ma chérie | cl16

chapter twenty-one

"Addy, you know I love you, but you're stupid," Hazel shook her head as she watched her blonde best friend get a coffee from one of the many coffee stands at the Silverstone circuit. Adeline was explaining to her the whole situation with Charles, and Hazel couldn't help but be very vocal about her opinion.

It was Friday, and even though the sun wasn't shining and it was about to rain, the atmosphere was quite hard to describe. It was better than good. Hazel had never attended a Formula One race, and having the opportunity to enjoy the whole race weekend was something she never knew she needed.

"I'm stupid. I know," Adeline rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her vanilla cappuccino—it tasted like heaven. At least something felt right at that moment.

Adeline was furious with herself. She knew that lying to Charles was bad. However, when she had woken up in his hotel room in Montreal, she had panicked. She had told him many things she had been longing to say to him for a long time, but... But. So, she decided to buy some time before speaking to Charles about their situation.

"You have to tell him, though," Hazel let out a sigh, pointing her index finger at Adeline's cup of coffee. "You're drinking coffee with milk and vanilla. You only drink coffee as black as your soul. You're so screwed," she giggled, but her smile disappeared as soon as Adeline gave her a death stare. Also known as the Addy stare.

"I'll tell him, okay? I just need to figure the whole thing out. I'll tell him during our London tour on Monday," Adeline promised. She glanced at her watch—there was still some time left before the beginning of the first practice session, which was ideal. Hazel wanted to go through the paddock and thank Pierre for getting her a VIP pass.

"You don't have to rush anything. Just tell him what you feel. He seems very respectful, especially when he hasn't said anything about that night," Hazel pointed out. Charles really seemed like a nice guy, which was rare to find in this world. She knew that Adeline wasn't used to that treatment and that it almost felt unbelievable for her. "Just... Don't push him away. You'd regret it."

"I know," Adeline nodded, looking into Hazel's eyes that reminded her of a French hot chocolate. Her eyes were complimenting her caramel skin, and Adeline thought she was way too beautiful and intelligent to keep coming back to Camilla. Stupid Camilla. Adeline was glad that Camilla wasn't in Hazel's life anymore—but it took Hazel some time to figure that out on her own.

And Adeline also needed to figure out her situation. On her own.

Hazel and Adeline made their way to the AlphaTauri garage. Pierre was speaking to Michael about something, but when he noticed the two girls, he almost pushed him away as he rushed to them.

"Daddy Addy!"

"You saw me like three hours ago, Pedro," Adeline tried to pull away from Pierre's hug, but then she gave in. Hugs weren't something she enjoyed—smelling the other person and invading her personal space? No, thank you. On the other hand, she loved Pierre's hugs. She would act like that to simply annoy him.

Hazel started looking around, hoping to see her ultimate crush in the paddock. "Pedro? Pedro Pascal is here?!"

"No, that's just how the Spanish press called me," Pierre shook his head, leaning in for Hazel's hug. He had to lower a little as Hazel was quite short. "Good to see you, Hazel! It's been such a long time."

"It is! We saw each other in November at Addy's birthday party!" Hazel laughed. She enjoyed Pierre's presence, and she was glad that her best friend had Pierre in her life. He was taking care of her like she was his family. Well, their bond was very sibling-like. And Hazel wasn't jealous of their friendship at all—she was happy that Adeline had some kind of a brother in him. Especially when Adeline had no one else to turn to; her own family was... bad news.