Life in the Fastlane (Sebastian Vettel)

8. Haunted

The team burst into applause as Mollie entered the motorhome.   She stopped and smiled, blushing. 

"Listen guys.  It was a team effort.  So I think you should applaud yourselves too," she said, putting her hands together for the team. 

Mollie had just had her best result yet, finishing in fifth place in a race that could only be described as wet.  Very wet.  Cars had been spinning off everywhere and Mollie had been one of the few drivers to capitalise on some of the top teams' mistakes.

"Here's to us all," Scott shouted, appearing behind her and lifting her off of her feet. She squealed.

Putting her down he gave her a strange look.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing. Ask me again sometime," he replied, smiling.

"So who's coming out tonight to celebrate?" Joel asked.

"I already have plans I'm afraid," Mollie said. "I'm out for dinner with some of the Formula W girls. Sophia, Lily, Kimberley and Paola. I didn't get time to catch up with them much in Barcelona."

"Ok, but make sure you leave Monaco free. It's the closest race to your birthday and we are celebrating."

"You got it."

                                           ***

She headed for her room. Shutting the door behind her, she collapsed onto the bed. She felt exhausted.   She had an hour until she had to meet the girls for dinner.  She had already showered at the track so only had to change.  Half an hour's sleep wouldn't hurt.  She set an alarm on her phone and shut her eyes. 

She must have fallen asleep instantly, and that's when the dream came. 

She was walking down the main straight at Yas Marina circuit. It was sunset and the sky had turned red.  She heard a car approaching in the distance.  Not a Formula 1 car.  A road car.   She turned and saw a white Aston Martin Vantage fly around the last corner and hurtle towards her.  She tried to climb over the pit wall but she couldn't get a grip.  She braced herself for the impact. Then at the last moment it swerved, and hit the barriers opposite.

She screamed and ran to the crumpled wreck but there was no one in it.  Then she saw the driver laid on the floor about ten metres ahead.  She ran to help them.  Then she realised who it was. 

"Elena!" she gasped.  Elena's eyes opened and looked at her.   Blood covered her face.  

"You killed me " she gurgled. 

"No Elena, it wasn't my fault. "

"You can't have him you know.  He's mine.  He's coming with me."

It was then that Mollie noticed the other body laid around five metres away.  No!   She ran to him and held him in her arms. 

"Seb, no!" she sobbed. He looked up at her, blood oozing from his mouth.

"You killed me Mollie. I loved you and you killed me."

Mollie shot up in bed. "No Seb!" she screamed.

"Hey,hey baby it's ok. I'm here. I've got you" Seb said, taking her into his arms as she started sobbing.

"Seb, you're here. Thank God."

" I just got back. I didn't want to wake you."

Mollie sobbed, getting his T-shirt wet with her tears. She'd never been so glad to see him. They'd barely been apart since Barcelona and it had been hard trying to stay away from him here in Germany. She needed his hugs more than anything right now.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was just a bad dream."

"More than a bad dream by the look of it baby."

"It was about Elena. About you. You were both in a car and you crashed and you were both dying. And you were both saying I killed you."

"It was just a dream.  I'm here baby.  And you know you weren't to blame for Elena.  Have you spoken with Dr Keller recently?" She shook her head. "Perhaps you should schedule a Zoom session. You're under so much pressure at the moment with all the attention you're getting."

"Yeah. It would probably be a good idea. I'll send her secretary an email in the morning."

"Come home with me Mollie. I don't want to be apart from you.  We can try and arrange our sim days for the same time and fly over to the UK together."

Mollie nodded. "Yes.  We need to work out what we're going to do Seb. I was an idiot to think this could work.  No, I don't mean us. I mean the sneaking around.   The problems are still there though."

"How do you think Matthew would react if he knew we were together?"

"Well he knew we were together when he offered me the seat,  so as long as our relationship doesn't affect my driving I can't see it being a problem.  What about Otmar and Lawrence?"

"I really don't know.  I can speak to Otmar, see what he says."

"It's not really the teams I'm worried about though."

"It's the media."   She nodded. 

"Hunter and di Resta."

"It's not so much di Resta. I mean he's a twat to everyone.  It's Hunter.  He's a nasty piece of work and he sure as hell doesn't like me for some reason."

"He's a knob."  Mollie stood up and started getting changed for dinner.  She chose a pair of smart black trousers and a blue blouse. She began to brush her hair. 

"It's good you're meeting up with the girls tonight. You must miss Sophia."

"Yeah I do.  She's been my teammate for so long.  It's hard getting used to Scott."

Seb screwed his nose up at the mention of the American's name.  He still didn't trust him as far as he could throw him.  She tied her hair up in a high ponytail, applied minimal make up and squirted some perfume on. 

"I won't be too late honey," she said, kissing him softly. 

"I'll wait up.  It's ok if I stay, isn't it?"

"Of course.  You know it is."

"I'm so glad we sorted things out in Barcelona baby. I love you. You know that right?"

"I'm glad too and yes, I know. And I love you too. I'll see you later ."

She headed out to meet the girls and Seb switched the television on.  He hoped that Mollie did decide to come clean about their relationship.  He wanted McDevitt to know she was off limits.  That it was Seb that got to fuck her.

He knew Mollie didn't believe him but he'd seen  the way McDevitt looked at her. He wanted her. Well, he wasn't getting her. She was his. She would always be his. And the sooner McDevitt got that into his thick head the better.