The Bolter | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 10

The next day

About 1pm

I woke up sharply with a thundering headache with the room spinning. I blinked, trying to stop the room from spinning. As my eyes focused, they looked around, and then I realised I had no idea where I was, what time it was or even what day. Along with my pounding head, my heart started hammering in my chest.

I sat up on the bed, I was still in my clothes from the club but my jacket and shoes were nowhere to be seen. I tired standing up before immediately landing back on top of the covers. How much did I drink?

As I stumbled towards the door,  I looked through the open window at the street below. This was not Monaco.

"Shit," I muttered to myself, panic rising in me.

I reached for the door handle, flinching like a vampire at the light filled room on the other side. The kitchen faced me, dishes in the sink and a glass of water on the side.

"Hello?" I said, wandering around.

A noise came from what is assumed was the bathroom. "You're awake," an all too familiar voice said.

"Oh my god, it's you," I gasped as Charles emerged into the kitchen. "Why, what, how," I tried to find the words, but failings

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, I only woke up half an hour ago, you were dead to the world."

"Did we?"

"No," he almost laughed. "I woke up on the floor."

"Thank God," I muttered. "Then where am I?"

"We're in Milan, this is my apartment," He handed me a packet of what looked like paracetamol.

I took it gladly. "So we flew to Milan? Drunk out of our minds and ended up in your apartment?"

"Look, I'm as lost as you, last I remember we were arguing at that club."

I nodded. I tried to price the fuzzy images together. "I remember there was a taxi, and pizza, then I remember walking round some streets, but that's it. Where's my phone?"

He slid it to me across the counter and it gave me a chance to properly look at him. His hair was a mess and his eyes were tired. He looked awful but I assumed I looked similar, so didn't bother saying anything.

I switched my phone on to be met with 17 missed calls from Mila in the last half an hour. "Shit." I said calling her back.

"What?"

I waved my hands at him to silence him as Mila's voice came down the line like a megaphone. I winced.

"Hi Mila, what's up?"

"You sound like hell."

"I feel like it, did something happen?" I asked.

"Did something happen?" She answered in disbelief.
"You tell me."

Worry started to grow. "What did I do?" Charles looked at me, I could tell he started to get nervous too.

"Can you please explain to me why I touched down I London and received three messages saying, 'I've gone to Milan with Charles to get pizza,' 'will probably call you in the morning after the ceremony,' 'we're getting married btw. What do you mean, 'we're getting married'? Dani what have you done, where are you?"

"Oh my God," I sat down quickly. "There's no way. Mila, I'm going to call you right back."

I hung up before she could protest. I ran into the bedroom frantically.

"What are you doing?"

"Charles where's my bag?"

"I don't know, what does it look like?" He shrugged.

"Charles be serious, it's a Prada bag, how many of those do you have  lying around?" I snapped.

"Ok calm down, we'll find your bag," he replied.

I ran around the bedroom moving the covers and pillows across the floor. My heart was pounding as I begged those messages to Mila to be just a drunken joke.

"Is this it?" Charles could from the other room.

I raced into the kitchen and grabbed it from him and immediately opened it. I reached in and my heart immediately dropped as I felt a scrunched up piece of paper at the bottom.

"Shit," as I pulled it out and opened it.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?"

I handed him the paper. "Tell me that does not say 'Certificate of Marriage.'"

The colour faded from his face as his eyes scanned the page. "This can't be real?" He looked at me shaking his head, "there's no way, it can't be legal."

"Do you have a lawyer?" I asked. "Because I cannot be married to you, I'd rather burn to death."

"Don't be dramatic, we can't be married, and this has to be fake."

"My dad's going to kill me, Max is going to kill me," I started pacing around the room, trying to piece together the night before. "Oh my god."

Charles was already on the phone, speaking fast Italian so I couldn't understand. I took a deep breath, I closed my eyes and saw us get off the plane, it must've been early morning as the sky was a soft blue and the sun was bright. Then I remember stumbling into the city, into a huge building, and then, nothing.

"Ok it's real," Charles voice cut through my thoughts.

"What?"

"The certificate, it's real, or at least my lawyer said it was," he sat down.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I gasped for air as I felt my chest collapse.

"Relax, it's fine," Charles said matter of factly. "We'll just get a divorce."

"Just get a divorce? Charles it's so much more complicated than that. We need money, and lawyers and a court and a hearing."

"Ok so we'll do all those things, you're so dramatic."

"Dramatic? We drunkenly got married Charles, and we can't stand each other. We're Ross and Rachel!"

"Is that a Friends reference? I've never watched it."

"What? There's no way, every normal person on the planet has watched Friends."

"Not me, but I'm not your average person," he shrugged.

"Wow your ego is larger than this apartment, I'm suffocating," I said sarcastically. "And that's not the point, we need to tell my dad."

He shook his head. "We're not telling Jos, he'd kill both of us and I like my life too much."

"Why are you not being serious?" I exclaimed, pacing again. "Well I know why, because you're immature and stupid and a man."

"We'll just get a divorce and never speak to each other again."

"That's the dream," I replied, "but divorce comes with press, and if I don't tell my dad, or Max, and they find out through them?" I shook my head at the thought.

"Danique, you can't."

"It's not your choice Charles, my family isn't like yours, they wouldn't understand and Jos certainly wouldn't support me."

He stared at me, looking like he was trying to form a sentence but couldn't.

I grabbed my phone. "Max, I need you."

**************

Author's note
I know marriage is more complicated than that, just go with it for the plot. <3
Love you guys