Gentle with me | MAX VERSTAPPEN

ii. CHARLES I

Charles was tired. The race had gone as he had expected, which was to say that it had gone to shit. Sure, the strategy was quite good. After taking some notes from the data they got from the practice rounds, the tyres were alright and the pit stop was something he had agreed to. However, having the car give up on him before he even could finish his first lap was a disaster he absolutely hated. He didn't even have the chance to put Ferrari's plans into action which made him even more upset, especially since it's been three months since his unforgettable win in Monaco.

Charles sighed before walking towards the pen where all the reporters awaited him in hopes of getting an interview with him about his thoughts and feelings about today's race.

"Tough race?"

His childhood rival, turned friend, Max, asked from behind him. Charles smiled as he turned around and greeted the Dutchman. Despite their past, Max and he had managed to build their rivalry into a more friendly competition. They had become each other's emotional support rivals. His friendship with Max was something that Charles had started to treasure and despite having a bad race, he knew that Max would never bring it over his head unless he wanted to, which he definitely didn't want to talk about right now.

"What race?" Charles scoffed. Max had won his home race and he was happy for him.

"You're right. It wasn't a race today." Charles saw Max's lips tug into a small smile as he shrugged his shoulders.

"So, what's your plans for tonight, Charlie?" Max asked as he walked up to him to pat his shoulder.

"Nothing much, and yourself?" Charles decided to ask, curious about the answer Max was going to give him. These past few months, it has been quite impossible to predict Max's plans for the week since he was either with Kelly, with his best friend, or in Monaco with his cats.

"I'm going to the airport as soon as we're done here to pick up Tatia. My girlie is finally coming back to be my personal cheerleader after her months' work in Seoul." Max answered, his eyes reflecting such happiness that Charles quite frankly had never seen in his eyes before. Max doesn't even have such happiness in his eyes when he speaks about Kelly in Charles' honest opinion.

"Personal cheerleader?"

"Ah yes, Tatiana decided a while ago to retire from competitive rowing and instead focus her career on something else. However, she doesn't know what she wants to do and therefore resorted to releasing her music and becoming my cheerleader for as many races as possible." Max replied, his smile almost blinding Charles.

The way Max acts and behaves whenever his friend, Tatiana, is mentioned makes him wonder if he would ever love someone in the way Max seemed to platonically love this girl Charles has never met before.

Sure, Charles has loved a couple of girls or women before, Giada, Charlotte and now Alexandra, but never before had he ever loved someone in the same way Max seemed to love Tatiana. If one were to ask Charles, he would personally say that he did not understand what was so special with her. He wasn't blind enough to not see how absolutely beautiful and stunning Tatiana was, however, the amount of rumours and scandals she had been spotted in made him want to keep himself as far away as possible. Quite frankly, Charles wondered why Max hadn't already distanced himself from her. Certainly, his friend must have known that being seen associating himself with her would only damage his reputation.

The Ferrari driver was also conscious enough to realise that perhaps announcing his relationship with Alexandra would cause quite a reaction from his fans. He wasn't stupid despite his very famous quote "I am stupid."

"So, how did you guys even become friends?" Charles asked Max, curious what the answer would be. The small smile that Max had before had now turned into a grin with his eyes glistering.

"Now that, Charlie, is a story for another time. Let's go. I can see the vultures just waiting for the opportunity to attack you with their annoying questions." Max answered before he put his hand on Charles' back to guide him towards the media pen.