Just Him ❤

70. Canada. Pt 2

Chloe watched excitedly as Seb gave her a final smile before slipping his balaclava over his head. He was in a fairly buoyant mood after the elation of clinching pole position yesterday and today was his best chance of finally securing his first win of 2019. As usual Antti was stood close by holding Seb's drinks bottle while Chloe was now in possession of his mobile phone and headphones which she'd leave in his driver's room once he'd left for the grid. Nerves were starting to build and flutter in her stomach as Seb put his helmet on and secured the fastening underneath. Flipping his visor open he took a step over to her and placed his hands on the tops of her arms.
"Ich liebe dich." He leaned in close to say the words so that only she could hear, his blue eyes twinkled with the excitement that he was also feeling.

"Ich liebe dich auch." She grinned as she said the words to him, observing how the corners of his eyes wrinkled up as he smiled back at her from under his helmet. He stepped away and she knew that now his focus would be solely on Lina and the race. As he stepped into the car and slid into cockpit Chloe knew that her decision not to mention the photo of him with Britta that she'd been sent, was the right one. Nor had she mentioned the other message that had followed it. She'd received nothing else since Thursday and so had dismissed the messages as Stephen just trying to cause a rift between herself and Seb. With her driver secured into his seat and a radio check completed Lina was started and roared into life. The tyre warmers were off and she was lowered off her jacks before disappearing out of the garage. Showtime.

            ~*~

Sitting next to Antti in hospitality the race was now over the half distance mark and Chloe knew she should be using this time to catch up on some emails but she just couldn't tear her eyes away from the screens in front of her. Her knee was bouncing rapidly up and down and her fingers were digging into the arm of the chair she was sat in.
"You can relax you know." Antti's words brought her back to the room and her eyes quickly flickered to his before going back to the screen.

"When he crosses that line, then I'll relax." She muttered anxiously. "Shit!" She stood up with such a strong, sudden movement that her chair fell backwards as Seb nearly lost control and ran wide onto some grass. He rejoined the track but in his struggle to keep control he nearly collided with Lewis who had to run close to the barrier to avoid him. "Now try and tell me to relax." She gave Antti an annoyed look. "No doubt Lewis will cry over the radio to his pit wall about it, prick." She picked her chair up, oblivious to the looks she was getting from other team members and guests, and sat back down with a huff. Antti said nothing, figuring it was best if he kept quiet, even more so when a banner appeared on screen saying that car number five was under investigation for the incident. "See! I told you he'd go blubbing on the fucking radio!" She leaned forward in her seat and pointed to the silver Mercedes that was currently in shot on the screen. They sat in a nervous silence for another ten minutes until the result of the stewards investigation came through. Seb was to have a five second time penalty added at the end of the race, meaning that unless he could pull out a lead of over five seconds on Lewis, he'd be demoted to second place. Chloe's heart sunk, and then broke and she rose from her seat once more and then went running out of hospitality. Antti quickly decided to go after her and followed her out as she ran across the paddock, into the back of the Ferrai garage and into Seb's room where she slammed the door shut just as he got to it. He opened it slowly, expecting her to yell at him to leave her alone. What he got instead was her leaning on the massage table, her head down with angry silent tears running down her cheeks and falling onto the surface. She couldn't believe the emotions that had flooded her body. Anger, frustration and despair for her boyfriend's situation were mixing inside her. If she felt like this, then what on earth was Seb feeling like in the car?

"Chloe?" Antti approached her cautiously.

"Complete and utter bastards." She uttered, raising her head to look at him. "Jesus shit." She wiped under her eyes furiously. "This is just bullshit." Her voice trembled and Antti slipped an arm around her shoulders. Without thinking she automatically turned into him and pressed her face against his shoulder.