Intertwined | Charles Leclerc

CHAPTER 3

"Yeah that was pretty funny actually, apart from embarrassing myself in front of an entire bar!" I laugh as we walk into a small coffee shop. I still can't believe I'm always the one to fall on a night out, I always wake up the next day with bruises of unknown origin. Thankfully my linen trousers are hiding the growing purple bruises on my knees for today. "I'll get these you go sit down" I say as I point to a table in the corner. There was a small queue of 3 people in front of me. I pull out my phone as I wait and check the group chat to see if Ruby or Grace has woken up yet. Nothing. I left a note on the nightstand next to Ruby before I left so she didn't panic that I'd gone.

"Trois lattes s'il vous plaît" I order, thank god for Google Translate. My French is terrible. I turn around to look at the girls while I wait, who are chatting away. As I start to turn back around, someone comes up behind me in the queue, I glance at him as he stops behind me and looks up from his phone as me with half a smile on his face. A grin forms on his face, why is this guy grinning at me like that?

He lifts his sunglasses off his face and that's when the realisation hits. It's him. It's the guy from the bar last night, who picked me up from the floor. As if I wasn't embarrassed enough last night with god knows how many cocktails and shots of tequila in my system, I now have to look at him stone cold sober. He clearly remembers me, I mean who wouldn't when a random British stranger almost wipes out on a floor in front of you.

"Oh uh Hi" I manage to mutter. "On your feet this time I see." He says confidently looking me up and down, still with a huge grin on his face. "Huh?" "Well you were on your knees in front of me last time I saw you." he smirks. I can feel my face flush as he says it. My mouth opens slightly as I realise I can't even get any words out. "Charles." He says as he reaches his hand out in front of him. "Nova." I meet my hand with his as he grips it into a handshake, my upper arm twitches as it remembers his grip from last night. "Nice to meet you" I say as I meet his eyes. I'm mesmerised by his emerald green eyes that feel like they're staring into my soul. "The pleasure is mine." As his face moves into a more sincere smile.

I notice we still have a hold of each other's hands. I slowly pull mine back towards me, as I do his grip loosens as I feel as though my arm has been electrocuted. He gestures next to me where 3 coffees stand on the counter in front of me. "Merci" I nod to the lady behind the counter as I grab the tray and start to move towards the table Elle and Aspen are sitting at. I can feel his eyes staring into the back of my head as I walk away. "Fuck" I say under my breath as I set the tray on the table. "What?" Aspen looks at me. "Guess who that is." as I gesture over my shoulder with my head. "Literally no idea?" she says leaning around me trying to get a better view. "Well considering I 'were on my knees in front of him' the last time I saw him" I mumble as I sit in my seat that is facing the counter. "Wait, I'm confused? Who have you been getting on your knees for?" Elle shoots me a cheeky smile. "Last night, when I fell. He's the one who picked me up. And those were his words!" "No fucking way!" Elle flips her head to get a better look. "He's cute though, I wouldn't mind being on my knees in front of him" she says as she raises an eyebrow while looking at him and chuckling.

Why of all the people in bloody Monaco did he have to come into here and be next to me? This is just my luck. I mean Elle was right, he is cute but I made a complete fool of myself last night which only makes me feel worse.

I sip my coffee that I'm staring into in between the nods and mhms I'm throwing into the conversation to make it seem like I'm paying attention to Aspen and Elle discussing where they want to go to take photos later. Aspen is an up and coming model, I mean you look at her and it doesn't surprise you. She's just over 6ft, legs for days with beautiful natural blonde hair that comes down to her waist. Elle is an influencer and also helped Aspen break the modelling world by being her own personal photographer, she always said she dreamed of being a model herself but being much smaller than Aspen at only 5ft4 she knew that she wouldn't be walking down the runway anytime soon.