Book 1: Leap of Faith -Charles Leclerc

Chapter 31

Chapter: 31 February 8th, 2024

Over the past 7 weeks, Charles had either called her or texted her every single morning. His messages were always meaningful and sometimes cheesy. Some days it was a compliment or a nice memory. Others it was a dirty message that made her laugh. Caroline always found herself looking forward to what he would say.

Charles and Caroline enjoyed a rather wonderful winter break together. He whisked her away for a week in January to Ibiza, which was a dream come true. The other weeks, Charles joined her in the UK while she was working. They were never apart for more than one day at a time. It was just the time they needed to lay a solid foundation for their relationship, mostly out of the public eye.

Caroline was daydreaming about the sunset boat cruise they took on their second night on the island when Charles brought her back to reality.

"So you really can't do a week in Capri?" he said as he gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

"You know I can't. I have a job, you know. Some of us have full time jobs, meaning 12 months out of the year," She said with a smirk, downing the rest of her wine.

"Oh, so now you've got something against my job?" he replied, getting closer to her face.

"Oh yes, Charles, I absolutely hate that you're an F1 driver. I find it so boring and uninteresting and I think those race suits make you look very unattractive and lumpy. Don't even get me started on those fireproofs," Caroline said, continuing to smile devilishly at him.

"Yes you definitely hated all those free trips and I definitely didn't see you screaming and cheering in the stands," Charles said as he rolled his eyes, returning the grin.

The pair were sitting on his boat, on top of a mountain of pillows and blankets. Charles had picked up the same wine and brought her to the same place he did a year ago. Caroline held back the tears at such a kind gesture, as she had specifically told him he wasn't allowed to get her a present for her birthday. This meant more to her than any diamond or material good, because she knew how special this place was to them.

It was a chilly, clear evening with calm waters around them. The pair huddled together for warmth, drinking the wine quickly for the alcohol blanket just like they did a year ago.

"I was cheering for Max," Caroline said, lowering her eyes to see his reaction.

"Get off my boat," he said through a smile, pointing at the dock.

Caroline giggled which made Charles laugh too.

"Caroline," Charles said with a more serious tone as he brought his eyes to her.

"Yes, honey?"

"I love you."

And there it was. The three words that they had both been dancing around for the better part of their relationship. Caroline had thought about this every day since she saw the crumpled up piece of paper, wondering when he would finally say those words to her. She knew she felt the same, but she wanted to give him his moment to tell her. He spoke again quickly, letting his nervous energy show through his words.

"I've loved you for quite some time but I just didn't want to put any pressure on you to say it back because I know we talked about the trust thing or lack thereof-"

"Charles," Caroline cut him off.

"Yes, baby?"
"I love you too."

Caroline was smiling so hard. She couldn't tell if her giddy feeling was the wine or the fact that the man she loved had finally admitted his feelings to her. She didn't care which one it was, Caroline just knew she was so happy that they both finally said it. She watched the same dazzling smile appear on his face and the color run to his cheeks.

"I know you've been trying to find a way to tell me, I found the note in the hotel room," Caroline confessed to him.

"You saw that?" He looked semi-embarrassed and partly sad.

"Yes I did, but it gave me time to have my internal freak out and then... I realized that I love you too. I think I've been in love with you for a while," Caroline said as she reached out for his hand.

He grabbed their wine glasses and set them down. As soon as the glass was safe, he reached out and pulled Caroline into him, letting her climb onto his lap as he kissed her. It was a new level of passion he felt now that he finally let all of his feelings for this girl come to the surface. They kissed for a while, stopping before they ended up naked on a boat in the middle of winter.

"Happy birthday, by the way," he said to her as she laid on his chest, staring at the stars.

"Thank you. What a year it's been since we last laid here. I was so afraid to touch you, I swear I kept a good foot between us at all times," Caroline laughed at that recollection, as she was now draped over him. He started playing with her hair.

"I'm so fucking happy right now, I think this is the happiest I've ever been," Charles said as if he was thinking out loud.

"Well, second happiest," Caroline corrected.

"What do you mean?"
"Winning the world championship has to be number one, and I can't even be mad about that. That's your life's dream. I'm just a girl."

"Okay, maybe I have two happiest moments in my life. But they're different kinds of happiness."

"I just want to live in this winter break bubble where I get to wake up next to you and go to sleep next to you and spend my days off with you. It's so nice."

Charles groaned in response to her words. Caroline looked up, confused at his reaction.

"Of course in this beautiful moment, you're thinking about how things are going to change when the next season starts, aren't you? That beautiful mind of yours never shuts off."

"I'm sorry! it's just always on my mind. I just told you I love you and then I'm going to have to give you up in a month? And I don't even know if I'll be..." She trailed off, not daring to bring up the other glaringly obvious issue.

"Your contract," Charles stated, finishing the thought for her.

He dropped his head to kiss the tip of her nose, and then her soft lips.

"I don't care about any of it. As long as we are together, I'm happy. I'll do anything I can to make it work, you just tell me- OH! I KNOW!" His eyes practically lit up at a thought, letting Caroline sit up from his lap. "I can get you a job with Ferrari! On the paddock! That way you'll be traveling with the team and me. We can still see each other almost every day and you can be my number one fan from the stands," his smile deepend at the thought, letting him picture her decked out in Ferrari attire while screaming in the grandstands. Caroline smiled weakly back at him, chuckling slightly.

"Charles that sounds great and all, but I just don't think that's me. I think I would go stir crazy if my only purpose in life was to follow you around. Plus I don't think any paddock job would be enough money to pay my rent and my loans and stuff."

"Money's not a problem here," he replied quickly.

"Honey, I love you, but I'm not taking your money. And I'm not taking a job that's not being a physical therapist. As much as you love being a driver is how much I love being a PT and I just don't think I can give that up..." Caroline felt like she was being a shit girlfriend, not willing to make sacrifices for her boyfriend to live his dreams. The guilt washed over her like a wave.

"Baby I understand that completely. I just wish, at the very least, that you could be staying in Monaco. The rest can be figured out. But I will fly to America as often as I can if I need to," he said, emphasizing his commitment to her as he gazed at her side profile.

Caroline laughed, grabbing his face in her hands.

"We will figure something out," she kissed him deeply, not walking to talk any more about the ever-present complications that were thrown at them. "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded, pulling her back down to lay on his chest.