Red | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 18

Everyone was dressed in bright colours with fancy bags and held tall glasses of champagne. It was fairly windy and my hair kept getting caught in my lipgloss.

"Charles, everyone is speaking French," I whispered as I clutched onto Charles's hand.

"Well we are in France, cabbage," he whispered back, chuckling.

The wedding was being held in a huge hotel just outside of Nice. Me and Charles had only been invited to the reception, which was a relief, but there was still the added pressure of making a good impression on his friends and family. We walked up to the building, which was more like a Manor House that the King of England would own.

"Did they book this whole hotel?" I gasped as we stepped inside. There was a big swirling staircase that was lined with a deep red carpet that led to the grand landing. The walls were lined with old photos of noblemen with dogs and horses and women with bowls of fruit. "This is incredible!"

"They own this hotel," Charles looked down at me, laughing as my mouth dropped open. "I know."

We walked down a hallway, past more paintings and huge vases full of irises and lilies. At the end of the corridor there was a huge raised patio looking out onto vast gardens full of neatly trimmed hedges and perfect beds of flowers. Beyond this was a huge marquee, already full of people. Everyone around us, already equipped with champagne, were making there way down the steps and through the gardens.

"You ready?" He squeezed my hand.

"As I'll ever be," I squeezed back and we walked out of the building.

The gardens were stunning. Not a single leaf or petal on any plant was out of place, even the bees and the butterflies seemed to put on a show as the fluttered around in the afternoon sun.

"I am definitely painting this when I get home."

"Y/n, you have a million other half finished paintings in my living room and another million in your apartment," Charles shook his head. "One thing at a time."

"I have to have multiple things going on at once or I get bored," I explained, we were nearly at the tent now.

All of a sudden a girl appeared next to Charles.

"Oh mon dieu Charles! Je ne t'ai pas vu depuis une éternité. Quand Pascale a dit que tu serais là, je n'y croyais pas, mais voilà ! Qui est-ce?" She glared at me, giving me the feeling that I wasn't wanted.
Oh my god Charles! I haven't seen you in forever. When Pascale said you'd be here I didn't believe it, but here you are! Who's this?

"Um, Viola, salut," Charles looked shocked at the sudden appearance of this girl, but I couldn't really read his expression. "Y/n this is Viola, Viola this is Y/n my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? Pascale didn't mention anything about that," her light brown eyes pierced mine.

"She hasn't met her yet," Charles said. "That's why she's here today."

"Nice to meet you," I held out my hand, Viola looked at it and laughed.

"Nice to meet you too," she shook it firmly. "Où l'avez-vous trouvée?"
Where did you find her?

"Don't," Charles glared at her. "If you don't mind, we're going in."

He pulled me quickly into the tent. It was huge, it reminded of that scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There were 2 huge chandeliers that hung from the top of the tent. There was a dance floor in the centre, surrounded by tables lined with white table cloths. The room was filled to the brim with white lilies and deep blue irises. It smelt amazing.

"So, care to explain?" I asked  Charles as we weaved through the tables.

"Uh, yes, Viola is my ex girlfriend," Charles said, sheepishly.

"You're ex girlfriend?" I looked at him shocked, why had he never mentioned this?

"Yes but we broke up when we were 18," Charles shrugged. "I haven't seen her in ages."

"Oh right ok, any other ex girlfriends I should know about?"

"Not that are at this wedding, no."

"Good, because I got the feeling she did not like me," I looked behind me to see Viola talking to another girl, and glared my way.

"She's like that with everyone, she still thinks she has an opinion in what I do," He stated casually, as if it was normal. "Don't read into it."

"Ok I won't," we had reached our table.

Charles' brother, Arthur, and his girlfriend were already at the table. Charles introduced me and we made pleasant conversation for a while, small talk, work and the weather. It was a few minutes before Pascale arrived. She was wearing a floral green gown that sparkled when it caught the light. She rushed over to our table.

"Comment vont mes bébés?" She gave Charles and Arthur a huge hug before kissing them both on the cheek. My heart yearned for this kind of affection. She hugged Carla before turning her focus on me. "Oh Charles, you didn't do her justice, she is a beauty."

I blushed as Charles beamed with pride behind his mum. "Maman, this is Y/n Y/l/n,
y/n this is my mum."

Before I could open my mouth to speak she pulled me in to a strong hug. "You must be doing something right, I have never seen my Charles this happy," she whispered aside to me.

"Thank you," my heart filled. "He speaks very highly of you, I couldn't wait to meet you."

"I'm sure he's said plenty, but I want to hear all about you."

Time passed full of laughter and happy conversation. I settled in quite nicely. Charles was relaxed around his family, more himself. It was nice to see this side of him.

I pulled out my phone from my bag.

Ella 🇳🇴🧔🏼

Hey

Hi, how's it going?

Great actually, better than expected

I have one question

Go on...

Do you know Viola?

Oh yeah, Viola

I forgot about her

She was a bitch

Well I just bumped into her...

Oh god

Did she stare at you like you'd put on socks and sandals?

Yeah

Oh I've got to go

Good luck

"Y/n paints all the time," Charles said, I kicked him under the table.

"Oh really, do you have any pictures of them?" Carla said from the other side of the table.

"Oh no, most of them aren't finished," I shrugged.

"I have a few pictures," Charles piped up. I glared at him but he proceeded to pull out his phone anyway.

"Wow y/n these are amazing," Arthur said passing the phone to his mum.

"Chéri, I need one of these, they're beautiful," Pascale smiled at me.

"Thank you," my cheeks reddened and Charles nudged me under the table.

"Told you they'd love you," he whispered.