MON CHÉRI | Charles Leclerc

010

After her little chat with Max and meeting Daniel Ricciardo, it was time for qualifying. Mick, bless him had actually gotten through Q1 which Mario explained was a good job for the boy in the Haas. Unfourtneley he got p15 but Emelia was still very proud. So while they were waiting for Q3 to start, what she learned was the most important round, Emelia decided to sneak over to the Haas garage and congratulate Mick. ''Micky!!!'' she yelled happily. ''Congrats on getting through Q1''

''Thanks, Emmy but I should've done better,'' Mick gave the brunette a hug.

''Oh shut up, you did better than your teammate?'' Emelia wasn't completely sure how everything worked and didn't want to sound dumb.

''You're right but that doesn't mean I did great. Doesn't really matter though, I have to talk to my mechanics but you're welcome to watch the rest here at Haas.'' Mick was kind like that, he offered her a soft smile.

''While I'm a guest at Ferrari?'' they both laughed softly when he spoke up, ''Haas is part of the Ferrari family so it's not as bad as watching at Redbull.'' Emelia had no clue, ''If you say so Micky but I'll go back to Luca. Maybe we can do dinner tomorrow after the race?''

Giving the girl a goodbye hug he answered, ''Great idea, also ask Max and Luca will you?''

And with that Emelia left the Haas garage, sporting a Mick Schumacher cap he had just given her, hoping to catch the last 5 minutes of qualifying.

It was tense in the Ferrari garage, Luca welcomed her back, quickly looking back at the screen. During the free practice sessions either he or Mario would spend a lot of time explaining everything to her but they looked focused now so she wasn't going to interrupt. Besides she knew some things, this wasn't her first f1 race after all.

Max was currently on top making her smile but she too understood that the last lap was the most important. Carlos wasn't doing so well from what she saw, a shame. Just like that, she saw the other driver she learned was called Charles or better Leclerc went up to the first place. The entire atmosphere changed, people were clapping their hands and mechanics were yelling. It looks like Ferrari did well.

When everything calmed down a bit and Mario explained what this meant for tomorrow and the points Emelia saw Mattia walking up to them. After the standard congratulations, Mattia turned to the brunette, ''How did you like it? Starting to understand it a bit better I hope,'' he laughed but all she could do was cringe. It made her realize she was at a Grand Prix with some of the most expensive tickets, talking to the team principal of one of the most prominent racing teams and yet she knew almost nothing about the sport. Talk about privilege.

''Very interesting actually Mattia, especially now that I'm starting to understand how everything works. Though I think I still could use a lesson or two,'' she said casually. ''Maybe more than two. Em, Grandpa, and I are going to grab a drink, you want anything?'' Luca asked kindly but she only nodded quickly averting her attention back to the Ferrari team boss.

''Well I think we have more than enough people here that could do so,'' Mattia paused, ''You have met Charles right?'' Charles, she thought, letting her mind wander to the guy from the coffee shop. She shouldn't though, ''Haven't been lucky enough to catch him, no.'' Emelia again sounded so cool and casual, if only they knew what went on in that mind of hers.

''Well I believe he should be here any minute now,'' Mattia looked around, ''ah speaking about the devil. Charles, Vieni qui! Good job today.'' The brunette, covered in sweat, who was wearing his racing suit on his middle gave Mattia some sort of hug, ''Have you met Emelia already?'' his head shot up, and she finally got a good look at his face, ''Uh, I-''

''We haven't no,'' Emelia was quick with her lie. She wasn't sure why she decided to lie but also wasn't exactly in the mood to explain to Mattia she had met his driver in a cafe a while ago and hadn't been able to get him out of her head ever since. ''Congratulations on your pole, I'm Emelia, a family friend of the Andretti's.''

Charles shook her hand but to her surprise, hadn't said anything. Was he mad because she lied in front of Mattia? ''Hi, I'm Charles. It's uh nice to meet you, Emelia.'' He sounded almost nervous.

''Emelia lives in Maranello actually.'' It looked like Mattia didn't notice how awkward it was, good. ''That's nice,'' he said a long silence following. ''Charles we have debrief in 10, change will you?''

''Yeah sure,'' he looked over to Emelia for a second, ''it was nice meeting you. Hope you enjoy the weekend.'' And with that, Emelia stood all alone in the Ferrari garage wondering what the fuck just happened.

author speaking!
hi lovelies guess who's back. actually so sorry for making you wait that bloody long but i'll be more frequent.
it's spa time and i'm so excited but it's going to rain the entire weekend. hope you loved this chapter with them meeting and all. so much interaction between the two starting from no on! 💕

not proof read!!!