Book 1 of Monte Carlo Series
Escaping her chaotic past, Katrina moves to Monaco to start a new life. With a single bag and a guitar, she sets on a brand new journey to reacquaint with herself and maybe find love along the way.
The hallway of Ferrari's Maranello headquarters felt unusually long as Charles walked toward Fred's office. After the conversation in the drivers' group chat, he knew he had to take responsibility and speak to Fred, as well as the whole team, about the situation. The last thing he wanted was to cause any more inconvenience for everyone.
He knocked on the door of Fred's office.
"Fred?" Charles called out.
"Come in," Fred replied, his voice coming through the door.
Charles stepped inside and immediately saw that Fred was in the middle of a meeting. The team was reviewing footage from the previous races of the season, as well as the initial testing results since arriving in Maranello.
"I need to talk to you about something, but if you're busy, I can wait," Charles said, hesitating.
Fred paused the video and motioned for the engineers to leave. "No, it's fine. What's on your mind, Charles?"
Charles took a deep breath. "I know I agreed to this schedule before, but something has come up, and I wanted to ask if it would be possible for me to start testing next week instead?"
Fred just stared at him, and Charles felt like the silence stretched on forever.
"I've already spoken to Carlos, and he's willing to go first," Charles continued, trying to explain himself. "Max even offered to lend his jet so Carlos can get here quickly. I really need to go back to Monaco, though. I need to take care of some things, and I—I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone. But can I just be selfish this one time? I really need to go back, Fred. Please."
Fred stayed silent, his gaze steady on Charles. Finally, in a calm tone, he spoke, "Charles, is it possible that this 'something' you need to take care of in Monaco is the reason you've been distracted since yesterday and ended up crashing today?"
Charles hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yes. I just... I need to make things right before I can focus again. I really don't want to be a burden."
Fred took a moment, then spoke again, softer this time. "Calm down, Charles. I have no intention of stopping you. It's clear your mind isn't here. Tell Carlos he doesn't need to come here for the test. You can take the week off. Come back next week, and we'll resume testing then."
"But what about the crew?" Charles asked, still concerned. "They'll be extended too."
"That's my job, Charles," Fred replied with a reassuring smile. "Let me worry about that. I've already told you, when I took over this team, it wasn't going to be like Mattia's. I respect you as both a driver and a person. If you need something, you just let me know. Your voice matters here. Yes, we had a schedule, but we can all see that you're not mentally here. We're lucky the crash earlier wasn't worse. Go home, take a break, and come back next week."
"Thank you, Fred," Charles said, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.
"You're welcome, Charles," Fred responded with a nod.
Once he left Fred's office, Charles immediately texted Carlos and the drivers' group chat to explain what had just happened. It was a relief to know that Carlos wouldn't need to change his plans for the week. Speaking to Fred had been easier than he expected, and now, he could finally take the time he needed to clear his mind and make things right.
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