Out Of The Blue (Sebastian Vettel)

42. Stateside

The man in black entered the dimly lit bar. His eyes scanned the room,  searching for the woman he had arranged to meet, and trying not to attract attention. At first he thought she had stood him up but then he recognised her sat in the corner at the back. He approached her, pulling his cap down low so the people at the neighbouring table wouldn't recognise him. He sat down at the table with her.

"You're late," she said, accusingly.

"Gee, I'm sorry, " he said, although he obviously wasn't sorry at all. "I couldn't get away."

"I sincerely hope you've got a definite plan this time, " she said, sounding totally fed up.

"It takes time, we must be certain it would work. We both risk losing a lot if this goes wrong." She nodded, realising how right he was. It was risky, but she needed to do this.

"Just keep watching them closely. Any information we get may prove to be helpful."

"And what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm watching too, and coming up with a plan. Are you having second thoughts?"

"No way. "

"Good. Vettel is going down, and his pretty little girlfriend too."

With that Benjamin Van Der Loew stood up and exited the bar,  leaving Annaliese Harrow sat alone with her drink.

***

It was Friday night in Austin. It was unusually hot for the end of October, in fact it was scorching. The air conditioning was on full blast.

A group of them had gathered in Lance's suite for a movie night once they'd all arrived back from the track. Matt was there, as was Joel, Laura, Antti, Seb, Melissa and Britta. Sophie had headed over to Daniel's for a quiet night alone.

Lance had decided to put a James Bond movie on, one of the Daniel Craig ones. They were halfway through it when there was a knock at the door. Lance got up to see who was there. They were all surprised to see Annaliese come into the room. She tended to avoid them all as if she thought she was above anyone else.

"Hi everyone. Is it ok if I join you?" They all grunted. No one was really happy about it but they were too polite to say so. Seb made a point of hugging Melissa even closer to him. He didn't trust Annaliese as far as he could throw her. He wanted to make it obvious that Melissa was the only woman he was interested in just in case Annaliese had any ideas.

He couldn't quite work out why she was even there. She never usually hung out with them. He said as much to Melissa, whispering in her ear.

"Perhaps she's just lonely," Melissa whispered back. Seb smiled, it was typical of Melissa to think the best of everyone. He kept catching Annaliese watching him and wondered what she was up to. Towards the end of the movie he saw Melissa was yawning her head off.

"Do you want to go?" he asked her. She nodded at him. They made their excuses and headed back to Seb's suite. "Stay with me tonight?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied immediately. 

"I want you with me all the time. Please think about it, it makes sense. I could wake you up like this every morning." He leaned in, kissing her neck, nipping with his teeth, until he left a small purple bruise.

She sighed, how did he make her feel like this? She ran her hand down his chest, over his stomach, until she felt the solid bulge in his jeans.

"Someone's excited," she said.

"How can I not be with you around," he answered, pushing her down on to the bed. He pulled his T-shirt off and laid down bedsides her. They kissed and his right hand crept up under her top, cupping her breast. "I thought you were tired anyway."