Formula 1 Drivers Collection

In Love with a Red Flag /Charles Leclerc x Reader/

Summary: To say that you hated him wasn't accurate. But you didn't like him. He was exactly the type of guy you kept a distance from. And yet, he will be the closest to you.

A/N: I realise this idea is not unique, shout-out to all the other amazing writers who wrote a similar piece!

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"Ferrari PR team came up with a solution to solve the problem. Together with the Mercedes PR team, we agreed that the best course of action would be to have you and Charles play pretend."

You looked at Toto in disbelief.

You and Charles? Play pretend?

You knew that due to Ferrari's latest issues with their cars, along with Mercedes' own issues became such an issue that the teams began to lose fans.

So, PR being PR sat down and came up with a wicked idea.

Having you and Charles date, well, fake date.

According to both teams, you would become the next phenomenon and the fans would come right back.

All Toto could do was simply nod.

You let out a long sigh.

You have always tried your best to avoid Charles. He was exactly the type of guy you kept a good distance from. You knew about his method of dating.

The women he dated and how often he changed girlfriends. It was a huge red flag.

Much like his car, red all over.

You turned and looked at Charles who was just as surprised if not more than you.

"I will be looking forward to working with you, Charles." You said with a smile as you looked at him.

You were on a yacht with him.

Soft launch as the teams called it. They knew the paparazzi would be watching. All you had to do was to act all lovely-dovely but not do too much.

You two being on the same boat would be enough.

With an ice cream in one hand, you headed to the deck, trying to get a little tan during your weekend off.

Charles soon joined you, sitting down next to you, you moved a bit closer to him.

"There's a guy on the boat in front of us, he has a huge camera, and yet he thinks we didn't notice him."

"Well, I didn't." Charles smiled and so did you. "You know last year... in Hungary... you had that press event with the fans."

"Oh, yeah! That was fun, I even wore a traditional dress. Kalocsai, I believe it's called."

"That one, yes. I remember, what about it?"

"I remember you being so... beautiful."

"Thank you. But where did this come from?"

"You avoid me. I noticed you avoid me and Carlos. Why? Do you hate Ferrari that much?"

"Red is not really my colour." You say, avoiding his eyes. "Especially not red flags." You said before you got up and headed into the yacht.

The paparazzi sure got a nice picture.

The same afternoon, you were all over the news. You did it. One step closer to the finish line.

You thought of this as if it was another race.

You just had to get to the finish line. This time around, you didn't care about the placements.