"Valentina?" he thought he was seeing things truthfully because she hadn't been to a race since they broke up, and sometimes like that moment, he would briefly think he saw her.

Then she turned around and his breath hitched seeing her, in person for the first time in two years, there was no denying that she was still as gorgeous as always but that was nothing new. 

He stared into her beautiful dark eyes and was immediately taken back to the day that he would forever regret more than anything, the day that he broke her heart. The look she gave him was branded into his mind, the way that tears were streaming down her face and it was all his fault.

2021 

He stared at the man in front of him, a look of confusion on his face, "no I'm not doing that." he instantly refused if there was one thing that he loved more than racing it was her, she was the one that was always there and would often times drop whatever she was doing to be able to support him, she got him in a way that no one else did. 

He did the same for her whenever he could, she was the one that he pictured a future with and he was not going to throw that away because someone thought that she was a distraction for him. He often considered her his lucky charm since he always did well at whatever race she attended. 

The man in front of him was Diego Rameriez his current PR manager. The man was giving him a flat look, "Do you want to win the championship or not?" 

"of course, I want to win the championship," while he had won several Grand Prix races he had yet to win a championship he had come close the past two with second place, which made him push himself even harder this season. 

"well then get rid of the distractions." there was a slight smirk on his face it was unnoticed by the man in front of him which was exactly what he wanted, "which includes your pretty little girlfriend." 

Charles glared at him for the tone of his voice when he said the last bit and immediately denied it again. "No, she's not a distraction, and I am not doing that." 

It took a full two weeks for Diego to get into his head, which was longer than it had taken for the others that he had done this to, in the name of 'helping them win' the older Spanish man was irritated beyond belief at how long it had taken. 

"Fine," the younger man sounded defeated as he finally agreed with the PR manager to get rid of all 'distractions' in his life at the moment. There was a triumphant smirk on his face as the driver walked out of the room after the meeting. 

He arrived at the place he was meeting his girlfriend Valentina after the meeting, and seeing the look on his face she immediately knew that something was off. "what's the matter amore mio?" (my love) she questioned. 

Seeing the concerned look in her eye had him questioning whether this was the right thing to do or not but then he heard that little voice that Diego had seemingly planted in his mind, telling him that he had to if he wanted to win the championship. 

And so he spoke the sentence that would come to be the one thing that he regretted more than anything else once he realized that he had been manipulated by someone on his team that he was meant to be able to trust. 

Present 

He was snapped out of his thoughts hearing her voice, "Charles." they just stared at each other for a few moments, taking in the other's features and appearance. 

The Ferrari driver noticed the colors that she was wearing and frowned slightly, which she noticed and there was a tiny spark of hope that he would react to it, "You're wearing McLaren colors...  don't know how I feel about that..." he trailed off before shaking his head, "actually I don't like it all it that much." 

She concealed the smirk on her face, seeing that her little plan to get a reaction out of him was working and maybe she wasn't as delusional as she thought, "well it's doesn't really matter, if you like it or not, Charles." 

He sighed "I know," he took a few cautious steps toward her, though seeing as she wasn't stopping him, he took a few more steps closer and reached out and took the McLaren hat that she was wearing off and then he took his own hat off and placed in on top of her head, he gave her a small smile "there that's better a little splash of red in there." 

Val bit back a smile, which Charles noticed but didn't say anything about not wanting her to leave just yet... it was a lot less awkward than he anticipated their first meeting since the break up would be.

He held out the McLaren hat to her, which Val took but made no move to put back on, which made the man smile to himself... "thanks..." she knew she should be careful and more upset with him but it was Charles and yeah he broke her heart but before that they were best friends from the moment the two six year olds met.

He had always made her feel safe.

"no problem..." he paused for a moment, "do you think that we could talk, later, after the practice sessions are over?"

Val bit her lip, for a moment as she weighed the options, she could finally get answers to what happened two years ago... which was something that she desperately wanted which was what led to her saying, "okay, sure we can talk, later, there's this quaint little cafe, I know the owners that we can meet at I'll send you the location later."  if she could get answers it may help her get closure and all that.

"Okay works for me." he smiled to himself, he wanted to explain everything to her but knew that here wasn't the best place for that. There was an announcement saying they were starting fp2 in a few minutes, "I'll see you later then Val." he had hoped that with this explanation that maybe just maybe they could at least be friends again, knowing that he would probably have to work to regain her trust but he was going to do whatever it took to win her back.

"see you later." she turned back around and a smile slipped onto her face that was not as bad as she was thinking that it would be, she had been dreading seeing him, because she thought it would be awkward but it wasn't awkward at all, it felt almost normal...

There was definitely more pep in her step than before but that was something that Val wouldn't admit to... her smile was also just a tad bit brighter also something she wouldn't admit to. She knew that she should be more upset because of the way things ended between them but maybe she wasn't because she always knew deep down that something was off about the whole situation but she was too afraid to reach out and find out before now, in case, she was just being delusional in her way of thinking.

Lina gave her a look as Val rejoined her side, "you were gone an awfully long time Val... did you get lost or something."

Val bit back a smile, "or something." was what she said to the younger girl.

Malina rolled her eyes, then eyed the McLaren hat in her best friends hand which she had been wearing when she left the garage... and glanced up seeing a different hat sitting atop the older girls head, which was Ferrari red, but the thing that stood out most to Lina was the CL16 on the side of the bill of the hat.

Charles walked back into the Ferrari garage and Carlos noticed the lack of a hat on the man's head, knowing that he had one on when he left the garage earlier "what happened to your hat?"

Charles shrugged, "must have lost it," but the look Carlos noticed in his teammates eyes told a different story but Charles said nothing else as they climbed into their cars ready to start fp2.

Malina gave Val a look, "you're seriously just going to wear a fucking Ferrari hat in the McLaren garage while we're guests of McLaren?"

Val shrugged completely unbothered, "yeah pretty much." obviously she was going to keep the hat, so why not just wear it?

Lina shook her head, "you confuse me so much sometimes babes... I have been nothing but confused for the last week..."

Val sighed, "in due time Lina, in due time, I promised after this weekend I'd explain everything and I will."

Lina nodded, "yeah I know," then she snorted, "god I can't believe you're wearing a Ferrari hat in the McLaren garage, and not just a Ferrari hat in general no it's a Charles Leclerc Ferrari hat."

Val giggled to herself at the bilwildered look Lina had, but stopped herself, as they focus on the second practice run.

Lina was surprised that Charles had once again finished first in the second free practice, Val noticed the look, "why do you look so surprised right now?"

"well because Charles Leclerc has finished first in both of the free practices so far, which hasn't happened in a while and if he finishes first in fp3 tomorrow morning then he starts p1 for q1, which is also something that hasn't happened in a while... guess he's got a good car for this weekend." (tbh I have no idea how this actually works in the real races but for the purpose of this story that's how it works in this book.)

"guess so." then she pulled her phone out laying her head over on Lina as she texted Lewis, which Lina was watching from beside her but Val didn't care as they often did this.

*+:｡.｡　🏎️　｡.｡:+*

Lew 🗡️

I'm so fucking pathetic

no you're not V

what happened?

(let's pretend that it's on her head and that the CL is there as well.)

oh shit V

when did that happen?

after I left the Mercedes garage
I was at least halfway back
to the McLaren garage
when I heard someone say my name
but I'll explain everything else later

gotcha you can tell me
after or before
I tell you the thing
that I have to tell you
you're not going to believe this shit V

we can talk about this
back at Lina and I's place
It doesn't get more private than that

just send me the address
we can do this after the end
of the practice sessions

alright but we can't take too long
with that (will explain why later)

okay it'll be a quick conversation then V

*+:｡.｡　🏎️　｡.｡:+*

Lina shook her head but said nothing, she was still confused but knew that Val would explain after this weekend was over.

The practice sessions were over for the day they had fp1 and 2 on Friday, then fp3 on Saturday before they ran the first qualifying session.

Val had sent Lewis the address to their apartment but didn't tell Lina that it was Lewis Hamilton. that was going to be a surprise for the younger girl, while Lina was a McLaren girl, she was also a Lewis Hamilton fan.

The girls had both changed out of their outfits from the practice sessions and dressed more casually now, there was a knock at the door and Val got up and opened it and smiled seeing Lewis there.

She let him in and led him into the living room, Lina's eyes widened when she saw Lewis Hamilton walk into their living room.

Lina gave the older girl a look and nodded toward the kitchen, which made Val chuckle as they walked over there and Lina was whispering, "why the fuck is Lewis Hamilton in our apartment right now? and how do you know so many drivers yet can't stand anything Motorsports related?"

"Lina... it will all make sense after my explanation, after this weekend." Lina nodded and they walked back into the living room.

The man looked at Val, "you go first, because as I said you're not going to believe this shit... or well maybe you will but still you go first."

Val nodded, "okay so like I mentioned in the text I left the Mercedes garage and was walking back to the McLaren garage when I heard someone say my name and I knew who it was before I even turned around... like you think I'm going to forget that voice? nah man, and I thought about just ignoring it and continuing to walk away but I know him well enough to know that he would have more than likely just followed me to see if he was just seeing things or not. So instead I turned around and there he was, and this leads into why I said 'im so fucking pathetic' So as mentioned I turned around and I looked at him, and he looked back at me, and we stared at each other for a bit and I may or may not have forgotten to breathe for a moment."

Lewis snorted at that knowing that that she had forgotten because of who she was looking at, but he said nothing and let her continue the story, "so I said his name and snapped him out of whatever he was thinking about because just for a moment his eyes had this far away look in them. we stared at each other again for a moment, and that was when he noticed the fit."

Lina was just listening to her best friend talk but had no idea what she was talking about, Lewis laughed "I still say that was a cheap shot, but I'm taking that it had the desired effect you wanted?"

Val smirked, "Yeah so he looked at the fit and then back up at my face with this little frown on his face and essentially said he didn't like that I was wearing McLaren colors, and then I was like 'well it doesn't matter if you like it or not' and he was like 'i know' then he takes a few small steps towards me and I was curious to see what he was going to do, so I said nothing and didn't try to stop him, he took a few more steps getting closer and then reaches out and takes the McLaren hat I was wearing off my head, and then takes off his hat that he was wearing and puts it on my head and then this smooth ass motherfucker gives me a slight smile says, 'there that's better, a little splash of red in there... I was taken aback and was not expecting that."

"V... you were looking for a reaction... you said that yourself, you knew exactly what you were doing when you chose that outfit... you got your reaction though... you really just let this man put the hat that he was wearing right on your head."

"I know," she laughed, "I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that... and then don't even get me started on the way he was fucking looking at me, and let's be thankful that I've got a little self-restraint because oh my god I would have folded right then and there if not and yes that's the reason I said 'im so fucking pathetic' because I stood there and just let that shit happen."

Lewis gave her a teasing look, "Not surprised about that V... either part because what I'm going to tell you will make some things make sense."

She nodded at that, "Okay so anyway let me finish this story, so he hands me the McLaren hat back but I decided to keep the Ferrari hat on and then they make the announcement that fp2 was going to be starting in a few minutes and then he asked if we could talk later and I weighed my options but ended up agreeing because I want some fucking answers.... which is why I said that we couldn't take too long here... like I was for real dreading that shit, thinking it was going to be so fucking awkward but it wasn't, it almost felt normal, which genuinely surprised me."

"Damn..." Lewis trailed off, "Once again not surprised, now let me get on with this so you can go get your answers... after what you said on the phone the other day, it got me thinking and it brought this one train of thought to the front of my head, so after the next meeting that we had I stayed back to speak to Toto about it, there was something familiar about it... so there was this guy Diego Ramirez."

Val furrowed her brow "Wait I recognize that name."

Lewis nodded, "he was the PR manager for Ferrari at that time, but he got fired right before the start of the 2022 season, the official statement was for some kind of misconduct."

Val gave the Mercedes driver a look, "and the unofficial statement which we both know is what actually happened?"

"Manipulating the drivers that he worked with to do exactly what he said and wanted them to do... mostly saying that if they did whatever it was it would help them win, and from what I've gathered it was all just a big ruse and it never actually helped.... like after he was fired there were several people that came forward and said they experienced the exact same thing from him when they worked with him."

Val's eyes widened, in realization "So, you're saying that I was right then? it wasn't him talking so to speak."

Lewis nodded "Yeah, V you were right, and when you told me that on the phone the other night it really got me thinking... because I've known this man for years obviously and you saying that he said what he said, something just didn't sit right with me about it because you had a point it didn't sound like him... because there was no way that he would have ever said that about you, and looking at it from an outside perspective, everyone could with eyes that wasn't oblivious could see, that he adored you."

Val gave a slight nod at that, remembering how everyone had told her how lucky she was to have a man who looked at her like she hung the moon.  "yeah that was what never made sense to me about the whole thing was how quickly everything just got flipped around... because it was so out of nowhere, I mean there were no warning signs that anything was wrong and up until the words left his mouth I didn't expect it." 

Lewis nodded in acknowledgment of what she said, "And then I remembered something about the PR manager being fired from Ferrari a few months before the start of the 2022 season and all of that which made me put pieces together in my head and I concluded that I needed to speak to Toto and that gave me everything I needed to know. I mean all the accounts line up saying he said the exact same things to them, but manipulating people isn't illegal, it's wrong yes but not illegal so all they could was fire him, it was shared between all of the Team Principals as to avoid him being hired by any of the other teams to avoid it happening again."

Val chewed on her bottom lip "shit... I should have trusted my gut on that, I knew something was off, I just knew it, it was the way he was looking at me that day, but I brushed it off as me being delusional but maybe I'm not as delusional as I thought..." she trailed off. 

"Technically Toto wasn't supposed to tell me that but, he knew that I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't something important... so he told me."

Val sighed, "damn... we probably could have worked it out had I actually listened to my gut..."

Lewis shrugged, "You still could work things out V, knowing what you know now... it wasn't really his fault."

Val sighed... "maybe Lew... I don't know, but I better go, but you can hang out here if it's cool with Lina, and I'll tell you how it went when I get back later."

Lina looked between them, "I am so lost right now like I have no clue what any of that was about but sure if he wants to stay and wait for you to get back from your mystery meeting then he's welcome to do so "

Lewis nodded "All right then if your friend is fine with it I'll just hang around and I expect a full debrief when you get back "

"of course," Val answered as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the apartment.

hearing Lina say, "Now what the hell just happened?" Val laughed as she made her way down to her car.

note:
this is kind of going in a different direction than I originally planned but I like it so probably going to keep it going this way.

I was definitely planning on Val being more cold and standoffish when they met again but it happened this way when I was writing it and I ended up liking the way it turned out in the end.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and they meet up at the Cafe to talk in the next chapter.