King of my heart

Photography in Monaco

Once again I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping at 8 am. I turned over and shut it off so I could get a few more minutes of sleep as I was still quite tired from yesterday. 15 minutes later it went off again but this time I chose not to ignore it because I wanted to get outside to do some photography around Monaco today. This was also going to be only day that I would be free all day because I was starting my new job at a business firm tomorrow. As much as I loved photography, I couldn't find a way to turn it into a career for myself so I stuck with my other interest of accounting. I was looking forward to my new job for sure and at least it's a huge step up from working in a cafe when I was back in England. For today though I was going to enjoy the lovely weather and take advantage of the good lighting for my photos.

I selected some clothes from my dresser which I wanted to wear. I decided on a pair of shorts and a green crop top paired with a white jacket if it got a bit chilly. I entered my bathroom and took a quick shower as I didn't need to wash my hair today. After my shower I did my usual skin care routine before putting my hair in 2 dutch braids to keep it out of my face. I figured that I would also try to find someplace to fix my phone today whilst I was out doing photography as it was broken and I therefore couldn't use it. I wanted to message Grace about Charles and how I was doing but I couldn't until my phone was fixed.

I then proceeded to make my breakfast which was just a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea. Whilst I ate that, I tried to find phone stores nearby but I couldn't seem to find any. Perhaps I wasn't looking in the right place. After washing up my bowl, spoon and mug, I went into my room to find my camera. It took me a while to find it as I had put it away in my closet when I first moved in as I don't think I'd have the time to use it. I made sure everything I would need was in the case before grabbing my keys and putting on my shoes. I took the lift down to the first floor and exited the building onto the sunny streets of Monte Carlo. It wasn't as busy today on the roads or on the streets which was good as I would be more likely to get some nice photography. It also meant I wouldn't have to worry too much about getting knocked over by anyone.

Wandering through the city I kept looking for different places where I could take some photos. I took a few pictures down some quiet streets with houses and cafés decorated with flowers and colourful bunting hung across the rooftops. I then decided to head in the direction of the harbour to get a few pictures of the docked boats. As I was walking in that direction, I heard a somewhat familiar voice call out my name. I turned around and saw Charles jogging towards me holding a small box with a green bow wrapped around it. "Y/n, I was hoping I would see you today!" he stated as he came up to me with a huge smile on his face. "Oh really? How come, you hardly know me." I replied with a chuckle. "Well um... I just... I don't know, I just hoped I'd see you again." he stuttered. "I kinda wanted to see you again too." I blurted out which caused me to blush slightly so I quickly looked down at my feet to avoid him noticing. Out the corner of my eye I could see him blushing slightly too but I tried not to think much of it. "Anyway, I err wanted to give you this to say sorry for what happened the other day..." he said as he handed me the box. "Charles, honestly I said it was fine." I replied with a small smile as I took the box from him and started to untie the bow. I then opened it to find a new phone with a screen protector and a clear phone case already on it. I was lost for words. 'Why would he do this for someone like me, who he literally doesn't know?' I thought to myself. "Ummm... thank you, Charles you didn't need to do this, honestly I appreciate it but you didn't have to." I said, confused. "Hey, it's all good. I noticed that you smashed your phone when I knocked you over so I just thought you'd want a new one. I feel so bad for hurting you y/n." Charles said as he looked deep into my eyes. "Thank you." I told him as I gave him a quick hug. "It has a SIM card and everything in it already so all you need to do is transfer everything from your old phone onto it and it should be good. I think it will mean you have a new number though, so sorry about that." Charles told me as we pulled away. "Ok thank you. I'll do that when I get home later." I replied as I put the box into my camera bag so that I wouldn't drop it.

"You're a photographer?" he asked which caused me to look up at him again. "Well photography is a hobby of mine but I didn't have much time back in England to do it. I start work tomorrow so this is kinda the only day I have this week to get out." I said whilst shielding my eyes from the blinding sun. Charles seemed to notice this and he took off the pair of sunglasses that were on his head and handed them over to me. "Here, have these. I have another pair in my car." he said with a chuckle. "So where are you working?" he added as I placed the black sunglasses on my face. "You see that big building over there, I'm working in their accounting department." I told him as I pointed out a tall glass building with a yellow logo on the front. "Ah I see! So you start there tomorrow?" he questioned. "Yes 8-4 tomorrow. It's a long day for me but hopefully it will be good." I replied. "Well good luck for tomorrow, and have fun with your photography. I guess I'll see you around y/n." Charles told me with a small smile on his face. "A bientot Charles!" I replied. "Ah! Bonne de voir tu sont practiquante ton français mon amour!" he told me with a smirk. I had no clue what that meant, something about my French I think, but I didn't bother asking what.

I continued on my way to the boat dock and took a few photos on my way there of bikes, people, buildings and flowers. There was so much more to photograph here compared to where I lived in England, and that was something that I really loved.

When I arrived at the dock yard, there were many boats all moored up along the jetty and some were anchored out in the bay. I experimented with different angles of the boats, some up close and others further away. I also tried to get a few pictures of the ripples of the waves which would sparkle in the light of the afternoon sun. I continued to take photos for 2 more hours until I decided that it was time to head back to the apartment so that I could get some food as it was past lunch time. I didn't take many pictures on my way back as I was trying to get home fairly quickly and it was getting quite hot outside.

After arriving back in my apartment, I grabbed myself a large glass of water and quickly drank it all as I had been really thirsty. I then proceeded to make myself a wrap with chicken, lettuce and couscous along with a few other vegetables. I decided to try and set up the phone that Charles have me whilst I was eating it because I was desperate to call Grace and see how she was. Knowing her, she would be worried that something had happened to me as I hadn't text her in a few days. Thankfully it wasn't too difficult to set the phone up and after sending out a message to everyone in my contacts to let them know if my new number, I called Grace to see if she would answer. I didn't know what time it was back in the uk so I just hoped that I wasn't about to wake her up. The phone answered on the third ring to a tired voice which sounded slightly confused. "Hey Grace, it's me, y/n." I said. "Oh my god y/n I haven't heard from you in so long I thought something had happened to you." she practically screamed. "I'm so sorry my phone smashed and I only just got given a new one today. I'd tell you how it happened but it's a long story and I don't want to keep you awake for too long." I told her. "Y/n do not worry about that! Tell me everything I need to know what you've been up to." Grace pleaded. Eventually I decided to just tell her everything even though it would probably take me a while, but I knew Grace would be intrigued about what I had been doing and especially about Charles. By the end I'm sure she was about to explode from everything I told her. "So this Charles..." she started "Is he cute?". "Uuhh yeah I guess so... but I don't even know him that well so don't start shipping me with a random stranger G!" I scolded her before she could get any ideas. "Geez ok I was just asking. What does he look like?" she joked. "He's kinda handsome, like 5'8, muscular, funny... oh and he has lovely green eyes." I rambled. "Wait... are you on about Leclerc?" she asked. "Who's he?" I replied, confused. "You don't know who Charles Leclerc is! Hang on let me send you a picture of him..." she said as she typed furiously on her phone. I looked at the picture she sent me and it was him. "How do you-" I began to ask before Grace cut me off. "Charles Leclerc, 25 years old, born in Monte Carlo, F1 driver for Ferrari, has 2 siblings and... get this, is currently single."

I didn't know what to say, I was so confused as to why someone like him would want to talk to me. There I was thinking he was just some random guy but no, he was an F1 driver! I didn't make me think of him any differently though, he was still the same guy who bumped into me the other day. I wonder why he didn't say who he was. Perhaps he was just happy that not everyone knew who he was. "Y/n?" Grace called from the other end of the phone. "Yeah." I replied. "You good? You went quiet." she asked. "Yeah I'm good I was just trying to process everything. I didn't even recognise him to be honest. I don't watch F1 though so that might be why." I said. "He probably liked that though. I mean you not knowing who he was. Maybe you should ask him?" Grace stated. "No I think I'll leave it. Don't even think I'll see him again. Even if I do, I don't want to scare him away." I replied. "Fair enough but something tells me that you will see him again. From what you've told me, you're like a pair of magnets." she laughed. "Ha ha Grace very funny! Anyway, I'll let you get back to sleep. Talk soon." I said. "Bye y/n and good luck with this Charles." she replied. I rolled my eyes before saying goodbye and hanging up.

The rest of my day was pretty boring as I was just going through all the pictures that I had raked this morning. I couldn't stop thinking about everything Grace had said about Charles though. I went on instagram to have a look if I could see his account and that was when I saw a follow request from him from the day I first ran into him. 'Strange' I thought to myself before deciding to accept this request and follow him myself. I had a quick look at his account which was mostly just stuff to do with F1 so it didn't make much sense to me but I couldn't deny that he looked hot in his racing suit. I would not be telling Grace that though as she would never let that go. I put my phone down and didn't go on it for the rest of the day after that because I busied myself with photography and tidying along with getting myself ready for my first day of work tomorrow.