#saisha writes

You never thought this would ever happen to anybody, let alone just him. Nobody who had watched the sport did.

Everything inside you began to sink in the moment the whole mess about unlapping the cars started and as the rest of the race unfolded, you felt yourself crumbling.

Lewis staying in his car in silence, in disbelief at the parc ferme had been playing on your mind again and again.

You were supposed to be there. You had to be there for him.

You had apologized to him multiple times for not being there in a championship decider race, especially at a win that was so historically important but he dismissed your countless apologies saying that he could understand. You had been shooting for a movie in London since November, which also meant that you hadn't met each other in more than a month, work and COVID restrictions making its way in. There was one thing that you and Lewis always stood by, which was that your jobs would be given the first priority. Understandable from both sides because your works usually involve a lot of people, meaning that compromising on it was quite hard and it was also very important to both of you from an emotional perspective, although you had to admit the Formula 1 driver was reaching an equivalent position to your work in your heart.

You watched him speak in the post race interview and then the moment he shared with his father, leaning his head as he took in the encouraging words being whispered in his ear. He had always been so strong and it was something you admired about him.

You sent him a message (which you hoped would provide a bit of comfort), mentioning that what happened was unfair, he deserved that win after everything he'd been through the entire season and that night and how proud you were of him. Also adding that he could call you when he felt like doing so because he wouldn't be in the headspace to talk to people at the time.

Seven hours later, you were done with your scenes for the day at ten in the night. The first thing you did after entering the vanity was checking your phone and your message to him was still at 'delivered', which increased your worry and anxiety.

After a bit, you got the idea of dropping a message to Angela, who was somebody you were close to too. You knew the Wolffs, Miles and Daniel, you even met his parents, stepmum and his siblings too when you'd been to the Silverstone race but Angela was somebody you bonded along with very well. She was one of the sweetest persons you'd met and also took care of you like an older sister would whenever you were around.

But you'll only get a response a while later since it's probably the wee hours at Abu Dhabi right now, you thought as you sighed. The race and your work has already drained out all your energy and despite your mind being absolutely restless because of how anxious you felt, but you had to drive yourself to sleep somehow. The director wouldn't be happy seeing her lead actress with puffy eyes and barely any energy the next day.

By the time you landed on your bed, it struck midnight and your phone let out the notification sound, showing the message from Angela which said that Lewis wasn't doing great and hadn't spoken to anybody yet.

Now how were you going to be able to sleep after knowing that?

“I touch your hand for the first time, I see it on your face, then another lifetime's flashin' by.”

"You see the star there? That one's called Sirius." he tells you, pointing to a specific region in the night sky.

"I didn't peg you to be somebody who was familiar with Harry Potter references, Hamilton." you give him a surprised, yet impressed look.

"There's a lot more to me than meets the eye darling, you'll see." he tells you cockily and you playfully rolled your eyes, shaking your head.

"This might just be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." you said in awe, your eyes fixed at the sparkling stars laid on an endless canvas of the dark blue sky.

"Mhm yeah, it definitely is." the sweet and distracted voice of the man who'd been surrounding you and your thoughts for the past couple of months came through and you turned your head towards him, finding him looking at you.

You felt your cheeks heat and you could only let out a giggle in response, not knowing how to respond because of how flustered he made you feel.

Lewis Hamilton was definitely a lot more cheesy than one would ever assume.

"I'm sorry I couldn't plan anything fun, there's pandemic restrictions so everything around is almost shut." he apologizes and you melt at how heartful he sounds about it.

"Don't be ridiculous Lew, I've loved every moment of this date so far." you assure him with a soft smile. Star gazing with somebody you've admired for so long as a first date was something that nobody could beat.

"Well, how can I make the date better?" he asks and your eyes light up in silent laughter thinking he's joking but then you look at him, it turns out that he was actually being serious.

Dear god, what type of dates had this man been on?

"Well that's a hard one because I feel like the date has already met the standards." you pretend to think for a moment "Maybe you could let Roscoe join us?" you ask him, giving him a grin which made him fall for you even more.

"Now that's not fair." he playfully whines "This time is for us. He loves you too much, will take away all your attention from me." he said, referring to all the times the both of you spend with your mutual friends. He was right, the bulldog did take a lot of your time.

"Well I've at least gotta win over one heart right?" you said, reflecting your doubts about him considering if the thing between the both you was anything serious or not.

"Well in that case, his heart will be the second one you've won over from this house." he said and you looked at him, your eyes softening with warmth and your cheeks turning red as you move closer to him.

He feels it too, you thought as he wrapped his arm around you, making you sigh in bliss.

Nearly two years later, the morning after the catastrophic race, the first thing you saw after waking up were the words "I don't think I can do this anymore, I need some space and time away." on your phone and at that moment, you had been absolutely destroyed.

It felt like everything in you had just been dropped down and shattered without any noise, you just feel so hollow and empty on the inside.

You couldn't ridicule him for feeling devastated, anybody would understand how much yesterday meant to him and how it affected him even if they didn't know him personally.

But you believed that you were comfortable enough to be with each other through any situation, happiness or despair. You believed that he found the same comfort, solace and safety that you found in him.

But it turns out that he didn't. The both of you went all the way from a video call like a regular couple would before the race to a text like somebody that didn't really mean anything to him a later, he pushed you out.

“I bet you're happy and that's fine. But I regret just one thing, I never got to change your mind”

He'd been back on the screens for the next season. Despite all the news about him discontinuing racing, you knew he'd go back.

Racing was everything to him, it was quite literally everything he'd known. He'd spoken openly about the struggles that him and his dad faced to reach where he was in the racing industry.

He knew how to rise up from the worst moments, he always had it in him.

You were still a mess. It had been almost three months since the text which broke everything in you. But there he was, having interviews with his teammate, a happy grin on his face.

Being an F1 fan for a long time, you always kept up with whatever news was on about the grid and Lewis had quite the spotlight when it came to headlines about his professional life or personal life.

You knew that he wasn't really the person for serious relationships after a point in his career. All of his focus was on Formula 1, rightfully so, which was why one night stands and short flings were what he went for.

You knew that even before you met him, you knew it whilst being friends but you still agreed to date him despite that one thing freaking you out. He had a hold on you, such an aura around him. You were always in this bubble of happiness, positivity and peace when you were with him.

Although his past relationships made you think about a lot of 'what if-s', how could you say no to a guy who made you feel like that?

Well, this was the consequence of giving in to emotions rather than logic. Your heart had been shattered like fritted glass, while he was back to normal like the break up was nothing but a minor collateral damage.

Work was always a top priority but all those moments that the both of you shared had a lot of meaning right?

“And I'm doin' okay. In the back of my mind, all I hear is your name”

The last time you slept well was the night before the Abu Dhabi race. You were normally a light sleeper, which gave you a pretty decent amount of sleep to feel good the next day.

But ever since that night, your sleep had come down only a few hours every week. You'd just walk about the room feeling restless, scroll through your phone or laptop or the television to pass time, there were some days where you just stared at the ceiling, the thoughts in your head just rushing in with memories of Lewis and you'd end up bursting into tears, sleeping over taking you after your eyes would turn red and puffy. And after two or three hours, you'd be awake again, tossing and turning around the bed.

And it was safe to say the sight of food started making you feel sick, your face would literally scrunch at the sight of it. But you still had to eat a minimum amount of food that would help you survive a day at work. Completely cutting out on food, which you had the urge to do, would completely affect the image on you and your career, which you felt was too risky.

Everybody had noticed you spiralled down, you could feel it too but you just stopped caring about anything after a point, you just felt so empty in your head to push yourself. Acting was the only thing that had you taking steps forward in life.

Soon enough, there were articles out on the news about you, commenting on the drastic weight loss that had been noticed in you, caused by the change in your eating habits. Your fans also began to notice how your use of social media had come down drastically, since you always had the habit of interacting with them frequently and also shared random pictures and videos from your day at work, especially if it was in a place far from home.

And that made the pressure from the people close to you increase. After getting to know about your break up with Lewis, your parents and close friends urged you to talk more, to let out how you were feeling. But you always convinced them by saying that you were alright, that you understood why he needed the break up and you just went along with life, your work satisfying you at the moment.

The moment you came back home after you were done with the movie you were working on for the past couple of months, the first thing your mum did was make you sit next to her and reminded you of all the hard times you'd been through, of all the people you had in your life who still cared for you and loved you, about how there were people out there who admired your work.

And that's when it struck you, that yes, you did lose a particular feeling love in your life. But there was so much more to life that made living your life whole heartedly rather than making it more painful for you, more that you'd already been through because of your heart getting broken by a certain British man.

You took a small break from your work and the fast life around you, spending the time with your family and friends, parallelly going to therapy as well. Although the scar of that heartbreak was always going to remain, the slow paced yet quality time helped your wounds heal little by little.

And then you were back to work, feeling better than you'd been for the past couple of months. You were able to breathe freely, feeling the light weighted space in you.

But there were still certain things that reminded you of him. One day, you saw a bull dog being taken on a walk by its owner, your mind would fly to how Roscoe would lie down in between you and Lewis, snuggling in the night. The smell or sight of tea would remind you about how the both of you would keep arguing about whether tea or coffee was better, you loving coffee and him being always so British and loving tea. But nevertheless he knew how to make coffee the way you liked it and you knew the same for his tea. The sound of a piano would remind you of the times he would play it and sing his favourite songs, even teaching you the basics of how to play it sometimes. Stargazing and watching Formula 1 was something you just stopped altogether, not being able to handle the intensity of the emotions it brought in you.

If there was anything that made you feel relieved now, it was about how it didn't hurt as much as it used to and how the control he had your thoughts had come down.

"Talkin' wildly out of context, I wish things were different. But I'll never know”

What the hell just happened, you thought as you looked at the screen of the TV in the garage.

It took you everything to not break into a string of curse words but if anything, you were really worried if Lewis was okay.

The man literally had a car on top of his with the tyres nearly touching his head, dear god.

And you had no clue how he would react after coming back to the garage. He wasn't the one to tantrums but was he somebody who just stayed quiet? Did he deal with the anger he felt? Would he like having anybody around him to comfort him? Or did he prefer being alone?

You had spent a good number of days with him, an amount of time that could turn into a bunch of months if you added them up, but all the races you'd been to for the past year were always good ones. You were there when he won his seventh world championship but this was the first time you were around during a bad race, a one with a scary DNF.

He didn't know you were here for the race. Due to the COVID protocols, you had to quarantine for a few days before being able to meet Lewis and you didn't have a break or gap of that many days that often which made being at his races quite hard. So you thought that you could surprise him at the Monza GP, coming into the garage after he got into the car.

What you planned was to hide in some corner of the Mercedes garage and meet him in his driver's room after he went there, yelling a cheerful "surprise!". But you obviously couldn't do that now, considering what just happened. How you would meet him was barely on your mind now, you were scared about how he was after the crash.

"Hey, he's back in his driver's room. You can go and meet him now." Angela came and told you, a few minutes after you were restlessly tapping your feet up and down.

"Oh thank god, how is he? No injuries right?" you ask her anxiously, a shaky breath leaving your body.

"He's alright now, nothing serious has happened to him. He has some headache and pain in the neck, he'll be back to normal in a matter of some time." she assures you, giving you a comforting smile and places her around your shoulder, knowing how worried you get about him.

"Would he be alright with having me around now Ange? I think he'd want some silence for now." you said, giving her an unconvincing smile.

"Don't be ridiculous, he just had a scary race. None of his family and close friends are around now either, he'll obviously love to have you around now. You'll make his day better and he'll calm down." Angela convinces you and you walk towards his driver's room, still debating in your mind if you should step in or not.

Angela knocks the door and speaks out so that Lewis thinks it her, rushing towards the team before Lewis opens the door so that the both of you can have your space.

The sound of the room's door opening brings you out of your over thinking. "Um, hey?" you tell him in a shaky voice, eyes scanning over him to see if he was alright. Of course Angela wouldn't lie to you but for some reason, it wasn't sinking in your mind until you saw him.

His eyes widened in surprise "You're here? Wait a minute- you're actually here." he says and his reaction made your nerves calmed down a bit.

"Well, the plan was to keep a rather happy surprise." you say, giving him a weak smile "If you want to be alone for some time, I'll go back and sit with Ange, I totally understand-" he cut off your rambling by taking your hand in his and pulling you in for a hug.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm glad you're here. C'mon in." he said, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his forehead on your shoulder "missed you and that scent so much." he mumbles as you place your hand through his braids, running your fingers through his hair to calm him down, like he always liked it.

"I can feel your heartbeat and it's going crazy. We've been together for a year and I still scare you?" he teases you, referring to the initial days of knowing him. Timid was an understatement. Having been a huge fan of the sport and him for years before you first met him, you always shared many shy smiles and few words with him, scared that your rather talkative side which always went on rambling would annoy him.

"I don't know- that just, that was scary. I'm so worried baby, the tyre was literally so close to your head." you sighed as he sat on the couch, placing you on his lap.

"Stuff like this happens time and again in racing, you've watched it over the years. At that moment I tried to shuffle inside the car as much as possible and lowered my head down, so nothing from the car reached my head. Don't worry sweetheart, I'm totally alright." he says, rubbing circles on your waist in the hopes of calming you down.

"Ange told me you have a headache and neck pain though, don't lie to me." you mumbled, pushing away the braids to a side and placing a small kiss on his forehead. He just gives you a reassuring smile, his eyes signifying that it'll be gone soon and he places his head on your shoulder, snuggling in for comfort as you placed your hand on his back and rubbing it up and down.

Thinking of the memory from that day made you wonder only one thing. Would the both of you still be together if you were together? If he would've seeked your comfort or just push you away nevertheless.

You guess you'd never know, Monza was one DNF while what happened at Abu Dhabi was something brought in such loss and affected his perspective about his career and life.

Lewis always loved doing some or the other thing to keep himself busy, trying out new things and this was the start of something new for him. Starting his own production company and entering the film and television industry. Definitely something different from his cameo in 'Cars 2'.

Little did he know that it was going to be a new beginning for more than one thing in his life.

After giving his trademark model look in front of the cameras on the red carpet, obviously with a very fashionable outfit on, he entered the big hall.

It was an event for directors, producers and actors in Hollywood, he was hoping to meet some people who he could work with in the future, creating the same magic on the screen like he did on the track.

The evening went on like most events do, starting with 'hi's and 'hello's and going on with conversations about work and a few jokes being cracked, sipping on whatever alcoholic beverage was available.

That was until, the corner of his eyes spotted a rather distant yet familiar body.

He looked multiple times to make sure if it was the same person he was thinking of and after a slight tilt of the face, his thoughts had been confirmed.

It was you.

There you were, exchanging hugs and starting conversations with many friends and acquaintances that you'd met on a couple of occasions, sipping on the champagne that you had always been fond of.

The sight of you had brought in a swirl of emotions in him. Love due to all the memories you shared, happiness because he hadn't seen you in so long but what really blew him in the chest was disappointment in himself for letting you go and not even trying to reach out to you despite knowing that there was unfinished business between the both of you, anxiousness because he could reach out to you right now but didn't know how to do it.

You always brought out emotions that no person managed to do with him. That was the connection you shared.

After the last lap of the Abu Dhabi race last year, he felt so numb and empty on the inside. And everyone knew that the decisions made at a time one wasn't in a right state of mind weren't good ones at all, he had already experienced it before in life and yet, he let his emotions take over that day. He could've asked you for some space and then returned when he was alright, so as to not burden you with his pain and recovery but he just pushed you out completely.

He'd seen the articles which hinted about your loss in weight, tweets from your fans about how your social media activities came down. Even after your break from filming to heal, there was something he noticed himself— it was how your smile stopped reaching your ears like it used to, always so bright and how the sparkle in your eyes had gradually disappeared.

And he hated himself for doing that to you. You were nothing but understanding and loving despite knowing that his work was always what he'd hold the highest in his life, something that most of the women he'd been with had chastised him for. In fact, you were the one who always compromised your schedule to follow the COVID restrictions so that the both of you could meet during his race season. He didn't really take that much effort so as to meet you while you were busy shooting a movie and that always made him wonder if he'd taken advantage of your kindness and empathy.

Walking with his head running through multiple thoughts and emotions, he bumped into somebody, feeling something wet fall on his clothes.

"Oh gosh- I'm so sorry." apologies in a very familiar voice fell on his ears, a voice he'd recognise in a heartbeat. He looked up at you and let out a shaky breath.

God, you were so stunning.

You wore a red satin dress with a deep v back and the way you carried yourself in it reminded him of the goddess you were. He was reminded of the multiple times you told about how a cherry red lipstick and satin dress was enough to make you feel sexy, and he was right infront of the sight of it right now.

"No no, please don't apologise. I wasn't watching where I was going." he said, eyes falling on the spot on champagne that had been spilt on your dress "I'm so sorry about the stain, let me help you."

"It's alright Lewis, I'll get it done myself, it’s just going to the restroom and using some wet tissues." you told him, shaking your head and giving him a polite smile. Hearing his name in your voice after so long made him feel a pang in his chest.

He was pretty surprised about how nice you were to him after everything he did to you. Not giving the relationship enough priority and then breaking up over a bloody text message was absolute cowardice and a dick move from his side. Yet you gave him a sweet smile and didn't cut him off rudely.

"Please, I insist. It's the least I could after all the mess I created." he requested and the way your eyes softened told him that you understood that he wasn't referring only to the champagne stain.

You thought about what he said for a moment, staying in a dilemma if you should let him accompany you. You somehow managed to get over all the pain he caused and Lewis wasn't somebody who held back from speaking his thoughts, no matter how much sugarcoated the words would be. You knew that if you did let him help you, it would take you back to some memories that made your heart hurt at the same time but still brought in a fuzzy feeling.

But no matter what the brain warns you about, the heart wants what it wants, always.

"Sure." you said and he let out a relieved breath, giving you a grateful smile which made his eyes crinkle.

That was a sight you definitely missed, those damn brown eyes with the crinkles by the side.

Being the gentlemen he always was, he placed his hand on your lower back to guide you through the crowd of people, the feeling of his touch on your skin making a shiver pass through your body. God, the man still had the same effect on you.

“Well, what do we do now?” Lewis asked, confusion etched on his face at the sight of the separate washrooms in front of the both of you. The unusual innocence from him the moment had you close to laughing, considering how Lewis didn’t seem to bother about the gender separation in restrooms when he wanted to be with you away from the crowd.

"Well, it's not like the both of us have gone into only one of these together" you shrugged in an unbothered manner and his confusion increased, you were usually the one overthinking in situations like these and Lewis was the one who would pull you in, being his usual rebelious self. 

"But those were different situations.” he weakly argued, knowing that it was going to fail. The roles had reversed tonight and you sure as hell that you were going to drag him in like he used to when things got pretty handsy.

"I'll check the women's, you check the men's; we'll go into whichever's empty." you instruct him and he nods his head.

You check the women's restroom, finding that it wasn't empty. You went out to find Lewis with the door of the men's restroom open, giving you a look which you could understand that the restroom was empty and you nodded your head in understanding.

It was crazy how he didn't have to say anything but you still understood what his expressions meant.

You entered the room and he immediately goes to the corner to get some tissues for you.

"Thank you." you tell him after taking it in your hands "I could've just done it myself you know."

"Like I said, I wanted to help in cleaning the mess I created. If it makes you uncomfortable I can-" he stopped the sentence midway as you gave a nod that indicated that you didn't feel any discomfort, then continued "I watched the recent season of your series, you did an amazing job on it."

"Thank you." you tell him, passing a smile as you worked on cleaning the champagne stain "I heard about your production company by the way, that’s great." you congratulate him.

"Thank you. Um, did you watch this year’s season?" he asked, referring to, looking a bit nervous.

“I watched only Bahrain and Australia. Skipped Jeddah and honestly, I-” you sighed, knowing the answer wasn’t going to be a great one “I just felt better that weekend so I thought maybe just, not watching F1 for a while would be better for me.”

Guilt completely drained into Lewis after hearing that. He knew how much you loved the sport and how passionate about it, it was one the things about you that got him attracted to you— the way you’d grin while discussing about your favourite races, the frown on your face and the irritation in your tone when you rambled about a race that went bad for any of your favourite drivers, which included him. You mentioned how watching F1 got your mind off your hectic life and really helped you in a way, now he had taken it away from you.

But he was grateful about how honest you were, you could've easily blabbered something about how you continued watching the sport because you were very fond of it. He always loved how you didn't hesitate on being open with everyone and even showing vulnerability to the people very close to you.

“How did the season go though?” you asked him rather awkwardly just to push away the silence, fiddling with your dress.

"Well, kind of a shit show to be honest" he let out a dry chuckle " We got the aerodynamics and the floor wrong, a shit ton of break problems too. So just couple of podiums but no wins,I spent most of it just experimenting with the car and getting my back broken."

"That sounds like a complete nightmare, I'm sorry." you apologise. It must've been pretty rocky for him to deal with the season after having a great car for the preceding years; the backache must've been quite a nightmare too.

You couldn't even fathom how Lewis even managed to deal with all the shit that happened to him.

"Lewis, I've been wanting to say this for a while. I'm sorry......for not being there that day. During Abu Dhabi." you finally manage to tell him, leaving out a shaky sigh.

"You already apologized a lot about it then." he nodded, giving an understanding look "it's not your fault that you couldn't be there, you had to be there for your work just like I was for mine."

"Yes, but I still should've been there for you. I don't mean to impose but-" you start but he still continues nodding his head.

"Love, you've never imposed anything on me." he says, placing his hand on yours to comfort you "The problem wasn't you not being there, it was me making the wrong decisions because I wasn't doing great emotionally at the time. You probably hate me now" he mumbled, looking down at the ground in disappointment.

"I've always loved you for the F1 driver you have been, but after meeting you, my feelings for you went beyond because of the person you are. There were days I used to fight with my dad because I wanted to watch the race while he wanted to put on the news, he must've told you about it. And now, despite loving the sport so much, I couldn't watch a single race without losing my mind, I think you can guess why."

"Then why are you still being so nice to me?" he exclaims and you frown at him. You didn't expect him to feel so guilty about it. Did he also feel like there was something unfinished between the two of you?

"I really loved you Lewis. I always felt so loved and in this bubble of happiness and positivity around you. And like I said, you are an amazing human being so I didn't want to hold any hard feelings against you. I don't want to sound harsh but-" you let out a sigh, knowing it was going to sound harsh anyways "you haven't really had many serious relationships because of your work life and our relationship was probably like that too-"

"Woah, wait hold up-" he cuts you off and you wave your hand in front of him, thinking that he felt bad about upsetting you.

"No no, I'm not upset about that or anything. It's alright, I understand." you cut him off and he gives you a pointed look.

"Sweetie stop for a bit and hear me out . Did I really make you feel that way? Like our relationship didn't really mean anything?" he asks you and you shrug at him with a weak expression on your face, not knowing how to explain how you felt.

"Hey, look at me." he says, placing his hand on your cheek and you eyes fall on the face of the gorgeous man in front on you "I want to be very very honest with you right now. For the first time in years, I felt really comfortable and wanted to spend more time with somebody that I was dating. All those moments we had— just cooking together and then watching a movie at my place or all the times you surprised me with something special you planned, I always felt so much at peace with you, like none of the problems from the track would cloud my mind. I missed having your arms wrapped around me after my races, the feeling of your hand running through my hair after a bad race and that beautiful smile after a great one. I miss everything about you so much, I've always loved you and you'll always have a special corner in my heart, I'm so sorry if I didn't express that well." he finishes his soliloquy and you could only look at him in surprise, eyes getting misty and your mind still in a haze of shock, trying to let Lewis' words sink in.

Lewis wasn't really a person who expressed his emotions, the very heavy ones very often. He always kept his guard on, something that sunk into him deep over the years because of the constant emotions that came thwarting as an after effect on him racing. This was the most vulnerable he'd been to you after all the time you spent together.

You craved to see that side of him while you were together, the guy beneath all the solid rock exterior he had but you never voiced your thoughts to him. You wanted him to take him time to open up to you, to feel comfortable and during the race at Monza last year, it finally felt that he was beginning to feel the comfort with you, just like you did with him. But because of the way he broke up with you after Abu Dhabi, it felt like you looked into everything too much and that Lewis probably didn't feel that way around you.

Now that he voiced his feelings, it was like your feet had been stuck to the ground and everything around you stopped moving. You felt scared yet so fuzzy on the inside.

"Then why did you let me go?" you asked him and the broken look on your face made him want to wrap you in his arms and soothe all the wounds he caused, giving you all the love you deserved.

"I just- I felt nothing at the time, it was just numbness. It was one of the worst things that ever happened to me, I couldn't burden you with my problems and all the emotions I was going through." he explained.

"Lew," you tell softly, taking a step forward so as to be closer to him "that wouldn't have been a burden to me, never. I've always cared about you and loved you. It's totally alright to lean onto somebody and let them hold your hand. That's what I wanted to do. Remember Monza? You don't really have to talk or open up until you want to, just being with a comforting company does it all. I was your girlfriend, all I wanted was to just be there for you. Through whatever it was, happiness or pain. Just like how I was there during your seventh at Turkey, I wanted to be there the same way after what happened at Abu Dhabi. There's nothing wrong in showing your emotions or letting it out, you're just as human as everybody is"

"I've missed out on so many things in life because I've given it all to racing and I don't want to let go of you, you make my life so much better. I don't deserve you but-" he starts and you shook your head at him.

"Don't be ridiculous now. I always felt so loved, safe and at peace around you. You're all I've ever wanted." you tell him, taking his hand in yours and intertwining them.

"I barely came to support you at work, you'd been to so many races." he said but you gave him a look, indicating him to stop the self blame knowing how deep he'd go into that.

"We've already spoken about that before, we've both missed a lot of events because of our work and the pandemic restrictions. Now that it's done, we can work on that too yeah?" you tell him.

"You want to work on us again?" he says and the way his eyes brightened up in hope brought a smile on your lips.

There was nothing the both of you would leave unfinished.

"Only if you don't shut me out again." you tell him, knowing what damage it caused the last time "Nothing about you is a burden to me. We can make it through, I'm always here for you."

"I'm so sorry." he says, pulling you in for a hug by holding your waist "I won't let things go wrong this time, proper communication this time okay?".

"Please don't let me fall again." you mumbled, placing your forehead on his.

"I'll hold onto you tight, I promise. Never letting you go again." he says, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing a kiss on your forehead.

The sound of the front door shutting breaks her subconscious state and she turns back to look at her Canadian best friend, who was joining her in the balcony with two paper cups in his hand.

"I got us some hot chocolate." Shawn said, handing her one of the cups and she muttered a small thank you. She'd never been used to the snow and chillness since it never snowed at most of India, especially where she lived, which was in the South of the country.

Shawn Mendes had been Advika's first friend from the music industry and was also one of the most important people in her life. She'd been signed to Island Records a year after him and he always guided her through work, since he'd got his big break even before Advika joined and knew how hard it was for a newcomer to settle into the fast moving world of music.

The curly haired duo got along well instantly, their love for acoustic music, Harry Potter, romantic clichés and their struggle with anxiety creating a trusting bond very soon. Many rumours of them dating had come up but it never changed a thing between them or made it awkward. They always had each other's backs on both professional and personal fronts- album releases and tours, award functions and galas, crushes and heartbreaks too.

Which is why as soon as Advika's tour ended, she took refuge at his Toronto condo without hesitation, needing some space from the brain clogging tour stress and her break-up with the green eyed Formula 1 driver.

“How’s the tune coming up?” he asks referring to the hour she spent, trying to make a tune for a song she'd been working on for a while.

“Like shit, it feels like my creative energy has been burnt out” she groans, staring at her guitar as if a miracle would occur and finish the song she was working on.

“You need to give yourself a break Advi, all you keep doing is making songs, releasing them and then touring all over the world non stop ever since you’ve come into the industry." he sighs, giving her a concerned look "You didn’t even stop working during the pandemic while everybody was giving themselves a break because of the lockdown. And for god's sake speak to your team about making your tour a little less congested, it's clearly making your health or your personal life worse. ”

"I couldn't help doing that. Try having to be alone in your home for months without being able to step out because the entire world is shut. It's not at all lonely Mendes." she responds sarcastically.

"You need to lighten the weight in your head, what's going on in there?" he asks as they both sit on the couch and look at the view in front of them.

"You worry too much Shawn, I'm alright" she shakes her head, giving a weak chuckle.

"Don't give me that bullshit, you're very easy to read." he gives her a pointed glare "Not to mention, all you've done ever since you came back is sleep and you still look like a train wreck."

"I'm just tired." she sighs "Both physically and mentally. The tour drained all my energy out and things with Charles really hit the rock bottom. I don't know why, but it hurts so much. Which feels so ridiculous because even though we were dating, it wasn't for too long and it didn't make much progress either because we weren't able to spend much time with each other."

"Your mom wasn't wrong you know, you do get really attached to people very soon." he tells her and she leans her head backwards on the wall, feeling exasperated.

Advika would've felt so much better right now if her parents were around. Her appa (father) wouldn't have been happy about her being in a relationship, because he was rather narrow minded, but nevertheless would've helped her reduce her overthinking whereas her amma (mother) wouldn't have minded the relationship and would've given her some relationship advice too. She cursed fate for messing life up like that, all she had was her parents and the accident took them away six years ago.

Her parents had always been supportive about her passion for music, but convincing her amma to agree for signing to Island Records definitely wasn't easy because she stated that her daughter was too naive and trusted people easily, which could cause a lot of trouble in the entertainment industry. after a lot of convincing from the head of Island Records, promising that they'd make sure they would take care of a fifteen year old Advika, her singing career took off.

Naysha, Ria and Shawn's families did treat her like their own, but nothing replaces the void that the loss of parents leaves in a person.

"Please don't tell me you both never had a heart to heart conversation atleast once." he tells her, looking bewildered.

"Of course we did. We've spoken about how exhausting travelling for our career gets but then it doesn't matter because we're lucky enough to get to do what we're doing. We've also spoken about losing important people and the healing process, he's lost people who were very close to him and I've lost my parents. Yeah, there have been heavy conversations. What I meant was that long distance relationships progress really slow and the both of us wanted more than that." Advika explained, taking a sip of the warm beverage in her hand.

"Do you think wanting to keep the relationship on the private side was a bad idea?" Advika pondered.

"Not at all." he nodded his head "Especially with the way people were taking pictures and videos of the both of you when spend the summer break together this year, it's okay that you wanted to keep it away from the public eye until it became a very stable relationship."

The media and fans adored Charles and Advika. The pair first met at Paris to work on a photoshoot for Giorgio Armani, since both of them were the brand ambassadors and a connection sparked instantly. Advika being a huge Formula 1 fan and Charles being quite fluent in music helped them bonded over both the topics and time flew very quickly in those two days, his charm and her compassion blending together effortlessly.

They had also done a few interviews together and attended fashion weeks hosted by the brand, which brought in a lot of public attention towards them. Everybody could see the spark between them.

Advika shook the thoughts away from her head. There was no point reminiscing about the past anymore, she reminded herself. What was the point of a flickering spark when they couldn't even be around each other?

Shawn was probably right, she really needed to take a break.

August 2022.

"So, what do you think of Monaco?" Charles asked Advika, who had her back leaning against the railing of his Yacht.

"It's such a beautiful place." she tells, a happy glint in her eyes "I'll be honest, I normally don't like places which are sunny but I've actually fallen in love with the places here. And I think the beaches here are definitely making me want to stay here."

"I don't think I've been more grateful for paparazzi not being allowed without a permit here, the people aren't making you uncomfortable no?" he asks, referring to how people around them were constantly taking pictures of them.

"That's alright, it's nothing new. Something that we get to experience all the time we're at a public place." she nods her head in understanding" Plus, Formula 1 is a very loved sport at Monaco, so it's understandable that you get a lot of attention here. They love you."

Always so emphatic and sweet, he thought as her words brought a smile on Charles face.

"You look really pretty today." he tells her, admiring how her dusky skin shined under the Monacan sun.

"Says you." she retorts and he gives her a playful look.

"I know you're modest but you can admit that you look good, it's totally alright." he tells her and she rolls her eyes at him.

"Was your plan to make me blush the entire time because it's actually going really great." she tells him, her cheeks getting redder.

"Your cheeks are more red than my sun burn so yes, I think my plan is going really well." he continued teasing her.

"You really need to apply your sunscreen, love." she tried, knowing that he won't listen because she'd been trying to convince him into applying it.

"It's not a big deal Vika, I'll be fine." he shrugs it off lightly and she glares at him in response.

"Alright, I'll do it but only if you ask me to do it in French." he completes with a small smirk.

"Maybe you could teach me how to."

"Pouvez-vous appliquer un peu de crème solaire, mon amour." he tells it slowly with gaps so that she could slowly repeat it after him. (Can you apply some sunscreen, love)

"Je vais le faire, chérie" he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her forehead, noticing the usual red tint that formed on her cheeks whenever he called her "chérie". (I'll do it, darling.)

"You really know how to charm me with your cheesiness Leclerc." she tells, looking up at him.

"You can't blame me for doing that, I've missed you." he chided light heartedly.

"I missed you too, I wish my team kept a longer break in the middle." she sighed, a small frown making it's way onto her face.

"It's alright, you can do it for the next one." he said, rubbing small circles on her waist to calm her down. He noticed during their video calls that tour stressed her out and drained a lot of energy, although she'd never admit it because she loved meeting her fans and singing for them.

When they started dating, she'd been touring for two months and half a year into their relationship now, she'd been done with only three-fourths of it which Charles found really ridiculous because she had to travel every three days and then sink into lots of practice and with breaks of a week's duration coming up once in three months. He had no idea how she managed all the stress that came with a schedule like that, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel more stressed about the fact that they barely got to meet because of their very active work schedules.

"Shall we have food now, des gamins?" Pascale approached them, smiling and they nodded their heads in agreement. (kids)

"I'll help your mum with arranging everything." she told him, slightly tip toeing to place a peck on his cheek "You still haven't applied your sunscreen."

December 2023.

Charles had been a wreck of mixed emotions and he honestly had no clue about how to sort it out.

He missed Advika. He missed everything about her, even those video calls which he thought he hated. He missed the gleam in her eyes, the way her curls were a tangled mess every morning, the blush that appeared on her cheeks every time he said something cheesy and would call her "chérie", he missed the sound of her laugh which ringed even at the smallest jokes and her voice, god that was the one thing that had him holding on despite the long distance. Her voice and the smile that she always had on, no matter how shitty things were for her.

He got tired of the fact that they couldn't be around each other and instead of figuring out a way to be around each other more or at least wait until her tour ended, he just cut it off.

That was a decision worse than the ones his team made last year.

"Tu vas bien, mon fils?" the sound of his mother's voice breaks his chain of thoughts, bringing him back to the moment. (Are you alright, son?)

"Yeah I'm just thinking, nothing much really." he nodded his head at her.

"Sure, the look on your face is definitely saying it's much." she replies sarcastically "Do you want to talk about it."

"I was just thinking about everything that happened with Advika." he sighed and a look of concern appeared on her face.

"Well, do you feel guilty about breaking up with her on a day which was very important to you?"

Damn, what was it with mothers and being so blunt.

"No maman" he whined at her "I feel guilty for letting her go so soon, elle me manque déjà tellement." (I miss her so much.)

"Then talk to her about it. From what I've noticed about her, she's been the most understanding out of all the girlfriends you've had so far. I'm sure she'll at least listen about what you feel."

"She definitely will Maman" he agreed with her "But if we do decide to get together again it won't work out, especially with the way our schedules are set up."

"I think that's ridiculous. When two people really want to be with each other, no matter what comes in between they'll give their best to make sure they stay together despite all of it."

Charles could only accept those words in silence as a response, flying into deep thoughts again.

•••••

The wedding reminded Charles of a side of Advika's personality that he had loved so much, looking ever so happy and joking around the people she was comfortable around and making sure his mom felt included by explaining all the customs in the wedding they were attending. He also saw her dancing without any care in the world with Naysha, Ria and their friends to Indian songs during the engagement party, which was a totally different side from the slow and enticing dance moves she had while performing her side. Lando, Oscar and him definitely couldn't get their eyes off their girls, earning a lot of teases from Pierre.

Charles wanted to slap his own head, what made him think that breaking up with Advika was a good idea? There was so much about her that he loved and that made him happy.

"Advi.....I thought you were on a break from work right now." Naysha reprimanded Advika, who rejoined the table after speaking on a phone call.

"I swear I am, Vini just calls me sometimes because there's still some work to do. Confirmations for projects and stuff like that." Advika explains, picking the food on her plate.

"I'll ask her to talk to you only if it's something very urgent. You've overworked the heck out of yourself, don't do any work that isn't important at least for a month or two out of the six month break." Naysha said sternly, making Advika let out a whine.

"Naysh-"

"She's right Advika, you overwork yourself too much. You were probably the only person who wasn't a doctor but was still overworking during pandemic while everybody was relaxing in their homes during the lockdown. And let me add that you started working even after the lockdown, caught yourself up with album promotions and then started with your year and a half long tour. How many breaks did you take in the midst of all that?" Ria went on, bringing in all the instances.

"Fine, I'll accept surrender." Advika huffed dramatically "But please, if it's anything important I will have to take my team's or the record company member's call."

"I wanted to ask y'all something, so the ceremony this morning had a lot of turmeric involved in it. Why is it done?" Lando asked curiously.

"The ceremony is called ‘Haldi’, literally meaning turmeric. Most people say that it's done to make the bride and groom glow before the wedding, considering turmeric powder is good for the skin and people who are rather superstitious believe that it's done to remove the effect of "the evil eye" cast on couple by people, out of jealousy or stuff like that." Ria explained.

"Nice hoodie by the way." Lando comments, referring to the Lewis Hamilton hoodie Ria was wearing.

"Oh thanks, these two have the same ones too." Ria pointed out to Naysha and Advika who were seated next to her.

"So, the three of you are Lewis Hamilton fans?" Oscar asked them and the nodded their heads in agreement.

"Very huge, he's the first on the list of our favourite drivers." Naysha said as she tore the Naan and wrapped it around the Shahi Paneer.

"Any other interesting names?" Lando asked her with a expectant look on his face.

"Oooh yes" Naysha drawled on "Sebastian Vettel. He is literally the love of my life."

"That's nice." Lando commented, mild disappointment on his face which made Advika want to chuckle. There was no way Naysha would give into his attempts so easily.

"I'll never get over the fact that you're on a first name basis with Sebastian Vettel, it's kinda crazy." Advika commented, giving Naysha a surprised smile.

"That's only because him and Lewis are great friends. He's really humble though, even gets along with the team members on the paddock." Naysha said "I really miss him though, wish he never chose retirement last year."

"We all do." Charles sighed "It's weird, not having him around us during the races."

“I feel like eating an omelette.” Advika groaned in hunger “I just had it today morning though so I’m not sure if eating it again is a good idea.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Nothing wrong in having the same food again on the same day.” Naysha stated.

“And not to mention you barely ate a good amount of food during tour, you need good nutrition for you thyroid levels.” Ria added.

“Alright, does anybody else want to get anything to eat?” Advika asked and everybody at the table nodded their heads to say they didn't want anything, no response from Charles who was thinking about a certain moment from the past.

Charles blinked his eyes and let out a groggy whine, not expecting to wake up to an empty bed in the morning.

He lazily pulled the sheets away and stepped out of the bed after hearing a sound coming from the kitchen of his suite. Walking towards the source of the sound, he found Advika cooking in the kitchen, the sight bringing a smile to his face.

"Good morning chérie." he said as he walked towards her, his voice raspy.

"Good morning, love. Wait- you weren't supposed to see this, I wanted to surprise you." Advika turned back and frowned, the expression on her face making him chuckle.

"You've been giving me a lot of surprises this week baby, I'm quite happy." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a peck on her temple.

"Well, this is the last surprise for now okay? I just felt like the race winner deserves breakfast in bed after a long race on a Sunday afternoon." she said, giving him a small smile.

"And a long Sunday night too." he said, placing kisses on her neck,  the sensation of his lips on her neck and the memories of her and Charles from their celebration the previous night bringing out  giggles Advika’s lips "My shirt looks good on you by the way."

"It's my new favourite outfit now." she grinned at him "Is an omelette alright? I thought of making pancakes but I couldn't find the mix for it anywhere." she said, folding the omelette she cooked into half and placing on the plate.

"Omelette sounds good but I think I want to eat something else right now." he groaned, turning her back towards the kitchen island.

"The food will get cold- " she said, getting breathless because of the feeling of his hands which were going down her body.

"It's alright, I don't mind having it cold." he said, placing his lips hungrily on her. She hooked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and he wrapped his arms around her thighs, lifting her up to make her sit on the counter and pushing himself between her legs, their food long forgotten by then.

Charles sighed in reminiscence, fiddling the food on his plate using a fork with a frown on his face.

“Que s'est-il passé mon pote?” Pierre whispered in his ear, moving closer after noticing that his best friend was clearly going through distressed thoughts. (What happened mate?)

“Rien, je pense juste à quel point je suis stupide” Charles sighed in response. (Nothing, just thinking about how stupid I am.)

“Eh bien, je ne peux pas être en désaccord avec ça.” Pierre shrugged, receiving a light hearted glare from the Monegasque. “You need go in detail though because you have done a lot of stupid things in your life.” (Well, I can't disagree with that.)

“I don’t know if I should be upset or happy that you’re so brutally honest with me.” he chuckled “Et parler en français parce que parce que je ne veux pas que les autres comprennent.” (and speak in French because because I don't want the others to understand)

“Ah, donc c'est à propos du chanteur avec nous. Ouais tu as vraiment merdé.” Pierre commented, passing a tight smile. (Ah, so it's about the singer with us. Yeah you really fucked it up)

“Je veux revenir avec elle mais et si ça ne marche pas?” Charles reflected on the thoughts he’d been going through for the past few days. (I want to get back with her but what if it doesn't work out?)

“Et si ça marche? Tu lui manques aussi, nous pouvons tous le voir. Vous avez juste peur tous les deux.” the French driver said, patting Charles’ back. (And if it works out? She misses you too, we can all see it. The both of you are just scared.)

“Nous voulons tous les deux éviter un chagrin. Mais ma mère me conseille de réessayer et je ne peux pas être en désaccord car je l'aime beaucoup très vite. Elle ne ressemble à personne avec qui je suis sorti auparavant, je suis tombé amoureux d'elle.” Charles rambled, a distant look on his face. (The both of us want to avoid a heartbreak. But my mum is advising to me to give it another try and I can't disagree becasue I've grown so fond of her very soon. She's not like anybody that I've dated before, I fell hard for her.)

“Alors vous devriez lui demander si elle veut essayer, mon ami. C'est mieux que de regretter de n'avoir rien fait. God, I’ve never seen you so whipped for anyone before.” Pierre scoffed, sending an eye roll towards Charles. (Then you should ask her if she wants to try, my friend. It's better than regretting not having done anything.)

“Yo Frenchies, what are you both whispering about?” Lando asked, breaking their serious conversation.

“Nothing important and Jesus, don’t call us like that mate it sounds so weird.” Pierre gave Lando a pointed look.

“And I’m Monegasque by the way, not French.” Charles adding on, taking a sip of water from his glass.

“So.... that’s half French.” Oscar stated which resulting in Charles rolling his eyes and muttering a ‘oh, fuck off’.

A few hours later.

The drivers arrived for the Mehandi ceremony which was as a joint one by the bride's and groom's family. They spotted Advika in one of the chairs in the outdoor area, exchanged greetings and compliments and joined her, sitting in the chairs close by.

“Your mum isn’t coming?” Advika asked Charles, noticing that she was neither with them nor anywhere else in the surrounding celebration.

“The ceremony in the morning made her kinda tired so she’s taking rest in the room.” Charles told her and she nodded her head in understanding.

“Well, this ceremony is called the Mehandi and they make designs out of our Henna paste on the hands and sometimes even on the feet. But any other questions about this can only be answered by Ria and Naysha. I’m actually from the Southern part of India and weddings there take place differently. Weddings in my native place only have the engagement, wedding and a reception, that’s it.” Advika mentioned. She was dressed up in a blush pink chudidar with a floral print of the dupatta. Charles had come to the conclusion that she looked more beautiful in traditional Indian clothing than any other outifts.

“Wait, so from your place there’s none of the functions that we had today?” Pierre asked curiously with an eyebrow raised.

“Nope, wedding festivities different in different cultures and regions. Like in South India, the wedding happens in the morning while in the North, they usually have it at night.” she went on to explain "and both Naysha and Ria are from the Northern side of India, so they'll know it since they've obviously been to more North Indian weddings than I have."

“Where are the both of them though?” Oscar asked, noticing that the two best friends weren't anywhere in the space.

“Ria and I were trying to get Naysha join us in applying some Mehandi on her hand, but she ran away because she can’t stand the smell of the henna.” Advika let out a snort and then apologized, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment “So Ria has gone to convince her to at least sit by our side while the both of us get it done.”

“I mean, if you’re worried about her alone I could give her some company.” Lando tried suggesting rather sheepishly.

“You've already spend a lot of time together at the room, I think we deserve some time with our friend too.” Advika teased Lando.

"Advika!" she heard Ria call from the back and turned to see that she was standing with Naysha next to the people who would be applying the Mehendi, gesturing her to come there.

"I've got to join them to get the Mehendi done." Advika tells the drivers and they agree, joining the girls so that they could have some company.

"Okay so what is the purpose of this ceremony?" Pierre asked Naysha and Ria after they joined them. Naysha had opted for a simple yet gorgeous red kurti with cream coloured palazzo pants while Ria had a cute blush pink Punjabi suit on.

"As far as I know Mehendi, that is the Henna paste is applied to relieve the bride and groom of all the wedding stress and the bride usually gets her fiance's name hidden in the Mehandi art." Naysha said.

"Mostly it's just for games, they try to get theie partner to find the name after they're done with the Mehandi. A rather traditional reason is that the palm contains some lines that decides our future and writing the name of the partner signifies that their name is on our palms is that they're accepted as their life partner and hiding the name is a superstition that means protecting them from the evil eyes of people." Ria added and the drivers nodded their heads, after receiving the unique piece of information.

“Planning on getting somebody’s name on your hand?” Oscar asked Ria with an eager look as he took a seat next to her.

“Not yet, maybe some other day.” Ria said as she sent a playful grin towards Oscar, making everybody send questioning looks towards them.

"Aren't you going to get my name on your hand?" Lando teased Naysha playfully.

"Joke’s on you Lando, I don't even like Mehandi."

"Why are you so mean to me?" he huffed, looking at her.

"I wasn't like that until you started flirting non-stop with me." "Look, I just want to keep it professional."

"C'mon you know Lewis quite well, he won't mind if anything happens with us. Look at Ria and Oscar, they're literally in the same team and nobody has an issue with their behaviour with each other." Lando added and Naysha just nodded her head, sighing in defeat.

"How do you even stand the smell of this, gosh." Naysha commented at her best friends, scrunching her face in disgusted.

"I can’t relate to that. I love the smell, it’s amazing." Advika said with a pleased grin which made Charles’ mind race.

"Well, I have a rather neutral opinion, I don't mind it." Ria added her point of view.

“Gross.” Naysha mumbled, making Ria let out a laugh and Advika give a playful eye roll.

After Ria and Advika got their Mehandi done they stepped over and joined the drivers and Naysha, who were sitting next to the food stalls, munching on some snacks.

"Oh damn." Ria groaned and the others gave her a questioning look.

“Misal Pav.” Ria said, referring to her favourite snack which was being offered at the food stalls “Damn it, I can’t even have it with this Mehandi on."

"I mean, I could get it for you." Oscar offered and her face brightened.

"Are you okay with doing that?" Ria asked him hesitantly.

"It's not a problem for me, don't worry about it. I'll be back in a minute." the Australian said, heading towards the food stall.

He was back in a few minutes, a plate with Misal Pav in it and he sat next to Ria. Feeding her the snack as they seemed to talk about something and laugh.

"Well, something's definitely going on between them." Advika commented.

"Right? I told you." Naysha said, giving her a pointed look.

"I think they might be together." Charles added his opinion.

"I just know that they're together." Lando scoffed "I've noticed them cosying a lot in the garage. Everybody in the team thinks they're with each other, if not they at least like each other but haven't confessed it yet because whatever they do sure as hell doesn't look platonic."

"Advi don't get me wrong but the smell of the henna is kinda grossing me out so I'll go on a walk." Naysha said, her nose scrunched in disgust.

"No offense taken." Advika said, giving her friend a small smile. The opinions about the smell of Henna was different among Desi people just like the opinions on the smell of Petrol among people in the world.

"Would it be alright if I joined you?" Lando asked Naysha, still not giving up on his attempts to get together with her.

"Yeah, sure." Naysha said, giving him a soft smile which made his face brighten up. As they left the place Advika gave Lando a thumbs up in encouragement, which made Charles chuckle.

"Wait- where's Pierre?" Advika asked, a confused look on her face after realising that the French man was nowhere around them.

"He found some girl around here quite cute and said he wanted to talk to her, I have no idea where he disappeared to after that." Charles explained, shaking his head at the antics of his best friend.

"I'm not surprised." Advika giggled "I think I'll go back to my room now." she added abruptly.

"Are you alright?" Charles asked Advika, who had an uncomfortable look of her face.

"Yeah, totally." she mumbled, the uneasy look still on her face.

"The way you said 'totally' and the look on your face is telling otherwise." Charles gave her a pointed look. "You look uncomfortable."

"Uh, it's just- my feet hurt a lot right now, especially the ankle and heel region." she said, letting out a painful breath.

"You should've put on something more comfortable today, you're not very fond of heels right?" he said, remembering how she used to complain about her feet hurting because she had to perform in heels for a long time.

"Yeah but I couldn't help it, I thought I'd look better with that on, can't get it off because of the mehandi on my hands" she grumbled, shifting her feet in painful discomfort.

"You look gorgeous with any type of footwear or even bare foot. Wait, let me help you." he said and got up from the seat and kneeling on the ground so as to remove the straps of heels.

"Charles-" she let a heavy breath out, the gesture making her melt in the inside.

"Shh, it's not a big deal Vika. Don't overthink it yeah?" he reminded her with a soft look, slipping out the straps "Here you go, get your feet out now."

"Feeling better?" he asked her after getting up, a look of concern on his face.

"A lot, thanks Charles." she said, eyes shutting in relief as she sunk the bottoms of her feet against the soft surface of the carpet.

•••••

"Yeah, the reason Nandini asked us to bring all those clothes is making sense now. This is going to be one big Indian wedding." Ria said, referring to the list they received from the to be bride as Advika spoke to one of the hotel staff.

"This is the place where Aditi in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani had her wedding na?" Advika joined, referring to a character of the movie that the three girls adored.

"It is. Holy shit, we're attending a wedding in The Oberoi Udaivilas." Naysha lets out a chuckle of astonishment.

"I think this is going to be the best part of our break." Ria tells, an excited and happy grin appearing on her face.

"Same, I haven't been to a wedding in so long." Advika tells in excitement and then they hear the sound of Ria's name being called from the back.

"Lando?" Ria called out, looking baffled as they recognised the McLaren driver stepping out of a taxi with his teammate Oscar Piastri. And from the back seat, Pierre Gasly stepped out with...... Charles and his mother.

Advika mentally groaned as she thought frantically about ways to hide in a hotel lobby. Charles and her did end their relationship with no bad feelings, but she didn't want to be around him yet. Not when she wasn't over him or the time they'd spent together.

"You guys are here for a vacation?" Ria asked after giving Lando a hug and going towards Oscar, since she worked with both of them.

"A wedding actually, the groom is in the Formula 1 organising team so he invited a few drivers and team members that he's close to." Oscar explained as he pulled Ria into a hug, a big grin spreading on his face which was returned by her.

"I didn't realise Ni's fiancee was close to the drivers too." Advika mumbled in confusion. "Also, you aren't going to give Lando a hug and greet him?" she whispered in Naysha's ear.

"What do you mean?" Naysha replied, feigning annoyance although the colour of her cheeks said something else.

"Ria told me that the both of you always have your eyes on each other." Advika said, grinning.

"I'm being professional." Naysha huffed. "I don't understand how Piastri and Ria can gush around each other so easily despite being in the same team."

"Look I don't want to push you into anything that you don't feel comfortable doing, but I'm pretty sure Lewis wouldn't mind if Lando and you got together or anything. You know he's very fond of both of you."

"Of course he won't, Lewis is the nicest boss anybody could have but...." Naysha just shrugged and Advika let it go, not wanting to force her into a rush of confusions and emotions.

"Hey Advika....how are you?" Charles asked, giving her a friendly smile. Naysha and Ria gave him a wary look, worried because they knew that their best friend hadn't been over the break up yet.

Friendly exes it's going to be.

"I'm alright, how are you?" she asked, returning a small smile.

"I'm good." he nods his head "Winter break has been great so far."

"That's nice...Lorenzo and Arthur haven't come?" she asks, remembering how she got along well with the Leclerc brothers, always having a happy smile in their company.

"They couldn't make it, Enzo has some work related to his business and Arthur has some work with the team. Mama joined me because she wanted to visit India and be here at least once." Charles explained.

"I hope you're liking it in here." Advika asks Charles and his mother. The Indian GP stopped ten years ago which meant that this was their first visit to the country.

"It's a beautiful country, I'm glad I came here." Pascale says, pulling Advika into a hug "I saw that you're taking a break from music? Is everything alright?" she asked Advika concernedly, referring to her recent announcement of a break from the music industry related work and social media for the half of next year.

"I just thought it'd be the best after working non-stop. Six months will be enough Pascale, I'll be alright." Advika assured her with a comforting smile. She always made her feel comfortable and safe, which was one of Advika's favourite things about being around Charles' family.

"The break was a good decision, you definitely need it. Touring for more than a year is a lot." Charles commented and Advika wondered if he was telling it out of concern or taking a dig at the cause of their breakdown and then reminded herself to stop overthinking. They broke up anyways, what was the point of wondering too much about a bond that was already lost?

"Pierre, hey." Advika said after making eye contact with the French driver.

"How are you Advika?" Pierre asked her, giving her a smile and offering a side hug, which she accepted. Pierre and her weren't really close, but they met a few times since he was Charles' closest friend on the grid. So it was safe to say that they considered each other as good friends.

"I'm doing good, great season by the way." she said, her thoughts immediately flew to not being able to watch Charles winning the WDC and the guilt seeped in for the umpth time in the past month.

"It was." he agreed with her, noticing that the smile on her face has disappeared and she was deep in her thoughts after the mention of the recent season.

"Hey hello, I'm finally here." a bubbly voice from the back interrupted their conversation, making Advika turn in recognition. Nandini, their friend who was the bride had finally made it to the lobby to greet them.

"Andddd the bride's finally here." Naysha cheered as she joined Ria and Advika, pulling Nandini into a hug.

"I'm so sorry for keeping y'all waiting here, guests have been coming so I have to just show them to their rooms and all that. The whole room arrangement has been a mess." Nandini groaned.

"It's all right, besides we had them for company too." Ria refers to the Formula 1 drivers.

"Uh, also there's a bit of an issue." the bride to be tells hesitantly.

"What happened?" Naysha asks her. Nobody liked it when a person to be wed was worried at the time of their wedding.

"One of you might have to share a room with somebody else, is that alright?" she asks them.

"I mean, as long as it's somebody we know and are comfortable with, it's alright I think." Advika tells, Ria and Naysha agreeing with her.

"Hey guys." Nandini's fiance interrupted their conversation, standing next to Nandini "Uh Naysha, I just spoke to the F1 guys and Oscar said that Lando and you are familiar with each other's company so would you be alright with sharing a room with him?"

Oh- so Oscar knew about it too.

"Uh-" Naysha said hesitantly, confused between being professional and not wanting to cause the couple a worry "yeah it's alright, I'll do it." she agreed, making Ria and Advika exchange a knowing smirk.

"Thank you so much Naysh." Nandini squealed, giving her a grateful hug and replied with an "it's no big deal."

"Also the engagement party starts at eight tonight, I hope y'all will be following the dress code for the festivities." Nandini reminded them of her very on point planning.

"Don't worry, I don't think anybody would've forgotten it after the billion times you insisted about it in the group chat." Advika teased her.

"Also The Oberoi Udaivilas? You've scored damn well." Ria tells her as Nandini led their way to the rooms.

"I guess I did." Nandini told with a happy and dreamy look on her face. "Naysha, that would be your and Lando's room, I think he's already in so you could just knock the door. Ria and Advika, this is your room." Nandini said and left in a bit, having to finish a few more arrangements.

"Have fun Naysha." Ria tells Naysha with a teasing grin and Advika gave her a thumbs up. The both of them received the middle finger as a response from Naysha making them crack into laughter.

Later that night.

Nandini and her fiancee planned a dress code for each festivity for the wedding, which the guests had been informed about and for the engagement, the women could wear a saree whereas the men in a buttoned up shirt and formal black jeans.

"I look so freaking short." Advika whined, turning around to her back side to look in the mirror. "But I didn't expect this colour would suit me though." she added, referring to the tea green coloured saree that she was wearing.

"It's not a bad thing, you still look cute so don't worry." Ria told in hopes of making her feel better about herself.

"Thanks, it's just that I really like how beautiful sarees are but it just makes short people look like Minions, as if we aren't short as hell already." Advika mumbles in annoyance.

"You say it like it's a bad thing, Charles is going to regret his decision which he sees you tonight, you're a mixture of pretty and cute." Ria tells her and Advika shoots a thankful smile in response.

"And you look stunning by the way, I'm sure Oscar won't be taking his eyes off you tonight. What's going on between you and him by the way?" Advika asked, her eyebrow raised in curiosity. Ria put on a saree which had a seaform green blouse with a transparent material draped over her shoulder.

"Um, nothing. Just two people in the same team, that's all." Ria replied quickly, a red tint forming on her cheeks.

"Sure it's nothing." Advika told suspiciously "You both never stop smiling around each other though, it's cute."

The sound of Advika's phone ringing stopped her from going on about what she noticed between her best friend and the McLaren team driver, the sight of Charles' name of the Caller's ID surprising her.

"Charles?" she said after taking the call "Is everything alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry if I disturbed you." he told awkwardly.

"No it's alright, you weren't disturbing me." she shrugged it off and the awkwardness he felt before calling her came down.

"Yeah so, my mum thought of getting into the atmosphere of the wedding so she wants to follow the dress code that the couple chose." he started explaining "But well, she doesn't know how to wear a saree." The way he pronounced the name of the Indian outfit with his accent brought a smile on her face.

"Do you want me to help her drape the saree?" she completed his sentence.

"Yes, I think she really needs that because the both of us obviously don't know how to." he sighed and the smile on her face widened because she could imagine the clueless look on his face.

"Sure, I'm almost ready. I'll be there in a few minutes." she tells him and he cuts the call after telling a grateful "thank you".

"Are you sure this whole friendly exes thing is going to go well?" Ria asks her, having a fair idea of what their conversation was.

"I honestly have no idea." Advika sighed, putting on the jhumka on her ear "But it won't be for a long time, just for this wedding and if we have any Armani related work that's it. I think I'll be able to handle that."

She left the room to head towards Charles' and Ria's question stayed on her mind. Would she really be able to handle the whole friendly exes situation? She had the habit of getting attached to people easily and then getting detached from them always took a millennia. Being around Charles definitely wouldn't make it easier.

"Hey, thank you so much for helping her. She really wants to wear it so I couldn't disagree." Charles started rambling as soon he opened the room's door.

"Charles, I don't mind helping her drape the saree, it's totally fine. You don't have to worry that you disturbed me." she tells him and he nods his head.

"You look beautiful, by the way.” he tells, taking in the sight of her appearance which made her cheeks turn red.

"You too, I mean- you look great." Advika complimented him back. A shirt tucked in with a pair of formal jeans always looked good on him.

“Hello Pascale.” Advika heads towards the blonde woman, giving her a warm smile.

“Advika! You look so pretty chère, I’m sorry if we disturbed you today.” Charles' mum said, returning the smile.

“Oh, not at all. I think it’s really sweet that you want to go along with our traditions, I love the colour of your saree by the way.” she says, referring to the blue saree with some design work at the ends that Charles mum chose for herself and she started unfolding the cloth so as to start draping it.

“I’m glad I asked Charles to call you for help, draping a saree is actually quite complicated.” Pascale told, while Advika was on her knees trying the fold the stiff cloth in the right way as Charles stood in the corner of the room and watched them get along quite well with one another.

“It actually is pretty hard.” Advika agreed with a light chuckle “I remember watching my mother draping it for occasions like this in the family and didn’t want to wear one after growing up because she used to struggle with it a lot But she insisted that I watch and learn because she knew I’d need it after growing up.” she said with reminiscent smile on her face. 

“Mothers always know what their kids need, no matter how much they deny it.” the Monegasque woman said, giving Charles a knowing look which went unnoticed by Advika, who had all her attention on the saree.

The sound of Advika's phone ringing cut their conversation and Charles, who was standing near the table where her phone was kept gave a look asking if he could check who it is, since she was still bent down and busy with the saree cloth in her hand, she nodded at him.

"It's Vinaya." he said, showing the screen which had her manager's name on the Caller ID. A confused look came up on Advika's face about how she would talk to her manager, considering she only called if it was something important regarding her work.

"Would you be okay with the call being on speaker?" Charles asked her, indicating that he'd hold the phone near her on speaker so that she could talk and get the saree draping done at once.

"Yeah, that would be alright. Thank you." she said and he came closer, attending the call and switching it on speaker.

"So, your blood test reports came in." Vinaya immediately started and Advika noticed a look of worry appear on Charles and his mother's faces and an addition with Charles looking at her questioningly.

Advika froze, she'd totally forgotten about the blood test she took yesterday at Mumbai before travelling to Udaipur for the wedding. She'd been feeling too tired every day ever since her tour ended and thought it'd be a good idea to find out what was wrong.

"Can we talk about this later please?" Advika asked weakly, not wanting Charles and his mother to hear it. She wouldn't be able to bear the sympathy she'd get, Pascale already seemed to be very worried about Advika taking a break from her work.

"I know you're busy at the wedding so I'll take just two minutes. Alright, so your hypothyroid has gotten way too worse, because of your very messy sleep schedule, stress and food intake during the tour." Vinaya rambled on "So I've fixed an appointment with your nutritionist which will be in the morning tomorrow. I know you're at your friend's wedding now but I'm not going to hear a no for this because you need to start working on your TSH levels before it affects your health even more than it already has."

"I wasn't going to tell a no, don't worry I'll talk to the doctor." Advika tells, letting go of a shaky breath. She did not want to face the tiredness and the disturbed sleep hypothyroid brought in, not again after all the struggle in her teen years "and could we please talk to the tour manager team too tomorrow, I want to make some changes about making the schedules" she said as she inserted a safety pin through the saree cloth, the last request bringing a smile on Charles' face who was glad that she was finally giving herself the first priority. He hated seeing the extreme tiredness on the face because of the tour, right when they started dating, during the video calls and short meets and all the way until their last conversation.

"Of course and please don't forget the appointment with your nutritionist tomorrow." her manager reminded her and then cut the call, making Advika take a sigh of relief.

"And it's done, you look amazing. I hope the saree is comfortable enough for you?" she asked, pretending as if the conversation with her manager never took place.

"It is, thank you so much for helping me dear." Pascale replied and Advika nodded her head, showing that there was no need to thank her.

"I think I'll leave now, Ria and Naysha might be waiting for me at the hall." Advika said, wanting to leave there. She'd already faced a lot of sympathy from people because she lost her parents. She appreciated their emotions but the eyes filled with pity was something she couldn't handle, it made her uncomfortable. And she could already see it in Pascale and Charles' eyes, so leaving would be better than starting a conversation about her health.

Thankfully she understood and let Advika go. A few steps away from the room, Advika heard the familiar voice of Charles calling her and she turned back to see him approaching her.

"Charles." she responded, wondering why he called her.

"You never told me you were suffering from hypothyroid." he told her, heading straight to the point.

"It's not a big deal-" she tried to shrug it off.

"It is, it literally requires life long medication and even sucks out all your energy. Not to mention it also doesn't let you sleep." he went on about the chronic disease.

"How do you know all this?" she couldn't help but express her surprise.

"I just checked about it on Google but seriously though, why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I had it in control then, trust me. It just got really shitty and unhandleable because of my tour schedule. Besides you already had a lot to worry about." she said referring to the F1 season "I didn't want you to have another thing to worry about."

"You were my girlfriend, I wouldn't have minded worrying about you." he looked at her in concern and Advika just sighed in response.

"It doesn't matter now anyways." she weakly said, wanting the conversation to end. How could he break up with her and just say caring words like it means nothing?

"Just because things between us went down doesn't mean I don't care about you Vika." he looked at her softly and it took everything in her to not melt into it.

The last thing needed right now was not being able to let go of her feelings for somebody who let go of her.

"I- I need to go." she fretted and hurried towards the hall where the engagement was taking place. She spotted Ria and Naysha standing in one of the corners and went towards them.

"Advi, are you okay?" Naysha asked her in concern after noticing the tense look on her face.

"Yeah, I just got worried thinking I was late. You look amazing by the way, how did Lando let you get out of your room?" Advika teases her "also, the sarees you and Ria are wearing are similar." commenting about the saree that she was wearing. It was similar to Ria's, a flamingo pink sparkly blouse with a transparent material draped over.

"Haha, you're so funny." Naysha rolled her eyes playfully. "Oscar hasn't stopped giving her heart eyes ever since she came in."

"Told ya." Advika gave Ria a teasing grin.

"I think this trip is going to change our love lives." Naysha suggested.

"Speak for yourself, I'm single at the moment." Advika said with her eyebrows raised.

"With the way Charles is looking at you, I highly doubt that." Ria commented and confusion arose.

•••••

 • A Sweeter Place- Selena Gomez.

"A sweeter place, my sweeter place."

• Like To Be You- Shawn Mendes ft Julia Micheals.

"Tell me what's inside of your head, no matter what you say I won't love you less."

 • 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back- Olivia Rodrigo

"Will you walk me to the door or send me home crying?"

• Golden- Harry Styles

"I know that you're scared, because I'm so open."

 • Afterglow- Taylor Swift

"Tell me that I'm all you want, even when I break your heart."

 • Pause- Prateek Kuhad

"Close dance alone, and in time we'll split our hearts wide open."

 • Paper Hearts- The Vamps

"If my heart was paper, I'd fold it. Throw it to the wind and just hope it ends up with you."

• Living Proof- Camila Cabello

"Great show Advi." Vinaya grins at her as jogs into the backstage.

"Thanks Vini" she pants in reply to her manager, shooting her a tired smile "also, what's the results of today's GP?" she asks, referring to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that took place whilst the time she had her concert going on.

"Charles P1, Hamilton P2 and Verstappen P3." her manager tells with a smile and causing Advika to halt on their way to Advika's green room.

"Wait- seriously??" the curly haired girl squeals as her eyes begin to tear up " That means he won the championship, oh my god he did it."

"Yeah, I think you man will definitely need a call from you tonight." Vinaya gives her a teasing smile while she opens the door of her green room "sit and catch your breath for a while, then talk to him." she reminded her, knowing very well the singer will rush to call and congratulate her Monagasque boyfriend, who finally won his first World Championship after being a close contender to Max Verstappen.

"Of course I will. God, I'm so exhausted today." the Indian sighed, laying down on the couch in her dressing room.

Touring was probably the most stressful and tiring part of a singer's career. Taking pills before performing definitely helped in calming down her on-stage anxiety, but having to travel every three days and jump around the stage for hours to practice and perform really sucked out her energy. And that routine went on for almost a year and a half with small breaks in between but then, she had so many people who came to show their love and support, spending their money and time. How could she really complain when she had all of that?

After taking a few minutes so as to calm down from all the adrenaline and breathlessness of performing, she walked towards the vanity to take her phone to call Charles.

"Advika...hey." she heard Charles' voice from the speaker of her phone and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion because of the usual "chérie" that he called her everytime he picked up the phone. He even stopped using her full name after they became really good friends, going with 'Vika' which was very endearing because nobody called her that.

"Hello, world champion. How are you feeling right now?" she asks him with a huge grin on her face.

"It feels so surreal. I can't believe I finally did it, I'm so happy right now." he said with a relieved sigh and she could hear a lot of voices in the back which was most probably from the happy crew at the Ferrari paddock who were celebrating, which made her fiddle her outfit, bringing in a sinking feeling in her chest because she couldn't even be there to celebrate and cheer for him.

"You finally did it love, I'm so proud of you." she told him softly.

"Were you able to watch the podium atleast?" he asked her and she mentally groaned, knowing the answer would disappoint him. She hadn't been able to watch four to five races because of the time of her shows clashing with the races' or because of huge time differences and she couldn't afford to affect her sleep schedule because the travelling had her exhausted and she'd have to wake up soon for practices and sound checks too. He even asked if she could come to the paddock but that had been even harder.

She'd only been there only thrice that season because of the four day breaks she made sure to keep in every tour of hers whereas his previous girlfriends would accompany him atleast for half of his races. And they all went for the races to show their support openly whereas she always sneaked into the paddock to hide from the paparazzi because people had already begun to suspect that they were together and she wasn't comfortable with the relationship being in the public eye yet, making her wonder if she was bringing the downfall of her own relationship.

Charles never got angry with her for that, he was a really understanding and supportive boyfriend and didn't blame her because it was her job. But she knew he did feel disappointed about the fact that his own girlfriend could not watch his race, especially when he ended up on the podium that weekend. He never spoke about how he felt upset, but she could hear it in his voice everytime he assured her that it was totally understandable.

Not being able to watch the races made her quite upset because she was a huge fan of the sport and now that she had been dating the driver for almost a year, the guilt got even worse.

"Um, I couldn't. I'm so sorry Charles, the concert time clashed again." she sighed, taking a seat on the chair infront of her vanity.

"It's alright, don't worry I understand." he tried to sound totally alright with it but she could hear the disappointment in his voice. His family, his friends and his team were there to celebrate but she was the only person far from him.

"It's not alright though, this is such a huge moment in your life and career and I've missed it. Not just on the TV but I'm not even there to cheer for you and celebrate by your side." she grumbles, rubbing her temple with her right hand.

"No it's okay, I know you can't really do anything about it. You've been touring for more than a year and the schedule planning was done even before we started dating." he tried to assure her "and you'll be having many tours in the future too, it would be ridiculous to align them with the F1 schedule because it's there for most of the year."

She could only sigh in response, because he was right. Both their careers had the requirement to travel a lot and he'd been to three of her concerts too, their relationship mostly dependent on calls rather than being around each other.

"Advika." he called out her name, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"I don't know if I can do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"Us. Our relationship." he said, making her heart sink.

"Charles we've been together only for eleven months, we can't give so soon" she pleaded "Your winter break starts in a week and my tour ends in a while too, we could try."

"You know there's nothing we can do, we're literally in different parts of the world for most of the year. We meet only a couple of times, our video calls were great but, they don't really fill the space. Even if we do spend the break together, we'll be back into this cycle again in a couple of months and this will happen so much times because of our jobs and you know that." he stated and she knew that he wasn't wrong.

Maybe there was nothing they could do.

"I- I don't know what to say." she said, fiddling with her outift again.

"Sarò lì tra un momento." he tells to somebody in the back, most probably a Ferrari staff member "I'm sorry, I really am. I just- don't know what else to do. I feel like there's been no progress in our relationship because we haven't met in a while you know?" (I'll be there in a moment.)

"Yeah, you're right and I'm sorry too, I really wish it was better. And it's alright, if you're needed by the team right now go and celebrate with them, it's your night." she tells him, trying to hold back her tears.

"Yeah I think I'll go, they've been waiting for me for a while. Bye."

"Good bye and congratulations on the win." she says and cuts the call, not wanting him feel guilty by breaking down.

Charles has voiced her thoughts about the relationship, she knew that he was right but his decision still hurt. None of her relationships in the past lasted for more than half a year because she had to travel frequently. She was skeptical about dating Charles initially because his schedule was more hectic that her's but he made her feel things that nobody had made her feel before, even when they were just friends. Advika Hira had it very bad for him.

May 2022.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Advika asked him out of concern as soon as she came to the Ferrari paddock at the end of the race.

Unlike the previous times at Monaco, Charles started the race this time with the pole position and would've even ended up on the podium, but the strategists had ruined yet another win for him.

"Well, I've had better days but it's alright, not the first time I've felt like this." he sighs and shrugs a bit, trying to reduce his disappointment.

"It's alright to be upset, a missed race win always hurts." she emphasized with him "Especially at your home race."

"That makes it hurt even more, sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing." he tells gloomily.

"You are an extremely talented driver alright? And I'm not saying that because we're friends or because you're really upset right now, but it's something many people see. You literally won Formula 3 and 2 in your rookie season and are the second youngest driver in Ferrari's history with the longest contract. These are no small achievements, only somebody who is bloody amazing at their job can do that. One race in a season and a mistake which was made by your team does not define you." she rambles on in an attempt to make him feel better.

"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you said that you're my fan weren't you?" he asked, referring to what she said on the day they first met.

"Of course, I wasn't." she states "I don't know if you know this but you're incredibly talented. Don't let moments let the bad days break your spirit, you have many great moments ahead."

"Thank you, I really needed to hear that today. It just- it gets pretty hard somedays you know." he sighs as they look at evening sun at Monaco.

"As a fan, some races really bring in a horrible feeling and it's obviously a lot more worse for you drivers. You really are a strong person Charles." she tells him, shooting him a small encouraging smile.

"Be prepared to get more texts and even some calls from me because you sure do know how to boost a person's confidence." he jokes, his lips curving up.

Ah, there's the smile that was missing.

"Feel free to, always at your service Mr Leclerc." she laughed, glad that she could help him feel better.

One of the Ferrari staff comes and interrupts their conversation, saying that Charles had some work to do at the garage.

"I've got to go right now. Will you be at the dinner tonight?" he asks, referring to the dinner the Ferrari team hosted for their guests who'd been invited for the Monaco GP.

"I'll be there, see you later." she tells him with a smile, pulling out her elbow so that he could tap his against it. It was way of greeting they had to when they first met due to COVID precautions but had then turned into something that they always did at the end of their conversations.

Advika turned back so as to leave the paddock but then noticed her best friends Naysha and Ria waiting for her and walked towards them.

Naysha worked as Lewis Hamilton's PR manager while Ria was McLaren's Communications Manager, which she was a little bit jealous of because they got to be at the paddocks for all the races. Not to mention Naysha was literally working for the driver who happened to be the favourite of all the three girls.

"So...." Naysha asks her as both her and Ria give Advika a knowing look.

"So?" Advika responded in confusion.

"What just happened?" Ria asked, her eyes at the spot where Charles and Advika had conversed.

"Nothing much really, I was just trying to console him a bit." she tried to shrug it off, knowing where the conversation was heading.

"The look on both of your faces was anything but a bit, you really like him don't you?" Ria asked her which made her groan mentally. She probably did but wanted to avoid going too deep into it. Charles Leclerc was way too out of her league.

"I wouldn't go that far, I have a soft spot for him." she said, knowing that the girls' knew her too well.

"He's literally your celebrity crush." Naysha pointed out, referring to days Charles was in Formula 2.

"Was my celebrity crush and it was a tiny crush, he's kind of a friend now. Besides, his previous relationship didn't seem to be that serious although it was really long and that scares me." Advika mentioned. She'd never been the one to point out on somebody's past but she felt like reminding herself about that would be better before she ended up falling into the ditch.

"That's because Charles and her barely even spend time, he's around the world for most of the year." Naysha reminded her. Both Naysha and her wanted Advika and him to end up together, everybody could see that there was something between them, even the fans.

"Yeah and if we end up together it'll be even worse than that relationship because I have to travel a lot too, and it's even shittier during touring." Advika stated, clearly trying to avoid the conclusion her best friends wanted to arrive to.

She really should've gone with the warning she gave herself that day at Monaco, god knows it would've saved her from a heartbreak and Charles' time too.

•••••