Fifty Shades Of Red | Charles Leclerc

21. No Touching

Hailey's pov

"Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Charles right now?" Kika asks before taking a sip out of the smoothie she's holding.

I cringe at hearing Charles' name. In fact, I don't want anything to remind me of him right now but it's hard when you're walking around in a shopping mall in Monaco. It's hard to miss his ridiculous face advertising every product, in every store. It makes me want to walk in there and tear the posters down.

"We had a little argument." I confess, taking a sip out of my own smoothie, not wanting to make a big deal out of what happened.

"Are you guys okay?" Kika asks concerned "Pierre told me Charles was very excited for this date."

"We'll be fine." I shrug.

I don't even know what 'fine' means when it comes to Charles. I'm not even angry at him, I'm just...disappointed. A day ago, he really had me thinking that he was a different person from who I thought he is. It really seemed like it, until he proved me wrong. All we do, is this constant back and forth, one step forward and then three steps back all over again.

"I know what will bring up your mood." Kika takes my hand, dragging me inside a women's store.

"Buying lingerie?" I question, holding up a pair of red set of panties and a bra.

"Oh, you should totally get that! Charles will lose his mind when he sees you in that." She winks and I immediately drop the panties in their place.

Definitely not getting that.

"You should come to this club with me!" Kika says and grabs the panties I just left behind, putting them inside a cart "It's the first opening night and you know how wild it gets here in Monaco."

"I don't know about that." I say hesitantly, not wanting to do anything other than curl up in my bed.

"Come on! You don't have practice until Friday so you're allowed to drink. What else will you do on a Tuesday night? Curl up in bed?" She chuckles.

"No. I have plans." I turn my head away, wanting to make myself sound believable.

"Yeah, you do." Kika says and heads towards the fitting room "You're going to this super fun club with me."

Before I can object, she has already left.

        
                               —-—————

I walk inside the hotel, heading towards the elevator, with a shopping bag in my hand since Kika can be very persuasive.

I already feel a lot better after spending some time with her, she really knows how to lighten up my mood.

I push the button, stepping inside the elevator once the doors open up for me, but a hand stops them from closing.

Charles.

He looks up at me, his mouth slightly falls open. He wasn't expecting it to be me.

I sigh.

"I'll wait." He slowly says, taking a few steps back hesitatingly.

"Don't be ridiculous." I move a bit, making some space for Charles in the elevator.

He steps inside and once the doors close, I regret letting him take a lift with me. There's not too much distance between us.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him after pushing the button to my floor.

"Meeting Pierre." It's all he says and he looks ahead in the mirror, his eyes meeting mine, forcing me to look down at my feet.