The Longest Lap | Charles Leclerc

4

I'd spent my morning saluting myself for successfully combatting my hangover effectively. I'd found that as I got older, the morning after drinking got significantly worse. But I had made a long list of worst things to try to avoid it and was finally making some headway.

I tinkered around the kitchen as I sipped my coffee. I may or may not have shamelessly spent most of the time I'd been awake stalking Charles on any and all forms of social media. He was criminally good-looking. And I had probably about a million questions.

I clicked the follow button on his Instagram, which was impulsive of me. But there was no chance in hell he'd even notice. He spoke Italian, he would probably put mine to shame. His teammate, Carlos, was also freakishly handsome. Scratch that, everyone he knew was apparently freakishly attractive. Who knew ice baths could be so enjoyable? He had an ex, well, I'm assuming it's his ex. And one rabbit hole down another, she was indeed his ex.

Juliette finally rolled in around 11:30. I gawked at her as she stumbled into the house with her heels on but a sweatshirt thrown over her dress now and her hair in a bun, "cute outfit."

She kicked her heels off, "Lu, I will kill you," she threw herself on the couch, "and why is it so bright in here?"

I laughed at her, throwing a pair of sunglasses in her direction, "relax. Did you have a good night?"

She shoved the shades over her eyes, "signs point to yes," she groaned, "ew, I don't know why I said that. But yes, very good actually. And you? I was half hoping you would be cozied up with Charles."

I scoffed, "yeah, okay. In what world?"

She pointed to her head, "in Juliette's world."

I threw a pillow at her, "so, are you going to tell me anything or am I just getting 'it was good'? Because if so then I'm leaving the room."

She rolled her eyes into next week and then perked up with a wide smile and started talking about Lando. Truthfully, I listened in awe as she talked about him. Juliette was a tough cookie to crack. She could not stand the male race and never had a kind word to say. And rightfully so, men suck. But there were a few good ones, Juliette and I just never managed to find them.

When she'd finally finished telling me about her night I smiled at her, "so, you like him?"

She pressed her hands into the pillow that was resting in her lap, "I don't know if I would go that far."

"Oh please! You were practically on another planet just now talking about him."

She giggled dead giveaway, "maybe I have a tiny crush. But that's it. Nothing else. His life is very different from mine, I have no desire to be whisked into that world."

"And what world is that exactly?"

She used her hands to emphasize her point, "the life of the rich and famous."

I couldn't help the puzzled look that spread across my face, "Juls, you're like filthy rich."

"So are you! Okay, maybe I mean more of the fame part. It's just different, you know what I mean."

I nodded because I did get what she meant. We came from money, but theirs was different. I let out a sigh, "well, I don't think you should just write it off because of that."

"You're right, I won't. I guess we'll just see where the wind blows. His ex's name is Luisa or something like that."

"Whose?"

"Lando's, duh. Who else would I be talking about? Charles?"

I snorted, "you're unbelievable. He does have an ex-girlfriend though."

"And how do you know that Miss Luisa?"

"I may or may not have been doing a little social media recon."

She let out a laugh, "okay miss can't be bothered."

I raised a finger, "I never said I couldn't be bothered. I haven't said anything about him actually!"

"Well please do share."

I shrugged, "well, there's not much, not like you and Lando," a pillow hit my face, "as I was saying. We just chatted, and he got my number, and that's it. No crazy evening like yours."

"That's actually kind of cute. Has he texted you?"

I shook my head, "no, and honestly, I don't even know if I want him to. Like you, I can't say I'm too interested in getting wrapped up in all that."

"Mhm, I'm sure."

I whined a bit more than I'd intended, "I'm serious! He seems like the last thing he has time for is a relationship. And that makes two of us. Not that a relationship is even on the table, I barely know him but_"

She cut me off, "you're rambling."

I groaned, "sorry. But yeah, you know what I mean, we'll see. No expectations or desires."

She nodded, "fair, I respect it."

"And you and Lando? Expectations?"

She shrugged, "just messing around for now. I don't know."

I couldn't help but laugh, "sounds like high school."

She flipped me off as she forced herself off the couch, "you're a dick, I'm going to shower."

I laughed her off before calling out to her before she was in her room, "wait do you want to go to Nice?"

She sucked her teeth, "like no, but yes. Give me an hour."

I smiled at her thankfully, "you're the best!"

She disappeared into her room and I made my way into mine. I ended up spending way too much time going over my analytics on Tiktok, of all apps of course. Juliette would kill me if I wasn't ready to go when she was, I got so distracted sometimes. I put my phone face down letting it charge as I got ready.

I put my hair into a high ponytail and paired it with light makeup, nothing crazy. I settled on a pair of emerald green straight-legged trousers and a simple white button-up sleeveless top. The weather was just a tad warmer today so I figured I'd make the most of it, although, the weather was always gorgeous here for the most part.

I'd slipped on a pair of beige flats and layered on a glob of lipgloss. I ventured out of my room to find Juls in the kitchen, gulping down a cup of coffee and wearing a gorgeous sun dress. She smiled at me, "it's like our brains are the same."

I laughed at her, "yeah, something like that."

She dropped the mug in the sink, "you ready?"

I nodded, "yeah, just need to grab my phone."

I scurried back to my room and pulled tossed my go-to Prada mini bag on my shoulder and grabbed my phone. I glazed over the notifications on my phone and nothing stood out to me. I started to shove it into my bag when I felt it vibrate. I don't know why, but I was curious as to what it was. A smile spread across my face as I read the latest notification from Instagram.

charles_leclerc started following you.