Ophélie

Part 12

It's Saturday, and time for qualifying in Saudi Arabia. The rest of the week flew past in a whirlwind, I went to meetings, interviews and press conferences with Charles, and we stayed at the hotel in the evenings, cooking our own dinner and watching movies, dancing around to music, or just laying on the bed in each other's arms, speaking about everything and anything.

Charles gets into the car for Q1, and I hand him his helmet, I lean down and kiss him before he pulls it on. Then I crouch down next to him, taking his hand.

"Que Dieu bénisse cet homme, cette voiture et cette équipe." I say, then I squeeze his hand. "I love you Charles. Be safe." Then I stand up, kiss his helmet and say, "Go get em Charlsie!" (Que Dieu bénisse cet homme, cette voiture et cette équipe = God bless this man, this car and this team)

And he's out. I take a seat next to Isa, who rests her hand on my leg, smiling at me. We sit with our headsets on, staring at the screens.

Eleven minutes into Q1, Latifi crashes, causing a red flag, both Charles and Carlos have to abandon their laps and are unable to put times in. At the end of Q1, Carlos is in provisional pole, and Charles is in P3. I feel kind of bad for Lewis who didn't make it out of Q1, for the first time in years. Charles is back in the garage, watching the data on the screens in front of him, he doesn't look around, he is solely focused on qualifying, and the information being provided to him by the engineers. However, he does give me a quick thumbs up before he is out on the track again for Q2. Everyone gasps loudly as Mick hits the wall, his tyres flying off, causing another red flag. We all breathe a sigh of relief when we hear Mick is okay. Q2 finishes with Carlos in provisional pole again, and Charles in P2. Isa and I are squeezing each other's hands. This time, when Charles is in the garage, he gives me a quick wave and then blows me a kiss, which I imitate back to him. Then he focused on the data in front of him again. Both Lando and Daniel don't make it past P2. Isa and I practically hold our breath during Q3. Staring at the screens, not saying a word, but our hands squeezing each other tighter and tighter. Suddenly Checo takes the pole, in the last seconds of qualifying, both Isa and I just stare at each other. It was looking like pole and P2 for the starting positions for Ferrari tomorrow. So qualifying ends with Checo on Pole, then Charles, and then Carlos. I sigh and pull off my headsets, walking over to get ready for Charles. I smile at Jock who shakes his head.

"Tough luck." he shrugs, offering me a small smile.

I nod. "It's okay, we'll get them tomorrow."

Charles comes into the garage and I take his helmet, balaclava and gloves from him, then he quickly gets weighed and tells me to wait for him in his driver's room before he goes over to speak to the engineers. I walk through the garage, to his room, humming a song to myself. When I get to his room I start getting his clothes out for him to change, but Andrea walks in behind me.

"Hey Ophelia, how are you?" he smiles, pulling out Charles' tub he uses for ice baths.

I smile. "Hey! I'm good. Oh, is Charles doing an ice bath today?"

He nods. "Yeah, he was saying he's super tired, I just want to calm his nervous system down, and try to help him to get some sleep tonight ahead of tomorrow's race."

I nod slowly before saying. "Okay cool, I'll get his ice bath stuff out then!"

Charles walks in and walks straight over to me, giving me a quick kiss.

"Well done! Not a bad starting position for tomorrow." I smile at him.

He gives me a quick smile and then turns to Andreas. "Thanks, mate, I'll get Ophélie to help me with the rest."

Andreas has just finished filling the bath up, he looks at me. "Not longer than fifteen minutes."

"I know." I smile at him, setting a timer for fifteen minutes. "Don't worry. I'll text you when he's done."