King of my heart

Monaco GP

It had been 5 days since I had last seen Charles because he had been busy preparing for the Monaco Grand Prix which was happening this weekend. He had managed to get me a VIP pass which allowed me to enter the paddock and watch the entire weekend from the comfort of the Ferrari garage. Charles was unable to pick me up himself because he needed to be at the track early, so he sent his pr manager to come and get me from my apartment. She was really nice and explained to me the basic things of F1 and also the media side of the sport so that I wouldn't be too overwhelmed if people asked me questions. I didn't know much about F1 as I had never really watched it when I was younger, therefore I knew that it was probably going to take me quite a while to get used to all of the rules and components of the sport. I had begun to watch a few videos on some of the races on youtube to see if I could understand a few things but that didn't really work. I did however, enjoy seeing all of the drivers racing around different circuits and how they would try to prevent each other from passing. In addition to that, I also swapped out Coldplay on my morning walks, for some F1 podcasts which explained more of the rules to the sport as well as the use of strategies within each of the teams. I had to admit that there was definitely more to this sport than I first expected!

Due to the race not being too far away from my apartment and most of the roads being blocked, it was easier and much faster to walk to the paddock. There were crowds of people all over Monaco to witness this race so it was somewhat difficult at times to navigate through them and make sure that I didn't lose sight of Charles' pr manager. Eventually though, we arrived at the paddock and I scanned the pass that Charles had given me as I was shown by the security. Thankfully, once we got through the barriers there were much fewer people around me although I was still quite stressed because there were several major celebrities walking around and I had to try to not freak out. I was lead towards the Ferrari garage where I was told Charles should be, provided he wasn't in any pre-race interviews or with his trainer. For some reason, I felt myself getting more nervous as I approached the garage as I felt very out of place and unsure of the entire situation. When I saw Charles at the front of the garage looking out onto the paddock, a small smile crept onto my face and a wave of relief washed over me at the sight of a familiar face. As I continued to walk over to the garage, his eyes soon found me and he instantly came over to greet me. 

"Mon amour! How are you?" he asked as he pulled me into a tight hug as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "I'm alright. It's a bit strange being here I'm not going to lie, I feel a bit out of place." I replied as he grabbed my hand to take me into the garage, away from prying eyes and cameras. "I get it, it can take a bit of getting used to. You'll be fine here though and I made the team promise me this morning that they would look after you." Charles said as he showed me to a seat at the back of the garage with a screen nearby as well as a set of headphones placed on the chair. "You can watch the race from here, and when it's finished the team can show you to either the podium area or wherever I go when I get out the car." he added with a smile. "Okay well I look forward to seeing you on the podium later then." I said with a small wink making Charles laugh, his usual dimples appearing on his cheeks, "We shall see mon ange." he whispered. "But just remember that whatever happens I will be proud of you. I know that you will try your best and that is what counts." I told him, pulling him in for a long hug, which definitely lasted much longer than it should have. 

After eating our lunch together it was time for Charles to start getting ready for the race which involved warming up with his trainer Andrea and also going over any last minute strategy plans for the race. Just as he was about to put his helmet on, he came over to me as I was getting settled in my chair and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "I'll see you later mon cherie. Don't miss me too much." he said before walking over to his car, a slight smirk evident on his face which was soon concealed when he put on his balaclava and helmet. I knew that I was blushing from the interaction, but I tried to focus my eyes on the screen in front of me to watch the drivers exiting the garages and lining up on the grid to start the formation lap. 

"It's lights out and away we go in Monaco!" the famous catchphrase boomed through the speakers as the roar of the engines thundered through the track. Charles had got off to a good start so he was now in P3 with George Russell in front and Pierre Gasly right on his tail. Of course Max Verstappen was on pole, but I was almost certain that despite the difficulty to pass other drivers on this track, Charles would be able to figure something out and get ahead. After all, this was his home race.  Thankfully there were no incidents at the start of the race and everything was going quite well. My eyes were glued to the screen, watching Charles' car intently not even daring to blink, this was all so new to me so I found it incredibly stressful as I didn't really know what to expect. However, he was doing very well at defending from Pierre and was constantly trying to make moves on George throughout the entire race. On lap 32, Pierre was overtaken by Fernando and then Lewis Hamilton so he had several drivers lined up behind him who wanted to try and beat him to the podium spots. After another 3 laps of trying to pass George, Charles finally succeeded and I let out a breath that I didn't realise I had been holding for quite some time. The rest of the race went smoothly but unfortunately, Charles was unable to get close enough to Max in order to pass him to get first on the podium. I had so wanted for Charles to finally win his fist home race but clearly this year it just wasn't meant to be. 

The Ferrari team began to make their way over to where the top 3 cars lined up so I quickly took off my headphones to follow them to see if I could see Charles anywhere. Thankfully a few of the mechanics recognised me from being with Charles earlier so they helped get me to the front of the barriers where he would come over to celebrate with us. I saw his scarlet red ferrari pull up behind the number 2 spot and then he rose up from his seat to jump out of the car. Running over to hug his team I kept my eyes on him all the time, watching every interaction he had with the mechanics and strategists, a huge smile on all of their faces at the amazing result. When his eyes eventually met mine, he walked over to me and pulled me into a tight hug, one hand on the back of my head and the other wrapped around my waist. "I am so proud of you C!" I told him when he let me go so that we were staring into each others eyes. "Thank you ma cherie. I'll look out for you when I'm up on the podium." he replied with a wink before placing a quick kiss on my cheek and then turning his attention to the rest of the team to thank them and celebrate. 

Charles was true to his word. When they announced his name for second place, he walked onto the balcony as he wove to the crowd before his eyes locked with mine once again, refusing to break the intense gaze. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach and I had a grin plastered across my face from ear to ear, just like Charles. The Dutch national anthem was played for Max Verstappen before the trophies were brought out and handed to each of the drivers. When it was time for the champagne, all 3 of the drivers sprayed each other before Charles directed the spray to the crowd of teams and fans below. I became soaked in champagne as I'm almost certain that I was one of the main targets, but I didn't mind too much as it was all part of the celebrations and I was just so happy to see him with a smile of his face again. After that, the drivers headed back to their rooms to cool down and have a shower before they needed to be out on the paddock doing their post race interviews. I decided just to wait in Charles' room until he finished as I knew that it would likely be a few hours before he came back. I sat down on the sofa in the corner and smiled at all the photos I had taken from today including several of Charles when he got in his car and a few of him on the podium. This had definitely been one of the best days of my life so far and I couldn't wait to celebrate more of Charles' podiums in the future. 

A/n: Sorry this took a little bit longer than I planned. I've been really busy with revision at the moment. I will try and get back on top of things over the weekend. Speaking of which I'm super excited for the race weekend in Miami! Hopefully all will go well for Charles and Carlos.

Thanks for all the reads, I honestly appreciate it so much. 

Izzy :)