Bonjour ma chérie || Charles Leclerc

•Chapter 31•

°There's a room for the trouble, and there's lovers to be had
Those walls will make sinners out of such lovely lads
Scaling the corridors for maidens in the maze
And in the anomaly, you'll slip into familiar ways
And we're... Forever unfulfilled
And I can't think why
Like a search for murder clues
In dead men's eyes°

The weeks went by pretty quickly. Diana was coopereting well with Bale in terms of the case. Confirming her first impression of him, which was very promising yet suspicious, Bell had proved her weird instinct to be correct. While working with this man, she had the opportunity to hear a ton of misogynistic comments and insults both for certain victims and even other employees, but never for her. Somehow, this man was praising her like no one's even done before. He was a complete gentleman to her but a total jerk to everyone else. It was like he had a very soft spot only for her. It was indeed weird for her at first, especially every time he asked her on diner by saying that it was for <<work purposes>>, even though he barely talked about the case when they were together. Diana was praying that the case was soon going to be over. The police search was almost done. Some last analysis and reports were left. Despite their seemingly absence of importance, they turned out to be much more crucial than expected.

Charles, on the other hand, didn't have the best of time while Diana was away. The 6th place in his home grand prix was the first hit. Things only got worse with that 11th place at the spanish Grand prix. The 5th place at the Canadian Grand prix was definitely an improvement, but it was not enough. So when that second place came at the Austrian Gran prix, it was a relief.

It's been more than two months since they had last seen each other, but after so much time and anticipation, the race weekend was about to begin.

Diana was already at the airport, where Charles would land. It's was Monday night, and she managed to sneak out from work early to meet him. She was waiting in a certain move when she saw Charles with his suitcase walking to her. She rushed and hugged him.

"I can't believe that you're actually here." She mumbled while holding him close.

"I've missed you too." He says and giggles.

"You're staying at my place." She announced once she pulled away.

"But the team has booked a hotel room for me," He protested, but she cut him off.

"My decision is final. Now we go to my apartment, and you get some much needed rest." She said, and he rolled his eyes even though his lips curled into a tiny smile.

They both got in her black Mercedes, and Diana turned on the engine, making a beautiful sound that was music to her ears but not Charles'.

"Really, Diana? A Mercedes?" He says teasingly.

"Hey, I had this car before I met you!" She explained and giggled as she was driving around the busy streets of London. "How does being the passenger's princess for the first time feel?" She said in an equally teasing tone to his.

"Oh, trust me, if I were to drive us here, we would have found ourselves in France by mistaking the Eurotunnel for a proper road." He joked.

"You're being dramatic now!" She said and laughed.

They arrived at her apartment shortly after, and Charles looked around as they entered. He placed his suitcase next to the door and laid on the couch, obviously exhausted from the trip.

"I feel like a train has run over me." He says, and Diana smiled as she approached him.

She sat next to him on the couch and caressed his head.

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" She suggested with willingness

"Diana, you're not my servant. We'll just order something." He said.

"Of course not! You're an athlete, remember? You can't eat all that junk food. Plus, you have a race in a few days, and I want to see you crossing that line first." She insisted and smiled  at him.

"Fine, you win that one. But we will order after the race." He said, trying desperately to find an excuse to nibble anything unhealthy.

"Okay, then I can just snitch you to your trainer. You know you aren't allowed to order that kind of food." She said and started tickling him until he was almost unable to breathe because of the laughter.

"Oh, you want to play dirty, don't you?" He said between his laughs before pulling her close to him and flipping her, him now on top, tickling Diana to the point where she was begging him to let her take a proper breath.

"You win! You win!" She shouted while laughing, making him let her go. "I hate that you are stronger than me," She added once she got up and inhaled deeply, making Charles smile, full of pride for himself.

As Diana walked to the kitchen, about to start cooking a healthy meal for both of them, her phone suddenly rang. It was Bell. He wanted to meet with her that evening to work on those last-minute details. Diana knew that she could've done that at home, but Bell insisted that he was in need of her opinion. So they arranged everything at 7 p.m. and after cooking some pasta with pesto, her and Charles made the table and ate while chatting.

When charles heard about Diana's business appointment with Bell, he seemed a bit annoyed but played it off.

"I know you wanted to spend our first day together a bit differently, but I promise it's the last time I see him for the case. He has gotten really weird lately, but after that, it will be over." Diana said, reassuringly.

"I know. I would never be an obstacle for your work, and you know that." He answered with a smile that made her melt.

"I love you," Diana said and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Do you mind cleaning the table? I must go and get ready, I'm afraid I'll be late."

And that's exactly what happened. She got ready in her room, and after about an hour, she was ready, and the table was clean. She took a small handbag for her keys and wallet, ready to leave.

"Charles, I'm leaving." She said, looking at the couch where he was sitting. "You should take a nap. You are tired." She added.

"I'll try, but jetlag might win this fight. Do you want me to pick you up?" He said.

"If it's not much of a trouble, then yes. We always have some glasses of wine and I don't want to drive like that." Diana explained and smiled.

"Yes, I understand. Text me where you'll be meeting and the time you want me to pick you up." He said, smiling as well.

"Thank you, Charles. See you soon!" She said and closed the door behind her.