Charles Leclerc 01

Throughout your life, you've faced multiple disappointments in both friendships and romantic relationships. Your last relationship, in particular, left you deeply scarred and wounded. Although you thought you'd learned from that experience, you sometimes find yourself repeating the same mistakes.

You're friends with George Russell, who's invited you to the races on several occasions. You couldn't refuse this temporary escape from your work and daily routine. Thanks to him, your life became a little less monotonous, a much-needed respite.

That's when Charles Leclerc started getting closer. He couldn't help but start a conversation with you. Sometimes he was flirtatious, other times he just joked with you or had fun playfully teasing you.

"I don't know, George..." you confessed with some suspicion "The beginning is always beautiful... I must be careful."

He had just hinted that you had feelings for Charles.

"It's obvious you like him," George said with a smile. "When you're not with him, you miss him. You hide it well, but it shows."

"No… I don't want that to happen" you replied in a low voice.

"When you're with him, you smile in a different way," *George added. "It's not just any smile... it's a smile of love. Whether you like it or not, I know what's going on. But you two don't want to see it."

I don't know when I started waiting for you at every race... maybe it was after the third time you came with George, or maybe it was from the first, when I saw you smile half-heartedly, as if something weighed on you inside.

I like talking to you. Sometimes I joke around, other times I just tease you a little to see your reaction, because I realize that when you really laugh, something inside you is released… something you're not used to letting out.

I know you carry wounds, that you don't trust easily. You don't need to tell me; I can tell by the way you look away when things get too real, by the way you sometimes pull away just when you seem closest. I realize you've experienced disappointments that taught you to protect yourself, to keep your feelings locked away, as if feeling were dangerous.

I don't want to be another pressure in your life. I don't want to confuse you or force you into anything. But if I'm honest... there's something about you that matters more to me than it should. And no matter how hard I try to keep it casual, light, I find myself searching for you without meaning to.

I'm not here to promise you anything I can't keep. I just want you to know that if you ever decide to let someone in again, I'm willing to stay. Not with empty words, not with games. With actions, with patience. Because you matter to me. And because, even if you don't want to see it yet, when you're with me... your smile changes. And mine does too.