Hope is a dangerous thing for a Woman like me to have

Chapter 27

Edom's POV

I woke up to my alarm the next morning at 10am. Lando and I had ended up going back to the hotel at 1:30, which was a totally reasonable time considering we had practice and qualifying today. The club had actually been really fun, and I was glad for it, as it had made me feel better going into the weekend - the idea of having to be near Charles had made pretty nervous. 

I chucked on a mclaren shirt and some baggy blue jeans. My top was a size too small for me - they must've given me the wrong size for this weekend - so it clung to my skin whilst also showing off my lower stomach and I realised I needed to get one in the next size. 

I got driven to the track by a private driver. The fans swarmed the entrance and I waved to them from inside the car. I would've rolled down my window to sign things but I was genuienly worried someone would try climb through the window, or throw a drink at me if they didn't like Mclaren, and this wasn't my car. 

I walked down the paddock, stopping every so often to take a picture with a fan and sign a cap. As I was signing a young girls cap, she ran away mid sign. I looked up as she screamed "Charlie" and ran towards Charles, who was walking towards us. He wore a similar outfit to me, except his team top actually fit him. He knelt down and allowed the girl to bundle into him in a hug. From the looks of it, they knew each other. 

After their cute hug, she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back over to me to my disappointment. 

"I got to meet Edom!" she was shrieking excitedly to Charles. "She's even cooler in person!" 

As they reached me, I kept my eyes on the girl, trying my hardest not to look at Charles. I gave her a smile and handed her back her cap and she squealed happily as she put it on. 

"This is Lucie," said Charles, forcing me to look at him, "She's my goddaughter."

"Cute." I replied, then turned my attention back to Lucie. "So are you a Mclaren or Ferrari fan?" I asked her. 

"Charlie says I have to support Ferrari, but you're my favourite driver!" She said with a large grin and I chuckled. 

"You have good taste then." I said with a wink to her. 

"Then so does Charlie!" She exclaimed innocently "He's always talking about you and how you're-" 

"Come on Luce, let's let Edom get to her paddock." Charles interrupted her and picked her up, marching off before I could say goodbye to my little fan. 

"Bye Lucie!" I yelled to her

"Bye Edom" She screamed back over Charles' shoulder. I couldn't help but wonder what Charles had been so keen to stop her interrupting. 

I wondered into the Mclaren paddock after grabbing a decaff coffee and was met by Charlotte and Daniel.

"We have a meeting in 2 minutes Edom." Daniel said, looking me up and down. "And we need to get you a bigger shirt from the looks of it."

"Yes, we do," I agreed. 

"I think it's cute" Charlotte whispered to me as we walked into the meeting room. Lando was already there and came straight over to me, giving me a hug. 

"How are you?" He smiled at me, and I was so glad he was my team mate and my friend. 

"I'm good thanks! Have you heard about Rue and Max?" I couldn't help but gossip with the only other person who would understand this topic. 

"Yes" he said in a high pitch excitement. "Max was really looking forward to it so I hope it goes well!" 

"Alright guys" Zak came in, interrupting me and Lando. "Let's start the plan to conquer Miami."

I came 6th in qualifying. I was so happy. Lando unfortunately came 10th after he had a good lap time deleted due to track limits, but we both made it into Q3 and so were hopefully set for good points. This time, Lando and I didn't go out but instead went to bed early and I managed to sleep through the whole night - the first pre-race night I'd done so. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was up bright and early and in the paddock by 9am on race day - there was a lot of race prep to do. 

I trained with my PT until we were called to do the national anthem. I trailed over to the grid and prayed the singer of the national anthem wouldn't be too ridiculous as it took all the energy I needed for the race to not laugh at some of the performances. 

To my utter dismay, I was placed next to Charles, but I atleast had Lando on my other side, so we chatted until a hush fell over the crowd, signalling the start of the song. A woman started singing the anthem and I looked straight ahead, squinting into the sun. 

I could feel a strong stare on the side of my head and looked to see Charles looking directly at me, a look in his eyes that attempted to say thousands of words I couldn't decipher. As our eyes made direct contact, the singing seemed to fade into the background and all I could focus on was Charles' face. I could look at it all day. His eyes were so gorgeous and I started to lose myself in them and his long lashes until I snapped out of it. I turned back to facing ahead, but could still feel his gaze. From the position of the song, I had only stared back for a second or two. A second or two too long. 

What was Charles thinking though?! With all the cameras on us and the live audience all around us. I silently cursed him and wished he would just look forward, but his gaze stayed on me until the very last bit of the song where he turned ahead and started clapping. 

As I started to walk towards my car, Charles tapped me on the shoulder and as I turned around he quietly said

"We need to talk after the race." 

then walked ahead to his car, which was 3rd behind the redbulls. Anxiety and curiosity filled my brain as I wondered what he wanted to speak about. I knew the sort of thing it probably was after the last race and I was terrified. 

As I got into the car, I cursed him outloud (luckily no one heard) as now my head was going to be elsewhere during the race. That being said, I knew once my visor went down, the only thing in my head would be the red lights and the cars infront of me. But still - one thing I didn't need leering at me in the back of my mind. 

We did the formation lap and I took some deep breathes. When the first red light appeared infront of me, my mind went blank except for the task ahead. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooo la la - what does Charles want?! Also, can he plz look at me like that...

Thanks for continuing to read this story - love y'all xoxo