ALL THE LIES, charles leclerc

11. race day remorse

ISABELLAS EYES SHIFTED around the paddock as she tried to take in everything around her. She'd somehow forgotten the large hustle-and-bustle of the f1 paddock on a race weekend, especially race day. She messed with the fabric of her red top (specially picked by Charles to represent Ferrari colours) as she walked beside the Monegasque, his hand lightly placed on the small of her back as he navigated her through the crowd, while also trying to sign hats and posters for fans.

"If you keep moving your eyes around like that you'll get a headache." Charles smiled, handing a pen back to a girl in her late teens, giving her a small nod before turning back to Isabella, who pulled a face. "Sorry.. it's just a bit busy here." she mumbled, as he chuckled. He grabbed her hand, bringing her down a gap between two buildings, away from the crowded paddock. "Here, it's quiet now." he smiled, as she nodded. They'd both forgotten about their hands, which stayed linked as they walked behind some of the garages, down to the Ferrari garage. "Are you excited?" Isabella asked, as she broke the silence that had fallen between them.

"Yeah, I mean.. I'm always excited for races, I just hope it goes well." He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly as he looked at Isabella, who smiled back, nodding to herself. "Here, this is Ferrari."

They both walked in, Isabella looking around her to take in everything that had changed since last time (which wasn't much). She smiled at the big '16' plastered on the wall, with '55' just a few inches away. Charles showed her into the garage, where a very loud amount of both english and italian was being spoken between the team. "These are for you." Charles smiled, picking a pair of headphones off the wall for her, reaching them towards her. "Thank you, what time does the race start?"

"Three o'clock, so if—"

"Charles! ¿Como estas tonto?" boomed a voice from behind the pair, as they both turned to see Carlos walking towards them, grinning. "Isabella, how are you here?" he asked, looking between the two.

"Charles brought me, I couldn't say no really." she smiled sheepishly, looking down at her shoes. "Oh.. Really.. is that so?" he grinned, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Charles, earning him a push. "I'll leave you two amantes alone," he smiled, walking past Charles before stopping just beside his ear. "No te diviertas demasiado." he whispered so only Charles could hear, before winking at him and rushing off before Charles could scold him.

"Sorry about Carlos, il est stupide." he mumbled, as Isabella laughed. Before they knew it, Charles had been dragged into a talk with one of his engineers about the race, that was due to start in half an hour. "I have to go out to the track to the car, do you want to come with?" he cut the conversation off, turning to Isabella.

"Erm.. no, I might stay here." she smiled, as he nodded. "You can sit in my driver room if you want, it might be quieter then out here, you know where it is, yes?" he asked, as she nodded. Charles smiled, placing a hand on her forearm and giving it a slight squeeze before leaving. Isabella made her way through the tunnel that was the garage, briefly remembering the set up of the garage from the last visit she'd paid.

She made herself comfortable and the small couch inside in the room, scrolling through her phone to pass the time in the room. Every time she moved, the paddock passes that were around her neck would hit off each other, causing them to make it sound like someone was walking through the places with a cattle bell.

Time passed and eventually there was a knock at the door. Charles came in, dressed in his race suit with his helmet in hand, a slight bit of sunburn on his cheeks standing out with the amount of red he wore. "The race is starting in the next few minutes. Are you going to watch it here or in the garage?" he asked, sitting beside the girl. "I'll watch it in the garage, it'll be more authentic." she smiled, sitting up straight to look at him face to face.

"Good luck out there, you'll do great." Isabella grinned, as Charles dropped his head. "Hopefully, all we can do is wait and see."

"Cmon! Have some belief in yourself! You got this!" she laughed, shaking him by the shoulders as he laughed.

"Alright.. alright! Lets go, the teams waiting."

Charles once again grabbed Isabella's hand, bringing her out to the main garage once again. "You got this, see you after the race?" she smiled, as he nodded. "See you after the race." The Monegasque pulled on his balaclava and his helmet. He made his way towards the exit of the garage, giving Isabella a thumbs up before heading to the track. She sat on one of the chairs against the back wall, pulling the headphones on over the red Ferrari hat and finding herself fixed on the television screen as the cars began to prepare for the formation lap.

The nerves began to set in as the formation lap finished. Charles was starting from pole, meaning he had no one in his way. He had the entire track open to him.

The race was going great, Charles had kept Max behind him since the beginning and had somewhat of an advantage over the Redbull. It was lap 17 out of 53, Lewis Hamilton was behind Charles after Max had pitted a few laps earlier. Isabella had her eyes glued to the television above her as she watched the leaderboard. Charles had come flying around turn 10, coming a bit too fast as before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Charles was in the barriers.

Isabella gasped, covering her hand over her mouth as she looked at the screen in shock, all she could hear was the ear-piercing scream from Charles as he hit the car with the palms of his hand, the frustration evident in his voice as he did it, before he finally got out of the car.

Between Carlos' penalty causing him to start from the very back of the grid, and now Charles' crash, to say Ferrari weren't having the best weekend was evident.

Charles had made his way back to the paddock, but instead of coming back to the garage, he instead had locked him into the motorhome, refusing to open the door to anyone.

And so, Isabella found herself walking towards the motorhome, purely because she didn't want to sit by herself in the garage, and she also knew that Charles needed someone with him. She'd been let in by one of Ferrari's technicians, giving her a pity-filled look as he pointed her upstairs.

As she approached the door, she began to feel herself getting more and more nervous. She hesitated outside the door, before lifting her arm to knock. "Qu'est-ce?" she could hear him barely mumble inside. "It's Isabella, can you let me in?" she replied, in seconds, the door unlocked and she was pulled in before it was locked again. The Monegasque hadn't even changed out of his race suit, and his balaclava and helmet were thrown to the ground.

Isabella bent down, picking both up and placing them on his table before coming to take a seat next to him on the bed. She rested her head on his shoulder as they sat in silence, neither daring to say anything. Charles found himself resting his head on-top of Isabella's, a sigh escaping his lips as he attempted to forget the race.

"If it helps, i think you did really well for the 17 laps that you did do." she smiled, looking up at him. His chest heaved as he let out a soft laugh. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you after that scream you let out over the radio." she joked, as Charles lifted his head. "You guys heard that?" he asked, as Isabella nodded, still laughing. "Yeah, like fucking everyone heard it, it was loud as shit." she giggled, as Charles shook his head, dragging his hand down his face. "I didn't know my radio was on. Oh mon Dieu."

Isabella and Charles sat there, talking and laughing with each other as the race went on. Isabella's main aim was to distract the Monegasque from the entire fiasco, it was safe to say she was doing a pretty good job at it.

Silence overcame the room again as Isabella's head rested on Charles lap, small strokes of his hand went through her hair, bringing both parties and sense of comfort. Charles looked down on her, a small smile on his face as she closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy the sense of his touch.

"Thank you for coming today, Bella."

"Thank you for bringing me, Charlie."

note!
do NOT point out any spelling errors it's 00:30am and i'm tired as shit but i wanted to post this
also 1500 words??? look at me go???