Starting Again (A Charles Leclerc Fic)

fifteen

Charles' POV

The hallway of Ferrari's Maranello headquarters has never felt this long. After the intervention in the driver's group chat, I decided to do my part and talk to Fred and the whole team about it. I am honestly very ashamed that I would be causing other people inconvenience.

"Fred?" I called out as I knock on the door of our team principal's office

"Come in" I walked inside and saw that they were in a meeting and they are reviewing the previous races we had last season and the initial testing we did since arriving in Maranello.

"I want to talk to you about something, but if you are busy, I can wait"

"No, it's okay. What do you want to talk about Charles?" He asked while pausing the video they were reviewing. He also asked the engineers to leave us while we talk.

"I know that I already agreed to this before but something happened and I would like to ask if it's possible if I start doing the testing next week instead?" Fred just looked at me which felt like eternity.

"I already talked to Carlos, he would be willing to go first... and Max offered to lend his jet so that he can come here quickly. I really need to go back to Monaco as soon as I can-" When Fred still didn't talk, I started to ramble and explain the plan that we talked about in the driver's gc.

"Calm down Charles. Is it possible that this 'something' that you have to take care off in Monaco was the reason why you've been spacing out since yesterday and crash today?" He asked in a soft tone and automatically, I just nodded.

"I have to go back to Monaco, I need to make things right first then I'll be back... I really don't want to cause trouble to anyone but can I be selfish for just one time? I need to go back fred please"

"Charles, calm down. I have no intentions of stopping you. Everyone can see that your mind is not here. Tell Carlos he doesn't have to come here. Take the week off Charles and just come back next week, we can resume the testing next week"

"But what about the crew? they would be extended as well..."

"That's my job Charles, let me worry about that. I already told you when I took over that this team is not going to be like Mattia's. I respect you Charles as a driver as a person. If you want something, you let me know. Your voice mattered in this team. Yes we had an agreement about the schedule, but we all can see that you're not here mentally Charles. We are very lucky that the crash earlier is just minor. Go home, take a good rest and come back next week."

"Thank you Fred"

"You're welcome Charles"

Once I left Fred's office, I immediately texted Carlos and the Grid about what happened just now. It was a relief that Carlos doesn't have to change his plans for the week just to help me out. Talking to Fred was a lot easier than I thought.

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Max Verstappen

Hey Max

Yes Charles?

Can I ask for a favor?

What is it?

Can I borrow your jet?

I've been looking for early flights to get back to Monaco but there isn't any.
The earliest I can find is for tomorrow afternoon
I don't think I can wait any longer