Sparks

Coffee Shop

The sound of mugs falling woke Charlie up much earlier than she would have preferred. She rolled around, trying to get back to sleep before another loud crash caught her attention. She dragged herself out of bed and tied her long locks into a messy bun, catching sight of her bright auburn orbs in the mirror. She trudged down the steps of her apartment building and through the door that led her to the bakery she lives above. Upon entering, she saw Tim, her co-worker, stood next to the shelves and surrounded by shards of broken mugs.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"Working overtime so I can watch the race this weekend" Tim replied.

Chuck sighed. Race weekend was an unwelcome reminder of how difficult things had become recently. As well as working at the coffee shop, she was currently attending university. She took as many classes, wanting to finish her degree as soon as possible. It had always been her dream become a lawyer. Until she discovered the world of racing. University drained money quickly, perhaps quicker than it time but it was worth it. It gave her something to fall back on in case... no. She had promised herself not to think like that again. Money had become sparse and whenever she wasn't at university or sleeping, she was working. This left her with only a few hours every week to work on her Formula 1 dream. Currently she raced in F2 and as fun as it was, it did not pay the bills. Her once high hopes of racing in F1 had dwindled alongside her performance on the track.

However, it was not all bad. She felt an intense adrenaline rush every time she stepped into the paddock, heightening when she fastened her helmet and slipped into the car. Her control of the car was almost instinctive at this point, handling it with a precision suited for higher ranks than she currently sat at. This had been noticed by few people, only one of which was a fellow driver. Arthur Leclerc. She had quickly become close friends with him. She would have been happy with his friendship alone but Arthur had insisted she meet Charles Leclerc. It was him who had managed to get her the spot that could make or break her career. The Mercedes reserve driver.

She was ecstatic when she found out, a feeling that she had managed to hang on to for an entire week before the dread began to seep in. If George Russell or Lewis Hamilton could not race for any reason, she would have to. As much as she had dreamt of this, the mere thought terrified her. It left her feeling anxious. No, not anxious. She was scared. No amount of reasoning with herself in the few days before each race could erase the fear. She understood it was completely irrational, she had raced so many times before and she knew she was ready to race. She wasn't ready for what may happen should things go wrong, what would happen if a single race as a reserve driver shattered her career. Her eyes drifted to the framed photo of her next to last years car and she smiled, reminding herself that neither Mercedes driver had been unable to race yet, and it was unlikely that she would ever have to step in. She glanced back over to Tim, a disapproving look settling across her features.

"Stop standing there and help me tidy this mess up"

He nodded and carefully tiptoed over the mugs as Chuck made her way over to the storage cupboard to get the broomstick. She opened the door and was immediately greeted with the sight of years worth of useless items falling over and on top of her. A laugh could be heard from the other side of the shop and she turned around just in time to see Tim recording her unfortunate situation. Could this day get any worse? She rolled her eyes at him and began to carefully stack the items back in the storage cupboard as Tim grabbed the broomstick and began to sweep the mess he had made. He began to tease Chuck about what had just happened but his words fell on deaf ears. After a while, he resorted to regular conversation and it didn't take long for their conversation to the small coffee shop.

Tim quickly finished sweeping and headed to the back of the shop, making sure everything was in stock for the day. Chuck was alone in the front of the shop, still cleaning when she heard the first of several harsh knocks on the window. She glanced up and found herself looking at a tall middle aged man stood at the window, one she recognised as a regular here. He looked angry. She didn't understand why until she looked at the clock which read 9:17AM. It was over 15 minutes after she had meant to open the shop, but had accidentally got caught up in returning all items back to the cupboard. She slammed it shut and hurried over to open the door. The second she had unlocked it, he shoved the door open causing Charlie to stumble backwards. He barked his order at her and went to sit at the small table in the corner. She hurried over to the coffee machine and began to make his order, a black coffee. She inwardly rolled her eyes at how basic it was. Usually when the shop was almost empty, she would take drinks to the table but the way he treated her earlier gave her no reason to want to so instead she called out his name, letting him know it was ready.

"Joshua?"

She was vaguely aware that she had gotten his name wrong as he scowled at her, making his way up to the counter but really it was his fault he assumed she would remember his name just because he was a regular, she reasoned with herself. He grabbed his coffee, looked her up and down and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a group of college students entering to cafe. Chuck went to take their orders without so much as glancing back at the man, eager to get away from him. Tim returned from the back of the shop as more people began to fill the shop. The cafe was full before midday. Chuck hated days like these, she had no breaks in between customers and tips were rare. As well as this, the man in the corner had not stopped staring at her which unnerved her. He hadn't ordered anything in hours but still hadn't left, until half an hour before closing. He made his way to the counter and ordered another black coffee, demanding that she deliver it to his table. Not wanting to cause a scene, she reluctantly agreed. She made it quickly, anxious to finish her shift and hurried out from behind the counter. She hadn't heard the door open and she hadn't seen someone else enter the shop. In fact, she hadn't noticed at all until she walked straight into a firm wall of muscle and spilt all of the coffee down this new customer.

"Oh gosh!" she exclaimed "I'm so sorry, I didnt notice you there- I can get you towels, anything-" she began to ramble nervously until she was interrupted.

"No, I think you've already done enough." His tone was harsh and his words were very abrupt but Chuck didn't notice. She was distracted by the oddly familiar voice. She looked up and immediately met the eyes of her idol. George Russell. It turns out that today could get worse. There was a stormy look in his eyes thag worried her. She can't have messed up first impressions with George. She internally cursed herself. Why did it have to be him?

"I am really sorry" she pressed and he looked down at her for the first time.

"Its okay I suppose" He said, his eyes softening only slightly. Before she could say anything else he left, slamming the door behind him and leaving her and Tim alone in the shop.

"Was that George Russell?" Tim asked

"It was..." Charlie sighed and slumped down on the nearest chair. She sat silently, replaying the last ten minutes in her head before she was interrupted by a notification on her phone. She picked it up and read the most recent message which was from Toto Wolff.

"Come to the track tomorrow

I want to introduce you to Lewis and George"

It turns out that today could get a lot worse.