Fifth Light (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 40: Parents

Casey stood at the back of the garage, biting her lip and staring into space as she waited.

Her parents were due to arrive at any moment. A car had been sent to collect them from the airport.

It was 8am local time. She'd come in extra early with Seb to get her work done quickly and allow herself time to deal with the parent debacle. She'd been placed on half-duties for the weekend anyway, so her workload was extra light. A second mechanic, Felix, had been flown in to do the other half of her work and train as a reserve should Casey need more time off in future due to her 'unique circumstances'. She would continue to participate in the pit stops throughout the weekend however, still somehow ranking as one of their quickest performers.

She had to admit it was hard to keep up with both her job and Seb. She was already being granted a lot more days off than the rest of the team and seemed to be avoiding being scheduled to travel back to the factory in between Grand Prix's. She felt guilty, but also very grateful to have so many concessions granted to her. Seb too seemed to have been getting out of travelling back to the factory over the past few weeks, though Casey knew he would be heading back to England after the German Grand Prix to put in a large chunk of time on the simulator in the lead up to Silverstone.

It was Felix's first time working away from the factory and he was relatively new to the team anyway. Casey couldn't help but be amused by the terror in his eyes as he tried to stay out of everyone's way. Not that long ago, that had been her and Evan.

Seb was around the garage somewhere, in and out of driver briefings and meetings with his pit wall crew.

Her ears pricked up as she heard the all too familiar tone of her mother's voice coming from down the hallway behind the garage. She took a deep breath and braced herself.

"Where is she? Where is she!" Julie Larsen, Casey's mother, shrieked as she rounded the corner and peered around the garage enthusiastically. Her father, Greg Larsen, followed along behind his wife.

Greg worked back at the Milton Keynes factory on a full time basis in the administration sector. They'd happily granted him leave to attend the race this weekend. Julie had given up her job as a florist some years ago, now preferring to spend her time tending to the family home and garden back in England. She watched the races mainly just to spot Casey, but her knowledge of the sport pretty much ended there. Casey was hoping her father would keep her mother in check this weekend.

"Mum." Casey called, waving her over.

"Casey!" she called excitedly, hurrying over and pulling her daughter into an embrace. Greg followed, hugging Casey and rubbing her arms.

"How was the flight?" Casey asked, slightly nervous to have her parents standing in her workplace, mere meters away from all of the most important things in her life.

"They put us in first class! First class!" her mum grinned enthusiastically.

Casey raised an eyebrow, wondering if Seb was behind that. She'd never know, he'd never admit to it if it was him anyway.

"Greg, great to see you!" Christian called as he wandered into the garage and spotted their guests.

He came over and stood next to Casey, beaming at her parents. Casey felt a little sick. They all shook hands while Casey practically writhed in discomfort.

"She's behaving I hope?" Her father said, nodding towards Casey as he looked at Christian. Typical dad thing to say, ugh.

"She's a star!" Christian replied, smiling broadly between Casey and her parents, "We love her ...some of us moreso than others." Christian added off-handedly with a wink in Casey's direction.