arezoo | charles leclerc

CHAPTER 1. The Apartment Block

characters introduced here:
anahita - pronounced ana-heeta
sirvan- pronounced seervan
—

[SUMMER OF 2022]

charles sighed as he dropped the keys in the bowl on the console table. it was tiring, the constant flights and sleepless nights. it's just what he had to give for his job, and it was a sacrifice he would give a thousand times over.

he dropped on to the sofa, not bothering to move the luggage out of the way. he didn't have the energy to do so presently. monza had just passed, and he had finished on the podium. the high lasted for some time before he gradually was left to his own devices. he wanted to go home.

charles had left the apartment he lived in for another one, far from where any memories of he and his best girl lingered. he moved out as soon as he broke up with lena. he couldn't bear the traces of her left in the hallway and the kitchen and the bedroom. he especially couldn't handle with the artwork on the walls she didn't bother taking between the tears and shouts.

the one specific painting of the both of them, locked hands, and tousled hair. it was lena's favourite creation of hers.

he had them returned to her parents house at his brothers hands. he knew arthur would be better received by the dabiri's then he would after all the promises he gave their daughter. it was a good thing he didn't go. arthur had informed him that her father had opened the door with contempt, not fond of the sheepish look on his face. he had said something arthur couldn't understand, but it sounded disapproving.

he let out a groan, realising he couldn't get rid of her despite all the effort to forget her entirely. he got up and shuffled to the balcony door, and rested his hands on the railing.

he looked across, and found himself looking at his old apartment from his new one. their shared apartment was a few levels lower than his new one. he saw figures behind the curtain, and raised his eyebrow at the sight.

at first, he tried to ignore it. he shouldn't be so invested in a past relationship, especially if he was currently dating someone. he really shouldn't.

but he couldn't help it. he looked over the balcony again, eyes squinting at the figures looking like they were moving things into the house. lena and he had co-owned the apartment, and he had left it to her entirely when he walked in with some boxes to move his things out. with some help from her parents, charles assumed, lena had paid him the outstanding sum of the flat so it belonged to her completely.

he thought she had put it up for rent seeing as people did occupy it afterwards, but never looked into it much, considering it out of his bounds.

his curiousity heightened at the sheer number of people coming in and out of the balcony. he didn't recognise anyone.

had lena sold the apartment all together? it meant that she had been in monaco the past two years, but it remained a mystery to him how he had never once bumped into her, giving how small the state was and how close they lived.

the late afternoon sun wasn't showing any signs of setting, having just entered its current phase, and charles didn't have anything better to do. he could call marina, but they just returned from monza together. she was probably hanging out with friends. and as bad as it seems, he wanted a break from her.

—

the moving van was outside the building, and someone who was on the balcony had just emerged from the doors to the building to take another box of stuff with him. he stopped mid way when he saw charles who was awkwardly looking at him too.

'do you need anything?' the man asked in accented french, to which charles shook his head in response to.

'no, uh' he remained quiet while the taller man cocked his head to the side wondering what the clearly native man was asking.