love at first sight?

dinner party

*Charles*

I'm invited to a dinner party tonight. I haven't been out much since Ivy left. I'm a mess without her. We didn't talk since she left. I wanted to tell her the truth but she didn't accept any of my calls. I know I fucked up. I should've went to her. Fly after her. But I was too scared. Scared she wouldn't listen to me. At least I've been successful in formula 1. I had some wins and am now ahead of Max in the championship. It feels great. But it would feel better with Ivy by my side. I miss her, a lot actually. I told my friends what happened. They understood it but dragged me to go out again. Sometimes I did and even got to know a girl but she's nothing compared to Ivy. I don't love her. It's more like a distraction. I only see her sometimes. My brothers helped me to get on track again after Ivy left. I really was a mess without her. I didn't want to go anywhere. Wanted to quit formula 1. It was a hard time. For my whole family. I still miss her but my achievements in formula 1 helped me to be happy again.

I pull up in the parking lot of the harbour. The party takes place in a nice location with a great view. The owner of apm Monaco invited me here because I've done some advertising for them. A waitress gives me a glass of champagne and I chat with some people I know from my shoots with them. There are many people here. I look around a bit until I lock eyes. With her. I frown. So does she. She's not alone. She's with a guy. I can't believe she's here. Her hair is a little longer now but she's still the most beautiful woman on earth. The guy next to her has his hand on her back. It must be her boyfriend, right? Jealousy comes up in me. I can't be jealous. I fucked up.

She looks away. I'm not sure whether I should go to her or not. I shouldn't go to her. She's happy without me. I sit down at the table I'm seated instead drowning the whole glass of champagne.

*Ivy*

It's Charles. What is he doing here? Shit. I look at him. He looks at me. This can't be happening right now. Charles looks at Adrian next to me. His jaw clenches. Why is he jealous? He kissed his ex. I quickly look away and concentrate on Adrian again. He's engaged in a chat with a man. I think he is one of his clients. "Let's sit down", he says to me after they said goodbye and it his hand on my back again to lead me towards our table. Not everybody who sits there is already there. Just one person. Him. Of course. He looks up as we sit down. Adrian takes the seat next to me. "You're Charles Leclerc, aren't you?", Adrian asks him as he sees him. Charles puts on a smile. I know it's a fake smile. "That's me", he says and holds his hand to Adrian. "I'm Adrian, that's Ivy", he introduces himself and me. Shit. Hopefully Charles doesn't say anything. "Nice to meet you two", he says and grins. Fuck. Fuck. Adrian kept asking him questions about racing and so on. Luckily Charles played along, not mentioning that he knows me. Knows everything about me.

Fortunate the other guests seated at our table arrived soon after and Charles was busy talking to them. "Everything alright?", Adrian asks me and touches my arm. I wince. He touched the spots he hurt me on. I feel eyes on me. Definitely Charles eyes. "Yep, everything's fine", I smile at Adrian avoiding to look at Charles. "I'm just going to the toilet real quick", I say to Adrian and get up. He nods.

The toilets are far away from where our table is. I almost got lost again but managed to find them. There are a few other girls freshening up their make up. I quickly go into one of the cabins. I need to pee. And think. Why is he here? Well, obviously because he's invited too but why does he have to show up? My heart is confused. Before I can get lost in my thoughts I get out and wash my hands. Then I open the door to get back to the table. To Adrian. To Charles. That's when I see him. Waiting there for someone. For me.

"Is that your new boyfriend?", he asks in a jealous voice. He has no right to be jealous. He literally kissed his ex when he was with me. But his eyes. A part of me just wants to hug him. To feel safe again. "That's none of your business, Leclerc", I say and start to walk off. He grabs my wrist to hold me back. "Ivy, plea-", he says but I wince. My wrist hurts. He touched the marks. I try to hold back the tears. "Ivy? Did I hurt you?", there was his worried look again. He can't know. But I can't lie to him. But he can't know. "No, I'm okay", I say breathing through the pain. He doesn't believe me and steps closer to me. I let him. "Show me", he says in a soft voice pointing at my wrist. I hesitate at first but then pull up my sleeves so that the marks on both wrists and my arm are visible. His eyes widen. The worried look still on his face. He gently touches them. It doesn't hurt this time. "Did he do that?", he asks quietly his look focused on my hurt wrists. Shit. How does he know? I can't admit it to him. My eyes get watery. But he can't know. I cannot tell him. I slowly shake my head. "No, uhm. I just slipped", I stuttered knowing well damn good he wouldn't believe me. Because he knows me. "Ivy, I don't believe you. Be honest with me, please", he puts his forehead against mine and gently rubs over my shoulder with his fingers. His touch feels nice and warm. There immediately are butterflies in my stomach again. The butterflies that aren't there with Adrian. I hesitate again but know I need to be honest with him. "I'm sure it was just an accident", I quietly say and try to avoid that these tears fall down my cheek. I look up at Charles. His eyes are watery too. Why that? "Oh, Ivy", he mutters and steps even closer. Fuck. I know I can't be this close to him. There's a guy waiting for me. A guy that's abusive. But Charles is the one I feel safe with. The only one. I let myself fall against his chest. Charles immediately wraps his arms around me and holds me. What am I doing? This is wrong. He lied to me. Hurt me. Mentally. My heart was broken. "Charles, this is wrong. I'm here with Adrian. You, you hurt me. A lot. I can't do this", I say and pull back from him. There's a sad look on his face. "I know I fucked up, Ivy. I'm very sorry for that. Do you live in Monaco now?", he asks quietly. I just nod. A small smile appears on his face but it fades a few seconds after. I look around and see Adrian coming towards us. "I know you don't love me anymore, Ivy. But please take care of yourself. If something happens you know where to find me, just come to my apartment", he says and it sounds like a goodbye. He then walks off. I'm standing there speechless. His words repeating in my head. I know you don't love me anymore, take care of yourself. My heart wants to run after him and tell him that I still love him. I always will love him. Only him. But my head holds me back. It's not right. "What did you two talk about?", Adrian asks. I think I hear a jealous tone. Shit. He's going to hurt me. "Just about his upcoming race", I lie and put on a smile. He nods and we walk back to our table. To my surprise Charles is not there.

*Charles*

I left. I couldn't be around them any longer. I'm very worried about Ivy. She looked scared when Adrian came towards us. Like she knew he was going to hurt her. I need to help her. Get her out of this. But she doesn't love me. I need to forget her. But she's the only one I want.

I decide to call Pierre as I get into my car. "Hey mate, what's up?", he asks after he accepted the call. "Can we meet up somewhere?", I ask. "Uhm, sure. Are you okay? You sound angry and sad somehow" "I'll tell you then. Can you come to my apartment?" "Sure, I'll be there in 10", he says and hangs up. I need a friend now. I need advice.

"Dude, are you okay?", he asks when I open the door for him. He's clearly out of breath. "Did you run here?", I ask and giggle. "Of course I did, you sounded like you were about to do something stupid", he says getting inside.

We sit down on the couch and I get us both a beer. "What's up?", he asks and I start to tell
him everything about tonight. "That's bad, Charles. From what you told me there's the possibility he's going to hurt her very bad", he says in a serious tone. "I know, but I don't want to ruin her relationship. What if it really was an accident", I mean and lean back. "It's never an accident, Charles. You told her she can come when something happens, right?" "Yes, of course" "Then I'm sure she's going to come if something happens again. She trusts you. Then you can sort things out maybe", he says. It didn't really calm me or made me less worried but still it helped. "Thank you, Pierre", I say. "I still think you should get to know Catherine better", he says. "Really? I'm not sure, Pierre. She's not-" "Yeah, I know. Not like Ivy. But you need to move on, Charles", he argues. Maybe he's right.