Bonjour ma chérie || Charles Leclerc

•Chapter 19•

°What if it happened to you on a different day?
On a bridge, where there wasn't a rail in the way?
Or a neighborhood street where the little kids play?
Or the Angeles Crest in the snow or the rain?
What if you weren't alone? There were kids in the car
What if you were remote? No one knows where you are
If you changed anything, would you not have survived?
You're alive, you're alive, you're alive°

Charles and Diana found Fred standing in front of the entrance of the building.

"Good morning, love birds!" Fred said.

"Good morning, Fred," They both said at the same time and burst into laughing.

"I'm glad to see that you are in a great mood! Charles, you have advertising duties now, but I want you to be fully focused on the race when you get in the cockpit. We will try the strategy that we discussed yesterday, but we want regular updates from you. It is very important to win here."

"You are absolutely right, Fred. I'll do my best, " Charles answered.

"Diana, has he told you that I was his team principal when he first started in Sauber?" Fred asked.

"Oh really? So you have a history then!"

"Yes, we do. When I first met him at that young age, I noticed his talent and his devotion right away. I knew that he was going to be a star." Fred said and smiled.

"Ah, old good times. He has always been a father figure to me." Charles added.

"Oh, I'm sobbing! Come on, let's go now, we have some work to do!" He said as we got into the building.

Charles media instructor approached him and informed him about his promo videos.

"I have to go ma chérie, but I'm gonna come back soon, " He said and kissed her.

"Je t'aime," Diana said, and he smiled.

"Je t'adore," He replied and walked away.

Diana didn't want to stay inside, so she got out of he building and started walking around he paddock.

"Hello there, Diana!" She heard a voice from behind.

When she turned, she saw Pierre.

"Oh, hello, Pierre!"

"How are things going?" He asked.

"Oh, the usual. Some shopping, some work from home and my daily visits here."

"You really support my friend Diana. I'm glad that he is with a girl like you. He deserves the world."

"Yes, he really does."

"Ah, now that we mentioned him, where is he?"

"Oh, he is shooting some promo videos. I was kinda bored, so I went from a walk. "

"Ah, those duties never end! Oh, by the way, the drivers are going to host an after-party once the race is done, at about 10 p.m. I hope that we'll see you guys there."

"I'll inform Charles about it, and we'll see!"

"Great! Have a good day!"

"You too!" She said and watched him go.

Time passed by very quickly. Mainly because Diana found Isa on her way, and they grabbed a coffee together. It was the perfect chance for them to get to know each other a bit more. The more Diana was chatting with her, the more she liked her. She had a feeling that a strong friendship was going to be formed between them.

"So when are you going back home?" She asked.

"I really don't want to get back to London, and I'm trying to postpone it."

"It's so unfortunate that you don't live close to each other."

"I know, right... The thing is that because of his profession, he doesn't have a lot of free time to visit me. Nor do I, to be honest. All those cases really consume so much time from my everyday life. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, and I worked hard to get where I am today. I don't want to give it all up. It's just that those days that we are together have been brilliant and they are ending soon. I don't even know when I'll see him again."

"I understand, Diana. It's the same with Carlos. His breaks are rare and still filled with responsibilities."

"But we love them so much that we make some sacrifices." Dianna commented, and her tone was very low. She seemed disappointed but happy in a way.

"Exactly," Isa said and smiled as she took Diana's hand in hers. "Charles is a great guy honestly. He has been through a lot for the past years. You can support him and I believe that you are meant to be together. It's so obvious. It's the way that you look at eachother that makes a difference."

Diana smiled but then she repeated her words in her head, only to realize something that she needed more information about.

"What do you mean, he has been through a lot?"

"I'm not the one that should tell you but those are not secrets. They are just one Google search away." Isa paused for a second. "Charles has lost some very important people over the past few years. First, in 2014 during the Japanese grand prix he lost his God father Jules Bianchi. He was a formula 1 driver and a role model for Charles. It was a terrible tragedy. Jules crashed onto a tractor that was trying to clear the track. It was raining heavily and he didn't see a thing. He was in coma for almost a year before his passing."

Diana was frozen. She had no idea. Isa spoke again.

"Then, in 2017, his father passed away, because of an illness. He was very close with his whole family but his dad was like his best friend."

Diana started tearing up. She tried to put herself in that situation and realized how hard it must have been.

"Lastly, in 2019, he lost one of his childhood friends, Antoine Hubert, during the Belgium grand prix. Charles first F1 win came a day after and he devoted it to him." Isa finally said.

"I had no idea..." Diana said and she was visibly shocked.

"He will eventually talk about that stuff, but those are things that really hurt him. You better pretend that you don't know a single thing." Isa advised Diana.

"You are right. He can talk to me when he feels ready. I completely understand."

"I knew you would Diana. We better go now, it's almost time for the race." Isa said.

"I almost forgot about it" Diana replied and they left he café in order to find Chadles and Carlos.