Fifty Shades Of Red | Charles Leclerc

15. Lucky

                                Hailey's pov

As I'm standing in front of an interviewee, I can feel my heart start racing faster when I see her giving me a smirk.

I know what's coming.

As I was answering other rushed questions about the race, I kept wishing that we could just avoid talking about the kiss but obviously I had too much hope.

Please don't ask Please don't ask Please don't ask....

"So Hailey, it seems like you're winning both on and off track!" She chuckles "The moment between you and Charles Leclerc has shaken all of us up!"

"Yeah, I can imagine!" I fake laugh and dig my nails inside of my palms which are sweaty.

"It was such a sweet gesture of him and you both must be so happy for each other, getting on the podium together and all..."

"Charles is the sweetest...." When he's not trying to kill me...or drown me...or humiliate me, and the list goes on and on "And yeah I'm very proud of him, he deserved the podium today."

"Although you're such a cute couple and we love seeing you together I have to ask." She says and I cringe when she says 'couple' "How is your relationship affecting your job? I mean, at the end of the day you both race for different teams."

"Ehm...well we both try to keep our relationship separated from work so it doesn't really have any affect on it. Once it's lights out, we're back to being rivals." I try to say confidently.

"Well there you have it ladies and gents." The interviewee says while turning towards the camera "Hailey, thank you so much for your time and congratulations once again!"

"Thank you!" I say and start walking away, towards the Red Bull motorhome.

I can't believe all of this is happening. How are we supposed to pretend being in a relationship and make it believable at the same time? This interview was better than expected but wait until they start asking more personal questions. All of my past relationships have never been too serious and I haven't dated anyone in a very long time. All my focus has been on formula one so I have little to no experience when it comes to dating. This is going to be hell.

"Here comes the champion!" My team principal says as soon as I walk in and the part of the team that's left in the garage cheers and claps for me one more time.

Christian gives me a brief hug and whispers 'you did great' in my ear. I can't figure out if he's talking about me winning or about the whole performance in front of everyone. I can't help but wonder if he knew that it was going to happen. If he did, he could have at least given me a heads up...

"Where's Max?" I ask him not to only change the subject, but because I truly want to know.

I still have to talk to him about everything. I can't tell him that my relationship with Charles is fake, no one can know about that but he still deserves an explanation even if I'm still lying to him in a way. We kissed just a night before and it didn't seem like it meant absolute nothing to him. I can't imagine what he must have been thinking when he saw me and Charles together.

"He left early but don't worry, you'll see him at the party tonight." Christian says and pats my shoulder.

My mood immediately changes when I hear about the after party. Usually, I would be excited and looking forward to it but going there tonight would mean more pretending and more drama that I don't want to have to deal with.

"Hey, don't give me that look." Christian says while pointing his finger at me "You're the winner Hailey, that party it's basically being thrown for you, you can't just not attend your own party."