Rêveries

Chapter 58

Evie and I somehow managed to get out of bed without throwing up, although we had to spend an hour or two in bed, drinking water and taking aspirin. But we had to get up to pack our suitcases, then drag our asses down to the lobby to check out and get a taxi to the airport.

I said goodbye to Evie as she went to her gate, as she was going home to Monaco for the week off they had before going to England. Charles had asked me to go with him to Silverstone, one of the bigger races of the season, but I had declined because I thought it would be unfair to Elliòtt to be gone so much when I should be practicing with him. Now I'm not sure that I care what's fair and not to him, because honestly I don't think I need to be very fair to him. But I also don't want to prove him right and 'run off with my boyfriend' every chance that I get.

The flight to Stockholm was painfully slow. I tried to sleep, but I still had a bit of a headache and my whole body felt icky. But when I landed, my dad was there to pick me up, and I realized how much I had missed him. I had started jogging to get up to him quicker and I got a hug so tight I felt like I couldn't really breathe. He took my suitcase and walked it to the car and on the drive home, he told me about anything I might've missed and I told him about what I've been up to. He noticed I'm still wearing the locket he gave me for Christmas and the smile on his face when I told him I never take it off was just priceless.

When we walked through the door, mom was on a roll in the kitchen, but she moved everything from the stove to run out to hug me in the hallway. She hugged me and swayed me side to side as if she hadn't seen me in years.

"Ma vie," My life, she exclaims, showering my cheeks with kisses, patting back my hair while I scrunch up my face and try to free myself from her grip, because it is a tiny bit overwhelming. "comment s'est passé votre concours?" How was your competition?

"C'était bien, je suis arrivé deuxième mais ça va," It was good, I came second but it's okay, I shrug and take my suitcase past her into the house so I can drop it off in my room. I hear her saying how proud they are of me as I just smile and go to dump my suitcase in my room.

"Mon étoile," Dad yells from down the hall, "La course commence dans dix minutes si vous voulez la regarder," The race starts in ten minutes if you want to watch it.

"J'arrive," I'm coming, I say back, taking my phone with me. I send a text to Charles wishing him good luck even though he's probably not going to see it until after the race.

Dad and I sit down on the couch and he puts the TV on. He tells me he watched the qualifying and saw how Charles managed to get pole by a good margin. The lights go out and Charles gets a really good start. He manages to stay in front until he has to pit in lap twenty three. We watch and I hear my dad cursing as something goes wrong during the pit stop, making Charles come out behind both Lewis and Max. When it's Max and Lewis' time to pit, he retakes the lead. I feel bad for Lewis' eleven second pitstop, but I do like seeing Charles leading.

Max gets closer to Charles when he's managed to pass Sebastian, who goes into the pits. He still has to pass Valtteri before fighting Charles, though. Charles and Max are close to lapping Pierre, who didn't have a good race at all. Mom joins us on the couch just as we see Pierre looking as if he's holding Charles up to close the gap between him and Max, but gets out of the way to make sure Charles won't get DRS.

Stupid fucking Frenchman.

Max takes the lead, Dad stands up shouting when Charles manages to retake it, but then Max pushes Charles wide, causing him to run over the kerbs and Max manages to retake the lead again. Dad sits down, disappointed, as he thought we were close to seeing Charles' first win. He was so close with only two laps to go. It might sound selfish — but a part of me let out a breath, because I would do anything to be there for his first win.