ma chérie | cl16

chapter three

"I can't believe I have never been to the whole race weekend, this is so cool!" Adeline said while her all access pass was hanging around her neck. She was gazing around the paddock, looking at the crowds of people.

It was Saturday, the day of the third practice and qualification. Adeline unfortunately couldn't attend Pierre's first and second practice on Friday because of her conference calls. She was supposed to attend a court the following Tuesday, therefore she had to work. Luckily, quali and race took place during the weekend, and she was able to come.

Before Adeline and Pierre got through the entrance, they had to make their way through the photographers and paparazzi. They were quite nosy, but not much – they already knew who Adeline was, Pierre had announced to the press that they were just friends years ago. Nevertheless, she was wearing black sunglasses to avoid the flashes from the cameras.

"Right?" Pierre laughed, very happy to have the presence of his best friend in the paddock. She has been his number one fan since his beginnings in the motorsport, and even though she has only been to a few Sunday races because of her crazy time schedule, he knew that she was still checking his results and texting him after every race.

"Hey, Pierre, wait! Adeline, is that you?" A soft, familiar male voice somewhere behind them yelled, which made Adeline and Pierre turn to see who it was.

"Yuki, hi! Haven't seen you in a while!" Adeline giggled, waving at Pierre's teammate. He was actually the only driver she had met except Pierre, obviously. Pierre had brought Yuki at Adeline's birthday last year, that's why they knew each other.

"Good to see you! Wait, aren't you taller?" Yuki asked, hugging Adeline. He was excited to see her as she had been very nice to him at the party (which wasn't that usual according to Pierre), and they had found a common ground.

"The question is, aren't you shorter?" Adeline replied and made Pierre laugh out loud with his contagious evil laughter.

"I keep telling him the same thing!" Pierre burst out, making fun of poor Yuki. On the other hand, that was their kind of friendship; they were used to mock each other all the time.

"You guys are mean!" Yuki exclaimed, but then he brushed it off with a smile.

"Gasly, Yuki! Blonde girl! Wait!" Adeline heard another male voice behind them, this time completely unknown for her. She turned around and saw a tall guy with olive skin running to them. She looked at his hair – it was dyed red.

"Hey, Albono," Pierre greeted the stranger. Adeline was sure that she had seen him on social media or on TV, but she honestly had no idea who that was. "This blonde girl is Adeline Edwards, she has been my best friend since our childhood," Pierre added.

"Hi Adeline, I'm Alex. I've heard so much about you!" Alex said, shaking hands with Adeline. Adeline's height was quite average for a woman, she wasn't neither tall nor short. But wow, that guy was tall as hell!

"Hello Alex, you can call me Addy," Adeline introduced herself to Alex, noticing something else about him. "You must be British!"

"You're British too! So glad to have you here, Pierre can be too French sometimes," Alex whispered. However, he was loud enough on purpose so that Pierre could hear him.

"Uh, she's French! She's both!" Pierre protested, obsessed with the fact that Adeline was born in France and lived there for a good couple of years.

"He's right. I'm kind of a combination of rudeness and dry humour," Adeline confessed, making all of the guys laugh while they were walking to the pitlane.

"You would get along with my girlfriend, Lily. She's coming tomorrow, I have to introduce you!" Alex seemed excited to meet a new girl in the paddock.

"I can't wait to meet her!" Adeline said. She was sure that Lily was just as nice as Alex.