Intertwined | Charles Leclerc

CHAPTER 21

As much as I think I should have made him go back to his room, I couldn't resist every urge to sleep between his arms. Every doubt in my mind that I wasn't good enough for me has subsided with the way he clutches me in his sleep. And let's face it there's nothing better than make up sex. 

It's Thursday and Charles has had his PR manager on the phone almost constantly, as much as all the drivers hate the idea of this weekend it's one of the biggest on the calendar for the sport in America. There's a whole opening ceremony happening, from what we've heard it's very theatrical and very Vegas. This only means we have to be at the track most of the day, even though it's a night race he's still been asked to arrive early.

The paddock seems to be the most full I've ever seen, every other race I'd been to it had been quiet and quite civilised but this was something else. Charles was being pulled left and right for social media content, photos and just about everything else, that meant I was watching from a distance through a sea of people.

"This is ridiculous." He snorts, he's been shown to a lift which will raise him up onto a platform where he waves at the crowd for a few seconds. "It's like the hunger games." I can't help but laugh, we knew this was going to be extravagant but we just keep getting surprised by the next thing thrown at him. "I'm going to go and watch from the front, I want to see what this really looks like." He waves me off after kissing my forehead and he's ushered into the lift.

I was joking before but this really is like the hunger games, while Charles and Carlos wait their turns a couple of other teams are lifted up and give a wave, you can see how unimpressed some of the drivers are with the theatre of it all. From the crowd below I clap as each of the teams are lifted up, a couple of fans recognise me and ask for photos which of course I happily took selfies with them before we hear, "For Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz!" The red light engulfs the crowd, I pull my phone out to take a photo of them both to show them what it looks like afterwards, they're waving in every direction trying to give the fans the best view, they look in our direction and just before they're lowered back down Charles goes almost pale, his hand drops and I can see he's squinting to look out into the crowd. He drops just out of view in a split second and I have a sudden feeling of unease, something about the way he looked out to the crowd was off. I tap Eddie who's beside me, "Let's go back." He nods without saying a word and starts to clear a path for me.

I'm back in the paddock and Charles and Carlos are jogging towards us with Jason just behind, I don't even have time to ask what's wrong before he pulls me into him. This doesn't feel like a normal hug, he's holding me tightly as if he's scared to let me go or I'll vanish in front of his eyes. "What's going on?" I really need an explanation. "Are you okay?" He releases me but keeps his hand on my shoulders, his concerned eyes darting between mine. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" What is he talking about, I only felt like something was off because of him. "I'll explain back at the hotel."

Jason and Eddie are stuck to us like glue, they usually give us a bit of space but they're practically holding onto us as we walk to the car. Something must really be wrong, I can feel the tension between them, they're not speak to each other or us but they're constantly checking around us and yet I still have no idea what's happening. Charles holds the door open for me to climb into the car and waves back at the remaining photographers. The door slams shut and he lets out a huge sigh before the engine rumbles to life. The hotel is a really short drive from the track thankfully, Charles hand hasn't left my thigh the entire time. He's constantly looking over at me but I pretend not to notice, there's really something up.

We exit the elevator on a different floor, we're now much higher up than before. I guess this must be his room, I never actually saw his seeing as we spent the night in mine last night. He opens the door to a huge suite, the lamps giving such an ambience to the room. My bags are stacked beside his, "When did you bring my bags here?" I just expected them to still be in my room and they weren't packed up when we left as I'd thrown all my clothes over the room trying to find an outfit for the evening, Vegas nights were cooler than I expected and I'd packed for heat. "We arranged it with the hotel. You're not going back to your room." He's stressed, he's pacing, running his hand through his hair. "What's going on? Talk to me." I've had enough of being kept in the dark. He looks at me, the same concern behind his eyes that I was in the paddock. "He was here." It's like a knife has been plunged into my stomach, all the air has been knocked out of me, I know exactly who he's talking about but I have to ask. "Wh- who?" His face crumples, "Bradley. He was behind you in the crowd. I thought I recognised him from the platform but it was so hard to tell with all the lights. I told Jason the second I came down and he got security to look at the CCTV, he was about 3 rows back." How? How was he here? I thought they were keeping a close eye on him, making sure they knew where he was. Eddie was right beside me, he didn't notice? "Are you sure?" I can't get anything else out, I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that he's here, he's followed me here.