STAY THE NIGHT || Charles Leclerc

TWELVE

Thursday, 13 January

Dearest Maria,

It's been a while since I've last spoken to you. I'm not quite sure where to start.

We lost mum and dad at the beginning of the year. I guess you know that already, they're with you now. I hope that you welcomed them, Mia. I wasn't ready to give them to you yet, but I know that you appreciate having them with you. I guess they were always your parents as much as they are mine.

Lottie called me late one night to give me the news. It was unbearable. I hadn't seen them for so long. I didn't even get to say goodbye to them. They were supposed to be coming to visit me this week, as a belated merry christmas and happy new year. Instead, I'm packing my suitcase and heading back to the UK for their funeral. I've not told Lottie, but I don't really want to go back yet. I don't think I'm ready. I have your voice in my head as I write this, telling me that I'll never know until I try. I'm not ready to try. I'm scared, Mia. I'm so, so scared. I'm scared about flying, scared to visit the village again, scared to see if the place has changed. I'm scared to see the village without you, Mia. I know that it's just not the same without you by my side, and that terrifies me.

There's one thing that I look forward to, and that's seeing Ellie. She's almost two years old now, and I haven't seen her since she was just a few months old. Lottie and Jack send me photos of her, and I see her whenever I FaceTime them, but it's not the same. I can't wait to reach their home and be able to hold her. She's so cute, Lottie's done such an amazing job raising her. You would have loved her so much, I just know that you would. I want to be the best auntie for her, for the both of us.

What else? Uni is okay, I guess. I'm running behind on one of my assignments, and it's stressful, but I guess that's part of the university life. I've been working on a scale model this week, which Charles tells me is amazing. I'm not as convinced, but you always commented on how critical I've been of my work. What can I say, Mia, I'm a perfectionist. I always have been, and I always will.

Charles is doing well too, he's been preparing for the new season. I don't like to be too optimistic, especially before any testing has taken place, but I think this year is finally going to be his year. Ferrari made some good steps forward towards the end of last season, so hopefully it carries on to this year. It'll be his fourth season in F1 this year, his third with Ferrari, so it seems like the perfect time. Hopefully he can lead the prancing horses back to the top step again.

Goodbye for now, Mia. Look after mum and dad for me, okay? I love you.

Forever and always.
Olly <3

A/N: a different format for this chapter, what do you guys think?? next week's chapter will be in the same style, and hopefully i'll write a few more chapters like this later on...

in the meantime, thank you so much for your support on this book! i've had a few lovely comments and messages recently from readers (you know who you are :) ) which honestly makes my day <3. even if it's just voting for the chapter, i love seeing people enjoying my work

Copsecorner x