On and Off the Track

F O U R T Y F I V E

Charles had decided to drive down, and I didn't complain. The drive down was beautiful, through roads which hung to the side of the mountain, the bluest of seas peaked out below. We spent the three hours of driving, listening and badly singing to music and just catching up. It had been a long time since Charles and I had been able to spend proper time together and have an actual conversation which wasn't on the phone.
'Your parents seemed nice' I could tell he chose his words carefully, unsure of how to describe them. I couldn't blame him either, at the dinner they were not the most welcoming at the start.
'Don't worry they are like that with everyone, but they do like you. I could tell' my heart warmed at the sight of his smile, his hand moving from the steering wheel to rest comfortably on my thigh.
'Really? I'm surprised. I mean I didn't have the best first impression'
'Yeah but you had an amazing second impression and that's all that matters' I laughed. 'Wait, I don't have a pass to get into the race' I suddenly just realised, I don't know if Charles could get me one so last minute.
'Don't worry, I already got you one. It's in my bag.'
'Wait how'
'Well I got it for you after Silverstone and I was going to ask you in person after Austria but well you know I thought you were getting back with Lando so I didnt.'
'You thought Lando and I were getting back together' I snorted
'Yeah kinda, I saw the photo and assumed that was the case'
'Charles, you never need to worry about that ever. Me and Lando are over'
'Okay good' a comfortable silence filled the car, before I quickly realised something.
'Wait so you got me a ticket before we decided to be public'
'Yeah kinda, I was getting bored not seeing you in the paddock. I didn't even need you to be there with me, you could be in the stands for all that I care. I just wanted you there'. I squeezed his hand as a thankyou before turning to look out the window to watch the views.

As soon as we got inside the hotel room I fell onto the bed, I was exhausted. Charles followed behind me. As I was lying on the bed, I watched him check out the hotel room looking at the view, inspecting the bed and the cupboards and picking up random objects around the room.
"Who knew sitting in a car would be so tiring'
'Trust me, it's tiring' he laughed as he continued to look around the hotel room.
'What are you doing?' I said, sitting up to try and get a better look at him.
'I don't know, every time I go into a hotel room, I like to check it out. You know see what's what'
'You are so weird' I laughed. My stomach growled with hunger so loud both me and Charles could hear it.
'You're hungry' Charles said it less like a question more like a statement.
'Yeah I'm starving, do you want to order some room service or we could go into town'
'No don't worry, i'll go to the shop, you stay here'
'You sure, I don't mind coming'
'You can come of course, but like you said you are tired and I have tons of built up energy.'
'You sure?'
'I'm positive.' My eyes watched him adoringly as he strolled over and placed a kiss on my forehead before walking out the door. I fell asleep almost instantly after he shut the door, a smile on my face as I did.

The nap was short as I was woken up by a knock on the door. I knew this wasn't Charles as he would walk straight in. I quickly smoothed down my dress before opening the door, trying to not make it look like I had been sleeping. I was met by two people, one blonde girl and an older man. I had recognised them from being in the paddock with Charles as part of his team but had no idea who they were. They were just as shocked to find me opening the door as I was to find them standing there.
'Hi, is Charles here?' The blonde girl asked.
'No but he should be back any seconds, he just went to get some food. Do you want to come in?" I asked politely. I still didnt know who they were but from my experience of dating f1 drivers, it was normal from their teams to talk to them about the race weekend and their agendas so I just assumed that was the case.
'Yeah, sure.' The older man said, looking at the girl from reassurance. They stepped inside and I found myself awkwardly standing in the corner, unsure what to do with myself. I didn't know if Charles had told them I was coming to the race this weekend as it was so last minute. Or worst case they thought I was some random stalker waiting in his hotel room for him to get back and then kidnap him.
'I'm Mia, Mia djacic. I'm Charles Pr manager and this is Morgan' I reached out my hand to shake theirs.
'Nice to meet you, I'm Bronte Toussaints' I said with a smile trying to come off as unthreatening as possible.
'Oh we already know who you are. That is one of the reasons we are here now' Mia said. She went to sit down on the couch and I hesitatingly followed. I did let out a sigh of relief that they didn't think I was some crazy stalker and actually knew who I was.
'Okay, is there anything you want to talk to me about'
'Um yeah, that could work' Morgan was more reserved than Mia. He remained standing by the door, leaning on the wall and crossing his arms. Whilst Mia sat on the sofa opposite me, her body language was open and relaxed.
'Obviously we know that you have been in the spotlight for a long time, so you probably know that your attendance will get a lot of media attention. We just wanna know how public you two are going to be just so we can be prepared' Mia asked.
'Oh yeah of course, I haven't actually talked to Charles about it yet, but I assume we will be together in the paddock and arrive together' this was one part of my life, I could never find not weird. Having to talk through and plan something that should be the most natural thing in the world.
'No that fine, Charles has been dying to get you into the paddock for weeks so he will be happy with that' I tried to hide my smile but I was doing an awful job at it.
'Who else are you going to be seen with on the track when Charles is busy?' Morgan's tone was interrogative, making my back straight in response.
'Um... my bestfriend Mila Venz is going to be there so mainly her. Um, maybe some of the other drivers' girlfriends like Kelly or Isa.'
'That's fine, I think what Morgan meant to ask was would you be talking to Lando Norris'
'Oh god no.' I nearly burst out laughing while saying it.
'Okay that's good. I would recommend staying off your phone after you attended the races' there was only one reason a PR manager would say this. There would be hate and a lot of it.
'Okay, will it be that bad'
'We just don't know how the fans would react to you now dating your ex-boyfriend's biggest rival in the championship. So just to be safe I would stay off social media'
'Can I still post?'
'You can, but I can't say the comment will be nice'
'Okay. I will stay of social media then'
'What are you planning on doing after the races?' I've never had such a thorough Pr meeting. It felt like I should tell them my whole life story just to be on the safe side. I tried to think what I would be doing after the races, I hadn't even planned that far. I did remember that I would be going for a meal with Elvire and probably Mila too.
'There is a big event for charity with a meal, I'm attending it with Mila and Elvire back in Monaco on Wednesday.'
'Elvire Monet?" Mia looked concerned and slightly panicked when she heard her name.
'Um yeah, why'
'I don't know how to say this in a nice way as she seems like a close friend, but she is known to have a bit of an open mouth to the press' I could tell that Mia tried to say it in the nicest way possible but also warning me strongly at the same time.
'Really?" Hearing this shocked me, never would I have thought that Elvire was a media mouth. But that did make me suddenly realise things. Elvire and Mila were the only ones who knew about me meeting Lando. I became very sweaty at the thought that Elvire might have been the one to take the photo and leaked it to the press. I then became even more panicked about everything that I had told her. What I could tell her could never get out to the press. I suddenly became quite relieved that I never told her much about Charles, otherwise I would think the entire media would know about us two. However I may just be jumping to conclusions so I kept my mouth shut until I would knew for certain. 'Okay, I'll keep that in mind' just then the hotel door opened and Charles appeared, food in arm and slightly surprised to see Morgan and Mia here.
'Oh Bronte, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you they would be coming down'
'Oh don't worry about it, it's absolutely fine' I got up from my seat, and walked over to help grab the bags of charles. Squeezing his arm as a thankyou for getting all of this and allowed him to get straight to talking with Mia and Morgan.
'Wait Bronte, there is one more thing'
'Yeah'
'I assume you've told your team about going to the race this weekend, I would love to get their contacts so we can ensure we are on the same page and for future events' shit, I completely forgot to tell anyone that I was going, it completely slipped my mind. Not to forget I've been ignoring all of their calls since me and Charles' fight.
'Yep, they know' bullshit. My eyes flicked towards Charles who saw straight through my lie. I smiled quickly then sat down on the bed, leaving Charles sitting on the couch facing me whilst Mia and Morgan sat opposite him with their back to me. I scrolled on my phone half listening in on their conversations, which mainly consisted of which interviews he would be doing, his schedule and training and so on. But one thing did grab my attention.
'And then afterwards you have that Paris trip, Joris will come with you and I've confirmed all the reservations and bookings.' I watched Charles eyes open wide with a quick shake of his head, trying but failing awful at subtly asking Mia to be quiet. Charles had hoped I didn't hear what she just said, but it was too late. I was sitting less than two metres away, of course I heard it.
'Paris trip?" I questioned raising a brow with a smirk tugging at my lips.
'Yeah it was meant to be a surprise,' a tight lipped smile formed on Charles' face, annoyed that Mia ruined it. I stayed quiet, wording a quick thankyou to Charles, before allowing them to return to talking about the important stuff.