On qualifying day for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Valentina was startled awake by a series of knocks on her hotel room door. Rubbing her eyes, she walked up to the door and peered through the peephole to find Charles standing outside.

Realizing she had overslept after making plans to head to the track with Charles, Valentina hurriedly opened the door, meeting Charles' relieved gaze.

"I was almost ready to break down the door if you didn't open up soon," he chuckled, and Valentina motioned for him to come in, but he hesitated.

"I still need time to get ready, Charles," she insisted, ushering him inside as she closed the door behind him.

"I've been trying to reach you for 40 minutes," Charles remarked as he took a seat on the bed's edge while Valentina scrambled to gather her belongings.

"Sorry, I overslept and missed your calls," she apologized, "are we running very late?"

"Just a bit," Charles replied, "I need to be there in 20 minutes."

"Alright, give me 5 minutes, I'll get ready in a hurry," Valentina rushed, feeling guilty, "I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry, Bubbles, it's okay," Charles reassured her, "just focus on getting ready quickly."

With a nod, Valentina headed into the bathroom to freshen up swiftly.

Five minutes later, Charles was engrossed in his phone when he heard the bathroom door creak open slightly, followed by Valentina's voice calling his name.

"Charles?" she said softly, prompting him to glance up from his phone.

"Can you pass me the black top from my suitcase?" she asked, steam drifting out from the door.

Charles hesitated for a moment before rising from the bed and bending down to rummage through her suitcase.

"There are like three black tops here," he called out, puzzled.

"Just grab any one, it's fine," Valentina replied, her voice muffled by the closed door.

Charles picked up the first black top he saw and approached the bathroom door. Valentina's hand reached out from the gap of the door, and as he handed her the top, his gaze inadvertently flickered to the mirror's reflection.

In that split second, he caught sight of Valentina's figure wrapped in a towel, her wet hair cascading down her back.

Quickly averting his eyes, Charles cleared his throat and handed her the top before stepping away from the bathroom door.

It felt a bit awkward for Charles as he waited on the bed, twiddling his thumbs until Valentina emerged from the bathroom, offering him a soft smile.

"Sorry it took a while," Valentina apologized, rummaging through her purse to organize her makeup. "Is it alright if I do my makeup in your car?"

Charles nodded in agreement as Valentina packed up her belongings and then turned to him, giving a playful twirl.

Chuckling at her adorable gesture, Charles stood up and took her hand in his, and together they left the room, making their way to Charles' car parked outside the hotel.

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The drive felt long, especially with Charles running late. Despite the rush, he drove carefully, not wanting to disrupt Valentina's makeup routine.

At every bump, he warned her in advance so she could pause her makeup application. He didn't want anything to get messed up.

And, of course, he brought her flowers again. The smile on Valentina's face when he gave her flowers last night was priceless. It was a smile he cherished, so he decided to surprise her with flowers again this morning.

"You're spoiling me, Charles," Valentina grinned as he handed her the flowers in the car.

"Just making up for lost time," he responded with a grin. Valentina eagerly took out her phone to capture pictures of the bouquet, her radiant smile not escaping Charles' notice.

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Finally arriving at the track, Charles pulled over the car before stepping out and opening the door for Valentina.

"Uh, I don't think you parked it right," Valentina commented softly as Charles took her hand and guided her away from the bustling crowd towards the paddock.

"It's fine," Charles reassured her, though Valentina couldn't help but notice that one of the car's tires was clearly outside the designated parking lines.

As they made their way through the crowd, fans clamored for Charles's attention. He quickly let go of Valentina's hand to greet them and sign autographs, while she followed behind with a proud smile.

Some fans even called out Valentina's name, asking for selfies and autographs, which she graciously agreed to.

Soon, Sarah approached them with a worried smile and ushered them to hurry to the paddock.

"You're very late," Sarah whispered urgently to Charles, "go get ready for Qualifying, and then you have social media today."

"It's not his fault, I made us late," Valentina interjected, but Sarah brushed off her apology.

"No worries, Val," Sarah reassured her, "he's always late on social media days, trying to get out of the work. But I already rescheduled them for after Qualifying today because I know him well."

Charles rolled his eyes playfully at Sarah's remark while Valentina chuckled, finding Sarah's protective demeanor amusing.

Sarah urged Charles to hurry to the paddock, and he waved goodbye to Valentina before rushing off. Meanwhile, Sarah led Valentina to the VIP booth.

"Lily, Rebecca, Kelly, and Kika are already there, waiting for you," Sarah informed her.

Excited to meet the other girls, Valentina nodded eagerly and followed Sarah to the VIP booth.