Adore Me Adora | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 23

~Adora Rossi's Perspective~

Evi and I showed up to the Netherlands paddock, fitted in our respective garage gear.

"You'd look much better in McLaren gear, you know," Vi smirked, walking quickly to the garages. Outside the McLaren garage were Lando Norris and Charles, smiling while talking to someone in Official F1 Staff uniform. I kept with Evi's pace, going towards the boys who saw us, waving us over.

"Welcome to the Netherlands Paddock, ladies. Is there any way we could get an interview done while we wait for the race countdown?" The employee said, his nametag reading Hunter.

"Yeah! Of course," Vi piped up, her face covered with a bright smile.

"Wonderful, right this way," Hunter said, all of us following him to a room in the FIA office area. "Lando and Evi, you two will be first. I'll be asking you five generic questions. You must guess the other's answer on your whiteboards and write your own answer in their respective boxes. Whichever group scores the highest wins. If only one person of the two guesses the right thing, it's a half-point. Are you ready to begin?" The pair nodded before Hunter asked the questions, the two earning a total of 3.5 points.

"Good luck beating that one, Ado," Evi laughed as we traded seats. I grabbed the whiteboard in front of me along with the dry-erase marker.

"Alright, first question. What is the other's favorite food?" Hunter asked. Charles loved pizza, specifically Margherita with prosciutto. I scribbled that down before writing my own, Chicago deep-dish pizza. "And flip!" We flipped our boards, earning 1 point for the first round.

"I was hoping I'd be wrong. You and your fake pizza," Charles smirked, erasing his board.

"It isn't fake pizza. It's delicious, you're just afraid to admit it."

"Next question, you two. What is the other's favorite circuit?" Monaco was easy for me, but he had no idea what mine was. Singapore, ever since I was just a kid, was always my favorite race to watch. The round resulted in 0.5 points, with Charles guessing Miami. We got to the fifth round, a total of three points. Winning depended on this question.

"Hunter, give them a hard question," Lando joked, Evi covering her mouth as she laughed.

"Final question, what is the other's best friend?" Charles knew mine was Evi but who was his best friend? I looked to the ceiling, trying to remember something, anything. And then it came to me, the night I was outside at Charles' house in Monaco after the race. I wrote Pierre's name on my board and flipped it on queue, getting the answer correct. "Charles and Adora win the competition! Congrats!" We all laughed and bickered jokingly as we headed back to our respective garages, Charles and I teasing Lando and Evi about not knowing each other despite them being in a relationship.

"You know, I can tell that this race is going to be good. I can feel it," Charles smiled as he grabbed his helmet from storage.

"Good, that's what we like to hear. I'll be here every lap," I said, waving to Charles as he went to the car.

"I'll see you every lap," he laughed, slipping his helmet on. He got in the vehicle and drove to the line, taking off as the lights lit. I watch the race closely, watching as Charles remains in the same spot until the 66th of the 72nd lap, passing Lewis Hamilton to take 3rd. I cheer loudly as I watch, catching a few of the engineers looking over and smiling at my excitement. The race quickly finishes, Charles on podium just like he said he could feel. He parked and ran toward me, smiling as he pulled me in for a hug.

"Charles, time for podium," Nicolas laughs, grabbing his arm and walking toward the area.

"I did Adora! I did it!" He shouted as he followed Nicolas to the room under the balcony, smiling as he did so. The podium ceremony went by smoothly, Charles making eye contact with me as he held the trophy and uncorked the champagne, drenching Max and George with the liquid. As soon as it finished he came to the garage, sitting next to me in the cooldown area.