From Deep End to Surface and Everything In Between (Sebastian Vettel FanFic)

Reality Check

By the time she was ready, she had a very different person staring back from the mirror. 'I finally look like myself again.' She murmured softly before hurrying out of the door. She went by the nursery to check up on Alex, who was sleeping soundly. She rolled her eyes affectionately at sight. If only he slept that during the night as well.

She looked at her watch, cursing under her breath. 'Elena, I'm heading off. See you later!' She yelled before yanking the door open.

'Sorry, I'm late!' She panted as she flopped herself to the chair in the conference room. She leaned against the table with her left elbow whilst she dug out her laptop from her bag. 'Glad to see you were able to grace us with your presence Miss Smith.' Graham smirked, and Scar pressed her lips tightly against each other to avoid giggles. 'Shall we start then?' Graham reached for her to receive a curt nod, then Graham began the meeting.

Scar pinched the nose bridge in a desperate attempt of keeping her awake during the meeting. The sleepless night was catching up with her, pronto. The adrenaline from sprinting through the London tube was wearing off too quickly for her liking. She blinked a couple of times to refocus on the slides that Graham was walking through, but he might as well have spoken gibberish or Latin to her.

'Earth to Scarlette?'

'Hmm?'

'Is your head in the clouds?' Graham didn't look amused any longer but irritated by her nonresponsive behaviours. 'Sorry.' She murmured, embarrassed. Graham shot a meaningful look towards her before he continued, his eyes fixated on her. Scar slid down on her chair, hoping to make herself smaller. The situation was a solid deja-vu feeling of being told off by the headmistress that she skipped too many classes because of swimming when she was a pre-teen. She chewed her inner cheek to avoid another yawn escaping past her lips.

Scar eyes looped shut. Scar was tired as hell, in desperate need of an endless nap. 'Scarlette!' She hadn't realised that she had fallen asleep against her palm. She lost her balance when her elbow slipped from the edge of the table. 'Sorry.' She mumbled with a red face, cursing the newborn life. Graham shook his head and sighed. 'I think we're done for the day. Thank you, everyone.'

Scar jumped up and gathered her items quickly. 'Scar, a moment please?' She nodded and sat slowly back to the seat, ready to hear a penny of Graham's thoughts. She was surprised when he sat next to her, folding his hands on top of the table. 'What's going on, Scar?' His bluntness made her frown. 'What do you mean?'

'Ever since your unexpected absence, you have been off. Showing up late, falling asleep on your desk, neglecting work, missing deadlines...' He trailed off as they both knew the list was endless. She didn't know where to begin with. She exhaled laboriously. 'My ex-husband passed away, and I inherited a three-month-year-old baby boy.'

His mouth snapped open. 'Scar-' Scar shrugged. 'It's okay. I know I took leave at a highly inconvenient time, but I had to be home to settle in with Alex, which is still a struggle, as you can tell with my constant naps.' She leaned back in the chair, folding her arms across her chest. Her gaze was unfocused. She felt a lump on her throat when her thoughts returned to the previous night and endless attempts to make Alex fall asleep. 'I'm struggling to adjust to the new rhythm.' She barked heavily when the lump didn't move. She didn't dare to move her head.

Graham's raised his hand gently to her shoulder. 'I had no idea, Scar... I'm sorry for your loss.' Scar laughed bitterly before she murmured. 'Thank you. I never expected to take care of a child at my age...' Her eyes were hollow, dimmed and alarmed. Her lower lip flickered, and she bit hard the inner lip to maintain her emotions in check. The lump in her throat got tighter when she attempted to swallow.