L O C K -U P | c. leclerc

27| Comrade

C. Leclerc

I couldn't believe I was doing this. I promised myself at the beginning of the season that I wouldn't do this but I needed his help. He knew Artemis in his own way and I know he'd want to help me. Hesitantly, I pressed the call button, anticipating his answer in my driver's room.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

To my surprise, he picked up immediately.

Carlos: Very unexpected, you must really need something.

Charles: I do, it's about Artemis. Can you go into somewhere private, no one else must know. I'm in deep shit.

Carlos: If you hurt Artemis, I'll fucking kill you-

Charles: Please, just hear me out.

Carlos: Hear you out? You didn't even hear me out when I tried to explain why I left Ferrari.

Charles: Please, can we just get along for Artemis. It's really important.

Carlos: Fine, let me just go into my driver's room. Que cabron, what have you been up to this time?

Charles: Alexandra's blackmailing me. She made me breakup with Artemis or she'll leak some pretty devastating news about Artemis' family.

Carlos: Have you lost your cojones? You let your ex blackmail you?! Come on man. Is that why I saw Pierre and Kika comforting Artemis? I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you for that.

Charles: If she was blackmailing me by threatening to show something embarrassing about me...I would have no problem. But it involves Artemis.

Carlos: Ah, and why me? Don't you have a parade of friends?

Charles: I can't. She'll expose it I tell them.

Carlos: And what the hell does she know about Artemis?

Charles: Fuck...this is hard to say.

Carlos: Que pasa, Que pasa! Tell me what is happening!

Charles: Artemis, she adores her mother and all she knows about her mother is that she was a ballerina, her father met her on one of her shoes, and died giving birth to her. These are all from her grandfather's stories.

Carlos: Fuck, I don't like this.

Charles: Alexandra found an old article detailing how Artemis' mother was an actual prostitute. Niki obviously did his best to cover this all up but some slipped through the cracks. She made me break up with Artemis and threatened to expose this to everyone if I didn't.

Carlos: Dios mio, I told you to not trust Alexandra, I told you that you should've never dated her. Puta, this is hard.

Charles: I need you to find dirt on Alexandra, I don't care who you use just help me. I don't want to keep hurting Artemis, please. This season has been crazy enough. I don't care if I lose the championship. I am not losing her.

Carlos: You are a better man than me Charles. I'll help you. I have to go, they're looking for me. I'll message you if I get anything.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The call ended. Suddenly, I was met with a flurry of notifications on Twitter. I had an inkling of what it was about, but still I opened it anyways.

But with only one look, I already felt disgusted. I was turning into a coward. God, every minute I spend away from Artemis is torture.

______

A. Devereaux

It was the third race of the season and emotions were already running so high, not only for the crowd but also for me. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. My hands were shaking even if I didn't want them to. Fuck, this is too much.

I came here with a dream and it's all crashing down already. It's only my third race and I feel like giving up already. I saw what they say about me on social media. I never thought that what other people thought about me would get to me but this one really  cut deep. They dug into my securities like a knife digging deeper and deeper as it stabbed into my heart.

Fuck, I couldn't breathe. I came to my driver's room for peace just before the race but my heart is racing. I was took out of my thoughts when I heard a knock on my door. I stood up, wiped away the tears that I didn't realise were on my face.

I opened the door and it revealed Carlos. I quickly let him in and asked, "What the hell are you doing here?! I don't want to get into any more trouble. Please, I don't have enough peace around here."

"I just wanted to check in on you, I'm guessing you hadn't told Charles what happened and that's why Pierre and Kika were comforting you," he said and I just gave up and nodded.

He quickly embraced me and then grabbed me by the shoulders to say, "Artemis, mi Hermosa. Don't give up on him okay? I'm sure there's an explanation to everything and win this fucking race. Not for the team, not for the fans, win it for yourself. I want you to remind yourself that amidst the noise and the drama, you're here for a fucking reason. Show them who you are."

I nodded and Carlos left discreetly. For some reason, I really needed that. I got out of my driver's room and was met with Jasmine who looked worried. She gave me a quick hug and said, "Be careful alright? Win it the right way. I'll be cheering for you."

Fred gave me a look and I nodded. I saw Charles getting into his car and my heart sunk again. I saw Alexandra on his side of the garage so I quickly turned away before my emotions got to me again.

Time flew by as my thoughts raced with images of Charles choosing Alexandra in my head. This is so pathetic. As my car was lined up to P20, I closed my eyes and thought of my grandfather. I thought of how he was present for every race I had and how he cheered me on like no tomorrow.

I opened my eyes again and put down my visor. I'm gonna fucking win this. No matter who's in front of me, I'm going to make them my bitch.