All I see is Sainz

Chapter 9

Present day...
  
             I walked into Pablo's office with my mind set. I was going to kindly reject his offer and stay as I am now. I take a seat in the chair in front of his desk. "Good morning, I suppose you have an answer for me?" He asked enthusiastically clearing his throat and scooting forward in his chair. "Yes I do... thank you really. I appreciate everything you've done for me and being so understanding about my situation with my son but I think I'm fine where I am now and would like to just stay in that position" I say turning him down gently. "Oh." He says surprised. He sits back into his chair and eyes me for a second.
          "Are you sure? I'm willing to give you a decent pay raise, paid vacation time too even." He throws in. I start to think for a second but he cuts me off before I can say anything. "You know what? Forget it. I'm giving you this promotion either way. Consider yourself moved up. Starting tomorrow you will be my personal assistant. I'll make the arrangements to get you a desk and a better office." He proudly says and with his hand, ushers me out of his office. What the hell? I'm a bit confused but decide not to say anything. I go to Cassidy's office and tell her everything. I also throw in about Carlos. How he wants to be something more and wants to meet our Eli. She quietly shrieks and celebrates herself for being right. "I told you!!!" She jumps up from her chair. I tell her about how he's coming over for dinner. And she offers to tidy up the apartment while I cook the dinner. Not that our place is dirty it's usually very organized.
              I'm leaving work now and decide to text Carlos as I'm walking to pick up Elias.
   Me: Hey, just wanted to make sure you haven't changed your mind...we're still good for dinner at my place later?
       It takes a couple minutes before he replies.
     Carlos: I'm serious Hermosa, I want this. I'll be there at 7pm sharp. ;)
Me: okayyy, it's the 4th floor, apartment 55C.
Carlos: Can't wait. Just wrapping up some work calls over Skype, but I'll be free in time for dinner. See you soon!
As I stood outside the school gates, I was contemplating on tell Eli about Carlos specifically or just letting him see and find out for himself. Lord I know he's going to go crazy. The bell rings and I stuff my phone in my purse. "Mamiii" he greets me excitedly, this has to be my favorite part of everyday. "Oh how I've missed you mi niño hermoso" giving him a soft kiss on the head. "Come now. We have to stop at the store for some stuff for later." I explain as I grab his hand and start walking. "What if he doesn't like me? I want him to like me so maybe he can be your boyfriend, so you can have someone and maybe I can have a dad..." he whispers the last part.
"Mi amor, don't worry about me. As long as I have you I'll be fine. And I'm sorry. I wish you could have a dad. But you have to understand if I did have a boyfriend, it would be up to him if he wants to be a dad to you. But don't worry my love. You'll always have me." I try to console him. "I love you mami" he tells me and leans into my side. "Now, I need you to be on your best behavior tonight ok? And I have some good news. My boss gave me a promotion with a pay raise so hopefully I can get us tickets to the Barcelona Grand Prix!!" His face immediately lights up and he jumps up while holding my hand. "Yayyyy" he yells a bit too loudly, earning us some stare from people walking by.
We're quick in the grocery store, I buy a key lime pie for dessert and some vegetable mix as a side for the salmon. I let Eli choose a candy for after dinner. As soon as we get home I ask him to please clean his room and pick up all his toys he has scattered throughout the house. I get the salmon out of the fridge and set it on the cutting board to prep it. I pull my hair into a ponytail first. I get my seasonings and pots and pans out and get to work. Seasoning the salmon and putting them on a oven safe try to bake. In one pot I have the steamed rice going, the vegetables in another. And I leave one pan on the stove to make a honey glaze for the salmon when it's nearly out. I put the salmon in the oven as Cass walks in. "Honey I'm home!" She laughs to herself.
         "Perfect timing. Mind keeping an eye on the kitchen? I want to take a quick shower?" I plead. "Of course girlfriend" she winks. "Thank you!" I say and scurry to my room. I grab a floral, flowy dress and get in the shower. I exfoliate and shave quickly, and then wash my hair. Once out the shower I get dressed and decide to blow dry my hair halfway and let it air dry the rest of the way, otherwise I'd be in the bathroom forever. I sprint to the kitchen to find that everything is done cooking and Cass comes up from behind me dressed for dinner. "Hey everything's ready, I just left it to stay warm." He catches me up. "Oh thank you" I say and get to work setting the table.
"Does he know it's him?" She asks raising her brows at me. "No I wasn't sure if I should tell him or let him be surprised. Either way he'll go crazy when he sees him in person. Which reminds me I need to have a little talk before Carlos gets here." I quickly set the table and grab the bottle of wine I put in the fridge earlier. "Eli ? Baby?" I call out for him. His running steps reach me and Cass quickly. "Si mami?" He perks up. "Buckle your pants my love and come. I need to talk to you." I say sternly and he does as I say. "So... when he gets here I need you to stay calm. Don't go crazy or you'll scare him off" I say in a serious way but still joking. "You're scaring ME mami, who is he? Carlos Sainz?" And he starts laughing. I don't reply and let him have his laugh. He eventually walks back to his room.
My phone sitting on the kitchen island starts ringing.
Incoming call: Carlos
I answer quickly.
"Hey hermosa I'm coming up now. I'm in the elevator." He says with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Oh ok. See you here." My voice comes out a bit shaky because of the nerves. Fuck. Get it together. I shake myself off and take a deep breath. The elevator must be working double time because I hear a knock on the door. Here we go.
I check through the peep hole and sure enough it's him. One last deep breath and I open the door. Damn he was hot. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt with the top button open exposing his toned chest and chest hair. White slacks and sneakers. He clears his throat, catching me checking him out. "Hola hermosa. You look as beautiful as always" he says and leans for a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry, please, come in" I offer and step to the side to allow him in. It's only once he walks in and passes me that I notice he has three red gift bags. "Welcome to my humble abode" I say playfully. Once you go in it's a the open concept kitchen and living room. The kitchen to the left and then the dining table, and then we have our living room. There's a hallway in between the kitchen and living room that leads to our bathroom and bedrooms. I point out the hallway and tell him where he can find the bathroom and then just mention our rooms. Mine is the first down the hall in the right side. The bathroom on the left. Then it's Elias in between cass's and my room.
          I go to stand less than a foot away. "Are you sure? You can back out and I wouldn't blame you..." I whisper to him, my neck tilted up looking at him. "Yes I'm sure. I want this. You. Your son." He reassures me tilting his head down so our foreheads touch. I can't help but look at his lips. So perfect, asking to be kissed. I haven't kissed someone or been with anyone romantically for six years. I wanted this but I wanted to take it slow. I inhale deeply and then exhale. "Ok" I say with a smile. "Set your bags down on the island and I'll call them." I tell him and he does so. I don't know what came over me but I went for his hand. He didn't hesitate to envelop my small hand in his huge one. I lead him to the dining table where he'll be sitting.
        "Cass! Eli!" I call out. I hear one door open first and then another. I was nervous. VERY nervous. I took one quick glance at Carlos and he was smiling. "Mami- whhattttt?! NOO WAYYYY" he stops dead in his tracks with his mouth wide open and his hands on the side of his head. "Eli don't be rude" Cass gives him a nudge forward from behind. "Hey I'm Cassidy, Cass. It's nice to meet you" she introduces herself and greets. She offers her hand. "Carlos. Nice to meet you, Angela's told me lots about you." He said with a smile and chuckles. "Eli! Come here" I say with a stern look. He's still standing in place. He shakes his head and tugs on his shirt and walks forward slowly.
        "Carlos, this is my son, Elias." I tell him. And walk behind Elias, placing my hands on his shoulders and nudge him forward. "I'm Eli." His voice shaky. "I'm Carlos" he says with a soft laugh. "I know." Eli quickly responds. "I got you guys something while I was in Monaco." He speaks up and hands Eli one of the bags first, then me and then Cass. "Carlos you shouldn't have" I say politely. "I wanted to" he says happily. "Can I open it mami?" Eli begs holding the bag up. "After dinner papi. Let's eat before the food gets cold. We all walk to the table and sit down. The food still hot and fresh. We start eating and Eli is chowing his food down as if sometimes is coming to take it. "Slow down mi amor, you can choke." I want him. "Sorry ma" he puts his head down as if I embarrassed him.
"So, Elias, your mom tells me you're a big Formula 1 fan." Carlos says as he sets his fork down. "Yes! You're my favorite driver on the grid" he says shyly. "I appreciate it. You ever been to a race before? I'm sure you'd fit perfectly at a Grand Prix" he tries to get Eli out of whatever shell he crawled in. "Not yet, I was just asking my mami if we can go to the race in Barcelona. It's a home race for you right?" He asks finally peeking back up. I couldn't help but sit back silently and watch their interaction. I looked at Cass who was sitting across from me and she seemed to be smitten by the interaction as well. Carlos was sitting next to me, Eli across from him.
"Yup! That's a very special race for me. You guys should definitely come!" He says to all of us. "I can get you guys paddock passes. You can watch from the Ferrari garage too." He says looking at me. "Oh Carlos. You're too kind but I can't accept that. I just got a promotion at work, with the pay raise, I should be able to get us some decent seating tickets. If I can just find out where to buy them" I admit. "Nonsense. Please, I insist." He adds, then gets a forkful of salmon and rice. "I don't know. It's too much, I wouldn't want you to go out of your way or anything." I try and maintain my stand. "Mamiiii. Please. Pretty please?? I promise I'll finish the school year strong." He tries to give me puppy dog eyes but hasn't perfected the skill. "Can I at least give you the money for what normal tickets would cost us?" I try and negotiate. "Uh uh." He says with a smirk. "Let's finish dinner and we'll see." With that we continued dinner while conversing. We all talked equally, no one got left out.
We finished dinner and decided to wait a bit before desert. "You guys go onto the living room, I'll just clean up real quick." I stated. "Let me help" Cass adds and so we start clearing the table while the boys go to the couch. Eli leading Carlos. I couldn't help but feel my heart flutter at the sight of them too. "Girll he's dreamy"Cass whispers to me with a deep sigh. "I know" I blush and couldn't contain my smile. "Eli seems to really like him" she adds. "It probably helps that he's a huge fan of his." We clear whatever is left on the plates and make it a two man job of loading the dish washer. "Can I get you a drink or anything Carlos?" I speak out to him over on the couch. "No I'm good cariño. Thank you. I want to save space for desert." He gives me a wink and turns down to whatever Eli is talking to him about.
"Don't over think it, go for it. You deserve it." Cass nudges me with her elbow and gives me a smile that says a thousand words. Cass and I make our way to the L shaped couch. I go to sit next to Carlos, Cass next to Eli. "Ma! Can I show Carlos my room? I want to show him my F1 merch." He asks excitedly. "Sure. But first you have to ask Carlos amor. Maybe he doesn't want to." I give him a stern look with a raised brow and he knows he needs to correct his little mistake. "Sorry" he turns back to Carlos. "Do you want to see my room? You don't have to..." "Of course little man. Lead the way" Carlos has been great with Eli the whole night. Encouraging his excitement. Matching his energy and vibes. I really hoped things would work out. The boys spend about 15 minutes in Eli's room and by the time they come out we all gathered on the stools around the kitchen island and ate our pie.
"If my manager would see me right now he'd smack this desert out of my plate." Carlos jokes and then goes on to explain his strict diet. I had no idea how strict it was. It was getting late, around Eli's bed time. "It's almost bed time love, go get changed into your pajamas." I order him and he wants to refuse but does as I say. He looks back at Carlos with sad eyes and starts to walk away slowly then turns around in a flash. "Wait mami! Our gifts?!" I had totally forgotten. "Oh shoot. You're right." I go and grab the bags, each labeled with who they belonged too. I pass Cassidy hers, and Eli's his. He digs right in and his mouth goes wide. "NO WAY!! Thank you so much Carlos. You're the best!" His voice full of excitement and he runs over to Carlos where's he's sitting on the stood and wraps his arms around him.
It was clear he caught Carlos off guard as he tensed at Eli's contact at first. Oh no. Maybe this was too much. But within a second his eyes softened and he wraps his arms around Eli. "You're welcome." "What did you get papi?" I ask. He pulls out what are driver cards and a mini signed replica of Carlos's helmet. "That was very sweet of you. Thank you." I tell him. "Open yours. You too Cassidy. I hope you guys like it." He says nervously. Cass and I open the gift bag at the same time. "No fucking way" cass reacts first. "Language!" I scold her. "Oh Carlos. This is... beautiful." We both pull out the Christian Dior purses he got us. "This must've cost you a fortune. I can't accept this." I say. I look over at Cassidy who's admiring the beautiful grey purse. Mine is white. "Please accept it." He tries and gives me a frown which earns a chuckle from Eli. "Go get changed baby" I remind him and he leaves the kitchen. "Thank you so much Carlos. I owe you. It was lovely meeting you" and Cass retreats. It's just Carlos and I left in the kitchen.