Her eyes were focused on her computer, that until a few minutes passed by and her phone buzzed. If she had been far away from it, she would have tripped trying to get to it. The device almost slipped from her hands from how quickly she grabbed it. She scanned the screen, reading Charles' name on one of the notifications.
It felt like the closest thing to relief.
Hey there. He simply answered.
Aurora wasn't expecting a whole paragraph with him expressing his feelings, she barely expected him to answer back anyway. It was a start.
How are you? It was probably something stupid to ask, considering his immaculate radio silence after the race, but Aurora wanted to test the waters first before she managed to say something dumb.
His reply came almost immediately.
I've been better. And he added a smiley face as if trying to downplay the situation. A second message came through mere seconds after. How about you? How are you?
It didn't matter, she was alright, but Aurora hadn't texted him to catch up like a normal conversation.
I'm fine, it's hot today. She answered, biting her bottom lip and letting her fingers tap on the screen again. Are you in Monaco? Aurora asked.
She blinked, then focused on the three dots indicating he was typing his answer. Other message notifications were coming through, but Aurora decided to ignore them. She would have time to tend those later.
