love at first sight?

the small moments

*Ivy*

I texted my mum. After stressing about what to text for the whole day. Charles tried his best to calm me but my nerves got the best of me as were now sitting in a small restaurant waiting for my mother to appear. My hand rests in Charles' and he draws circles on it with his fingers to calm me. "Don't worry, I'm right here", he says softly and smiles at me. I force a smile back but deep down I'm more nervous than I've ever been.

"Hey, sweetie", I hear a high voice and turn my head. It's her. I quickly get up and then I don't know what to do. Do I hug her? Before I can think further she pulls me into a tight hug. My arms don't find their way around her body though. It's not a comfortable hug so I keep it short. I stand there awkwardly but Charles comes to my rescue and extends his hand for my mother. "Ma'm, I'm-", he says but get interrupted by my mother. "Yeah, I know. You're Charles Leclerc. The famous Ferrari driver", she scoffs sarcastically not even looking him in the eyes and ignoring his hand. I don't get why she's being so rude. "So what's that between you two, huh?", she asks immediately after we sat down. "Charles is my boyfriend, you know that already", I tell her. Charles takes my hand underneath the table and squeezes it. "No need to be rude, Ivy", she says sternly. I'm a bit taken aback by her rudeness. Charles coughs before he speaks up. "So, why did you want to meet with Ivy?", he asks. My mother looks offended as if he wasn't allowed to ask this question. "I wanted to meet her because we haven't seen each other for ages, isn't that right sweetie? I was in Monaco anyways so I thought we should spent some time together", she says with a fake smile plastered on her face. She thought she could just come back into my life? After everything she did to me? „Uhm- I don't know. You can't just come into my life again after everything you did to me, mum", I say strongly making even myself proud. Charles squeezes my hand signalising me that he's proud of me for staying strong. "Ivy, I always just wanted the best for you. You know that, sweetie", she keeps on manipulating me. A waitress comes to take our order and keeps me from talking back to my mother. "I'd like the burger with fries, please", I order and smile at the waitress who only has eyes for Charles. As always. He puts his arm around me and gently brushes over my shoulder. Luckily the waitress gets the hint and leaves after she took all our orders. "Are you sure you don't want a salad like me, honey? You gained a lot of weight", my mum says and looks at me disgusted. Charles tenses next to me. Why would she say this? "Ivy's weight shouldn't be any of your concern. She is beautiful and it doesn't matter if she gained weight or not. There should be more important things for you than her weight right now", Charles says firmly but with an angry tone in his voice. His grip around my hand tightens and I can feel that he's fuming inside. I feel some tears in my eyes. Not just because it seems like all my mum wanted to achieve is insulting me once again, but also because of how hardly Charles is defending me. "You let him speak to me like this?", my mother asks me shocked. I find my composure again and find the confidence to answer. "I do, because he's right. You ruined my childhood by hurting me and you caused several traumas. Charles is the first one that was able to get me out of my shell. He loves me as much as I love him. You ruined me, mum. I'm not here to rebuild a relationship with you, the only reason I'm here is to finally close this chapter and go on with my life which is beautiful right now", I say and try to stay calm. Charles' hand squeezes mine tightly. My mother looks surprised by my sudden statement. However, there's no sign of emotion. "I did not ruin you, Ivy. You ruined ME. Nobody talked to me again. You were such a difficult child, always crying and whining. You deserved everything I did to you", she raises her voice at me and I feel the tears start to stream down my face. Before she can continue, Charles interrupts her. "That is enough. I won't let you speak to my girlfriend like this. Stay out of our life and leave Monaco", he gets up with me and takes my hand after throwing some money on the table. He grabs my hand tightly and leads me out of the restaurant with his hand on my back. I can't believe what just happened.