All the couples that Alaia Repond has gotten together have stayed happily together, and at this point, she really should consider matchmaking as a profession. So when her close friend Ollie asks her to set up a friend of his, she's more than happy t...
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"Morning," Alaia says to Franco, a smile on her lips when she sees him in the hotel lobby. "Happy first F1 FP1 session! You excited?"
"Of course," he says, and his excitement is contagious. "I'll see you in a bit? Unless you want to come with."
"Actually, Ollie's left already — so I was hoping that I'd be able to fetch a ride with you," she says.
"Ah, I'm the backup plan?" Franco jokes, and Alaia shakes her head. "Maybe I stayed in my hotel room for a little longer because I wanted to come with you to the circuit." she hums.
He quirks a brow when he looks at her. "Oh?"
"Had it all planned out, Fran." she says, tapping her temple. "But... can I join you?"
"Of course, querida." he says, and Alaia follows him out of the hotel and towards the car that's waiting for them outside. Franco opens the door for her, motioning for her to step in first. She smiles at him gratefully as he slides into the seat next to her.
She pulls her phone out of her pocket to let her friends know that she's on her way to the circuit. "New nails?" he asks, looking at her new manicure. Alaia looks at him, a surprised yet pleased expression on her face.
"Yeah," she says — she knew that he was attentive, but not that attentive. "You noticed."
"I notice everything," he says casually. "And I look at you a lot."
"Admiring me, I see. I'm very flattered," she says, a smile on her lips. She ignores the way her heart flutters when he cracks a smile.
"Why wouldn't I admire? You're... you."
She shakes her head as she laughs, hiding the flushed expression on her face at his words. "You're good with your words, you know?"
"You tell me that all the time, of course I know. Especially when—!"
Alaia claps her hand over his mouth to stop him from saying anything, her eyes wide with embarrassment. Franco's hearty laughter escapes past his lips, and Alaia can't help but laugh along with him when she hears him giggle. "Sorry," Franco says, but it's muffled because Alaia's still got her hand over his lips.
She removes her hand from his face, and Franco's still laughing at her reaction to what he was about to say. "Ah, you're cute when you're flustered." he says, and Alaia swears he's about to burst into laughter any second now.
"I'm always cute," she retorts. "But we're supposed to be keeping this secret!" she says. She knows she's going to get an earful from Ollie when he finds out — it's only a matter of when, now, not if.
"Lips are zipped," he makes a motion with his hand, bringing it up to his lips as if he's zipping it up. "So... onto other things, you won't be coming to any other races soon, right?"
She shakes her head, frowning. "I've got work... I was thinking about maybe going to Baku or something, because I've never been — but it's London Fashion Week. And Singapore would be so nice too, but... Milan Fashion Week."
"Wow, booked and busy," he says, smiling. "Well, I won't be in Singapore anyways, so maybe I can come visit you or something. I'll be in Spain mostly during that break."
"I'd like that," she grins. "We'll have a lot to catch up on, by then."
"And maybe you'll have a couple more people in mind for me to go on dates on." he says, and Alaia tries to hide the way her smile falters slightly. Right. The matchmaking thing. She'd completely forgotten to even look for someone now — her friends with benefits situation with Franco had completely overshadowed it all.
"Maybe," she says. She doesn't know if she's hiding her disappointment adequately enough, but why is she even upset about it? He knows she doesn't do relationships, and friends with benefits situations typically have to end at some point.
Truthfully, Franco only said that because he really did think that this wasn't going to be a thing any longer after she stopped coming to races. He'd barely see her, even though he wanted to, desperately — and in all honesty, Franco really did think he might be falling for her.
Apart from all their flirty conversations and late night hookups, Franco truly did enjoy her presence.
He liked the way her eyes lit up whenever she'd talk about things she was passionate about, like her art during that one 'date' at the Argentine restaurant they went to when he was in London. Or from the way she'd react whenever he'd tell her exciting news or any interesting stories about his racing career. Or from the way she'd talk about the people she cared about — always looking out for them and making sure that they were happy, first and foremost.
For someone who claims she's scared of love, Franco thinks Alaia has a lot of it.
There's a strange silence that looms over them in the car, and Franco breaks it by clearing his throat awkwardly. "Or you don't have to," he says. "I'm actually happy right now."
"Oh," she says, and she nearly lets out a sigh of relief. "Well, let me know if you need me to keep searching."
"Don't think you'll need to," he mumbles, but Alaia hears it.
"But I thought you said..." she trails off, and he shakes his head. He doesn't want to make things awkward between them — he shouldn't tell her how she makes him feel. Because truthfully he didn't know either.
All he knows that is he can't see himself with anyone but her.
Maybe that was the clear sign that he actually was falling for Alaia Repond.
