All of Me (Sebastian Vettel)

2. Face to Face

"Joel, please." He looked up at Seb. He seemed genuine. He believed that Seb believed in Sienna.

"Ok," he conceded. He'd hear Sienna's side of the story before he decided if he wanted her in his life. And then if they did rebuild their relationship maybe they could work together to try to find Alyssa and bring her home where she belonged.

***

The rest of the test soon went by. Everyone had been so busy that Joel and Seb had not been able to talk about anything other than work stuff. On the Sunday evening after Seb had finished his stint in the car he'd approached Joel at the back of the garage and pulled him to one side.

"Are you free Tuesday?" he asked.

"Yeah, should be," Joel replied. "What are you thinking?"

"Can you come over to my place? Sienna's bringing the girls over so I can spend some time with them. It might be a good time to talk. I haven't told her I met you yet. I really don't know how to.  I don't know how she'll react.  I mean obviously she'll be happy, but she's an emotional person.  I think I should tell her in person."

Joel felt overwhelmed. It was all happening so fast. He didn't know if he was ready, but he supposed the sooner he got it over with the better.

"Ok," he agreed, albeit reluctantly. He took his phone out of his trouser pocket. He unlocked it and handed it to Seb. "Put your number in. I'll text you Tuesday morning and let you know what time. Whereabouts do you live? From what you said I presume it's in the U.K."

"It's in the middle of nowhere really. It's an old cottage about three miles outside of Woodstock in Oxfordshire. Sienna only lives a few miles away."

"I know it, it's not far from me, around twenty minutes drive I think." Seb typed his number into Joel's phone and handed it back to him. "I'll be waiting to hear from you."

Joel put the phone back in his pocket and went back to work. They had to pack everything away and ready to be transported to Bahrain for the next test. 

Seb turned and left the garage.  He headed back to the motorhome, smiling at Tanya as he passed her. 

Once in his driver room he sat down and began to think.   How was he going to do this?  Should he go and tell Sienna as soon as he got home? Or should he leave it until the day?   He just didn't know what was best.

***

Joel slowly drove up the narrow country lane, looking out for the gates to Seb's property. He finally spotted them hiding between two large trees. 

He stopped his red Ford Focus in front of the gates, got out and pressed the intercom. 

"Yes?" he heard Seb say through the speaker. 

"Hey, it's me, Joel," he replied.

"Ok, come on up."

The large wooden gates began to open inwardly.  Joel jumped back in the car and slowly drove through, smiling wryly. Of course the gates were remote controlled. As if Sebastian Vettel would have anything less!

He made his way up a long gravel driveway and came to a stop outside a large, ivy covered cottage with an Aston Martin parked outside, if cottage was the right word to describe it. It looked more like a mini mansion.

Joel wondered once again if he was doing the right thing by agreeing to talk to Sienna. Maybe it would be for the best if he left her in the past.  Maybe there was too much water under the bridge.