Everything Changed- Carlos Sainz

12. Promise that you'll hold me close

"You look lost." Georgie turned her head at the sound of the familiar accent, to find Charles sitting down on the bench beside her. "Did you finally see sense and run away and leave Carlos to it?"

Georgie shook her head. "Just thought I'd get some fresh air, there's only so much coffee a girl can drink at once. It's nice out here."

"Fair enough." Charles nodded.

"If you're here does that mean Carlos is done?" She asked hopefully.

Charles shook his head. "He's in one of those super secret meetings with his dad, you know."

Georgie looked at him blankly, trying to undertand what he meant, because she did in fact not know what he was talking about. "His dad is here?" She asked.

Charles nodded. "He's around a lot anyway but with all the seat negotiations and that I think he'll be around a lot more this year. You've not met him yet?"

Georgie shook her head. "No." Why has Carlos not mentioned that his family were there.

"That's typical Carlos for you." Charles chuckled. "His family are nice. You'll like them. You've gotta meet the in laws at some point right?"

"I er... we aren't... it's not..." Georgie spluttered, looking for the right words. She wasn't entirely sure what this whole thing with Carlos was, but she knew for sure they weren't at the meet the parents stage.

"Ah come on." Charles laughed. "You're not fooling anyone. Have you taken him to meet your parents yet, he's quite charming when he wants to be."

Georgie cringed at the question, looking for a way to change the subject.

"Ah come on, everyone loves Carlos. It'll be fine." Charles said, confused by the way she was looking at him. He'd definitely put his foot in it he just couldn't quite work out how.

"It's not that, don't worry about it." Georgie shook her head, biting her lip. She needed to change the subject. She didn't want be thinking about her mum, or what she'd give to be able to ask her advice about this whole situation with Carlos.

"Did I-"

"I'm going to go back and look for Carlos." Georgie cut him off, getting to her feet before he could say anything else. "I'll see you later, Charles. Good luck today."

She disappeared off into the crowd quickly enough that he couldn't attempt to follow her, heading back into the safety of the Ferrari building. Once inside she hesitated for a minute, looking at the spot that she'd been sat in earlier, but the area was now much busier. So instead she headed up the stairs and retreated into the quiet of Carlos's driver room that he'd shown her earlier.

The room was tiny, and the small space was filled with the scent of his cologne in a way that was so comforting to her. Compared with the heat of outside the blasting air conditioning in the hospitality had her shivering, and she found herself crawling into the hoodie he'd discarded on the sofa. It drowned her, but it was a comforting feeling to be able to snuggle up in it.

She sat there, contemplating calling Angie back for someone to talk to, but she knew the older woman would probably scold her and tell her to stop hiding and get back out there in the paddock and make the most of the experience. So instead she sat and scrolled through her emails and looked at her options for a flat in London to pass the time, figuring Carlos would come and find her eventually when he was done with whatever his top secret meeting was.

****

It was an hour or so later Carlos finally escaped from his Dad and went looking for Georgie, only to find she'd vanished from her spot in the Ferrari hospitality that he'd left her in. He was about to head out of the door to look for her when Charles came in the other way.