The gamble of love

15

Jo's POV

The last week and a half had been absolutely amazing, this trip meant so much to me to be able to spend time with my brother, but also allowed me to meet wonderful people and see the beauty that the world sometimes hide away. Today is officially our last day on the boat. I have to meet Taylor back in Florida because we need to clear out our apartment. Luckily Charles offered to come and help us which is really sweet of him. I am really excited to see Taylor, I've missed her so much. She's been doing okay, but I know she is really hurting.

I just got out of the shower and got dressed in jeans shorts, a crop top and flip flops. My hair is wavy and I did a natural make up look. I then went outside to join Carlos, Rebecca and Charles for breakfast. I sat down and then Carlos said that he wanted to talk to me and Charles. I now started getting worried.

Carlos' POV

I have good and bad news to share with Jo and Charles today. As she approached the breakfast table, I gathered all the guts I had.
"Jo, Charles... I need to talk to you guys." Both of them along with Rebecca looked at me worriedly.
"I found a job for you at F1." I begin and I instantly see a smile appearing on their faces. "It is with McLaren and Redbull." I say bluntly. Charles' face instantly dropped and Jo looked confused. "L-Lando's team?" She asked stuttering. I just nod my head. "It will only be for this year, there will be a spot at Ferrari next year, they already told me they want you. But for now that was the best I could do, you will only be doing pre- and post race interviews with the drivers, the rest of the focus would be on the team engineering and so on." I tell them. There was a faint moment of awkwardness and silence. "I'll take it." Jo says and I see Charles looking at her quite angrily. "What?" He asked her.
"It's only for the job, Char. It's the only way, I already left my old job, I have nothing else to fall back on. I need this." She tells him. His face softened and he nods his head understanding what she is trying to say. "And I will be with you every day still." She adds and I cut in, "yeah, she can still fly with us and book in the same hotel because everybody knows she is my sister." I tell him. "And my girlfriend?" He added a bit confused.
"Uhhh, about that, they can under no circumstances know that you two are dating." I tell them. Both their eyes widen, "what!?" They yell in unison. "It's against the rules for reporters to date drivers. The media will slaughter you if they find out Jo. Charles the team already knows that you two are dating, so does McLaren and Redbull. It's basically just the fans and FIA that are not allowed to know." I tell them. "Well, sneaking around does sound kind of fun." Charles said trying to lift the mood but I can see that it is bothering Jo.
"Is he even allowed to come with me to Florida tomorrow then?" She asked. "Unfortunately not sis, but I already arranged that I will go with you and help you and Taylor with the move and then we fly from there to the first team meeting. The media cannot spot you two together at all." I say. We talked some more over breakfast for a while and Jo seems to understand the risk. I wish there was more I could do, but it is what it is.

Jo's POV

After breakfast I walked over to the other side of the boat to be alone for a while and process everything that I just heard. I light a smoke and soak up the last bits of the beautiful sight infront of me. A million things are running through my mind at this moment. Does Lando know? I saw a few Instagram posts of him and Magui. People are saying that they are a couple but neither one of them confirmed anything yet. I see all the comments fans make so on the one side I can see why Carlos wants to protect me from that, some of them are really brutal. How will he react when he sees me though? We haven't spoken since the day he left. I am feeling really nervous about everything. Did I make the right decision to leave everything behind to chase a childhood dream of mine, and that all for a guy?

My thoughts are interrupted when I feel a pair of familiar arms wrap around my waist.
"You okay, love?" Charles asked. "Yeah, just thinking about everything, it sucks that we need to keep our relationship a secret." I tell him. "I know baby, but hopefully it will only be for a little while, and the most important people know about us at least so that helps. We just need to be careful for paparazzi. I wouldn't be able to keep it together if they start talking shit about you." He says and I just laugh. "You really think we can make this work?" I ask him. "I know we can baby. I love you and nothing will ever change that." He says and I turn around to face him. "I love you too, Char." I tell him and give him a light kiss.

We all packed up our things, I cleaned my room and then we docked. Me and Carlos are flying straight to Florida and Charles is flying to Monaco. We will all meet up in Bahrain in two days.

We arrived at the airport and it was surrounded by paparazzi and fans. Charles said goodbye to me in the car staying behind so nobody can see him as his flight leaves a bit later than ours. Carlos made it clear to the paparazzi that I was his sister, they all luckily know that he and Rebecca are dating. He took a few photos with fans and finally we made it inside for some peace and quiet. Soon after we boarded the plane. That was insane. I scroll through Instagram almost immediately seeing photos of me and Carlos everywhere. He warned me to never read comments on those types of post so I try my best as I close the app and try to get some rest.