razorblade | sebastian vettel ✓

chapter 7 | two strangers in silverstone

«He wants a bit of this sweet melancholy and he can get it any time of day.»

---

The air smelled like burnt rubber, and petrol. Maybe even oil if she could remember how that smelled. Cassandra hadn't taken their car to the mechanic in years, it was always Abigail's job — or she did it because she knew Cassandra wouldn't do it, she was the responsible one — but she assumed this same smell, the one she was inhaling was what she would perceive if she walked into one of those places where they fixed cars. There was so much more noise though, cameras, and people too. If she didn't know any better she would feel out of place or overwhelmed.

But that was Sebastian's world. And by extent, what she was writing about. Everything looked more organised on television and those videos she had seen online, but Cassandra already knew living it behind a screen and in person were two completely different things.

Britta had been nice enough to let Cassandra bother her even with the parking situation. She'd told her she could either go to where all the hospitalities were or get a close-up of the garages before the race — where the magic truly happened, her words. Cassandra asked where she could find Sebastian because, despite the fact she also knew Britta and Mark by now, he was technically the only reason she was there. Britta told her Sebastian was always meddling with the engineers and mechanics before his races, and that she would find him easily at the Red Bull garage, she would be around there as well. He'd asked her to arrive early, like really early, so she did as told. The trip from Milton Keynes to there wasn't even that bad, and that was good considering she wasn't the biggest fan when it came to driving. For obvious reasons.

And now she was there, slightly gaping at every single car she caught with her gaze, and getting a bit impressed by all the work that came with those races. There was music coming from each of the garages, some worse than others. But Cassandra found herself checking attentively each garage until she found the one she was looking for. It wasn't really tough, that Red Bull logo was hard to ignore.

Spotting Sebastian wasn't difficult either. He came into full view as she got closer. His arms were folded over his chest as he animatedly talked and joked with one of the guys who were checking what she knew was his car by the gigantic spelling of his name in front of it on the ground. Capital letters and everything. He didn't notice her at first, too engulfed in conversation, which gave Cassandra a bit of time to check him out. His racing suit hung loosely around his hips, and she liked the combination with the white fireproofs, despite all the sponsor patches and everything.

When he finally noticed her, and for a moment Cassandra thought she would've to stand right in front of him to do so, his smile grew bigger. She adverted her eyes to avoid looking like a creep. He excused himself to the mechanic he was talking to and basically jogged in her direction, she was already close but he seemed urgent apparently.

"You came." He happily said. His hair looked fluffy, Cassandra couldn't help but notice.

Her hand made a grab for the pass hanging around her neck. "I did." She gave him what she hoped wasn't an awkward twist of lips and more of a normal smile. "It's work at this point." Her shoulder lifted in a nonchalant way. "How are you?"

"Better now." He placed his hand flat on his chest. "And you? I hope you didn't have any issues arriving."

"Quite a popular route this weekend so it was alright." Even driving wasn't bad that day. She was surprised. "Also, Britta helped a lot. Remind me to thank her in person."

"She's the best." Sebastian smiled, and Cassandra nodded. "Come here, let me show you." He reached with his hand to wrap his fingers around her wrist rather quickly.