Falling for the Leclerc's

33. Ghosted

                             Grace's pov

Charles is standing on the red carpet, posing for some photos, dressed in a all-white suit. Next to him, there's a beautiful woman, dressed in white as well. Their hands are interlocked with each other.

I can't take my eyes off him.

"Grace, are you okay?" Max asks from beside me "We'll be up there next."

"Yeah, I'll be fine." And I give him a reassuring smile even though I am a nervous wreck.

Hopefully no one saw me staring like a psychopath.

After Charles and his...date finish posing for their photos, we start heading towards the red carpet. Before Charles leaves, he looks up in our direction, taking a glance of us and his face falls.

He probably wasn't expecting to see me here...
Or he probably wasn't expecting to see me here with Max.

"Charles, are you coming?" The woman he's with asks him.

Charles stops looking at me and turns around, walking away but stopping at the entrance.

Me and Max take a few pictures individually first and then together. He wrapps a hand around my waist, pulling me close to him and I put one of my hands on his chest, smiling for the photographs.

Then Max pulls me closer to him, leaning in and whispering 'you're the most beautiful woman here' to my ear. I chuckle at his comment.

Who would have thought that angry Max could be sweet?

While he pulls away from my ear, my eyes shift from Max's eyes to Charles.

He's standing by the entrance still, staring at us. His face stone cold, not showing any emotions.

I lean into Max's ear this time, telling him 'thank you' and then we head for the entrance as well.

——————-

When we walk in, Max gets me something to drink and we both walk around, making conversation and also admiring the place.

I've never been to an event this fancy before, but Max seemed unfazed by it.

After some time, we join the other drivers who are here as well. They all look so fancy and dressed up, very different from their day to day clothes. I got to admit that it's a good look on them.

"Do you mind if I say hello to Arthur? I'll be back in a minute." I tell Max when I spot Arthur in the crowd. Max nods and I head towards Arthur.

Arthur is standing there with a drink in his hand, talking to a beautiful girl who suddenly leaves when I approach him.

"Hey there party boy!" I say when I get close to him.

"Grace!" He says, a bit surprised to see me here. He hugs me and then says "I thought you were supposed to have a date to be here."

"Oh I do...have a date." I tell him.

"What? But Charles came here with someone else." He says confused.

Why would he think I came here with Charles? Wait...so he knew that Charles would bring someone else here.

"I'm not here with Charles." I say, shouting a bit over the loud music.

"What? So, who are you here with then?"

"Max." I whisper.

"I can't hear you!" He shouts.

"Verstappen!" I shout back at him so he can hear me.

"What?! As in Max Verstappen?"

"Is there any other Max here?" I chuckle but Arthur just stares at me, unpleased by my answer.

He doesn't get to do that...act that way when he didn't even invite me.

"Does Charles know?" He says with no emotion in his voice.

Seriously?

"He saw us when we arrived...so yes."

Arthur nodds slowly.

"Who are you here with then?" I ask slowly, afraid to hear his answer.

"I'm here with...a friend."

"Oh" it's all I manage to say.

A friend? Ouch.

I don't know why but I was hoping there was a reason he didn't mention this party to me and didn't even invite me.

I mean, we went on a fucking date together.

It's not like he's obligated to invite me to these things but it really feels like he took me on a date and then ghosted me.

"Grace..." Arthur says when he sees my reaction. It seems like he knows what I'm thinking about.

"I'm actually going to get back to my date now, but have fun Arthur." I tell him and turn around to leave.

Why do I feel like I'm about to cry?

"Are you okay?" Max asks when I get back.

"Yeah, of course." I respond, faking a smile.

"You don't look like you're having a lot of fun." Max then states, tilting his head to the side while still looking at me.

I take a sip of my drink.

"Come on." Max says and takes my hand.

"Where are we going?" I ask while putting my drink down on a table.

"We're dancing!" He says and pulls me to him, his hands on my waist while mine are on his chest.

A slow song is playing in the background and we begin to sway slowly.

"Nobody else is dancing." I tell him while I chuckle a bit.

"Yeah...but I like it like this. Just the two of us." Max says and looks deep into my eyes.

He starts leaning in, our faces very close to each other.

"Can I" he begins and cups one of my cheeks with his hand "kiss you?" Max asks, looking at my lips then to my eyes again.

"Max" I whisper, pushing him a bit away.

I didn't mean to give him mixed signals.

"I'm actually...seeing someone." I tell him.

If you can call what me and Arthur have that.

Me and Arthur aren't together, but it wouldn't be right to start kissing other guys.

Well I guess I already did mess up when I kissed Charles back.

Ugh. Why am I like this?!

"Oh...right...Charles!" Max says while pulling away.

"Oh no, me and Charles...we aren't together...or dating...or talking...or even friends for that matter."

"Sorry...I just assumed because paparazzi had spotted you together."

"That's a long story." I tell him while putting my head down.

"Sorry for trying to kiss you then." Max says and smiles shyly.

"It's alright, you didn't know."

"Do you want to grab something to eat? Daniel said they have some killer desserts here." Max says and I nodd, following him to the food tables.

                                  ——————

Me and Max ended up having a lot of fun together. He's a pretty decent guy with great jokes. He constantly made sure I was part of conversations, not wanting to make me feel left out.

While Max is talking with one of his friends, I spot Charles in the distance, staring at me. He moves his head to the side, indicating for me to meet him.

Should I go and hear what he has to say?

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