Fifty Shades Of Red | Charles Leclerc

2. Ferrari

                          Hailey's pov

I walk into my private driver room as soon as I enter the garage, ignoring everyone who wanted to talk to me. Once I'm in, I lock the door and I let free a long sigh. My head is still spinning from the events that took place earlier.

Is this really what I've dreamt of?

I knew that driving in formula one wouldn't be easy but I can't help but feel like no one really wants me here...like I don't belong here.

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door.

"Hailey, it's me, let me in." Max's voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

I really don't feel like talking to anyone right now but I can't send Max away. Not when he's only trying to help.

I unlock the door and walk away, letting Max walk inside.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asks quietly, once he closes the door.

I grab my water bottle that is lying on the table and take a sip from it.

"I'm fine." I answer him.

Fortunately my back is turned on him so I don't think he is able to tell that I'm lying.

It's quiet for a bit and I start to think that Max probably left but then I feel a hand grip my lower arm, gently turning me around. His other hand cups one of my cheeks as I'm facing him, his eyes locked with mine.

"You don't have to do that."

"Do what?" I ask confused.

"Lie to me." He says and I put my hand on his arm, pulling it away from my face while I look at everything and at nothing at the same time, not wanting to hold eye contact.

"I can see how that asshole hurt you, alright? You don't have to pretend-"

"Max, I said I'm fine." I say while walking away and sitting on the nearby couch.

He walks towards me, sitting down as well.

"You can talk to me Hailey. I'm here for you." Max says and reaches to hold my hand.

I'm here for you.

The unfamiliarity of those simple words sting my ears. No one has ever been there for me. I've always been on my own. On my happy days? On my own, having no one to share a laughter with. On my sad days? On my own, having no one to share the burden and pain with.

"I'm going to go and talk with Christian." I tell Max, getting up from my seat, not wanting to stay in the same room with him anymore, scared that I'll dump all my trauma on him, scared that he'll see through my mask and see not a strong woman but just a vulnerable little girl.

Before I can leave, Max stops me by locking his hand in mine.

"I talked to Christian, told him to give you a break for the rest of the day. He was okay with it but he'll want to talk to you tomorrow." Max says, giving me a small, genuine smile.

Why is he so nice to me? No one ever is this nice to me.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." I tell him, taken aback by this act of kindness.

"I wanted to."

"Well...I guess I'm going to head home and sleep until tomorrow morning." I half joke but Max doesn't laugh back at me. Instead, the smile that he was wearing slowly fades.

"What's wrong?" I ask, reaching for his hand when his face falls and he scratches the back of his neck like he's nervous.

"Oh it's just..." he begins and looks me in the eye "I was hoping I could give you some company." Max says shyly and I stare at him in awe.

He wanted to spend time with me?

"But never mind, you should go and rest and-"

"You can come over if you'd like." The words leave my mouth so fast that I surprise even myself.

There's nothing wrong with hanging out with Max, I mean we drive for the same team and he's a great guy and he also happens to be my only friend here.

Maybe I really should put myself out there more and try to make friends with the other drivers as well.

"Yeah, I'd like that!" Max face lights up "Should we leave now or?"

"Actually, there's something I have to do first, but I'll text you my room number."

Max gives me a smile and leaves my room and I change to my previous clothes, heading out to the paddock and searching with my eyes for a car...more specifically a ferrari.

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                           Hailey's pov

I'm woken up from my nap when someone knocks on my door. I get up from the bed, heading towards my hotel room's door half sleeping.

"Hey sleepyhead!" Max greets me once I open the door "I brought you some food." He says while holding up the food bag.

"How did you know I was starving?" I ask him with a smile while motioning for him to follow me inside the room.

"I figured you hadn't eaten anything yet." He says and sits close to me on my bed "Is sushi okay?"

"It's perfect!" I say and start laying the food down, my mouth watering at the sight of food.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I ask Max once I realise that he's laying back, watching me eat.

"It's okay, you can have it, I ate before I came here." He says and gives me a smile.

He has a good smile. A very good one. I've noticed that he rarely smiles, or laughs for that matter but when he does, he makes me want to smile alongside him too.

I pick one of the sushi rolls up with the chopsticks and lean towards him, bringing it to his mouth. He chuckles when he realises what I'm doing and opens his mouth, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Mhmm...it's so good!" He moans in pleasure and I can't help but feel my cheeks warm up.

"You should be grateful that I'm willing to share my sushi with you." I joke but then I realise that Max's gaze shifts from my eyes to my lips.

He then sits up, facing me while one of his hands reaches for the corner of my bottom lip, stroking over some of the soy sauce that must have been there. Then he brings his thumb to his own mouth, licking the sauce off.

"Oh, hmmm...thanks!" I say shyly, still shocked that he did that.

After we've finished eating, we put on a movie and we both lay down watching. I talk during the entire movie, which is a bad habit of mine but Max doesn't seem to mind.

Once the movie is finished, Max has already fallen asleep, his head on top of my lap. I gently stroke his hair, not wanting to wake him up but he can't sleep here with me.

"I fell asleep?" He asks with a raspy voice while he sits up, his hand going over his face to wake himself up.

"Probably my non-stop rambling made you sleepy." I say while getting up from my bed.

"Sorry that I fell asleep on top of you." Max says shyly and walking towards the door.

"It's okay, I didn't mind."

I walk Max to the door and he turns around, facing me.

"Thank you for letting me come over." He smiles.

"No problem, I had fun." I say genuinely.

"We should do it again sometime." Max says while leaning towards me, planting a little kiss on my forehead.

While he's doing so, I spot a figure standing not too far away from us.

Charles is standing with his keys on his hands, in front of his hotel room and he's watching us. When his eyes lock with mine, a strange feeling washes over me, as if I didn't want him to see me...with Max.

A disgusted look lingers on his face, long enough for me to see it and then Charles rolls his eyes and walks into his room.

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