Love Always Wins

32

Thursday February 27th.

"Are you ready?" Chloe asked.

"Just about."

"Honestly, you look like we're in the Arctic, not in Barcelona." She giggled as Seb zipped up his coat and pulled his beanie hat down lower on his head, covering his ears.

"It's cold this morning." He pulled the seat forward and reached into the back seat of the Ferrari Lusso to get his black rucksack.

"Seven degrees C is not that cold." She scoffed. "You've had it colder in Switzerland and Germany I'm sure and it was a lot colder than this Austria."

"It feels cold to me." He shrugged, closing the door and pressing a button on the key fob to lock the car. "Right, let's move." He held his hand out to her.

"How are you feeling now we're here?" She asked as she took it.

"Ok and as long as you stay with my dad and Fabian in the garage I'll stay that way."

"I promise I won't wander off."

"Good." He glanced at her as excited voices could he heard from a group of race fans, looking ahead he saw them hovering and waiting. While he knew that people taking his photo was inevitable and he'd accepted it as something that came with being a formula one driver, he just couldn't accept people taking photos of his wife. Today though, he knew he'd just have to put up with it. After yesterday it was pointless trying to stop them as social media was already awash with images of Chloe and her burgeoning baby bump after she'd been caught by eager fans on her own.

She sidestepped away while they walked as various people clamoured for a selfie and an autograph, all of them congratulating them both on the baby. She raised a brow, they were a lot more respectful today than they were when she was on her own yesterday and she recognised some of their faces too. Who needs a bodyguard when Seb's here?! She kept walking a short distance from him until they reached the paddock's security gates because he'd literally been accosted by people all the way in and it felt as though it had taken them twice as long to get in as it should have done. Scanning her pass, the panel bleeped and she pushed on the barrier to get through with Seb doing the same next to her. "We made it." She murmured quietly as he shoved his pass back inside his jacket and then took hold of her hand.

"Almost." He muttered as the usual photographers loomed into view.

"You've done the worst part though and they were a lot better than they were yesterday."

"Hmph." He grunted in reply as a couple of them got closer and began snapping away. He pulled Chloe closer to his side in response though his brisk pace meant that he was one step ahead of her.

"Morning Sebastian, feeling good about today?"

"Looking forward to a full day in the car today Seb?"

"Congratulations on the baby!"

He kept quiet and just gave them a hint of a smile in response to their questions, at least they weren't asking anything personal. Still, he was glad to get into the relative privacy of hospitality and some warmth as the doors slid open and he stepped inside. Sitting around a table with Britta, who was on her phone, and Heikki, his dad and brother were already here and he relaxed as he approached them.