The past year has gone from bad to worse for Charles Leclerc. He lost the World Championship to his greatest rival and then his three year relationship with his girlfriend, Ceci, also ended.
He swore to focus on two things next season, win races and...
Charles, his two brothers, and their maman, enjoys skiing and snowboarding so they really try to do this during the winter. He needed the break because his season did not finish as he expected. His teammate Carlos Sainz won the championship this season and he ended up finishing third, with Max finishing second. Despite everything he did, he really failed to push to get the needed wins this season and it's not good especially he is approaching the final year of his contract with Ferrari in the coming year. He has to win.
His brother Arthur is also on his way to a Formula 1 seat and Charles knows a bit of sibling rivalry will be part of the equation.
"So when will preparations start for next season?" His mother asked
"Maybe after new year we go to run a few laps in the old car to see" he responds as they walk back to the hotel from the ski center nearby.
They were stopped by some fans who recognized him and asked for photos. The last were a group of girls who clearly had the hots for him, one was even daring enough to slip him her number after he signed an autograph. His brother, Arthur, noticed this.
"She's cute, are you going to call her?" Arthur asks.
"What?" He asks oblivious to what Arthur was referring to. "The girl, will you call her?" Then he grabs the piece of paper that she put in Charles' pocket.
"Oh! Of course not. This is family time, not the time to play..." he pauses because he saw someone who looked familiar standing by the side entrance of their hotel. He thinks it was Anita, the funny friend of Carlos' girlfriend, Victoria. She looked like she's in an argument with a man. Charles can't seem to see if it was her boyfriend, but one thing was clear, the man punched Anita in her gut.
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"Why did we stop?" His mother asked.
"Nothing, you go ahead inside and I'll meet you at the restaurant for dinner" he said without letting Anita out of his sight. It seems to be a strong punch because he saw her begging the guy to stop. The man left and went inside the hotel, leaving Anita on her knees. Charles rushed towards her to see if she was okay.
"Anita?" He called out, still unsure if it was her. "Anita is that you? It's me, Charles"
"Oh, Charles Leclerc. I'm sorry, it's hard to see it's a bit dark...here. Hi! " Anita wipes her tears and struggles to get her composure. She still grimaced as she tried to stand up straight.
"I don't mean to intrude but I saw what happened and i just..." he saw Anita's face to turn white out of shock and fear upon hearing what he just said.
"Oh, that. I'm fine. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. It's just a misunderstanding" she said with fear still evident in her voice
"Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me to take you to the clinic? To get checked?" He asks her because he saw that it was a pretty heavy blow and judging from her expression she is in pain.
