𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈 | 𝐂𝐋𝟏𝟔

𝐋𝐕𝐈

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Present Day - April 16th 2047

INTERVIEWER: Zahra, you've really painted such a clear picture of Charles through our conversations. From his life on the track to the quieter moments off it... there's been so much to unpack. But as we're wrapping up, I want to ask you something a bit more personal, if that's okay.

ZAHRA: Sure, go ahead.

INTERVIEWER: To summarize it all, who was Charles to you, really?

ZAHRA: Charles... he was a lot of things. I bet he still can be a pain sometimes. To the world, he's a champion, this madman on the track. But to me, he was just... Charles. He had all these layers, you know? He could be so intense, so focused on being the best that sometimes he'd forget about everything else around him. But then there were moments when he'd just... soften. He'd look at you in this way that made you feel like you were the only person in the room, like nothing else mattered but that moment.

INTERVIEWER: Like he could just shut everything else out.

ZAHRA: Exactly. He had this incredible way of making you feel seen, really seen. But he could also be frustrating—so focused and driven that it felt like there was no room for anything else. But underneath all that, there was this gentle side. A side that very few people got to see. He was incredibly loyal, and he cared so deeply, even if he didn't always know how to show it. I was lucky enough to see that side.

INTERVIEWER: It sounds like he was complicated, but in a way that made him who he was.

ZAHRA: Yeah, that's a good way to put it. He was complicated, but that's what made him... him. He loved with everything he had, even when it wasn't easy. And he was always trying—trying to be better, trying to do right by the people he loved. He didn't always get it right, but he tried. And that's what mattered to me.

INTERVIEWER: Do you think he ever really knew how much he meant to you? How much you... still love him?

ZAHRA: I hope he did. I think about that a lot, actually. Whether he knew. We were two people who loved each other but just couldn't quite make it work. Life has a funny way of pulling you apart, even when you're still connected in your heart. But if there's one thing I wish he knew, it's that my love for him never really went away. Even after all this time, it's still there.

INTERVIEWER: I have to tell you something, Zahra. My father... he spoke about you a lot. Not always directly, but in those quieter moments when he thought no one was really paying attention. He never really moved on, you know? And I think... if I didn't interview you two separately and let you guys talk for a bit, he'd want you to know that you were always in his heart.

ZAHRA: Pauses, taking a deep breath Your father was a really good man. I hope he knows... I still may love him. Scratch that. I still love him, deeply.

BRIELLE LECLERC (JOURNALIST, SELF-EMPLOYED): I think he knew. And I think he never stopped loving you either.

ZAHRA: Smiling, a bit sadly I'd like to think that. And if I ever see him again... I'd tell him that I never stopped loving him, too. That I still think about him, about us. Life went on, but some things... some feelings, they never really go away.