The unknown driver

chapter thirty-two

Charles POV

It's thursday.
Today we invited Lewis and his parents to the paddock.
Amelia's very excited.
We wait for them at a special entry and greet them when they arrive.
"Hi Lewis", I say as he comes and hugs me.
"Ready for a day as a ferrarifan?"
"You mean redbullfan?", Amelia says.
We all laugh and walk inside. I take Lewis and put him on my shoulders again.
We show them around a little and take him to every garage.
"Hi mate who are you?", Carlos asks him.
"Lewis", the little child on my shoulders answers shily.
"Nice to meet you Lewis", he says and holds his hand out for him.
They shake hands and I say: "Want to sit in the car?"
He nods frantically and I sit him into the car.
He takes a look at all the buttons in the car and asks me what they're all for.
I explain it to him while Amelia's speaking to the parents.
"Let's go over to the rebull garage", Amelia says.
"Can I sit into your car too?", Lewis asks.
"Of course you can"
She smiles at him and I take him out of the car onto my shoulders again.
We're walking over there when Lando and Pierre come our way.
"Hey guys. Who's that little guy on your shoulders mate?", Pierre asks.
"This is Lewis. Lewis this is Pierre and this is Lando"
"Ah so you're the boy they told us about. Nice to meet you", Lando says smiling at him.
"And these are his parents Amy and Chuck. They're all massive formula one fans"
"Nice to meet you", Pierre and Lando say shaking their hands.
"We're sorry but we have to continue our tour.", Amelia says.
They wish us fun and we head to the redbull garage. There we meet Max.
"Hey. You must be Lewis. My name'sm Max. Nice to meet you", he smiles at him.
Lewis is a little speechless. We let him sit in the car of Amelia and he repeats the purpose of all buttons again. 
We continue to show him around a little until we're at the end of our little tour.
"We're really sorry but we have to leave now since we're having some interviews later but we have a surprise for you.", I say taking him down from my shoulders and putting him down i front of me.
"Yes. You're allowed to watch fp1 and fp2 tomorrow from the garages tomorrow if you want. But only if your parents allow you too", Amelia says.
"Yes can we please watch the fps tomorrow there. Pleeasee"
"Sure we can", Amy says.
"Great. We wish you a good afternoon then and be here at around 10am.", Amelia says.
We say goodbye to eachother and Amelia and I head to the media point.
"Okay see you later. Love you", I say and give her a little kiss.
"Love you too".
We head into different directions. I take a look at my watch and see that our interview starts in two minutes. I start jogging and arrive there breathing a little heavier.
A woman gives me a microphone and sends me out to the stage where Carlos is already talking to the fans.
"Oh here he is. Big applause for the worse driver of ferrari"
They all laugh and clap as I sit down on a chair.
"Who was that little boy on your instagram story?", a girl asks.
"Oh his name's Lewis and I actually met him two days ago when Amelia and I were visiting Lüttich. Suddenly he was standing next to me telling me what a big formula one fan he is and we couldn't find his parents. So we took him with us for an hour and searched for his parents. When we finally found them Amelia and I decided that it would be a great idea to invite him to the paddock."
The next few questions are about quali and the race on sunday and about summerbreak.
"Did you spend your entire summerbreak with Amelia? Because there was a picture of you and Charlotte at a club together in Ibiza.", another girl asks.
"Uhm yes I did spend my entire summerbreak with Amelia. We went to Ibiza together with Lando, Pierre and Luisa for a week I think? Uhm we went clubbing one night and she bumped into me and we talked a little nothing more."
"But isn't it a big coincidence that she was there. And I belive there was also a picture in Monaco at the harbour"
"Uhm yes Amelia were snorkeling that day and out on the sea and when we got back she was there too waiting for a friend. And yes I believe this is a big coincidence."
The next few questions are about the race again what relieves me a little. Some questions are a little private but after last time I learned that it's better when you give them an answer than let them make assumptions and spread roumors.
The rest of the interview goes quickly and we get off stage again where I see Amelia and Max waiting. Now it's their turn to face these questions.

Amelias POV

"How do you feel about the coincidence that you always bump into Charlotte?", a girl asks me.
I look at her not really knowing how to answer that question.
It really pisses me off that she always bumps into us. I personally think she's meeting us on purpouse and that Charles is just too nice to say no.
She always greets him with a really (like really) long hug. I hate it. When she hugs him she always gives me a bitchy look. Then she comes over to me and gives me a very quick hug so that our skins don't even touch. I mean I don't mind her hugging me not that long but she continues hugging Charles for almost ten minutes until it gets cringe. Then she talks to him completely ignoring me. Again I don't mind her ignoring her but the way that she looks at Charles and exaggeratedly laughs at his jokes. And in addition she always tries to touch him at every chances she gets.
Charles always pulls away and pulls me closer.
God she really gets on my nerves sometimes.
"Oh I don't mind. Charles is over her and he's totally interested in me and I know he doesn't like her that way so yes I don't mind", I say smiling even if I don't feel that way.
"And do you think it's a coincidence or that she's meeting you two on purpose?", the girl asks again.
Can't you just shut up?
"Uhm I don't know but I don't want to start roumors or anything so no comment",  smile again.
The girl looks at me a little pissed of but I continue smiling at her.
The rest of the questions are about me being a female in racing and Max winning the championsship and that stuff.
The rest of the interview goes by pretty fast and I get down of the stage and see Charles standing there.
"Hey. I heard they were asking you questions about Charlotte too?", he asks me and greets me with a hug.
"Yes it's exausting. You have to stop talking to her so long when she 'bumps' into us again okay? They're going to make assumptions again and I can't cope with that right now. I need to concentrate on the championsship right now. I have to prove myself first and for that I need full focus"
"I know baby. Don't think about it. Next time I'll just tell her we have to leave and we'll leave okay?"
I nod and he gives me a gental kiss.
We hold hands and start walking to my garage to get my things.
We drive home and start getting ready since we're appointed for dinner with some of the other drivers.
It's not a fancy restaurant so I just wear some light makeup, jeans and a hoodie.
Charles and I are the last to arrive there and take a seat at the table. Next to me is Pierre and next to Charles Lando is seatet. Carlos and Max are also there.

I'm taking a bite of my salad when Lando asks: "And how are you really feeling about the fact that Charlotte always bumps into you two on purpouse?", they all get silent and look at me.
"Well maybe it is a coincidence", I say continue looking at my salad.
"We all know that it's not so tell us", Lando says.
"It really pisses me off. I mean why does she think it's okay to stalk her exboyfriend who got a new girlfriend now only because she's jealouse. The way she looks at him is so annying and when she looks at me she gives me a look as if I had killed her mother or something. It just- It makes me so fucking angry."
They all pause at my answer.
"I didn't know A-", Charles says but I shut him down.
"Oh come on as if. I mean if I would hug my ex boyfriend ten or more seconds and you would see how much he's admiring me and how he would always touch me at every chance he gets you would get angry at me right away. I'm so fed up with this bullshit.
She continued ruining every day with her presence even in Ibiza she was there and wouldn't leave us alone because it looks like I've been the only one noticing how she would always follow us after meeting 'bumping into us'. If you don't tell her to fuck off next time I will and I'm not going to do this the nice way like you."
Lando is looking at his food ashamed that he asked me that question as Pierre is looking at him angry.
Carlos and Max are staring at me in shock while Charles just looks at his food.
It's silent for a few seconds before I say: "I'm sorry I shouldn't have reacted the way I just did. It just really annoys me that you never have the courage to tell her to go away."
He looks at me with guilty eyes.
"I know I'm sorry I just feel bad when I treat her that way but now that I know how you feel about it, I'm going to tell her. I really like you Amelia and I don't want this to come between us."
He holds his hand out for me and I take it.
We keep looking at eachother and smile.
"Wow that was harsh", Max says.
"I'm sorry", I say.
"No don't apologize. She's in the wrong not you. I would react the same way and we know if it was your ex doing that Charles would beat him up.", Pierre says and we all start laughing.
I love how they don't make things awkward and understand me. They're also not mad at me for shouting at Charles or something.
They take me as I am.