Out Of The Blue (Sebastian Vettel)

4. Settling In

"Not in trouble are you?" he joked.

"No, it's good news. Kevin's replacement has finally been sorted. She starts on Monday. And she will be definitely be taking over as Lance's Press Officer." Matt high fived her.

"That's great. Good luck to her with Lance. Hope she's young and pretty. That will piss Annaliese right off."

Sophie sniggered. Annaliese really wasn't popular in their office. In fact the blonde personal trainer seemed to go out of her way to make enemies.

"So any info on the new girl?" Matt asked.

"Not really, all Otmar said is she has experience in motorsport PR and starts Monday."

"Oh, well guess we will find out then. Only three days to go. Maybe with a full team we might have time to socialise after work for once instead of staying late!"

"Better tell Joel, he'll be happy to hear it. Where is he anyway?" Matt filled her in on Joel's shenanigans, making her shake with laughter.

The prankster returned to the office fifteen minutes later to the news that three were about to become four again.

The office felt a bit more light hearted that afternoon. Soon they'd be able to relax a little more.

                        ***

Seb stood with his forehead pressed against the changing room wall. When will she just get the message? he thought to himself. His phone buzzed with yet another text from his ex girlfriend, Madeleine.

Madeleine: Please Sebby baby, you must forgive me. I'm so sorry. I was just so lonely. You never had time for me. And Miguel was there. I love you, and I know you love me. I won't give up on you. On us. Xx

He had told Madeleine until he was blue in the face that he wouldn't be taking her back. She was wrong. He didn't love her anymore. He hadn't loved her for a long time. Her leaving him for Miguel had been a shock. It had damn well hurt, but now he felt that it was the best thing that could have happened. If she hadn't done that they'd still be stuck in a rut, in a relationship that was going nowhere. He started tapping back a reply.

Seb: Madeleine, you did what you did. Now you have to live with the consequences. We are over. For good. Any love I had for you has gone. I wish you the best, but please don't contact me again.

He switched his phone off and put it in his rucksack. He didn't trust himself to be so polite if she texted him back again. He glanced at his watch. Time to head back to the hotel. He picked up his gym bag and opened the changing room door,  heading down the corridor towards the main lobby.

"Hey Seb, wait up!" a voice called from the other end of the hallway. He turned to see his team mate, Lance Stroll, heading his way.

"Hey Lance,"he greeted the dark haired Canadian.

"What are you up to this weekend? A few of the lads are going out in MK. I wondered if you fancied it? You know, get to meet more of the crew." Seb was about to decline. He was over a decade older than Lance and he didn't feel they had much in common. But then he thought, why not? He wanted a new start. He had a new team. Maybe it would be good to get to know more of them. And Lance was going out of his way to make him feel at home. It would be rude to say no.

"Sure. Sounds good," he said, before he could change his mind. "Text me the details. You have my number?" Lance nodded. "See you later."

Seb headed out into the lobby, then out of the main door and into the car park.   He approached his black DBX. He opened the boot and threw his gym
bag inside.

The car park was virtually empty. It was Friday afternoon and most of the workforce finished early on Fridays unless it was a race weekend, which it wasn't. He slid into the driver's seat and just enjoyed the silence for a few minutes. He already felt at home here. It was good to be in such a small, family like environment after the circus thet had been Maranello. He felt wanted here. He just wished his personal life was as settled. He sighed.

He had spent several years with Madeleine and now he was single for the first time in what felt like forever. He didn't miss her as such, but he missed having someone, someone to hold and to hold him. Someone to talk nonsense with just because they could. Someone special.  He knew he would never settle for just anyone. There had to be someone out there for him. Someone who could make him happy again.

The last few years with Madeleine had been awful if he was honest about it. He had fallen out of love with her but had  been too cowardly to end it. He had stayed with her just for the sake of it. He didn't know how to be single anymore. It was all new to him. How did he go about meeting someone? It wasn't as if a World Champion racing driver could join Tinder.

He noticed the three members of the PR team exit the building and climb into a blue Nissan Juke. They were all laughing and joking with each other. He missed having close friends like that. It really was a lonely life.

He was quite good friends with some of the drivers. Kimi, Lewis, Daniel, but ultimately they were still his rivals.

The PR team seemed a fun lot. Joel was definitely the joker of the pack. Seb knew he shouldn't have laughed at poor Annaliese earlier but the look on her face had been hilarious. She'd been mortified. Lance had told him that she had a crush on him. He hoped not. He'd had enough of blondes to last a lifetime. Blondes were a weakness of his. Maybe it was time to go for a brunette or a red head? Yes. Time for a change.

He started the ignition. It was time for him to lighten up a bit. He had to stop being so serious and have some fun.

                        ***

Joel pulled into his parking space the following Monday morning, driving maybe a little too fast. They were running a bit late though. It was not a good impression to set to their new colleague. He hoped she wouldn't be too annoyed with them, but it wasn't as if they could have helped it. Things had just all seemed to go wrong at once.

First of all Matt's car wouldn't start. Then when he'd picked Matt up and gone to get Sophie, she'd only been half dressed as her alarm hadn't gone off. And to top it all off there had been a delay on the dual carriageway after a lorry had broken down.

They all jumped out of the car and walked briskly across the car park towards the factory. Joel held the door open for them and they headed towards their office at the end of the corridor. Just before they opened the door they heard Bradley, one of the interns, calling them.

"The new girl is here, she's been asking where you've all got to. I put her in your office."

"Thanks Bradley," said Sophie, smiling at the young man and making him blush.

"Well, let's get this over with," muttered  Joel, pushing the door handle down and opening the door. They all filed inside, eager to meet their new colleague. The new girl was stood looking out of the window, her back turned to them. Her dark hair was pinned up in a messy bun. She was dressed in the team uniform of green jeans and polo shirt.

"We are so sorry we are late,"apologised Joel. "You won't believe the morning we've had."

"Somethings never change do they Barnes? Always an excuse, " a familiar voice said.

The girl turned around to face them and they all got the shock of a lifetime.