When the first female F1 driver is announced, no one expects her to get on so badly with Ferrari golden boy Charles Leclerc, but do they really hate each other as much as it seems?
The Mclaren team meeting sounded positive - after FP1 the car seemed to mesh well with the Miami track and the team had high hopes for obtaining crucial points this weekend.
Lando and I had to film a few videos for YouTube, and I felt like me and Lando hadn't been spending much time together recently. Although we were rivals on track and I wanted to beat him, off track we were super close and he was probably my closest friend on the grid.
"Hey Lando," I ran down the paddock lane to catch up with him. He was taking a selfie with a fan.
"Hey Edom, you good?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking we should do something fun tonight!"
"That sounds cool, what were you thinking of?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. This is my first time in Miami and I don't know the place at all."
"Well, I know this pretty cool club thats not too well known we could go to. The vibe there is always really good, plus I'm friends with the DJ."
"Alright, that sounds good." I smiled at Lando, excited for our plans.
"I'll pick you up at 8, but no heavy drinking Edom because we still have work tomorrow." Lando grinned back at me.
"Look at you becoming the older and wiser team mate. I'm going to have to start calling you grandad." I chuckled.
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Back at the hotel, I got ready for the club, adorning a sheer, sparkely pink dress. Lando called me to let me know to come downstairs and as I was locking my door, I looked up to see Charles Leclerc down the hall. I was so shocked I nearly dropped my bag.
He walked towards me and stopped 2 doors away.
"Where are you going Hakimi?" he addressed me by my last name. Where was Hello? How are you?
"Out." I replied dryly.
"Remember your key, I wouldn't you to have to sleep with another driver tonight." He said icely.
I was almost upset but my anger was stronger. I decided to not reply so put my key clearly in my bag to show him, then turned around and walked to the stairs.
Lando was waiting in the lobby and greeted me with a hug and a smile; a greeting I much prefer to the icey one Charles gave me.
"Let's go," Lando said with a wink.
----------------- Charles's POV -----------------
Fuck.
I hated myself for saying that to her. I knew deep down Edom wouldn't be sleeping with anyone else on the grid. Well I hoped not. Especially because I never lose.
I knew she hadn't expected to see me in the same hotel as her, but I had specifically booked that hotel and that room so I had the chance and excuse to see her again, and although I had reminded her about her key, I hoped she would forget it again so she would have to come sleep with me again.
That night was etched into my brain. Although she had given me no physical pleasure, just seeing the way I had made her was nearly enough to send me over the edge. Knowing I could make her like that was constantly in my head and I would do anything to see her like that again.
I understood why she was so nervous about being in a relationship with someone else on the grid, but I wish she would see that I would accommodate her every need. In our argument that morning, my anger got the better of me and instead of telling her I would wait for her as long as she needed, I ended up snapping at her and driving her away even more. My barriers were still up and I needed to let them down. The idea of a relationship with her terrified me too - it would cost me dearly aswell. Although I wouldn't have as bad consequences as her, my team may still see me as disloyal, they may trust me less and worst of all - I would be caring about her whilst driving.
With all my friends I'd driven against, my fraternal love for them went out the window the second my helmut visor went down, but with Edom it was different: I would watch her car at the start if she was infront of me, I'd take more risks against drivers who had nearly crashed into her as petty revenge, and when we had fights, I'd be so stuck on what to do that she would sometimes overtake me.
And now she was going out, I don't know where or with who. This lack of knowledge was killing me and I nearly followed her downstairs to get a cab to follow her cab. I wanted to make sure she would be ok after the last few instances out. I was still pissed with Max.
To distract myself, I put on some TV, but it didn't work. I couldn't stop worrying or thinking about her. I scrolled through my social media until I came across a tweet made by Lando.
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I decided to text Lando as I couldn't help myself.
"Hey Lando, please look after Edom tonight - we both know she always seems to get into trouble."
Lando replied almost instantly to me relief.
"Of course mate. Neither of us are really drinking though, so things should be fine."
Despite this, I decided to stay up until I heard her come back. At around 1:30am I heard a nearbye door close and assumed that was her, as as f1 drivers were staying here, the hotel would purposely keep this floor practically empty for our privacy.
1:30 wasn't too bad, so I got ready for bed and ended up scrolling through her instagram for half an hour, being careful not to like an old post this time.
How cute! I'm literally so tired rn, so excuse the boring chapter - I don't have the brain capacity for much more atm haha
Merry Christmas guys, this chapter is an early gift from me to you because we know my positing is super irregular so here's a cheeky update on our favourite people ;)
