Below Deck || C. Leclerc

xiv

The past

Liliana was standing in front of her closet and put her hands on her hips. She sighed and looked behind her; almost every piece of her clothing was laying on her bed. She had enough clothes, that was for sure, but not what she wanted. Her eyes fell on her watch; noon just started. She blew a piece of hair out of her face, am I really bullshitting with this for an hour now?

She would go out for dinner with Charles and his family. And she suspected that it would be a fancy and classy dinner because 1: it's Monaco, and 2: it's the Leclerc family.

There was one option left. And Liliana was hopeless enough to do it. She grabbed her phone and FaceTimed Charles.

"Hey," Charles said when he picked up the FaceTime call from Liliana.

"Hello, I need your help," Liliana mentioned straight away and sat down on her bed. "Because I... Wait, do you have time to talk?" She was scanning the background of Charles, it seemed like he was in the gym.

He nodded. "Yes, I just finished the workout."

"Okay, good, well, good for you. Anyway, we have that dinner tonight, right? With your family?" Liliana was slightly stressed and talking fast, Charles noticed that. He nodded again. "I don't know what to wear."

His face straightened before he giggled. "You are asking me for outfit advice while you always say that I don't have style?" Charles proudly smiled. "I knew this day would come. You secretly like my style, Lili."

"No, I don't," she replied and rolled her eyes. "But you went out for dinner more often in Monaco. I don't know what to wear."

"Do you have a nice dress?"

"I guess." She got up and put her phone on a shelf in her closet. "Well, summer dresses," she admitted. "What is the dress code again? Perhaps I can style something and turn it into something not summery." She tugged her earlobe and looked at her dresses.

"We're wearing a tux," Charles replied and took a sip from his water. "Lorenzo, Arthur and I. But err..." He ran his hand through his hair.

Liliana straightened her face and bit her lip. "Right, no summer dresses. So I..." She began to laugh. "God, I never understood why girls would cry over outfit stress, but I am experiencing that now. I don't have anything that will reach the same style as a tuxedo."

"And you're only finding that out now? Lili, the dinner is tonight, you know it for a week now."

Her lips parted. "Fair enough," she agreed.

"So... What are you gonna do now?"

"I guess I am going to the store, because I cannot not show up or show up in an underdressed summer dress." Liliana pressed a forced smile on her face. "A nice, pretty, classy dress. Noted." She looked at the time, she had to leave soon to go to the mall in France. "How late do I need to be at the restaurant?"

Charles looked at his screen and blinked a couple of times, probably thinking. "You know what, I will come with you to the store. Do you have time to wait for thirty minutes?"

"Oh, that will be fun," she said, but then smiled. "Thanks, though."

"Alright, I will be there. And you can bring your stuff, if you want, so you can get ready at mine. And sleepover."

"Uh..." She took a deep breath and thought through her planning in her head. "Yeah, that is possible. I will leave early, though."

"Do you know where they're sending you?"

She was shaking her head. "They will let me know tomorrow. Apparently, there's a fight between a crew and they need to rearrange everything again. It's bad, but that's the other side of the yachting industry. And I don't mind it, as long as I get my money. It's annoying, but there's nothing I can do about it. But I will get on the plane tomorrow, the destination is unknown. Feels kinda like the travel roulette thing," she chuckled. Liliana shared a smile. "Anyway, I will see you in thirty minutes."