Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

The day we met

"Your mom's anniversary was two days ago, wasn't it?" Charles sent that message hoping he was wrong, that there was still time to write her a sweet message for the day that must have been very sad for her, even though it had been years. He stood waiting for Y/n's reply.
"Yeah, but don't worry."
Charles felt tremendously guilty and mortified. That trip to New York had distracted him, no, it was as if he was simply distracted from her.

*Y/N'S POV*

Her father's words had been echoing in her head for days now. Back in London,  she felt she had shortened, if only slightly, the distance to her father. She had not forgotten what he had done to her, but she appreciated his attempt not to lose her forever, as he had lost his wife.

Moreover, Christian was right, Y/n and Charles needed to talk about what was going on, about why Carlos' presence, however nuanced, however distant, still manage byd to put a strain on their relationship.
"Don't worry, I believe you babe" were the only words Charles had written to Y/n while he was in New York with Pierre, about that photo of her and Carlos. And then there were those late messages about the anniversary of her mom's death. However, Carlos had remembered about it...

*CHARLS' POV*

"Dude, there's obviously a problem between you guys," Pierre said over dinner with Charles one night. The latter was fiddling with his fork on the table and his best friend's words brought him back to reality.
"What did you say?" he had not heard the friend.
"I said there is a problem between you and Y/n".
Charles merely nodded, going back to playing with his fork, it was obvious he didn't want to touch the subject, but Pierre didn't lose heart.
"You're a beautiful couple, you were best friends and you finally gave in to your feelings and that's a very good thing, but you have to admit that Carlos' presence is a ghost haunting your relationship. It's like he's always there, even when he's not. She hasn't cut ties with him, you're not sure about her feelings".
"You psychoanalyse me?" Charles was rather annoyed by this conversation, so intimate and private.
"Of course not, I'm just trying to shake you up."
"What for?"
"Look at you, Charlie. You should be thinking about tonight's speech, about next week's competition, instead I see you playing with a fork for half an hour. Pull yourself together."

Charles instinctively put down that fork and sat composed. "I'm afraid to hear her answer" was the first time he had ever uttered those words. He had not even been brave enough to say them inside his head, yet that was what he feared most. He had asked her, more or less, months ago, before his feelings for her became stronger. He was also confused about how he felt about her, so it had been easier for him to ask her, he would have accepted any refusal with lucidity. Not now, now his feelings were stronger and deeper for her, or that was what he thought. Pierre was taken aback by that sentence, then tried to come to his senses.
"It is understandable, but you cannot live a relationship with a third constant presence between you two."
Deep silent fell until he took the stage and spoke.

On his return from New York, he set himself that he would deal with the problem, no matter how much it hurt, but he had to know. He had left Charlotte because he felt her distant, because he no longer thought of her. He had to know if it was now Y/n who no longer thought of him...or vice versa.

*Y/N'S POV*

"I have a stopover in London before arriving in Monaco." Y/n received this message from Charles as she was packing her suitcase after her stay in Kent with her father. A few days had passed, yet the suitcase was still there, but she had finally decided to put everything in order.
"Do you have time to stop by my house? Shall I come to the airport?"
"I'll come."
They were serious messages, purely organisational, as if a catastrophe was about to happen. And maybe it was true.