The Longest Lap | Charles Leclerc

1

There were things about Monte Carlo that a girl never got over. Juliette had always told me about it, sharing pictures and stories from the times she would visit. But you never know until you experience it yourself. And even now, having been here long enough to be well adjusted to the lifestyle, it still managed to amaze me every day.

Juliette's voice brought me back to reality, "what are you thinking about?"

I pushed a piece of my blonde hair behind my ear, "this place."

She laughed at me, "like a kid in a candy shop Lu."

I shook my head at her, "can you blame me? È magnifico."

She raised her eyebrows at me, "you should be practicing your French."

I sucked my teeth, "not my strong suit. And you know that it never will be."

Her eyes rolled, "fair."

I took a long sip from the glass of wine sitting in front of me, "I feel like I don't know what to do with my time."

She snorted, "take up French."

I reached across the table slapping her hand lightly, "you ass! It's not like I am clueless about the language! Obviously, if I'm living here I'll start to pick it up," I hesitated, "a bit."

Juliette tossed her hands up in surrender, "we should go out tonight."

She piqued my interest, "where are you thinking?"

She tapped her finger against the table, "Jimmy'z?"

I leaned back in my seat, "can we even get in?"

Laughter rumbled from her stomach, "is that a joke Luisa? Don't even answer that. Yes, we can get in, good god. It's not like you're trying to get into Buckingham Palace. It's a nightclub. And not to mention but you literally have a platform, Luisa."

"A platform, really?"

She pointed at me, "you're verified."

I struggled to keep a straight face, "that literally means nothing."

"You know that's not true. Anyways, not important. So we're going out, yes?"

I nodded, "yeah, I guess. Should be fun."

"That was easier than expected. Also," she squinted her eyes at me, "we need to be more social."I scoffed at her, "my life revolves around what I post on Instagram, how can I be more social than that?"

She took a swig from her glass, "like with people! And I didn't say just you, me too. I can't spend my life in Monaco alternating between you and my mother, no offense."

I smiled at her, "none taken."

She reassured me, "you do too. I don't even know what you do all day."

"Content create," I shrugged my shoulders, "whatever that means."

"Big influencer Luisa."

I laughed, "oh yeah, for sure."

She stood grabbing our dinner plates and I followed after her with our wine glasses. I poured myself another, "do you want more?"

She nodded, "small glass though, I don't wanna get sick."

I stuck a stopper into the bottle and put it back in its place. Juliette washed the dishes quickly before we headed out to our balcony to bask in the sky's changing colors. The boats were making their way in, or should I say yachts. And Monaco was lighting up the way it did every night.

I finished off my glass, "what time do you want to head out?"

She looked down at her watch, "11:30?"

"What time is it now?"

"A little after 9."

I gave her a thumbs up, "that works, I think."

She pulled a strand of her brown hair out of her ponytail, examining her ends, "it's Friday, so it should be good."

"Emphasis on should."

She stood, "it will. And it'll be nice we haven't gone out in a while."

I laughed, "yeah because I'm still recovering from the summer."

She flung her hands to her hips, "that was 4 months ago!"

"I'm joking!"

She began to make her way inside, "I'm going to start getting ready, you should too you take forever."

I waved her off because that was not true. Juliette almost always took longer to get ready. I stayed out on our balcony for a few minutes. We had been graciously given a beautiful view, thanks to Juliette's mother of course. I could sit out here forever.

I had to drag myself back inside to start getting ready. I knew that once I was out I would have fun, it was the act of actually getting ready that made me miserable. Juliette, like me, was 24 But she still wanted to party like we were in college. I didn't mind it, but I always prepared myself for the morning after.

I trudged through my closet without a clue of what to wear. I opened up my bedroom door before clearing my throat and putting on my best French accent, "Juliette!"

She immediately called back, "oh Luisa!"

I scurried through the apartment before I entered her room, "I don't know what to wear."

I didn't see her at first and then she wandered out of her bathroom. She had the front strands of her hair in curlers and had one eyebrow done, "no pants. Skirt or dress."

I nodded, "do you know what you're wearing?"

She pointed at her closet and I invited myself to it and she had a royal blue body con dress pulled out of her enormous collection, "that's pretty where from?"

"Revolve, I think. Do you want to borrow something?"

I found her back in the bathroom now, "no, I think I know what I'm gonna wear. Thank you though."

She laughed, "of course you weirdo. But you need to get a move on. I want to be at the club at 11:30, I should have specified that."

"I can almost certainly guarantee that I will be ready before you."

She waved me off, "out."

"Going!"

I tended to zone out when I got ready, I think because I just wanted to be done with it. I listened to my music and did what I needed. I dragged my fingers through my freshly waved hair and topped off my makeup with a layer of lip gloss. I reached for my phone, 10:30. Perfect time. I brought myself back to my closet pulling out pieces. I slipped on a black mini skirt that I had made the firm decision I would wear. Picking a top was a different story. I tried on what seemed like 100 different options before I settles on one. I ended up with a black off-the-shoulder long-sleeved top. I contoured my collarbone just a bit for the effect.

My door swung open and Juliette came clicking into my room, "can you zip my dress?"

I peeked my head out of my bathroom, "yes, come."

She made her way to me before she stopped in her tracks, "okay hello, body."

I rolled my eyes at her, "shush, you look good too."

She smiled and turned her back to me. I zipped her up, "I don't know what shoes to wear."

She was thinking, "I have the perfect pair."

I followed her back to her room and sat on the edge of her bed. She reappeared with a pair of black knee-high boots, "try.'

I zipped the boots up and stood in front of her floor-length mirror, the shoes were perfect. I was actually quite proud of this outfit, one of my better without a doubt. The shoes made my otherwise short legs look long, I was over the moon about that.

I threw a few things into my bag before Juliette insisted we take photos. A perfect example of why she should be in charge of my career. I all about had to yell at Juliette to get her to realize that not was time to leave when the time came. She could find about anything under the sun that she just had to do before going anywhere. I think she took that from her mother, but she would argue otherwise. Luckily, we finally made it out of the apartment and were on our way.