Mystery in Red

Chapter XXXVI - The velvet box

23 – 24. May – Charity Match and Private dinner

The next day was Match day, and there was that "pre-race" excitement in the air. Early in the morning at Charles' apartment, while I was still drinking my first coffee of the morning, that the Monegasque made for me, Andrea, Joris and Antoine Truchet - a photographer who was expected to follow Charles everywhere this week, arrived by us. The photographer was here because of the vlog he was filming with the Leclerc brothers. I was used to Joris and his camera, the way he provoked Charles to flirt with the lens, but that was normal, they had been best friends for many years and had a strong connection with each other, and Joris got to know me more. Just how happy he was when he saw me and found out I was going to stay with Charles for the week. The same applied to Andrea, who was also happy to see me at Leclerc's home.

And so, our day began with a friendly light breakfast and a quick workout before the important charity event. This time, I even got involved in the workout, even though it started with a few kilometers of running. But for an athletic Charles, naked to the waist, I'd run a full circle around the Equator and the Greenwich Meridian.

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The stadium in my opinion was quite large, since Monaco was not the size of Rome. I liked it. It was the first time I was going to attend a football match, never mind that one of the teams was made up of Formula 1 drivers. I had only watched it on TV before, so it was a big event for me. When we arrived Pierre and Kika were already there, and Carlos was also warming up on the field. He seemed strangely haggard since our last conversation so far, I'd even say slimmed down, but I still couldn't find the reason for that. I didn't have time to talk to him, because as soon as I appeared behind the white line on the court, Kika took me with her. The two of us had not seen each other since Miami, we only had interactive communication, and now live contact seemed something unique to us. We both let the boys warm up and wished them luck, then went to the stands to take our seats - in the first rows. But something that caught my attention was not only the captain's armband on Charles' arm, but also the outfits their team was wearing - white and black checkered T-shirts. They resembled the flag at the finish line, but... And a chessboard. And couldn't help but think of Chess. For a long time, I have been thinking about him and the rubies that I always kept hidden in the secret compartment of my hand luggage. They were everywhere with me as I traveled, as was the princess's diary. Every day I planned to open it, read something more about her life and about Chess' next letter to her, but I kept running out of time. I hoped that in the days to come I would be able to find time, perhaps while Charles was asleep, to be alone and plunge again into the past of Petit Beautè and the Chess Player.

Of course, the Match was like every race for Ferrari lately. Leclerc and Pierre tried to fight each other for the ball, causing Charles to fall to the ground with his head in the ryegrass. Simply amazing! I thought Leclerc was trying to look like a Flamingo, but apparently the Ostrich was also his role model. The Monegasque missed 2 clean sheets and Carlos even got injured...and the whole time I was jumping out of my chair, biting my nails, nervously scratching my neck, and running my fingers through my hair like I was watching a Champions League final. Kika was laughing at me, even recording a video of me reacting to Charles' missed goal - shouting Italian swear words, explaining exactly where the ball had to be and what trajectory Leclerc had to kick it in to score. Yes, when I saw myself from the side, I looked like Roberto Mancini in a nervous breakdown. And the situation was really similar to our races this season and it pissed me off even more.

After the match, I went down to the players together with Kika. She rushed to greet the fans and Pierre while I watched them from the sidelines. And when they kissed, I sighed dreamily. They were such a cute couple that I was moved to tears. I just wanted to have this relationship with someone and to feel the same wonderful feeling that they felt every day.