Another Love

41 Vows

Charles's POV

I entered the cooldown room getting surprised by continuous popping sounds.

Carlos and the other drivers were all cramped up inside the cooldown room holding party poppers before they all said congratulations.

I looked at all of them with a smile on my face as each of them walked towards me to congratulate me on taking the title and the engagement before walking out of the cooldown room, leaving me, Carlos and Max.

"If I knew you were going to propose if you won the title, I would've stormed through the race and took you out." Max jokingly said laughing before we bro-hugged. "Anyways, congratulations mate. She's a keeper, I'm glad you realized that. Kelly and I have always felt that you were just so perfect for each other." He continued as he went to take a seat on the P2 chair.

"Congratulations, mate. Finally. Damn! You looked much more nervous with the proposal than the race." Carlos said making him and Max laugh and I just smiled while shaking my head.

"I was much more scared of her possibly rejecting my proposal than me crashing and having the pressure of possibly losing the title." I told them making them laugh harder.

I was guided to the special room for the WDC title winner which was set up in case I won today's race securing the title.

Highlights of races concentrated on me and my podium appearances and race wins were playing on the screen in front of the chair prepared in the room, it ended with the clip of my proposal just minutes ago before I was called to proceed to the podium with Max and Carlos.

Carlos was the first to walk out onto the P3 podium followed by Max in P2.

"And finally, the man who is looking to celebrate 2 special milestones in his life at the end of today. Dubbed Ferrari's Golden Boy, the winner of today's race and your 2024 Champion of the World, Charles Lerclerc."

I walked out onto the podium smiling as I fixed my cap and waved to the fans, mechanics and all the other people below the podium before my eyes found Elise with my family and I winked at her.

The Monegasque anthem was then played and the Italian anthem was played afterwards.

The trophies were given in order from P3 to P1 before I was given the WDC trophy which I kissed first before I raised it and raised my fingers as I looked up giving a silent thanks to my papa, to Jules and Antoine.

The champagne celebrations then commenced with it ending with us toasting and drinking from the bottle before we left the podium to go do our media duties, take photos with the team and bask in the win.

I was in the media pen for the post-race interviews and I have answered almost all of the questions and I'm nearing the end.

"Last question, Charles. The proposal which was of course broadcasted on international television, was it planned for when you win the title or were you set on proposing today whether or not you won either the race or the title?"

I smiled before answering the question.

"My relationship with Elise has always been rocky in the beginning, I hurt her both consciously and unconsciously but she still decided to give me a chance through all of those times. This led me to be much more determined to win the title since I thought to myself that I should first change my mindset and prove that I am worthy of her before even thinking of proposing even though I already bought the ring a few months ago when she proved to me that she was and would always be the perfect one for me, to stand beside me, and to spend the rest of my life with. Preparing for this race, I prepared myself to push to the limit to win today and secure the title not willing to make a mistake and letting the title to be up for grabbing if I wasn't able to do well, and she took all of those thoughts and threw them down the drain as she said a few sentences before the race and put my mind at ease to be able to concentrate on the race more."