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It was Saturday - the F1 qualifying day. Except not exactly. In the morning, the drivers were met with a thunderstorm so strong, they couldn't leave the hotel. Soon, the messages from their teams came. The third free practice and qualifying will be postponed by two hours. The drivers should wait in the hotel for further instructions.
Great, storms on top of everything else, thought Charles Leclerc, one of the Ferrari drivers. He wasn't feeling the best and he was driving too slow for his liking in the previous two practice sessions.
Charles had this feeling like something important was about to happen, this ominous aura hanging over him and distracting him from racing. He couldn't decide if this feeling was pointing to something bad or something good, though.
“So, anyone up for a board game? Since we all have to wait here anyways,” it was Lando Norris, a McLaren driver, asking and looking way too cheerful for this weather.
Some drivers refused the offer, saying they will go back to sleep or go relax or go scroll on social media. But in the end, Lando managed to gather 8 people, including himself, in the hotel lounge and presented them with the Activity board game box.
“Where did you get that?” asked Carlos Sainz, Charles' teammate from Ferrari.
“I have my secrets,” Lando looked so proud of himself.
“You were planning this from the start, weren't you?” guessed Carlos, which only got him a laugh from Lando.
They decided to play the boardgame in four competing pairs, but deciding the pairs was another hard task. Lando, of course, loudly announced that he wants to pair up with Carlos. Oscar Piastri, Lando's teammate from McLaren, was in a deep conversation with Logan Sargent, one of the Williams drivers, and it could be assumed they wanted to play together.
That left the other four to figure out the two pairs between them. Alex Albon, the other Williams driver, gestured across the room to George Russell, a driver for Mercedes. He was the teammate of the famous Lewis Hamilton, who chose taking a walk with Rosco over a board game.
Charles looked at Max Verstappen, the RedBull prodigy and the last person left without a partner, and made his way over to him.
“Looks like we're playing together,” said Charles. “Unless you absolutely don't want to.”
“Hey, for the record, I think the two of us could make a pretty decent team,” responded Max with a smile. “Let's go win this.”
Charles forgot how competitive Max could be, it was really endearing. However, he had to shake these thoughts off. Now was not the time to let his thoughts lead him into a crisis. He had enough on his plate for this weekend already.
All the drivers, or rather players, sat around the table. They had four couches arranged around a square coffee table, on which Lando put the box with the game. Each pair got their own couch, a sheet of paper and a pencil, and a colorful pawn.
They started playing, and after a while it looked like Carlos and Lando were leading by a little, while Max and Charles were close second. The game also seemed like it had woken up some sleeping talents, because Alex’s drawings were really good and everyone enjoyed Oscar's acting performances.
Max and Charles miraculously avoided drawing so far, but their pawn finally landed on the square indicating a drawing task. It was Max's turn, so he drew a card, sighed and reached for the paper and pencil.
He had no idea how to draw a donkey.
Max gave it his best, but the drawing was still horribly disfigured. Charles was trying to decode what it was supposed to be, because something about the drawing looked weirdly familiar. The hourglass sands were quickly running out.
Max finished his sketch and held up the paper for Charles to see better. And Charles froze.
His eyes went wide and he couldn't breathe. He felt hot and cold at the same time. The only thing he could hear was his heart in his ears.
He knew exactly what the drawing was. Well, he didn't know what the game card said to draw. But he knew this drawing by heart as it was on his forearm.
Max was shouting at him to hurry up and try and guess, but Charles was frozen and then… The time ran out. They didn't get the point and now Lando and Carlos had an even bigger lead.
Max then looked like his ego got hurt - was his drawing that bad? He looked at the paper then back at Charles.
“How could you not recognise a donkey?” Max asked, but it fell of deaf ears.
“Sorry…” Charles mostly whispered.
Charles was trying to process what just happened, and before he knew it, the game went a full circle around the table. It was his turn and now he was the one drawing.
However, there was a little catch to his situation. He didn't put two and two together - he didn't realize that if Max was his soulmate, there was a high chance that he would be Max's. He also didn't realize that his drawing would be the first one Max saw from him as well.
He didn't pay attention neither to reading the card nor to drawing the picture. Still flabbergasted, he picked up the pen and started drawing next to Max's drawing.
It was supposed to be a pineapple, but Charles' hands were shaking too much.
Max was really trying to win this point. He was trying to guess the picture, shouting: “Lightbulb! No, steak!” before it even remotely looked like it was supposed to.
But all his guesses were wrong. Charles finished his sketch and turned the paper to Max. And Max? He seemed to have lost his English.
Max was now looking at Charles, who was still fixated on the drawing. He was afraid to see Max's reaction. What if he got it all wrong? Then he raised his gaze and met Max's eyes.
“That is-” said Max and gestured to his own forearm.
“Is it?” Charles asked, hopeful, and Max nodded.
“Is that-?” Max gestured to his drawing from a moment ago.
“Yeah…” replied Charles and subconsciously touched his forearm where his soulmark was.
The rest of the drivers were watching them cluelessly. The two were just quiet and looking into the other’s eyes.
“Is that one of your inside jokes or something?” Lando broke the silence in the hotel lounge.
“You could say that,” Max didn't take his eyes off Charles. “Guys, can we take a drinks break or something?”
“Sure, but why are you two being so weird all of the sudden?” Max didn't even hear Lando, because he was already dragging Charles across the room.
Carlos looked at the paper his teammate was drawing on. He had a moment of realization and then whispered something in Lando's ear.
“Oooh, I see,” Lando grinned impishly.
Max led Charles around the corner into a more private area of the lounge.
They stood by the window overlooking the hotel's tidy front yard. The rain was still hitting the windows, creating a calming murmur together with the quiet music sounding through the lounge. They could see the blue sky peaking through the clouds in the far distance.
“Can I see?” Max asked after a few moments of silently taking in the moment.
Charles pulled up the sleeve of his Ferrari team hoodie and held his hand so that Max could see.
Max reached for Charles’ forearm, and holding it in his own hand, he softly caressed the familiar drawing imprinted in Charles’ skin with his thumb.
“Maybe I should have tried a little harder with the donkey,” Max chuckled, seeing his drawing again, which got him a laugh from Charles.
“Same with my pineapple!”
“That is a pineapple?” Max was genuinely shocked and pulled up his own sleeve to inspect the drawing again. “Oh yeah, now I see it.”
Once again, silence fell over them. This was something new for both of them. It somehow felt fragile.
Charles still couldn't shake off the looming feeling from the morning. He sighed, perhaps he shouldn't get his hopes up.
“Are you disappointed it's me?” he asked, looking at the floor. He knew that soulmates often didn't end up together. A lot of the times they were, well, just friends.
“What? No! Absolutely not,” Max grabbed Charles by the shoulders. “If anything, I was hoping it would be you!”
“Really?” Charles couldn't believe it.
“Charles,” his name sounded so different coming from Max. “Since our carting days, you've always been the only one who could keep up with me.”
“We've known each other for so long… how come neither of us has seen any of the other's drawings?” questioned Charles and then smiled. “I still can't believe this is really real. It feels like a dream.”
“Pretty nice dream, if you ask me,” Max felt like he wouldn't mind at all if the race was canceled completely.
“We should probably go back… the others will start wondering where we are. Or worse - come spy on us,” Charles started to move, but Max caught his hand.
“Just one thing before we go,” he pulled Charles close by the waist, and both blushed profusely at that. “I wanted to ask - can I kiss you?”
Charles would swear he could see hearts reflected in Max's eyes, and reached out to caress his face. “My soulmate doesn't have to ask.”
Soulmate. The word sounded so nice said out loud.
Charles met Max halfway and their lips touched in a short innocent kiss, but it was the best feeling ever. It was the sparks. It was the champagne. It was the storm and the sunset laps combined.
They parted, but just a little. Neither of them wanted to leave the other's space just yet.
“Umm, guys?” George’s voice came around the corner. “I hate to disturb the private conversation, but the storm is calming down early, so they want us to go get ready… I'm not even gonna ask.”
George left with a surprised look on his face, and Max and Charles both just laughed about it. The rest of the grid would have found out soon anyway.
That weekend, the qualifying and the race went pretty much as usual. However, neither of the two cared much for the result. The news about them finding out they are soulmates spread through the paddock like a wildfire, but they didn't care about that either.
Charles made sure to go back for the piece of paper with their drawings and keep it somewhere safe.
Much later they framed the picture and in the future, it will be hanging above their bed as a reminder of the fateful rainy day.