Starting Again (A Charles Leclerc Fic)

019 : meeting the leclercs

The walk to Pascale's salon was a blur, with every step feeling disjointed and heavy. It wasn't until Lorenzo stopped and opened the door that Katrina realized they had arrived. Seeing Lorenzo calm helped ease some of her anxiety. If his brother was okay, then surely nothing too serious had happened to Charles.

"We're here," Lorenzo announced.

As she entered, two sets of identical eyes turned toward them. Pascale was seated in one of the chairs, while Arthur stood in front of her, both of them focused on the unexpected arrival.

"Hi," Katrina greeted, her voice a little shaky.

She had heard so much about Charles' family from Sofia and Charles himself, but this was the first time she was meeting them in person. She had passed by Pascale's salon many times on her way to freelance work, but had never stopped to introduce herself. Now, standing in front of them, she felt like she already knew them so well. Sofia always spoke so highly of them, and Charles—whenever he had the chance—always talked about his family.

"I was the one who called you earlier. I'm Arthur," the man standing in front of her introduced.

"We met earlier. I'm the oldest, Lorenzo," Lorenzo added.

"I'm their mother, Pascale," Pascale said, offering a warm smile.

"Hello, it's really nice to finally meet you. I've heard so many things about you from Charles. I'm Charles and Sofia's neighbor, my name is Katrina."

"Charles can't shut up about you," Arthur remarked, a teasing grin on his face. "I just wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

Katrina couldn't help but wonder what kind of stories Charles had been sharing with his family.

"I assume you called me here because of Charles... What happened to him? My friends sent me tweets about him, is he okay?" she asked, her worry creeping in.

"I was hoping you wouldn't check online, but looks like you did," Arthur responded with a light laugh.

"Sorry about that. Once I saw the headlines, I couldn't stop scrolling and reading," Katrina apologized, her voice shaky.

"It's fine. Everything's okay. We wanted you here so we could tell you that while what's been written isn't entirely true, it's not completely false either," Arthur reassured her.

"So, he really did crash? Is he okay? Can we go see him?" Katrina asked, her anxiety rising again.

"Take a deep breath, calm down," Arthur's voice was firm but gentle. He noticed her panic before she did.

"Charles is fine. It was a minor crash, and for precautionary reasons, he was asked to visit the hospital," Lorenzo added.

"But if it was minor, why is his car wrecked like that?" Katrina asked, her confusion growing.

"The photo circulating isn't from Charles' car. He wasn't even in Formula 1 when that crash occurred," Arthur clarified.

"So he's really okay?" Katrina asked again, the fear still clear in her voice.

"He's fine. I just spoke to him. He didn't even know the news had spread so quickly. As soon as I called him, he insisted we let you know he's alright. He mentioned something about being blocked, though, so he couldn't contact you himself," Arthur explained.

Katrina's face flushed. "I'm sorry, I've blocked all of his accounts... that's why you asked me not to check the tweets."

"Exactly. Charles saw the pictures and freaked out. His team still hasn't issued an official denial of the rumors," Arthur said.