lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

~ quarantuno ~

Monte Carlo, September 2019

Pia and Charles spent a few days together in Monaco before he had to leave for Singapore. The separation was coming their way, but they both pretended to ignore it. Oh, the sweet ignorance.

They celebrated his victory together in his apartment—glasses of champagne, ravenous kisses and two happy souls. Everything seemed to be just right—perfect—how it was supposed to be.

Yesterday morning, they decided that it would be fun to spend a couple of days on Charles' yacht. Pia was craving sun and the ocean, and Charles couldn't say no to the picture of his fiancée in her bikini.

The Italian slowly opened her eyes, it was early in the morning. Her fiancé was lying next to her - a pure angel. She touched him, straighten the sheet. He turned over in the bed, tender. The sun came through the curtains. Which of us will survive? Which of us will survive the other? She thought. It was probably her father who planted such thoughts in her mind. But she wasn't giving up, she wasn't running away. Not this time. Not again. She would fight for this relationship even though it would destroy her.

"For the longest time, I saw myself as a bad person. You don't know how much it meant to me when you looked at me and could see the good," she whispered. It was a vulnerable moment for her. It was like saying I love you but on another level. She was never really good with sweet words, she was more for those little acts of kindness—putting his phone on charger when needed, "drive safe" texts, buying him his favourite sweets, pausing her favourite TV show so he can tell her about his day, preparing him breakfast.

Then she just planted a kiss on his forehead before getting up. She made her way up to the deck where she sat down on one of the deckchairs and watched the sunrise. It was so silly. Who would've thought they would be really together? Maybe her thirteen years old self – the naive one who didn't know how love worked—maybe that self thought they would actually make it, but that was it. Her current self had trouble believing it too. It was perhaps too good to be true.

As Pia sat on the deck, her mind wandered through a labyrinth of emotions. She watched the sun's gentle rays illuminate the horizon, casting a golden glow over the calm sea. She didn't want to admit it, but she was really happy after such a long time. She was afraid to say it out loud because whenever when she did, something went wrong.

Lost in her thoughts, Pia was surprised by a gentle touch on her shoulder. She turned to see Charles standing there, his eyes filled with warmth and affection. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Mind if I join you?" The Monegasque asked, his voice filled with a mixture of tenderness and curiosity.

Pia shook her head, her heart fluttering at his presence. "Of course not," she replied softly, making space for him beside her. She couldn't help but feel a surge of comfort and joy as he settled down, their shoulders lightly touching.

"I invited Joanna and Max to come over," Charles said out of the blue. He planned this visit with the Austrian. Neither of them could stand the fact of how stubborn their lovers were. They both clearly cared for each other and didn't mean the things they said but were too stubborn to talk about it.

"What? Why? You know I don't talk to Max," Pia almost whined. She didn't know if she was ready for it.

"That's exactly why," Charles replied, his eyes locked with Pia's. "Look, P. He isn't my favourite human, but you care about him. You care about him, and we both know you miss him." The Ferrari driver spoke softly. He wasn't really happy he should spend his day with the Dutchman, but if that meant Pia would be happy, he would do it day after day.

---

Pia watched the Austrian hugging Charles lightly with a genuine smile on her face. They both seemed to be excited to be there and then there was Pia and Max. They just awkwardly said hello to each other and looked the other way—two stubborn kids. They always had been.