The pair of earrings caught and reflected light as our driver posed in a picture , her black dress complemented by the shiny jewellery along with the classic up do she decided for the night . But all eyes were on the teardrop diamonds , she adjusted a strand of hair off her face revealing a matching bracelet on her wrist , it's simple design was breathtaking to say the least and that didn't sit well with some people.
Comments kept on coming under the post she uploaded of her trip to France during summer break , flooding with questions about the set she was wearing and how she managed to get her hands on it , but in a not so friendly way , she was called not so appropriate names to put it nicely . Another tide came accusing her of getting a cheap copy of a rare custom made jewelry despite having enough money, commenting about how showing off knockoffs wasn't a good look for her . Others called her even worse names , flaunting her money around and accusing her of desperation, showing off what she have to compensate for what she lacked. Her only reply was " honey , it's you who's compensating for what they lack , if you don't like what you see , cry about it then move on , cause I could care less of what you think "
°°°°°°°°°°
Her Nana's bedroom remained the same as she remembered , tidy and clean , warm sunlight peaking through the curtains and the smell of her perfume drifting around the space , her vanity stayed as marvellous as she remembered years ago when she sat down and got her hair done by her Nana one of the many summers she spent there .
The warm smile her Nana sent her meant the world as she kept on doing her hair like she used to when she was young , way younger than now , pausing to see any flyaways before brushing her hair then she started to braid , gathering it in a firm yet gentle braid before grabbing one of her silk ribbons to fuse it at the end of the braid then woven it into a bow , "all done " her Nana announced let it fall back with ease before she turned to one of the drawers of the vanity, taking out a box setting it on the top before taking a seat beside her " your grandfather used to say : " one day this girl is going to shine , she'll make herself something, whatever that is she'll do it right and she'll be a force no one saw coming " our driver leaned and hugged her Nana " I miss him " her Nana agreed with a sad yet loving smile of her own " me too love , always do " both looked at the framed photo on the vanity, a black and white picture her nana stood in an elegant long sleeved dress , her hair up with few pieces falling to frame her face , her look was complemented with a set of fine jewels , a necklace framing her neck and a pair of earrings in the same design , her smile was breathtaking as she looked up at the man facing her , he stood tall board shoulders and a charming smile capturing heart from miles , her husband, clad in full uniform , his medals shined proudly against his chest , but nothing could shine as bright as their eyes as they stood frozen in time .
Her Nana held the box and gave it to her , a startled noise came out as she shook her head " I can't! , grandad gave it to you ? " Her Nana shook her head " he made them himself , and I know for sure he'd want you to have them " she then added " I know so , i asked him " ," but " , her Nana denied any protests and put them in her hands " they'll be collecting dust in here , he wouldn't want that , neither do I " , she then added " he always wanted to make something to pass down, not just something pretty to be shown once then thrown away , his work carried a piece of him and he wanted to be remembered through that , so he made it for me to pass down, given to remind of the man who loved and did what he loved most " then turned and held her hand above the box " and i want you to have them , to remember him and to remember me " .
Never Grateful :
She stood on the 2nd place podium beside her teammate on the 1st , who was trying to get her to say anything but she chose to keep her words to herself , she gave him a small nod and turned to look at the crowd below, her team stood proud with their principle in the centre of it, she gave him a long look which he returned with a smirk as the ceremony took place , she stood bored and waited patiently for it to pass before collecting her trophy then made a move to get off the stage but not before someone grabbed her arm to halt her , she looked back to her teammate who was about to say something but she stopped him with an annoyed shake of her head , pointing out before stating something to which he argued back with his own statement, she gave a sardonic laugh before taking her arm out and clinked her trophy with his in a cheer before getting down , handing her trophy to one of her team's engineers before she disappeared .
••••••••
She was supposed to win that race , she actually was going for it 2 laps before crossing the line , leading with her teammate tailing her in second , nothing could ruin her day , absolutely nothing, but the radio cracking with news have it's own say in it .
" Team's orders came in , slow down " she made a confused sound " Eh! , why ? " , the reply came " Lewis is 5 seconds behind " , she paused then asked again " okay, and ? what does that have to do with me slowing down? " , the other end gave a sigh " to let him through " , she gave a laugh then asked " and why's that ? " , " team's order " came the short answer , to which she again asked simple " why ? " , after a moment came Toto's voice " make way " , she hummed and then replied " well if he wants the spot then he's more than welcome to try " Toto's retort back " give up the lead or you give up the seat " she sneered " are you threatening me! " The reply that came was " it's a three years contract, I'm only giving you choices " then taunted " well , you've always whined about not being given any , so now is you chance . I offered , now you choose " . Her end remained silent until she called out " F##& you Toto " then she disconnected her radio as she slowed down for her teammate to take the lead .
Always Cruel :
A footage of one of the inner circuits hallway's went viral after one of the staff members ' accidentally ' posted it online, sparking outrageous reactions across the media, fans and journalists were eating every piece of it up , speculations and rumours on top of the black lash of the spread info given by unofficial staffers, it was ugly.
The footage showed our driver standing with a fistful of a Merc staff member shirt , face stoic as she gripped the members wrist in her other hand while pinning them against the wall in a firm grip , both looked at another member who was getting off the floor, her face full of tears as she shook her head quickly at something our driver said as she turned to look at the member she was holding onto, she then pushed them away as her media officer and other people came rushing to diffuse the situation going on . The footage got cut off just as they separate them , three long weeks of backlash and hate on top of threats shoved her way wherever she went , the loud screams of disdain and the thrown insults were barely registered compared to the cold shoulder her own team was giving her through the time , treating it as an inconvenience up to the point of where one driver's parade turned into a full fledged stoning. Her bruised face and back were enough for the FIA to take matters into their own hands .
A week of torture ended with a half assed apology as her friends called it , and attempt to save face regarding the whole 'incident' as it was repeatedly mentioned regardless of the obvious assault against her and the involved staff member .
°°°°°°°°°
She returned from the first Media swarm for the day , taking a break between interviews and putting up a plan to get the rest of the day sorted, she made way to her team's next strategy meeting ahead of time in order to review some data letting her engineer and assistant catch up after their well deserved break .
Down the hallway was mostly empty save for the few staff members roaming around so she enjoyed the quiet up until she took a corner only to bump into someone, a young girl who she came to notice was one of the new interns who she saw around a couple of times, now what caught her off guard was the panicked look on her face as she held her steady , asking in concern " you alright there ? " The panic amplified at the question and she looked back as another voice called out " get back here ! " .
Our driver took notice of the girl attire, hair messed and her team's shirt rumbled and crunched at the collar, a red mark on the wrist she held to steady her and the panic summsed it all , so she squared her shoulders and gently guided the girl to stand behind her as she stepped out, coming face to face with a seething staffer , who reached blindly before noticing who they were grabbing for , and with the realisation a scoff came " move " that earned a raised eyebrow from the driver who asked " and why would I do that ? " , the irritation grew as they gritted out " move or you'll regret it" .
She made an unimpressed face at the threat and called out " harassment against younger staff members and threats, and you want me to move ? , yeah I would like to see you try " her words landed and the staff member didn't waste time to push their way through, slamming our driver against a wall and lunging at the young girl in fury , making her shriek in terror and fall back , meanwhile our driver pushed herself off the wall and grabbed the back of the offender's shirt , planting her feet before dragging them off the terrified girl and into the opposite wall away from her .
She pinned their arms around their back and held them against the wall in a tight grip around the wrists and looked back at the now crying girl , our driver asked her gently " are you hurt anywhere!? Can you stand ? " The girl shook her head frantically and stood up , trying to wipe away her tears as our driver tried to comfort her the best she could " hey , it's okay, you're okay now " the girl nodded the best as she could and turned in alarm when footsteps sounded closer and closer , she shouted at the approaching figures " help! " And in a second they came running in full speed .
A Crybaby , Attention Seeker , and Always a Fool :
A hunched figure was all anyone could see of her from the video a fan managed to record , shaking violently as she sat on one of the benches leading to the driver's rooms , her race suit was still on even an hour post race, but her hair was tossed and hanging on a hair tie by a miracle . The oddity was her bare feet, one bent awkwardly and the other was shaking along with her rapid sobs . A paramedic was examining her foot as one of the security guards tried to get her to speak, asking in irritation over and over resulting in her shaking in panic, her assistant and media officer stood to the side as another security was talking to them , pointing accusingly between them before turning to aim some words at our driver who was now covering her head with her hands over her ears as her assistant stood up to block the guard's view .
Our driver tried to move , her foot wobbled as she hobbed on the other and turned to leave , the guard talking to her tried to block her way but earned himself a scream as she backed away and tried to move around him , he then grabbed her arm to get her back but she flinched and tore her arm out of his grasp with a loud sob , before anyone could interfere she stumbled back but fell due to her foot and that opened another get of hell .
Few minutes later a group showed up , their footsteps slowed as they surrounded our driver , Max kneeled and tried to get her attention , try as he might it only resulted in her flinching Eve more , before he took her head between his hands , voice firm as he got her attention away from the looming figures and on him , she shook her head and turned to look at the door of her trailer making him turn her around before Carlos blocked her sight of it , beside him was Charles who was speaking with Daniel , both turning to the door as a bang came from within , startling her into further panicked attempts to leave .
••••••••
Our driver made her way to her room in attempt to get the remaining champagne off her hair, her assistant beside her along with her media officer who tagged along before heading for the briefing ahead of the the post race duties. The three made it to the motorhome before our driver got ready to hit the shower, undoing her shoes before grabbing a change of clothes then turned to the bathroom .
She unlocked the door to get in but was yanked forward with a a hand grabbing her arm , forcing her to stumble and slip on her feet, landing with a thud on one of her feet , she made a startled sound as she was dragged up , her wide eyes met the intruder, a man trying to grab her around the neck before she pushed back and landed a punch on his face , angering him further to reach his hand blindly to yank at her hair, all in the span on a few seconds.
Her companions were trying to get him off of her to no avail, kicking and screaming as he pushed them and tried to lock the door on them , but a beat of silence was followed with a loud crash of a glass cup breaking as it made contact with his head , a chance that gave them time to yank our driver out and lock the door, blocking the handle and making a run for the door , where the media officer waste no time to run to fetch the closest security guard they could find .
Our driver was stunned, hair messed and feet bare against the concrete with one foot swollen and bent in a way it shouldn't be, her eyes remained on the locked door of her trailer as she let everything sink in, then her eyes stung , burning with tears that came with her rapid breathing as panic gripped her chest .
" and then she threw her other heel at his head and managed to slap him! , twice! " Carlos hummed with a grin as his girl enthusiastically told him about her trip with her best friends last weekend , listening to her voice but not really paying attention to the actual story, his eyes too lost admiring her bright ones and how her expression changed as she proceeded to share the rather very eventful adventure, he suddenly leaned over and surprised her with a kiss making her eyes widened with a little giggle slipping past her lips " what was that for? " His grin only widened as he answered simply " because .......I love you" feeling giddy at the blush that bloomed across her cheeks and the way she bit her lip to suppress her smile, and the groan she made before covering her face with her hands for a moment trying to not burst at the sudden but not unusual affection he's always eager to shower her in .
" You're impossible " She held his cheeks between her hands and looked at his still grinning face before leaning over to wrap her arms around his neck, whispering after prepping his face with kisses " and I , love you " he wrapped his arms around her waist in return and leaned back making her fall on top of him with a startled yelp but still held onto him , both sharing a quiet laugh before a gagging voice cried out " my God! , can you get any worse than this ! " Carlos rolled his eyes with a smirk as his wife called back at her twin " you're just jealous , admit it and move on " earning an eye roll from her brother who grumbled at them before turning back to the cabinet he was raiding moments ago , then called out " you're out of my favourite chips! " Making her glare as she turned to lean on the back of the couch and pointed " they were 'My' favourite chips, and you literally emptied the last bag yourself and I quote when I pointed it out 'that seems like a you problem' so deal with it " , Charles made a face and turned to the fridge for his next target but not before grumbling about his chips .
When she turned her head back she found Carlos already looking up at her with an even wider grin , " now where were we ? " She whispered as her fingers brushed his jaw before joining the other laying on his chest and her chin over them , watching his grin widen .
His answer came in a soft voice as he held her closer " we were in how I love you for ever and ever " she squinted at him teasingly " are you quoting Taylor Swift on me ? " He teased back " maybe , but don't blame me your love got me crazy " she groaned and hid her face down " I don't know if I regret making you listen to my playlists or not " he counted " well 3 hours and 45 minutes of your playlist on repeat weren't that bad , and as Arthur says 'I was cultured' so that's a bounce " .
Charles called out loudly , head turning with a glare " I wasn't! , I was tortured into listening to that cursed shuffle! , I needed five days of white noises to cleanse my ears, and who puts Korean fried chicken ASMR on their playlist !? " She glared at him and pointed a threatening finger at him " I'm this close from provoking your ranking on my list " , that got him to shut him " but I'm always on the top of your list !" Earning a look " well , maybe Artie should be promoted " making Charles scream out " No! , you won't " , his sister countered " keep it up and I will " .
Carlos watched them go back and forth in amusement, laughing when they both gave a half hearted argument before Charles gave in , " fine ! , I take it back ! " , his sister gave him a look " aaaaand? " He huffed and went on " your playlist isn't traumatizing , it's decent" she nod and was about to turn away when she heard Charles mumble " at best , if you're deaf " that made her move to jump over the back of the couch in attempt to grab him but Carlos was quick to tighten his arms around her , calling out to the fleeting twin " you're asking for an early grave ! " Trying to hold her back as Charles called back " well , not everyone have good taste like me ! , not the same could be said about you !! " That made the couple pause , sharing a look of offence before both lunged at him as he fumbled with the door in attempt to escape the warth he unleashed upon himself .
The Rainy midnight walk became your own tell tale of good fortune, which led the two of you to the beginning of something beautiful , your texts turned to calls and then to meeting and going on spontaneous outings that turned into actual dates whenever you have the chance , with him being constantly on the air , traveling around the globe for his work that he mentioned on a call that it had something to do with motor sports and racing cars but it went over your head as you were daydreaming about his eyes as he went on about his trip and you just hummed absentmindedly .
Life blurred by and your bond grew deeper and stronger as you get to know eachother more , with you he was just Charlie , a quirky, spontaneous ,sassy , and on top of all that a kindhearted passionate man , just him . A true gentleman who can't wink to save his life but won't stop at anything if it meant you're happy.
The bubble that you found yourself in didn't block out the still ongoing 'intervention' as your brother jokingly called it , your mother yet again hunted you down, trying to set you up or at least get you to go out and date someone, anyone at this point (she's desperate to see you settling down with someone) nagging you about how people your age are all out living life , getting married and having kids of their own rather than wasting their life away like you , dreaming about those nonsensical books and children fairy tales , just like now as you were forced to sit after the family dinner , trying to disassociate from her heated argument as she yet again brought up the topic of you still being single .
" ..........All I'm saying is you're still young and you're just wasting time instead of finding a proper man " you signed under your breath " I'm not wasting time, I'm just living my life how I wanted " she scoffed at you " this is not a life , you could do better than that , you should do better than that !" .
Your dad turned around from watching TV having heard her words then shared a knowing side eye with you before interfering " M/N! leave the girl be " she glared , pointing a threatening finger at him " you stay out of it! , if it wasn't for your encouragement she would've been married by now!" You snapped with a shake of your head " no I wouldn't! " .
She blanched at you " why can't you put my mind at ease and grant me the only thing that I wanted from you!" You rolled your head back feeling a migraine starting to form " one thing?! Mom ! I've literally done everything you've asked me to! , graduated top of my class just cause you wanted to brag about it , got a job that I hated for years just cause you thought it suits me more even when you know I was miserable, got my own apartment cause you saw that I was too dependent and I needed to 'do my own thing' but you just wanted me out so you could use my room as your next glorious project , that turned into an epic fail by the way , I dated the douchbags you set me up with thinking I would marry one of them and they all turned out either abusive , with charges , or total creeps! . What else do you want me to do!?".
She ignored your outburst giving her best sad eyes " I want the only thing any mother would want to her children . you know we won't last forever, and I just want to have peace knowing you've got your own family, your own life " your dad scoffed at her "speak about yourself , I've got a loooong time to live " earning himself a sharp glare but you spoke aloud , fed up with the conversation " what do you want mom? just say it " she sighed with her hand on her heart " grandbabies" you frowned with a confused look " you already got three " she shook her head at you " No , I want to see yours , seeing you , my baby having your own babies" you made a disgusted face turning to your dad who had the same disgusted look " hell no! " He nods " just no! " .
She groaned in frustration hitting him on the shoulder " why can't you support me on this!? " He shrugged " as long as she's happy, healthy , and out of jail , I don't care , even If she never gets married" you nodded along " I'm very happy as I am " , he pointed at you " see ! Now let her be" . She picked a cushion throwing it at him before stomping her way to the kitchen " I'm done with you two !" leaving you cackling as you high fived . Both Turning to watch TV as he switched through channels .
You took your phone out, looking through it mindlessly then sent a quick message back to Charlie's earlier message before turning your attention to the screen as he settled on a sports channel replaying a match , after a minute your phone pinged! Indicating a new message, knowing who it was from you quickly picked it and sent a reply back , a wide grin at the attached photo he sent , unaware of the knowing look upon your father's face , his smile grew as you tried to suppress back a laugh.
He gave a teasing glare as you looked up eyes wide when you found him looking at you expectantly , " what!? " You asked , he asked back " I should be asking you that ! " , you groaned and turned back to the TV screen, trying to ignore the teasing grin you father still adorned " is it that boy you told me about ? " , you quickly looked around in alarm , whispering heatedly " she'll hear you!! " , he peered at your face with a wide grin " so it is him !! " A hand shoved lightly at his shoulder as you tried to suppress a smile threatening to take over " daaaad!! Stop !" His mischievous laugh amplified at your distress " like hell I will ! Not when he got you smiling like that " you shook your head in denial " it's nothing serious ! " he then glared and called you out on your lie " yeah? And I'm the pope ! " you were quick to shake your head " can you please drop this ! " , he was about to argue back but a scream came from the doorway " auntie haaaaave a boooooooyfriend! ".
There stood you niece , a scandalised look on her face as she looked at you , you father tried to get her to quiet down as you rushed to stand , approaching with cautious steps to dismiss the idea with a shake of your head " Rosie, no no no , I don't have any " she didn't spare any of you a glance before she bolted to the kitchen, screaching as she went like a siren, announcing it until she reached her destination, then an eerie silence overtook the house, you turned to face your father who gave you an apologetic look , then a grimaced at the sound of glass breaking followed by sets of feet racing towards you .
Your father tried to absorb as much as possible of the shock of the looming figures of your mother and sisters, who were glaring down at you as you shrunk down on the couch and held up a cushion to shield you from them , your brother's figure stayed back , giving condolences with a salute then fished his phone out to document your downfall .
The next half hour consisted of you along with your father getting an earful of a bone chilling lecture , followed by demands to meet the said 'not boyfriend' immediately. You tried to argue that he didn't have the time to come all the way to be paraded for them to get them off your back, and just as they were almost convinced a ping! Rang , effectively silencing everyone as their sharp eyes turned to the discarded phone left on the couch, your oldest sister reached it before you could , reading aloud " 'Charlie❤️🤍' , said he have the next two weeks off " then turned to stare you down as she continued " he's stopping by and wants to take you on that hike as he promised" .
You groaned and threw your head on the arm of the couch " I'm not inviting him over, you'll scare him away !!!" your mother held her hand and your sister was more than happy to hand over your phone " I'll pretend I didn't hear that" , she gave a sweet smile as she held it out for you " either you do it or I will " you tried to retort weakly " he doesn't even know who you are ! " Her smile widened " you really think that'll stop me ? " , you gulped and took the phone , knowing damn well they got you cornered with no way out , you looked at your father pleadingly as a last resort , but he couldn't do much as your mother's glare turned his way .
Your fingers shook as you typed, silently bidding whatever aspect of peace you had with Charles goodbye as you glanced up at the expectant trio staring you down .
A couple of minutes went before his eager reply came , poor Charlie, you thought as you read the messages he sent after , asking what to bring with and what to wear, you calmed his rapid questions with that only himself and to book a therapy appointment in advance , just incase .
Monday morning was peaceful, too peaceful for it to be normal, no complaints from HR , yet , no unfortunate mishaps, and most noticeably no mischievous Daniel causing disarray around the building or running late , again .
She frowned and looked around for the troublemaker only to be met with silence, the quiet air made her take a deep breath, the first in a long time then turned to head up to her office to go through what's left of the paperwork she started that morning, but the sound of a drill going made her halt her step in alarm , her Danny-meter was going off loudly in her head when she cautiously reached the main lobby, and low and behold , there stood the culprit with a hand on his chin, the other on his hip as he instructed one of the interns to adjust the almost life-size portrait on the wall in place of the company's founding manuscript, written by the founder himself, which is now discarded by the wall .
The disbelief on her face was priceless, exclaiming with a building headache " what do you think you're doing ?! " , the poor intern almost planted his face on the floor as he tried to scram away from the crime scene earning a 'scardy cat' from Daniel who was looking as serious as ever as he looked at his portrait then asked " is the light enough? ,does it bring out my eyes? " , her own eyes twitched at the absurdity and before she could act on the murderous plots she was having she took a deep breath " take it down or I'll shove it up your rear end " , he had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows and tease" oooooh~ kinky " she picked up the discarded manuscript and held it threateningly "I swear to God! " He packed away with a pointed look trying to bargain " admit it ! , I look amazing, that way you can see my handsome face first thing in the morning " , she gave him a last warning glare but he kept yapping " well , at least appreciate my tan ! " She scoffed at him and called " I've seen better burnt pancakes down at the cafeteria! " .
The intern leaned to ask the receptionist " are they always like this? " She nod absentmindedly with a smile " never a dull moment with them around " just as she finished speaking a loud screech followed by a thud , Daniel called out " this is harassment! , I'll write you up to HR ! " She taunted back " be my guest! , I'll be glad to hand them the 27 pages long memo I have on you " he gasped dramatically with a giggle " you write about me!?! " , she called as she turned to get back to where she came from " don't test me Riccardo! " , he grins at the challenge and called out " but I'd love to ! " Cackling at the scream she let out " Daniel! " , he couldn't help but joke back " louder! " Running away as she dashed his way with a heated face .
Fernando: *on the phone* Just snap his kneecaps and he’ll talk, I’m at a parent teacher conference.
Fernando: Anyways, you said Gabriel is enjoying finger painting! That's great.
A thud came from the middle section of the long table, all heads turned with startled or surprised expressions except for one , she glared at the culprit from where she sat across from him and the murderous look didn't effect him , it fuels his enthusiasm as he gave one of his charming grins and stood up , now every head turned his way as he cleared his throat and declared " well , that was boring " letting a loud huffed breath then continued sheepishly " no offence Theo " the said presenter shrugged and waved him off .
He then gestured around and called out " people , we need to address something very important " he gave her another grin and chuckled at her mouthing ' don't you dare ' and the subtle ' I'll end you ' , he left his place and hurried to the door where a delivery guy awaits with a cake lit with candles, he returned and held it up with a cheer of " it's our favourite head manager's birthday!!! " The room shared a surprised look before they all cheered in celebration, singing to her as Daniel mad his way over to put the cake infront of her while signing loudly .
She couldn't be more embarrassed while covering her face , a small smile broke as she dared to glance up , coming face to face with Danny's joy filled eyes and blinding grin , a moment passed before she finally turned to the cake and that smile vanished at the sight of the cake , written in bold letters ( Happy birthday, love of my life) with a photoshopped picture of Danny in a floral Hawaiian shirt , a sitting sun in the background of a beach, biting on an obnoxiously big flower on his hand and the other on top of his heart , giving his best grin along with a wink as he posed .
She couldn't help the snort she let at the absurdity, a grin broke on her face when she looked back at him " you're impossible " , Daniel winked "only the best for you " , she closed her eyes and made a wish then blowed the candles as everyone cheered more , then she declared seriously " no cake until we finish this meeting properly " making the cheers tun into playful boo's , but quite it when Daniel promised " come on now , you heard the birthday girl , besides drinks after meeting! " The last part lifted up the spirit of the room , all ignored the protests of " No drinking during work hours! " Daniel waved her off " we're just celebrating " , she exclaimed as he walk back to his seat " Daniel, No ! " He gave her a wide grin while exclaiming back " Daniel, Yes! " .
" the family disappointment has arrived! " A shout rang through the grand hall , the nearby guests stood in a stunned silence at the loud octave of the yet again late guest .
Some of the ladies covered their mouths and start to whisper in a not so hushed voices about her , some curious at the peculiar young lady , while others looked in distaste, eyes followed as she walked in with air of nonchalant , scandalised by the behaviour as she turned to grab her first and most needed drink for the night .
Her face contoured into a grimace at the taste, then turned her head to the side and made a face at the empty corner , about to spit it out if not for her mother's harsh glare as she finally made it , eyes twitching at her daughter's antics before rolling her eyes and held out her booklet , a small thing folded with a silver pen attached to it with a delicate silky braided string , her mother's wuthering look made her take it with a defeated kicked face , tying it around her wrist and held it out for her mother to see , who in turn gave a satisfied hum along with a nod then turned to spy any potential catch as her maids called them .
She took the moment of her mother being distracted and turned to the corner once again with a small forced smile " just few hours and I'll be back to my misery hole " , turning to nod in a feigned politeness to greet a walking by duchess, holding back the snort at the sight of the sparkling yellow dress , the feathers were a statement if she dared to say , turning back to the corner with a look of misery " I need to exorcise this sight out of my mind " shuddering at another lady in green , mumbling lowly " this is atrocious" receiving a smack from her mother who maintained her best customer service smile while keeping her daughter in line .
A gentleman made a brave step her way , a voltage smile on as he took a skipping step a head , but halted when she sent a glare his way , the unimpressed look on her face asking ' think again ' making him steer away without another though, she shot another unimpressed look at her drink before discarding it on a table and turned with mocking grin before it wiped out at the hard stare of her mother, who was waiting patiently for her with who seemed to be a promising gentleman, well , at least his attire indicates so , royal blue bringing out his striking cold eyes , hair brushed back delicately , and beside him stood his mother , wearing the same royal blue in a subtle elegant style, a far contrast to the screaming colourblind atrocities she was forced to witness so far .
As she was giving him a not so subtle judging once-over , he wasn't shy to do the same, both unaware of their mothers sharing a hopeful look before her mother decides to start the conversation, " lady Sophie , what a delightful surprise to meet you here ! , it's been a long time " , lady Sophie gave a genuine wide smile and held out her hands for her long missed dear friend " your letters kept me company and were what I needed to stay strong " , both emotional as their children were shooting glares at eachother " it's been too long my dear Anna , how I missed you ".
Anna's daughter gave her a bewildered look of disbelief " you , have friends, hell must've frozen over " ignoring the look of disdain her mother shot her as Sophie's eyes turned towards her softening into something familiar , something warm and welcoming " you must be ____ , you've grown up so beautifully " somehow her face softened and a smile surfaced and she greeted back in an elegant courtesy " lady Sophie , it's a pleasure to meet you " voice steady and soft that left even her mother impressed, lady Sophie then gestured to her son in introducing " this is my eldest, Max " Max gave a nod of his head in greeting then turned to lady Anna with a polite smile " lady Anna , it's been a while " , his eyes turned her way , his smile faltering slightly before he greeted her next " miss " left his lips like a dry wind blowing across a desert with how his stiff shoulders squared , she noticed with a frown his mother giving him a look of disapproval at his manners but chose to ignore it with slight absentminded nod of her own , her eyes turned away as her mother cleared her throat to keep the awkwardly halted conversation going, but she was already bored and surely not paying attention for a few minutes won't do anyone any harm. Right? .
°
She was wrong, deadly wrong . Within five minutes her mother managed to get her robbed into a dance, an impossible feat that her mother managed to achieve in the span of the five minutes she was distracted trying to decipher if the greenish yellow dress of earlier was a crime against her eyesight, or the bright orange with red drapes was even worse, the dangling crystals weren't helping , when her mother exclaimed in delight " that would be wonderful " making her snap her head in alarm .
One , her mother is really this exited about anything unless she was involved in her mother scheming , and two, her mother's scheming includes the relentless work of trying to 'kick her out the estate' (finding her an eligible gentleman and marry her off) . So when she saw that achieving bright smile on her mother's face she knew that she's in for misery .
Not long after she was standing awkwardly in front of Max, looking around she caught several eyes of girls giving her their nastiest glare , and she didn't hesitate to glare back with a scowl of ' what ? ' before the music started . If she could take pride in anything it would be how well and gracefully she danced, even her mother couldn't argue in that forte , light on her feet with boise and elegance head held up and eyes never shy from her dance partner who's gaze was taking her in , not like he was doing minutes ago, this time it wasn't as harsh, wasn't as judgemental or as sharp, this time it felt like he was connecting to memory, eyes dancing from her eyes to the bridge of her nose, to her cheek where a faded scar resides and down to her lips, lingering for a beat too long before going back to meet her eyes . The hand she had on his shoulder twitched and gripped tighter , maintaining composure as he stepped back when the music came to a stop , the hand on her waist fell down in a clenched fist before he held it behind his back as he straightened , pairs around them gave a final curtsy then applauded the loud cheers seemed to snap him back, he gave her a curt not after letting their joined hands ease away from their hold , his lips parted to say something, but struggled to get the words out so he shut down , took a breath and turned his back and left .
Her feet rooted in place, a frown upon her face at the absurdity and the audacity of this man to leave like that , her confusion turned irritation at the delighted grins adoring the two mothers when she turned to retreat from the dancefloor, biting back a comment and stood beside her mother silently her mother's gaze was ignored ,her eyes swept around the grand hall , then up at the overlooking terrace where he stood , his hands grabbing the marble railings with a man beside him , she could only see the other man's back and unruly hair but she knew he was telling Max something from the occasional nods he was giving, his eyes moved their way before meeting her's before turning to his companion with a unreadable expression, giving his final words , then they both disappeared in a shadow .
•
The next morning came with news, the good ones , according to her mother who was gushing as she held a copy of the latest gossip column in town, reading it with an accomplished grin from a cross the table where she sat stabbing her fork into plate in disdain as she glared at the open invitation sent from lady Sophie first thing in the morning .
Her father however was reading the headlines, an official found dead in an alley , 'corrupt' written on his forehead and a copy of evidence plastered on the walls behind his body, money laundering, theft, and bribery all under his signature . Whispers starting to echo behind closed doors at the string being pulled , promising to unravel the gruesome lies .
The glass made a clang as it was placed on the bar top , snapping the daydreaming man out of his thoughts , his eyes were met with by far his most favourite pair , his lips stretched into a board smile which vanished at the barmaid's remark , " there you go , flyboy " who turned up with his order with ease, a teasing smile on her lips as she turned to the next customer next to him .
Charles groaned in mock annoyance at the nickname with a playful glare aimed at her as she passed by with a new order " will you ever drop it? " She made a face at him as she went back to grab about half a dozen of beers and slid them to the waiting guy not far away " not in a million year " making him scoff at her teasing voice " it was one time ! " , she shrugged " one time too many " , he feigned a hurt face " and here I thought I was your all time favourite " his eyes followed her up and down as she tended to the steadily crowding bar , his friends were a bit late , or he was quite early, preferring to spend the spare time trying to win her over , emphasis on ' trying ' .
She crossed her arms and leaned on them as she watched as one of the regulars 'phil' who was miraculously balancing four pints as he made his way to his waiting friends, she then turned her attention back to Charles and answered in a deadpanned tone trying to hold back a laugh at his actually hurt face " that's Kimi " , it was now Charles's turn to scoff in denial, " c'mon!! that's not fair ", she shrugged with a wide grin " he's every bartender dream customer " sighing in a dreamy manner to add effect .
Charles called out " kiss ass " she deadpanned " if I could I would " , earning a full on scowl from Charles as he pointed a finger at her accusingly " that's a vision I'd gladly refuse to accept! " , she wiggled her eyebrows " I'm speaking with the manager " , she rolled her eyes , resting her head on her palm lazily and reminded " by all means Karen , be my guest and the next shift you'll have Martin to serve drinks " .
Charles's face twisted into horror at the mere though, dreading the concept of not having her around so he went to bargain " well , if you agree to give me a chance I wouldn't be complaining your ears off " , smile widening when a teasing one graced her lips as she tilted her head " well " she said pointedly and leaned closer " it wouldn't be worth it's while if I didn't make you work for it , now would it? " Sending him a wink before moving to the waiting group on the other end of the par , leaving him grinning with his head in the clouds, before a hand brought him down with a clap on his back earning it's owner a seething glare , Pierre laughed at his annoyed face and pointed back at their regular table , " time for you to come back down , flyboy " earning a groan from said flyboy which turned into a glare as Pierre turned to order their first round with a knowing smirk , that smirk was wiped out the moment she called back " coming right up , dry pot " making Charles burst out at his offended face , not caring about the shove he received.
Pierre glared " who called me that ? " Making her look back at her busy friend who was taking out a round of drinks to the bikers near the back , then back at Pierre then held back her own laugh when his eyes fell on the culprit with a frustrated groan .
She shared a look with Charles who asked " so I guess 'that date' didn't end up so well ? " Earning a glare from his friend who retorted " at least I got a date !" , Charles called back proudly " at least I'm working for it , what can you say for yourself ? " .
Pierre was about to respond but was seized with a look of disdain from the said date when she came around with a couple of empty bottles, then an eye roll as she went on her way to the back , he threw his head in his hands with a pained sound as the two watching the exchange winced . Charles whistled lowly " You've missed it up " she agreed with a stunned face " you've done the impossible, she's a saint , and you ......you've pissed her off that much ?! " , he could only mumble an " I know " as they gave him pity looks before breaking into another fits of laughter, he glared at them with a stinky eyes " you two are insufferable " they nod in one voice " we know " he glared one more time " you two deserve eachother " , Charles gave a giddy grin and nod " I know ! , and I'm working on it " nodding to himself before giving her one of his winks , she shook her head fondly at his antics , laughing lightly as Pierre grabbed him off his chair toward the waiting group with a look of mock irritation, throwing a final wave her way before she turned to grab their first of many rounds for the night .
A shiver shook her huddled figure, she grabbed the worn jacket tighter around herself and crossed her arms to try to keep warm , to comfort herself as she waited at the crossroads leading out of town.
The first light of day is yet to break through the trees, casting a gloomy scene she couldn't wait to leave behind . The suitcase she sat on steeled her nerves, but her heart kept hammering as time passed with no one in sight yet , she reached for the now cold necklace around her neck and fiddled with her treasured rings it threaded through with a heavy heart .
With one deep breath she looked down the road before letting it out slowly then stood up, her boots kicked the pebbles laid out and took another deep breath holding it then let it go mumbling " they're late......" She looked around with a frown at the area slowly getting brighter , a nagging feeling seeping through the nerves, she quickly shaked it away , will her mind to settle despite the building doubts .
Two hours passed in a blink , followed by another one , but she didn't feel it really, not if it meant they'll leave everything behind, the promise of a new life , to live the dream they couldn't wait to fulfill for years , it all lead to this deserted crossroad , all the countless times they laid there and hoped , dreamt and joked about it leading to the future they always wanted.
The sound of an engine made her snap her head up , heart leaping in joy as she looked at the approaching car with hope filled eyes , her hands shook when she finally got a better look at the old green truck, knowing fully who it belonged to , it came to a stop on the other side of the road and a tall figure came out , slamming the door before sauntering to lean on the front with crossed arms, a cold stare swept her up and down then the suitcase behind her before he nod to the back " get in " .
She swallowed and stepped back , her heart hammering against her chest while she tried to maintain a strong front , shaking her head definitely at him " no " , her body stiffened at the mocking laugh he let out , his head thrown back with glee at her determined stance. " Dad wasn't joking, You really are that naive " , she wanted to curse them out with all her might, but knew better, so she bit her tongue, breathing out the thought with the slow exhale, her brother's patience always ran dry and she was at the receiving end of it more than she could count .
His taunting words kept pouring, the disdain evident along with triumph as he eyed the bag ," going somewhere ? " She thought about the odds of making a run for it , he'd catch up with no effort and would make everything worse than it already was .
The following words made her mind race " they already left , you know ". She stared at him , that insufferable haughty look sent her way before he stood up and made his way to face her from across the road " oh! , you didn't know? , they left around midnight, old John saw them fled town down this very road with their things packed " .
Her blood ran cold at the statement, face pale as she watched him take in her stunned face, he tilted his head and gave her a deep look , a look of mock sympathy crossed his features and he was quick to follow it up with a smirk " get in I'll be generous and take you there " .
She looked down the road with a silent prayer, heart clenched painfully as it remained deserted, she then picked her bag and crossed the road to put it on the back , her brother's smirk widening when she sat in the passenger seat without uttering a word . He gleefully did the same and started the engine, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as he drove while stealing looks at his sister's glum face, he'd let out a quiet laugh at her flinching whenever she caught his eyes , " you know ? , they did themselves a favour with leaving " he spoke as they approached the familiar house , he parked and leaned back on his seat after killing the engine , pointing out with nod " go ahead , I'll give you this " he then leaned his elbow on the pulled down window and rest his arm out with an air of nonchalant, waiting patiently if she dared to say , for her to do what she wants.
She looked ahead at the house, refusing to give him any response in favour of searching for a light, the front porch's light was off , same as the kitchen and the bedroom upstairs, no movement or signs of life coming from within , unlocking the door was easy , but stepping out of the car took all of her remaining energy, her feet took her out and to the front door before she could contemplate it .
The door was locked she realised after twisting the handle to no avail , her breath came out shaking when she found a folded piece of paper, tucked into one of the doors cracks , it wasn't that big as she grabbed it.
"We are sorry "
Written in a hurry, she noticed the crumbled edges, the sharp lines , and then she noticed her tears flowing down and staining the paper . 'What now ?' she asked herself, they left , she left her stranded, she couldn't understand, they left her behind .
She stood at the front door helplessly trying to wake up, " no " whispered as she shook her head , anger replacing the pain as she looked up and head around the back , searching through the windows and under the grown flower pots she planted weeks ago, one slipped and crashed at her feet, in it's place she found the keys, two sets each with it's own keychain tucked under her favourite pot , as she looked at the now ruined plant and back to the house keys, their house keys , they left them for her , letting her realize " they really left her , and they are not coming back " .
A disaster, that what the challenge the team put up for them turned out to be , and what started as a simple taste testing ended up in a food fight, or war for better use of words.
The fire were a combination of Mellon juice that escalated to sour cream frosting and weirdly textured yellowish green juice that turned out to be blended beas, spinach,and a generous amount of egg yolk , the smell was something to remember, the media crew knew that for sure , as they were drenched in it when one of the two 'accidentally' quote and quote, splashed it backwards instead of the other way .
It was a misunderstanding, the blindfolds were a terrible idea and the directions they were given were misleading and resulted in both accidentally spilling cups on eachother, and it went from there to the point where Horner walked in to see what the screaming was about only to receive a fist full of mashed creamy potatoes to the face which then slides to his shirt and finally plopped to the ground in a loud splat .
Carlos with his hair coated in whipped cream pointed at our driver who was already pointing at him with her face covered in a cocktail of white cheese and chocolate sprinkles , shouting " he/she started it " to a stoic faced Horner.
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Voldemort? :
Carlos looked to his right where our driver sat on the long couch bored out of her mind while they went through the by now repeating questions asked for the god know how many times, so he leaned and asked her something, to which she shrugged before answering back , then counting three things to which he agreed with a scrunched up face , adding with pointed look to which she nod , both were caught off guard when the host directed his question to them " Carlos, Y/N , any thoughts on....you know who? " Their face twisted into confusion as they blurted out at the same time " Voldemort? " , to which they were given confused and startled looks, with Lando cackling from the other side .
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Running up that hill :
Carlos face was zoomed in as he was about to keel over with exhaustion if not for his hand supporting his weight on his knees , breathing hard with aching muscles, drenched in sweat from head to toe with couple of strands stuck to Face.
Standing beside him was our driver , fresh as a daisy doing jumping jacks as if she didn't just ran a full lap around the circuit " come on! , let's gooooo ! " , and Carlos's glare could never be more bitter, cursing under his breath at the enthusiastic energy radiating off of her , clashing with his black hole of despair while he tried to find a way to ditch and crawl back to his hotel room . She grabbed the sleeve of his shirt but he swatted her hand with a scowl, making her smack his arm with a loud " rude! " , he retaliated with a smack of his own on her arm earning another one on his shoulder before she stepped back and gave him a 'did you just...' his own look screamed ' what are you going to do about it ? ' , then both started to swat at eachother landing hits on wherever they could reach , then our driver decided to shove him hard , caught off guard herself as he stumbled back making her gasp as she stared, eyes as wide as his before she held her arms up in defence, trying to bargain as he got back to his feet , her pleading fell into deaf ears as he charged at her , and she didn't waste time to sprint away from the now miraculously energised Carlos.
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The mandacity :
The Fans caught it many times, turning it into an inside joke of sort more so as a trait the two shared along the years . The mandacity meter of (CarlosXourdriver) ship name. The resent sighting was during the media day of the Dutch GP where Ferrari and Merc were having a shared open stage interview , and to say the hosts were overly biased against them would be an understatement , the two hosts kept throwing subtle comments here and there , which resulted in some of the fans boooing from the crowd making them tune it down for a bit, but alas the whole thing was a nuisance.
One of the two ran his mouth a bit two much , making Carlos lose his stoic face to a much so done look , turning to our driver to his left with questioning eyes , who herself had a milder version of 'wtf' face turned into a scowl , she locked eyes with him the second he looked her way , and he mouthed ' the audacity! ' to which she shook her face and corrected with the same scowl ' No , no , no , The Mandacity! ' making him snort loudly as he tried to hold back the laugh threatening to burst out .
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" you can't handle it " :
Carlos never leaned when it came to challenging our driver and her immune taste buds that he and almost everyone questioned whenever she came up with an abomination of concussion that she called tasty.
He wasn't one to judge but how on earth could she eat those combinations, and fans didn't waste time to notice when he fell into another crisis after one of her experiments.
Such as the chilli experiment as some called it where it started with our driver making her usual pre-summer break snack from hell . Consisting of a bot of instant noodles cooked with a shit ton of chilli powder then when serving she added a bag of flaming Doritos on top , a mix of cream cheese and a big spoon of chocolate drizzled on top and one scoop of ice-cream and a splash of hot sauce to top it off .
He sat comfortably after grabbing himself a fork and took one big bite, ignoring her warning of " you can't handle it " . And how he wished he didn't, the taste blended well , salty and sweet accompanied the spicy taste added to the crunch of the Doritos and the smooth texture of ice-cream, but then the chilli kicked right as he swallowed , and you could see his face turning shades into an alarming bright red along with his ears , his eyes turned unfocused with a faraway teary look as he slumped on the chair in a heap .
Our driver looked at him as she scooped another big bite and asked " you ok ? " Waving her hand Infront of his face , but he was lost to the world , she shrugged and added another splash of sauce, proceeding to take another bite .
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Prince Charming who!? I only know his highness , prince Carlos Sainz Jr :
Fans couldn't let go of the moments they collected of carlos's stary eyes as he 'admires' our driver (or what their shippers say) . And boy it was a sight to behold.
Eyes soft and dreamy when he looks at her , too lost to the world to care if someone would catch on , a small smile slowly creeping upon his lips with a small tilt of the head , you could almost hear him sigh longingly.
The most viral moment was caught when Carlos was sitting down on one of the foldable chairs, overly tired and fresh out of FP2 after a long day , a couple of other drivers waiting around along with our driver who scraping on a small note book , mumbling to herself as she wrote down for a couple of minutes before handing it over to one of the Merc engineers then turned around.
She took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes before looking around, her eyes fell on Carlos, who was already looking at her, a smile making it's way on her face , mirroring his as she approached and held his face in one hand while the other went to run through his gorgeously dishelved hair " Hi " , he smiled up at her and gave a sweet " hi " back , she asked with a tilt of her head " what are you doing? " He grins and answered easily " admiring the view , and you? " , she couldn't help the laugh bubbling out as she answered back with a dazzling smiles of her own " admiring you " .
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Chilli🌶️ and cherry 🍒 :
The carnival's Bright lights danced in the background, with Carlos holding on a giant bear with a giddy grin permanent on his face , his eyes squint as he let out a laugh at our driver who stood beside him with a scowl , in her hand she led two keychains, a chilli and a cherry, each bright in colour as she showed them and pointed to the delighted Carlos " I busted my ass and won him this !! " She pointed then held up her hand offendedly " and look what he got me !! " Carlos gave her a side eye and retorted " if you don't want them , give them back " then he snatched the chilli keychain and hooked it on the bow around the bear's neck .
With an accomplished humm he held out the bear and declared " meet thee Carlos Sainz Jr++ " . She stood with a dropped jaw at the declaration then snatched the said Jr++ and made a run for it , followed by a screaming Carlos " give me back my Carlos Jr++ !!!!" She called back as she dodged his attempts " heck no!!! I won him " he exclaimed " for me ! " She dismissed with a flipped bird over her shoulder " that was before I know how bad is your aim ! " He retorted back without thinking " that's not what she said " she gasped with a scandalised voice and shouted " chilli! " He called back with a smirk " cherry! " .
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Those Eyes :
Carlos was seen looking around with a deep frown, his eyes scanning in concern when his search was fruitless , he ran a hand through his still dishelved hair anxiously before tying his suit's hanging arms around his waist as he ventured around to look somewhere else.
He backed his steps as he passed by the small figure of our driver, huddled away and out of sight and didn't waste time to approach with a relieved look replacing the stress . He crouched down and tried to get her to talk to him , asking what's going on, she took a couple of minutes to focus on his eyes pleading with her , blinking her eyes with a frown twisting her face then the dam broke, then her breath turned erect as a sob followed by another fell out before she could hold them back .
His eyes softened with understanding, and he was quick to scoot over , covering her from view and trying to console her as best as he could , letting her lean her head on his shoulder with her arms tight around him with his hand on the back of her head .
She willed her feet to run as fast as she could towards the building right down the street, panting as she finally reached the gate greeting the guard as she took off running once again to the front door, bursting through the door with a dramatic entrance getting the attention of the reception desk occupants, making her smile sheepishly at them while she apologised, heading straight to the desk to greet linn and Taylor who took the day shift that week , signing herself in and hastily making her way to the stairs leading to the second floor, waving off linn who scolded " no running! "
She knocked on the door and waited patiently , Louis Armstrong could be heard flowing from behind the door and when she found no answer she knew she's screwed , so she pushed the door slightly, enough to peek her head in , looking at the vast room and let out a breathe where her eyes landed on the back of the rocking chair facing the window .
Now, in normal circumstances she'd burst in and declared her arrival but since she already late might as well keep quiet for the sake of peace.
She headed to the table by the window and greeted cheerfully " what a nice morning we have today ! Would be great for a stroll in the garden , don't you think Mr Davis ? " . Taking out the welting flowers to replace them with the new ones she bought on her way , then turned to greet the man with a smile only to get glared at with a statement of " you're late " .
She sighed knowing her attempt failed miserably " I know, but come on , it's once in a lifetime, and I promise you it won't happen again " she pleaded but received a scoff " lies " , she gasped " Mr Davis! Are you accusing me of lying!? " He nod making her hold her heart as if in pain " you wound me! , how could you do such thing to me !. My poor fragile heart can't take it! " She kept weeping until he called over her dramatics " oh cut it out ! , you and your theatrics " then he huffed " you start with being late and the next thing you'll forget all about come here at all " he looked away in a mix of anger and hurt making her pause and straighten her back at his words , then she moved to the small foot rest and sat down, taking his hand gently and smiled softly when he looked away with a frown . " You know that you're stuck with little old me right? , it'll take more than a missing alarm to get rid of me " she tilted her head to give him a teasing smile " not to mention , who's gonna get you these books , sneak you that god's awful , terribly bitter coffee from your favourite dinner and run around to dig up your favourite vinyls ? ".
He waved his other hand indifferently " I could send James to do all of that " she made an offended sound with an actual frown " James !? You gotta be kidding me! . You're replacing me with big ears James!? , I'm offended ! At least pick someone else! " She slumped in agony " after all these years I'm being replaced with James, life is cruel indeed " she sneaked a glance at him and smiled internally when she found a smile make it's way to the corners of his mouth .
She stood and made her way to the door after picking her bag from the floor much to Mr Davis's confusion " where the hell are you going? " She wiped away an imaginary tear and declared " I'm running for the hills, and sending James to take my place ! " He rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively as he settled back on his comfortable chair " tell him to bring me coffee while you're at it " her face contoured into one of bewilderment before glaring at his back " Oh you! ... You know what ! . I'm staying just to spite you " he shrugged and hummed along with the music as she let go of her bag and started to rummage through it for a moment, picking out an old hard covered book and a notebook.
She went back to foot chair and sat while handling over the book " I had to bribe, blackmail and probably threaten a sixty years old lady to get it " she shuddered at the memory and glared before handing him the notebook , " and this is the juice " he gave her a unimpressed look " you and your words " , she challenged " what else do you want me to call it !? , cause trust me I got worse" making him give a pained look " you are an academic scholar ! At least act like it! " She shook her head proudly " nope , I rather act like myself, thank you very much " he gave a huff then put on his reading glasses that were hung around his neck while asking pointedly as he started with the notebook " and does acting like yourself includes staying awake up to ungodly hours? " .
She gave him a suspicious look " who snitched? " , He glared back over the pages " the bags under your eyes " making her groan as she rubbed her eyes " it was a once in a blue moon " he hummed flipping the page " that caused you to wound up late , for the ...... Remind me again how many times you've been late this week? " She threw her head back , almost falling on her back from the force and flailed her arms to grab anything to support her , crying out when she found none and groaned when her head made a thud . She got back to her seat while rubbing the back of her head " Which won't happen again " . He called her out without hesitation " more lies " and gave her a pointed stare when she looked up , both maintained a stare down until he looked back at the note in hand and pointed at the shelves filled with books covering the wall to the side " get volume 3 " he paused then added " and 8 too " making her stand to make a little dance on her way to retrieve the mentioned books . She asked over her shoulder " where's the binder? " receiving an answer " second door to the right " , " got it " she grabbed it and shut the door behind her swiftlly.
••••••••••✿••••••••••••
Max opened his locker's door and was about to shove his bag in but remembered the flower he pick earlier and gently reached to get it out , giving it a long look before deciding to leave it on the top shelve for now , getting his wrapping tape before shutting it and headed to start his warm up for the day .
Keeping his head focused as he made his way to his usual spot . Paying no mind to the looks he was receiving and the mumbles and proceeded with his work, pausing in between to take a break before resuming . And it went like that for the following hour until a distinctive loud voice called " oh ! Didn't know that our resident princess is back boys ! , could've told me , I would've got some flowers, or maybe a little sparkly crown" the three idiots surrounding him burst into laughter, clapping or nudging him on the shoulders as he nods . But his words didn't receive the desired effect as Max kept quiet as if he didn't hear anything .
He secured the tape over his knuckles after he took a big sip of water and resumed on the punching bag , sending kicks and punches that echoed through the open floor making the others look over at the sound , it was a form of warning to keep out of his way but that didn't last for long as the one with the shrill voice decided to take it a little too far , ignoring his friends and made his way over to lean on the bag with a smug face " I was talking to you princess " he then held the thudding bag with a grunt , he was pushed back when Max threw a kick at it but tried to play it off with a glare .
Max spared him a bored look before looking away uninterested " fuck off " , but that didn't play well with the guy who stepped in Max's face with a threatening voice " when I talk to you I expect you to answer" , then moved another step to shove Max back , but found himself thrown on his back on the floor as he looked in bewilderment at Max who shoved him with one arm and scoffed at him with a glare, he directed his glare at the other three who stepped to defend their fallen friend , and when they were about to step up a voice called out " what's going on here ?! " The voice boomed from the railing of the second floor where the manager stood with his arms crossed , glaring down on the two he gave a warning when the one on the floor attempted to take the chance to get back " don't even think about it Jacob " thee said man glared up , then back at Max who stepped back and turned to his work , leaving Jacob seething in his spot , slapping away the hand of his friend who tried to get him up and scoffed at Max's back " this isn't over yet " turning on his heels and leaving through the door .
Not five minutes later the manager made his way over, nodding at Max who paused his practice to see what he wanted , " appreciate you holding back there " Max nod " wasn't a problem , he isn't the first knob and won't be the last " the man acknowledged and turned to let him go on but stopped and called over his shoulder " just a word of advice , stay away from Jacob and his trolls , they're trouble , the sticky kind " Max nod absentmindedly and resumed with the managers words in the back of his mind . Louder thuds echoed as his punches got harder , each shook the bag and sent a loud rattle through the chains holding it up .
••••••••••• ♪ ••••••••••••
Her day dragged on till noon when she left with the notebook and the now well revised book , and a promise to return with more juice, much to Mr Davis's agony and her enjoyment of teasing him constantly and reached her next stop of the day right on time .
The centres metal gate stood tall and ever vibrant with colours , high walls adorned various graffiti pieces and abstract paintings from the kids , not to forget the contrasting flower beds along the high walls.
2 minutes of Waiting at the booth by the entrance for the security to checked her in , then headed to the main dining hall where almost everyone was already seated, she smiled sheepishly while grabbing a fruit cup and dashing to the table by the vending machine under the scolding gaze of Mrs Edith who glared when she saw her trying to discreetly sneak a bag of something to the table besides hers on the way, emitting a loud cheer from it's occupants at the contents before they quiet down with a sheepish smiles of their own when she looked over with narrowed eyes .
The group then nod amongst themselves before signalling to her to which she signalled back with a nod before finishing her snack and moved in a haste to the dorms , where she waited down the hallway for a minute before any of the kids showed up, looking around for any eavesdroppers then shut the door to their secret meeting behind them .
" When do we start ? " One of the boys 'luke' asked her after bringing over the board they were scheming on for the past week, 'lyle' chimed in with a frown " I've got a test on Monday and another one wednesday " she hummed and asked with her own notebook in hand " anyone got any upcoming tests by then ? " Four raised their hands " biology " Luke noted , " math on Tuesday and English Wednesday " Amy grumbled , followed by Adam to her left " biology " , the rest shook their heads and looked at her as she marked on her note nodding with confidence " we can make do with that . Study sessions are on time , we won't change that , the rest of us can work the gap you've got and we're almost finished anyway, so , we have nothing to worry about " . Danny pointed" except getting caught " , the group shared a dreaded look before she assured them " just go on with your days like usual and leave the rest to me , I'll distract Mrs Edith till next week and there shouldn't be any set backs ". There was a hurried knock on the window , a signal that someone was on its way over making everyone scramble to dispose of every evidence in their hands.
The board was discarded and the occupants of the room hurried to pick around anything giving away their plans , succeeding just in time when the door cracked open and Mrs Edith stood with her hands on her hips , eyebrows raised with a suspicious look on her face as she scanned the group smiling innocently at her .
••••••••••✿••••••••••••
Max heaved a sigh when he reached the gyms front door when evening came , bag across his shoulder and a bottle in hand , but not even halfway across the parking lot someone decided to block his way with a truck painted an awfully bright shade of neon red , and low and behold out came Jacob with two of his lankies asking for trouble, Jacob stood before Max with a scowl " you thought you could just walk away ? " , Max rolled his eyes and turned to leave but Jacob made the mistake of grabbing the back of his hoodie, receiving a fist to the face , emitting a crushing sound when it collided with his nose , blood seeping as he fell down clutching his now definitely broken nose , the remaining two lunged forward, trying to overpower Max but he reacted faster , one foot kicking one back and a punch to the other slamming him against the window of parked car , his friend recovered and marched again, this time with a blade raised to swing at Max's side , who asked with a raised eyebrow " really? " Then sidestepped and grabbed the assailant's arm , twisting it till a 'pop' was heard followed by a shout of pain from it's owner as he fell after he dropped the blade with his free hand clutching his shoulder in agony .
Jacob watched with boiling anger before he hurried to grab a crowbar from the back of the truck, trying to find an opening to swing at Max , he swung at his back in a sloppy hit , making Max stumble in a step before he planted his feet , arms ready when he saw the bastard's leg going back to deliver a kick at him , so he grabbed the leg with one arm and a fistful of Jacobs shirt in the other and slammed him on his back .
Sirens were Heard rapidly with it's blaring lights seen from the distance as Max stood over the three men , he turned to look at the approaching officers but his eyes fell on his bag discarded on the ground, the zipper was undone and the flower he picked up earlier peaking out , it saddened him to see it's petals damaged even more when one of the officers stomped on it on his haste to reach the scene .
Our driver's birthday became an anticipated code red situation , so it was Max's life mission to make it the best as it could ever be , and that includes a lot of discreet planning, secret gifts shopping and most importantly find the best gift for her . She wasn't the picky or demanding type, No , she was worse than that , She was indifferent about her birthday to begin with , not to be mistaken for forgetful but indifferent to a fault , shrugging at the reminder and moving on with her day like it's nothing.
Max took it upon himself to make every birthday memorable in it's own way, not bothering with the big celebration and throwing parties, he same as her preferred the simple day/night in , making dinner or going out on an adventure Just the two of them, which turned into a tradition of a lifetime that they carried on doing for the other.
And this time it wasn't any different, the day turned into a glorious adventure which led them to a pet store, upon her insisting after seeing the window display of the store and he could only open the door for her as she dragged him in after .
Smiling as she made a Beeline for the back where the worker led them to see the little fellows up for adoption, and the quiet scream she let out once she saw the rows of chambers in each side, along with the shove she gave him in favour to make him move out the way to get to the closest baby she could get her hands on made him know he's in the right place.
She claimed she was in heaven, surrounded by a numerous number of kittens, two of them were napping on her lap while another was in her arms on the verge of sleeping, she pout and gave her best puppy eyes to Max who was already holding one in his hands and asked " can't we take them all ? " He looked like he was actually considering the idea but shook his head " you know we can't do that , we can't look after them all through the season, and we can't bring them everywhere we travel" she contemplated for a moment then declared " then I'll retire" he squint at her , not knowing if she was joking or if she was dead serious. You'll never know for sure with her , then he bargained " alright, for now you get to take one . But we'll see what happens in few years " she turned the option in her head for a second but was interrupted by a loud scream from another room followed by a cry of " he's out!! " Then a panicked call of " oh God!! Bethany get away !!!!! No ! Go back ! " Then a traumatized cry followed by running feet heading their way .
They were greeted with two disheveled employees who were running for their life , passing them in a haste before disappearing down the door behind them , and as the door swung after them , a small ball of furr came running through it , letting a screeching meow that made the other kittens surrounding our driver screw away in alarm , then stood in a wide stan as if ready to bounce on her if needed , but kept his distance as he started her down, or tried to, seeing how small he was at the time.
She looked in wonder at the small ball with the great attitude and was bemused at his antics, making her way bit by bit towards him and extended her hand to him , laughing at the hiss he made towards her extended hand , which he ignored and went to attack her shoe instead, biting and scratching with all his might , but it only resulted in small almost nonexistent scratches and a laugh out of her as she gently ran her hands between his ears and down his back , then under his chen when looked up at her as she cooed softly " oh hi there little guy " earning a ' meow ' in return making her humm as she scratched behind his ears emitting a purr of content before he nudged his head against her hand in approval. " Oh ! , you little cutie " she then held him up and asked " aren't you a precious little thing !? " Earning a "meow!" In reply making her giggle with glee " yes you are ! " She held him higher and declared "you and I will take over the world and then we'll burn it down! " He let out a loud 'meow!' in affirmation and squint his eyes happily.
Max stood on the side along with one of the employees both watching in silence then Max nod to himself " yeah , we're taking him " the woman looked at him in bewilderment, shaking her head " are you serious!? , no ! . It's not safe! I can't do that" he gave her a side eye and asked " you want to tell them that ? " Then nod at the two who were busy with their world domination scheme making her gulp before making her way to collect the required papers for the process.
*press ✨ if you get the reference, and 🦋 if you watched the movie🍿.
She was about to get on her bed for the night, seeing as it's about 02:00 in the morning she decided to lose hope of his arrival. But a knock on the balcony window alert her off and made her run over to drow back the curtains to take a look at the newcomer , a giddy smile broke as she horrid to unlock the door and threw her arms around him in greeting " Charles! , you made it " he hugged back as tightly , voice came out muffled as he buried his head in her shoulder " of course my love " she leaned back with her arms around his shoulders and smiled " I missed you " he smiled sadly but shook his head and leaned to share a long awaited kiss " you have no idea how much I missed you" she leaned up for another one , sighing when he leaned his forehead against hers , both trying to bask in the warmth of the stolen moment they shared, he nudged her head with his playfully " sneaking up your balcony like one of those sabby novels you love to read " she scoffed at him and retorted with a smack on his chest " don't you even dare talk bad about one of Shakespeare's greatest work " he gave her a teasing smile and asked " I thought that was hamlet? " , she looked away stubbornly " that's beside the point" .
He hummed and gave her a mischievous smile, taking her hand into his , then he took a step back to fall on one knee, his other hand going to his heart dramatically " thou heavens and stars do intrigue your eyes" , she let out a delightful laugh at his resiting of the line " the poets and authors are going to remember our name for centuries to come my love " he stood back up and nodded " they'll remember our love , the great love story of Charles and..." There was a loud banging on her bedroom door " Y/N! " .
" Oh shit! " She looked at Charles in panic " I should go " he whispered hastily , but she held his hands tightly and shook her head " no ! You just got here " he smiled softly and left a final kiss on her lips " I know, but I'll find a way to reach you" she closed her eyes as the voice behind the door grew louder " Y/N! You're there !? " , then nodded in defeat with a whisper of " I love you" making him leave another kiss on her forehead whispering back " I love you too" .
He gave her a last look filled with longing before going back to the railing of the balcony to climb down, and she took a moment to steady her heart before shutting the balcony door and the curtains . then hastily made her way to the bedroom door after turning on the bathroom lights . She ruffled her hair and squinted her eyes before cracking the door open. She rubbed her eyes and stifled back a yawn asking " Maddie? , It's...." She paused before looking back at the clock on her bedside then turned back to glare at her sister " it's 2 in the morning! What do want?! " . Her sister could only glare at her " I heard noises coming from here , what were you doing? " , she shrugged and told her with a groggy voice " I , waaaaaas talking to myself " , Maddie gave her a weird look " you were talking to yourself? " , she gave her a deadpanned stare and nod in affirmation " yeah , it helps " resulting in her sister making a face " I have the opposite effect, actually . You see , when I ......." , she called over Maddie's rambling " yeah! Good talk , let's not do it again. Aaaaand good night " then slammed the door with a huff, waiting until she heard footsteps going down the hallway followed by a door closing then she let out a long breathe .
She gazed at the balcony longingly with a sad smile then fell into her bed , trying to drift, and maybe she'd dream of him tonight, maybe she'll find a way to escape the life she found herself forced to life on the behalf of her family name , a way for them to be without the weight of their families burying their dreams before they could see the lights. But that's a choice she won't make him live through . Not now . Not ever . And definitely not her .
With a sigh she turned into her side and blinked at the little horse figure on her night Stan, a fond smile at the small prancing stallion as she traced her finger along it's side , the warm memory keeping her company until she finally fell asleep.
••••••••••••
Charles made it back home in silence, his heart heavy and mind still lingering with her , her eyes, her smile, her fingers tracing it way around his heart , and her lips, soft and warm against his as she told him again that she love him . Nothing was going to ruin his spirit after he just saw her , held her so close . Well almost nothing , except for his brother waiting for his arrival, the hard look on his face was telling on where their conversation would lead .
He held his tongue and tried to ignore him sitting by the window, taking his time to hang his jacket and undo his cuffs buttons but that didn't work . Enzo sighed at his still turned back " You know , it's hard for me , for us, your family to see you do this to yourself " , Charles ignored him and moved to take off his shoes and grabbed a change of clothes, but stopped on his way to the bathroom " you know it's a matter of time before she gets bored and run to the next guy " he went on knowing he finally got a raise out of his brother " you're wasting your time and prolonging the truth " , Charles asked over his shoulder in a cold tone " and what do you know about the truth ? " Enzo observed for a moment before answering " more than you think you know , brother " Charles sighed, turned to face his older brother and asked " why can't you just let me be ? , the moment you sense that I feel the tiniest bit of happiness , You make it your life goal to crush it " .
Enzo stood and made his way to stand few feet away from him " you think so little of me , dear brother. While you paint me the villain all I wanted was to make sure this family, our family! Won't fall to ruins ! " , Charles took a deep breath " if you believe what you're doing is preventing our family from ruins then you all in your head . You , have done Nothing but drive us away ! " Enzo stepped closer " you should look in a mirror, and you'll find who done that " Charles fixed him with a cold stare " who drove Arthur away ? , who made every decision up to the committee? Tell me who emptied the home we once longed to run back to ?! " With each question a wave of anger and despair laced Charles words, eyes pleading with his brother to understand, to listen, but it once again fell into ashes as Enzo refused to back down " if you , obeyed and fullfil your duties to the family, everything would be solved out " .
Charles sighed and looked far away with a light voice " for a sinner, you do breach a lot about fulfilling family duties, brother . " His words struck a nerve that made his brother's face fall , so he asked further " Where were you when we pleaded on our knees for you to be with us? " .
Enzo averted his eyes and turned to leave but paused by the door and gave a warning " I'm asking you for the last time, brother , get her out of your mind before she gets removed " Charles didn't falter , eyes turning cold with a warning of his own " are threatening me, brother? " Enzo smiled lightly with a shake of his head " I give no threats, I'm telling you " .
Charles gave his one and only warning " then let it be known, come close to her and I won't rest until I burn everything you've built to the ground " , his eyes found his brother's and held his gaze for a long minute before he turned with a cold " goodnight brother ".
