Here With Me - A Formula 1 Story

Location

It's been three days since the night at the bar. Three days since I met Charles Leclerc. Three days I've spent thinking about him non stop which was not apart of the plan. I'm not sure why I am obsessing over him, I purposely tried to avoid looking him up on social media but failed miserably. There's just something about him that intrigues me about him, maybe it's because my kid loves him and idolizes him. Or maybe it's those piercing green eyes that are filled with such sadness, the same sadness that is behind mine. The kind of sadness it seems like we both try to hide.

 
I'm obsessing over him but I'm likely to never see him again. At least not for awhile. I might in 2-3 years when Ezra is hopefully in Formula 1. I'm sure he'll still be driving then, I think he's still pretty young. Which is another reason my obsession needs to stop. Even if he was interested in me, I'm too old for him and once he found out I have a kid he'd be running for the hills.
    

Speaking of my kid, he just walked through the door of our tiny one bedroom apartment. I swear he's grown since I've seen him last and as I pull him into my arms and hug him tightly I realize that he has grown, he's at least 3 inches taller than my 5'9" and it makes me emotional. My baby isn't much of baby anymore.
        

"Mama, you're making it hard for me to breathe." He laughs as he tries to disentangle himself from me. I squeeze my arms tightly one last time and finally let him go. I'm getting my hugs in while I can because I'm sure they will be stopping soon enough because teenagers will be teenagers when it comes to their parents.
        

"Shut it Ez. I haven't seen you in three weeks, let your Mama love on you." I tell him with mock annoyance to which he rolls his eyes but secretly I know he loves my hugs and I hope that he always will, but like I said...teenager. So I'm getting them in as much as I can now. Especially because I've missed so much of his youth by being stuck in Texas while he's been out here for the last 5 years. I watch as he walks into our tiny kitchen and opens the refrigerator looking for something to eat. The last two days I've been busy cooking all of his favorites so I was ready for when he got home. My boy can eat and I wanted to make sure he was well fed while he's here for the next three weeks before he leaves again on another stent of races.
        

"You're the best Mama!" He exclaims as he pulls out the Mississippi roast meat and grabs the bag of rolls I bought at the local bakery. He sits at the small table we have off the kitchen and starts digging in. I smile as I watch him but then my thoughts wonder back to the time I was sitting at my own dining table in my parents house sitting them down to tell them I was pregnant. Let's just say it did not go well, with  it ending with them disowning me and kicking me out of their house because I said I wanted to keep the baby. I had only just turned 14 a few weeks prior to finding out. From that day forward it was just me and Ezra. It's been the hardest 16 years but watching him in front of me, I realize that it was completely and utterly worth it.
        

"So I have some good news!" Ezra says excitedly and I snap out of my thoughts.
        

"Oh yeah? You gonna tell me then?" I say sarcastically.
        

"I was invited to visit the Ferrari Academy in Maranello!" He answers excitedly and my heart lurches in my chest. My baby's dreams are starting to come true and I can't be anymore happy for him.
        

"No way, that is so amazing baby! When do you go?"
       

"This Friday. They invited us for the day." He tells me as he takes a bite of one of his sandwiches.
        

"Oh, did they invite your teammates too?" I ask, slightly worried that this isn't what I think it means. That it's just a team bonding experience or something. He shakes his head and swallows his food before answering.