the man- f1

twenty two

veintidos

the man

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azerbaijan

her first sprint weekend and she already hated it. she felt little to no confidence for qualifying for the sprint race despite having raced in baku while in f2. she had only had one practice and bam! qualy.

to top it all off, she still felt awfully uncomfortable in the car, making a lousy p17 in practice 1.

with her fireproofs wrapped around her waist, she walked through the paddock lost in thought.

"mon ange!" she heard from afar.

"hey charlie." she said softly.

"what's on your mind?" he said once he saw her crestfallen expression.

"just worried." tali began with a shrug. "the car doesn't feel right. i'm just scared i won't perform like it's expected." she said looking everywhere but the ferrari driver.

"i understand. it's okay to be scared, just don't let it control you." he said, hugging her comfortingly. "i'm not here to let you sulk. i'm here to ask you when you're coming to monaco." he said with a smile, making the mexican-french driver grimace.

"i don't think i can fly there before the monaco gp." she began, "after miami i'm going to mexico with my family. we're going to the beach." she said, coming up with an idea that might get the monegasque happy. "you should come!" she said excitedly.

"really?!" he questioned with a smile.

"yeah. kino bay, the week after miami." tali nodded. "my parents, my brother, my nana, my aunt and my uncle, and us." tali listed with a smile.

"sounds good. we can fly to mexico together on my jet. is luca going to miami?" he asked, earning a nod in reply from the girl. "it will be like a road trip but on a jet like when you were seven." recalling the haircut incident of when the girl was young, laughing lightly at the memory.

"haha, not funny." she said, squinting her eyes at the green-eyed man.

"but yeah, i'd love to join you." he said before they were interrupted. the pair had been walking near the paddock entrance, meaning the teenager was able to see the wolff she had heart eyes for arrive at the paddock.

"elias." she sighed in surprise. he had said he'd arrive on saturday.

walking towards him, charles followed right behind her to greet the boy. once in front of him she was able to see him properly. his hair was messier than usual, which looked great, and wore a regular black t-shirt, which also looked great, but instead of the usual pants, he wore a pair of shorts, making the knee pad noticeable on his leg.

"tali. charles." he nodded as he gripped the crutches to step closer to them.

"how are you, man?" the monegasque asked as he noticed toto coming close too.

"i'm great. it's all been bearable thankfully." he answered, breaking his gaze from tali, where it sat since he had first greeted the two drivers.

"that's great! hey boss!" tali chirped with a smile.

"hello, tali, charles." he greeted casually. "tali, do you mind helping elias reach the motorhome?" he asked with an innocent smile that was anything but innocent and fully and wholeheartedly a knowing one instead.