The Photographer

(19) Plaid shirts

Thanks to FormulaSV5 for the help in finding me a header pic! ♥️♥️

Seb didn't speak until they'd reached his kitchen and he begun by pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her and sighing softly as he let his lips linger on her forehead. He couldn't blame Iris for asking about Lucy, she was obviously still affected by the whole thing but at least with her here he could do something about it.

"Sorry," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around him, "I wasn't thinking. Sometimes my heads all over the place."

"It's ok, I understand," he stroked her hair and made a point of holding her that little bit tighter. He couldn't blame her for having moments like this and with her being married he knew there'd be more moments and also times where her guilt could get too much for her. They were both in a situation that neither of them had been in before; Iris had never had an affair before and Seb had never been 'the other man', having always sworn he'd never get into a relationship with a woman who was already with someone - until he'd met her. In a way they were on a learning curve together and he'd be stupid to think that their relationship would be all sunshine and rainbows, there'd also be dark clouds and storms. "Lucy was the biggest mistake I've ever made, she was just there and I was stupid and weak. She's not been here, Iris, so she's never been in my bed. You'd probably be surprised how few women have been here, how few girlfriends I've actually had."

She looked up at him; Seb was so stunningly handsome, so beautiful, that it was difficult to comprehend that he'd not dated many women. They must be queuing round the block for a chance with him! "But being in formula one, it must be so easy to meet someone," she replied, sounding as surprised as she felt by his admission.

He smiled ruefully. Iris was right, it was easy to meet women, maybe too easy but all too often they'd be the wrong type of woman - after the fortune and fame of being a driver's girlfriend. It would be all about the likes on social media, getting your face on tv, a glitzy and luxurious lifestyle and having access to money and fast cars. He wasn't like several of his peers in F1, his private life away from the track wasn't about social media, glitzy lifestyles, fast cars and days spent on jet skis and yachts in Monaco or on beaches in some far flung, exotic location. Yes, he was fortunate to own a big house in the Swiss countryside and a garage full of classic cars and motorcycles but he'd worked hard for all of that, it hadn't just fallen into his lap. He started from more humble beginnings than some of today's drivers, coming from an ordinary (though some might argue and say extraordinary) working class family in a small but now famous town in Germany. With his father's unwavering support he'd worked and fought hard from a very young age to get to where he was today and that always kept him grounded. He was just Seb, just a normal guy who liked to do normal things, things that would probably seem mundane to a lot of people. He preferred the peace and tranquility of where he lived now, he loved the outdoors, loved to go hiking or biking in the hills and mountains and skiing in the winter; he loved to spend time in his garden where he'd started to grow his own vegetables, had bee hives and had a wind turbine installed to further help generate his own electricity along with the solar panels on the rooftops of his buildings here. He knew the dairy farmer who owned the land adjacent to his and would happily spend an hour or so riding shotgun in his tractor talking about everything apart from F1 and from whom he bought fresh milk from daily when he was home and he was even looking in to getting chickens and had started to build an enclosure for them so that he could have fresh eggs as often as they'd lay. Iris was right but she was also wrong. "It is easy, women will sometimes try and throw themselves at me," he admitted, "but they're not wanting to be with me for me, it's more about what I can offer them materialistically, not about who I am away from F1 and I'll be honest, up until my time with Ferrari ended, I didn't really have time for relationships and I've never met anyone who I've felt that I really connect with until you."