that august night - c.l.

23. Yeah, I love him

"Oh yeah, I am babysitting a child over the weekend." – Elena informed Charles as his head tilted at her words. "What child? Whose child?" – He kept on asking as Elena smiled at his tone. "Your little five years old fan, Ashton. Ashely and her husband are going to France over the weekend and he didn't want to go so I offered to watch him over for the weekend." – She explained as his look was firm on her and her lips as they moved. Charles wished to have them close to his, but even that will have to wait until they see each other again.

"Make sure you send me some videos, alright?" – He smiled as she did the same. They continued on with their phone call before falling asleep after saying goodnight one to another.

...

"Ashton please, don't make any trouble." – Ashley pleaded before her and her husband disappeared in front of Elena's doors when they dropped Ashton off. Elena smiled at her worry but she was sure there won't be major problems with him. "Ashton, my name is Elena. You don't know me but I work with your mom." – Elena introduced herself as she thought maybe Ashley didn't tell him enough about her.

"But you look so much younger than my mom." – He sounded confused as Elena smiled at him. "Yeah, well your mom is in this job for a long time. I am not, I am only twenty-five years old." – Elena talked to him as they sat on her couch, comfortably resting. "Just like Charles Leclerc!" – Elena could hear the enthusiasm in his voice as he mentioned Charles. "Your mom told me you are a big Ferrari fan."

"I am! I got Ferrari shirt and a cap with drivers' signatures for my birthday. All my friends were asking me where I got it, and I was so happy." – He talked with bright smile on his face as Elena suggested: "What if, we make pizza and get us something to drink so we can watch qualifying for Canada, which starts in an hour or so?" – Ashton's face lit up at her words as he nodded. "That would be great! You are a fan of Formula 1 as well?" – He asked as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Oh I am a big fan. I got to watch Monaco GP from Ferrari garage last weekend. It was amazing." – Elena talked as she got the ingredients out of the fridge. "Oh you're so lucky! I've been trying to get tickets but they are too expensive." – He sadly talked as Elena felt sympathy for the kid. "Hey, Ashton what are your favorite races?" – She asked after assuring him that one day he might go a race and that he is still young.

"Oh, I love Brazil and Belgium. Those are my favorite, and yours?" – He asked and Elena was glad she already had some kind of conversation with Ashton and that he wasn't quiet because then it would've been too awkward. "Oh Monaco, its Charles' home race and I love it." – She replied. "You love him too?" – If Ashton knew how deep this question got to her and if he was a little older he would've noticed how her expression softened and how she smiled.

"Yeah, I love him." - She said loud enough just so he can hear her. Almost like she wasn't ready to accept the fact that he has grown to her that much in just a short period of time. Either she wasn't ready or was too scared of something that might come later and ruin everything she thought was real with Charles.

Damned kids, always ask questions but never realize how deep they go.

They continued on having a conversation until it was short before qualifying. Elena sat down next to Ashton on the couch, turning on the TV and waiting. "Let's send the picture to your mom." – Ashton immediately got up and stood in front of TV, making a heart with his hands once Ferrari car showed up on the screen. He wasn't tall enough as TV was on the wall, but even his attempt was cute.

She sent the picture to Ashley and sent it to Charles too. He saw the picture not even minutes later before she got a call from him. "Ashton, get yourself anything to drink from the fridge, I'll be right back. And you have snacks in the last drawer." - Elena saw how he happily jumped towards the kitchen before she closed the doors of her bedroom, answering Charles' call.

"Hello, love. How is babysitting? I see you can't wait for the qualifying?" - Charles was in his suit, while sitting in his driver's room. "It's going very great. We bounded over Formula 1 and I will confirm that he is your biggest little fan I've seen so far. He knows everything about you, even some things I didn't know." - Charles laughed at Elena's tone as she spoke about the child.

"I am glad you are happy with him. This is some kind of a practice for you once we have our own." - She smiled at the thought before continuing the conversation and then remembering what she wanted to ask him. "Can you do something for me?" - She immediately put on her puppy eyes watching him with the sweetest smile he has ever seen on her.

"Oh boy, I am afraid. Now I can't say no." - She smiled at his reaction before continuing. "Ashton said how he wanted to get a ticket for a grand prix but they were too expensive. I was thinking if you can secure somehow three paddock passes for Belgium GP? I planned on going but I want to make that child happy, seeing him happy makes me happy and he is not even mine. I figured it would be good if Ashley was there too, I know she wouldn't let him go with me only." - Elena explained as Charles released a deep breath.

"What?" - Elena asked after seeing his reaction. "I thought you were going to ask me to help you hide a body by the tone you asked if I can do something for you." - Elena laughed at how he explained it but he nodded at the end. "But of course I can secure it for you, no matter how many you need."

...

"And Charles Leclerc doesn't manage to get a pole position. Max Verstappen simply steals it away. Leclerc will have to satisfy with third place, behind Sergio Perez." - Elena and Ashton watched with little disappointment as Charles lost two tenths to pole position. Whole qualifying session was thrilling to watch and Elena and Ashton spent most of that time on their feet, waiting to see where Charles comes out.

"The race tomorrow will be better." - Elena assured the boy who nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely. I think they sent Charles out too late, if he had one more lap he would've made it to pole position." - Elena was amazed by that child's knowledge. He knew more than her, starting from where was Charles' first win, how many pole positions he has, all the way to last thirty world champions.

When it was already getting late, Ashely called them to make sure they are settled in and even she was surprised how Ashton got all talkative over the phone call with both her and Elena. But Ashley could just thank her and say how she would never forget this gesture.

"Come on little man, let's get you to the bed." - They stood up, Elena turned on the light in her bedroom bathroom so he could brush his teeth. She prepared the bed for him as she would be taking couch for the night. It won't be as bad as she thinks surely.

"Did I see a Ferrari cap in your bathroom?" - Elena turned around at his question, going to the bathroom and seeing a Ferrari cap on washing machine. "Oh yeah, that's mine. My friend got it for me." - She explained as they walked towards the bed while she tucked him in. "Cool, now we can wear it tomorrow while we watch a race!" - He spoke with enthusiasm as she promised him, they would do just that before she walked down the hallway, turning off the light and calling Charles as she sat in the living room while random movie played on the TV.

"Hey champ, good qualifying today." - She talked in low tone not wanting to wake Ashton up or interrupt him in his attempt of sleeping. "Yeah, I've had better. But it's still not as bad." - She could see disappointment on his face even if his words tried to tell otherwise. "Don't worry too much of it, love. You still have a great chance of finishing in a good position, like in Monaco. You dropped down a place and got it back." - She tried cheering him up.

"In Monaco, I had your support and motivation. Now I'm alone in a different country." - He smiled sadly at her as she gave him back genuine smile. "I know you can do it Charles. Even hundreds of miles away I still support you the same way. It doesn't weaken by distance. You can extend that championship lead I know it. And Ashton and I will be rooting for you with our Ferrari caps." - Charles smiled at the image that came through in his head.

He could just imagine how good was she with kids and how she treated them with such kindness and care like they were porcelain made. Also the image of her with their own kids flashed through his mind. How they would come to his races and support him. How his kids will wear his color as Elena held them with a smile on her face. All that seemed too good to be true to him, but maybe the better things are waiting, so those good ones can become real.

They talked for half an hour more before wishing each other good night and falling asleep with thoughts of one another on their minds.