The other woman

The beginning of the end

It was Tuesday morning in Doha, Qatar, and Seb slid open the door that led out on to the balcony of his luxurious hotel room. The heat immediately hit him as he peered over the rail to look down at the busy street below him and so with a glance towards the Persian Gulf, he turned and headed back in to the air conditioned coolness of his room.

Heading towards his bed, he picked up his phone from the sideboard and looked at the screen. He'd give anything to see Alex's name pop up now with a text, a naughty photo or a phone call but there was nothing, it was depressingly blank.

It was three weeks today. Three long weeks that Alex had been missing but he refused to give up. She would come back to him, she would be ok, she was strong, she'd already overcome so much in her life and she would get through whatever hell Soren was putting her through and make it back to him. He refused to accept anything else other than that.

But surely, after three long weeks the police should have something to go on other than the blanks and the dead ends they'd been getting? They hadn't been able to find out a single thing related to her disappearance, it was really bizarre as well as frightening.

There was a knock on the door shortly before it opened and Antti stepped in, hoping that there'd been some news overnight, "morning, anything?"

Seb shook his head solemnly.

He felt bad for Seb, every day that went past with no news was taking its toll. After a triple header of races he'd usually look a little weary anyway but now he looked noticeably exhausted and it had taken a lot of persuasion from himself and Britta to even get Seb on the flight here as he'd wanted to go back home.

"Antti, I know I haven't said it but I'm grateful that you could come and help. I know you've got your little girl at home and stuff going on so yeah, thank you." Seb gave him a weak smile before looking back at his phone.

"They'll find her soon," he replied, walking over to put an arm around Seb's shoulders, "I don't know her very well but from seeing her in January, she's feisty and a fighter and I'll stay to help you until the end of the season if I have to but they'll find her, I'm sure of it."

Seb took a breath and straightened his posture before finding Gisela's number on his phone, "yeah, I'm sure of it too. She's mine and she's meant to be mine, she'll come back and when she does I'm never letting her out of my sight again."

Antti patted his back, "that's the spirit. Meet you in the lobby for a run when you've finished your call?"

"In this heat?" He gaped at his trainer.

"Hot weather training, you know Alex would have you doing it too," he smiled, feeling more relaxed now that he'd checked in on Seb. "I'll leave you to it."

Seb nodded as Antti left and tapped on his screen to FaceTime his wife, she'd seemed a bit off over the last few days and he was a bit worried about her but then, now she knew he had feelings for Alex what else should he expect? He knew Gisela well, knew how she ticked and knew that she'd be feeling vulnerable and threatened and worried about loosing him - and with good reason. In just a few months his marriage would be over and his new life with Alex would be beginning.

She answered his call before he could think any further and again she seemed off, looking distracted, not smiling and just saying a brisk "hi."

Back in Switzerland, she was finding it incredibly hard to bite her tongue but kept telling herself that waiting until he got back was better than confronting him over the phone. Having had time to think about it, she was now torn between going to her lawyer to start divorce proceedings or sitting tight and fighting for her marriage.