Out Of The Blue (Sebastian Vettel)

14. Her Saviour

Melissa, Joel, Sophie and Matt all jumped up and down hugging each other in celebration. Seb had done it, finally a podium! And Lance was fourth!! What a great day for Aston Martin.

The team all surged towards the podium for the ceremony. Melissa felt emotional hearing God Save the Queen play for Lando and McLaren. It felt like it was for Aston Martin too. What an amazing feeling! How would it feel to actually win a race? The drivers headed back inside after their champagne spraying had concluded. The team members started drifting away, heading back to their area.

"There's gonna be some serious celebrating tonight," said Joel, excitedly. "It's gonna be wild."

"Hell yeah," replied Melissa, who was quick to begin wondering whether Seb would be there or not. She told herself off for her thinking about him.  She'd made her decision and she was going to stick to it. 

"Definitely," agreed Sophie. Matt nodded. Melissa told them she would see them later and headed off to meet Lance for his post race media commitments. He seemed to have disappeared.  She cast her eyes around looking for him.  Distracted in her search, she nearly fell to the floor as she collided with a hard body.  A pair of hands grabbed her and kept her upright. 

"Hey steady on," said a familiar voice.  She looked up and smiled gratefully at Nicholas Latifi. 

"I'm so sorry Nicky, I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologised. "I'm trying to find Lance, don't suppose you've seen him have you?"

"Sorry. I haven't. I'll let you go find him, take care.  And watch where you're going!!" She stood for a few seconds watching the Williams driver walk away. He'd asked her on a second date in China, which she'd declined. She'd explained to him she really wasn't looking to start dating but hoped they could remain friends.

He'd been great about it. He'd said he understood and that she knew where to find him if she changed her mind. She really couldn't understand why she didn't want to date him. He was perfect. Handsome, caring, intelligent. What the hell was wrong with her? The truth was she knew exactly what was wrong.  He wasn't Seb. She couldn't stop thinking about him, his dark blonde hair, his sapphire blue eyes, his soft German accent. Everything about the man was haunting her.

She suddenly spotted the green race suit of Lance Stroll a few yards away, he was talking to Checo Perez. She approached, and as he saw her he scooped her up in a massive hug.

"Congratulations Lance!" she exclaimed. "What a race. You did amazing, especially from tenth on the grid!" He laughed loudly.

"I am so hyped right now. Oh my God. I can't believe it. It feels so good. And Seb was second, wow, it's all coming good." He put her down.

"Come on superstar, let's get this media show on the road. The sooner you get it done the sooner you can debrief, and the sooner you debrief the sooner you can get celebrating." He grinned at her, said goodbye to Checo and they made their way ino the media pen.

***

The dancefloor was rapidly filling up, drinks were being consumed at an alarming rate. Melissa was only a little tipsy as she was pacing herself, she really didn't want to end up shitfaced before the night was even half over. For once Joel seemed to be pacing himself too. Of course it had nothing to do with the cute Red Bull mechanic that was sat at the next table with his Haas-employed sister and her colleagues. She'd noticed the way Joel kept sneaking looks at him. She thought to herself that they'd make an extremely cute couple.

Matt and Sophie had no such inhibitions it seemed. They'd been on the shots already, and Sophie in particular was very drunk. A few years ago Melissa would have been doing the shots with them. It just didn't give her the same satisfaction nowadays. You're getting old girl, she told herself with a grin on her face.