The encounter of a lifetime - Charles Lerclerc

Chapter 15

After this amazing weekend, it's time to go. Charles will be leaving for the Netherlands for another grand prix and for my part I will be returning to Switzerland to finish moving. My classes resume in a few weeks and I have to be installed before.

I arrive around 5 p.m. at home. My parents picked me up at the airport by car, they are super attentive with me. I'm kinda enjoying spending time with them as I won't be seeing them again for a while. Of course, I tell them about my weekend and they tell me to congratulate Charles on their behalf. My parents like formula one but nothing more. But they always liked Charles, fortunately.

I spend a few days with my parents going out, doing some shopping but also and above all sorting my things and packing. I also take the opportunity to see my friends, even if they have promised to come and visit me in Monaco. But since this week Charles is not there, he agreed that I invite Chloe to come and sleep at his place, well at our place.

We load up the car and set off again for a 7-hour drive. This time if it's much funnier because there are two of us. And in addition, Chloé decided to drive for the first part of the journey, and I would drive the second as I know Monaco better than her. When we arrive, we put down our things and get ready to go out. We have to join Leo and the other friends we had this summer to go eat a little something. It's really nice to see them again.

We quickly resume our little vacation rhythm and because it's been a while since we've seen each other with Chloe, we have a lot to talk about. Obviously, she is disgusted in I tell her that I saw Lando Norris and that I even ate with him. But Charles told me that she could come and see some grand prix if she wanted to and that we could arrange for her to meet him. For the moment I do not tell him to keep the surprise, but I keep it in mind.

It's Sunday afternoon and it's time for the grand prix. Leo came to the apartment to see the grand prix with us. I feel uncomfortable inviting people here because I feel like it's not my home, but Charles just encouraged me to invite them. He repeated to me that it was our apartment for both of us and that he trusted me, but it's still strange.

Unfortunately, Charles finished second behind Max Verstappen. He calls me as soon as he has some free time and tells me that he is frustrated not to have won, but that he is happy for Max that he won in front of his public, at home. As Max is Dutch there are thousands of people who come to support him here. But, the next Grand Prix is Monza in Italy and there he wants to win at all costs. Being a Ferrari driver, all Italians expect a driver from the team to win. Especially this year when they have had good results throughout the season.

***

Chloé returned to Switzerland two days ago and it is now time for me to also leave Monaco. I feel like I've only been traveling lately, I'm never more than a week somewhere. But I'm going to join Charles in Italy and I'm really looking forward to this grand prix. Katerina, Pierre's girlfriend, will be there as the circuit is near Milan, where she lives with Pierre. I can't wait to spend time with her because it's true that the boys are pretty busy on the weekends. At least we can enjoy both.

When I arrive at the hotel Charles is not in the room. I see he left me a note saying he had a meeting but would be there to eat with me tonight. So I decide to start emptying my suitcase and I take a quick shower. I put on my music and go crazy. I'm doing a little make-up and a pretty hairstyle for tonight. I will then look at what outfit to wear. Obviously, I took three times too many clothes so I have a lot of choices. I hesitate between several outfits but decide to put on a long flowing dress. It is still quite warm in Italy even though it is early September. I will still take a jacket afterwards to be sure not to be cold.

Charles arrives around 7 p.m. in the room. He comes to kiss me and give me a hug then goes to get ready. He puts on ripped black jeans and an Armani t-shirt. We go out into town and look for a nice little restaurant. On the way we meet fans who take pictures with Charles. I kind of became his official photographer since everyone asks me to take pictures with them. But it makes me happy to do it, and especially to see their smile. If I had been in their place I would have liked someone to be there to take a nice picture of me.

We chose an Italian restaurant of course that has a terrace with lots of garlands of lights. The place is truly magical and being there with him makes it even better. Charles tells me what he did his last days and I do the same. He asks me if I was able to settle down properly and if I had enough room to put all my clothes. He knows I have a lot and was really afraid it wouldn't fit. But by forcing a little bit I managed to get everything back.

Charles pulls out his phone and asks me if he can take a picture of me because I look so pretty in that light. I accept and he asks me if he can put it in an instagram story. I know it's a big step in our relationship that he posts me on insta because he has over 6.5 million subscribers. But on the story he only identifies me and puts a little star so that's fine. I know that people are going to ask a lot of questions, and that even the media can talk about this story, but I don't want to think about it. I know that our relationship will have to be exposed one day and that my life will change because of it, but for now as we have said many times all we know is that we love each other really really good and that's it. We have never said I love you before, so the formalization will wait a bit.

In just two hours I notice that 10,000 people have subscribed to my Instagram account. I notice that it's mostly fan accounts and Charles, but I can't imagine what it will be like the day he says I'm his girlfriend.
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