Calvin Harris - Outside ft. Ellie Goulding
Ferrari did bad last season. Like, really bad. Everything they did went wrong. Even at their lowest point, when no one thought it could get any worse, it went a lot worse. Their team principal, Mattia, resigned. He claimed that he couldn't take the pressure of leading a team anymore. As the manager I was slightly less important than Mattia, but that changed all the sudden with his resignment.
Mattia announced it on a Wednesday night, right before the press conferences of this race weekend. Giovanni, his assistant, barged into my office in the hospitality. "Mattia has resigned" he stated in light panic. "What?" I said in disbelief, to which Giovanni nodded as confirmation. My head was racing with this sudden news. "What must I do?" Giovanni asked me. I rubbed my temples and sighed. "Emergency meeting, with the whole team, drivers included" I instructed, and he immediately left to get the team.
I made my way down to our meeting room as I ran into Charles. "What's going on?" he asked me, completely clueless about our situation. "I'll tell in a sec, please take a seat" I told him. Charles and I haven't had time to build a good relationship during his time at Ferrari. We were on good terms, but I didn't know him as well as Sebastian. I've known Sebastian for years.
My time in Formula One began with my father, Stefano Domenicali. When he became team principal of Ferrari, I regularly joined him to the events. Sebastian, the Ferrari fan who drove for another team, guided me around the paddock at one of my first events. We build a strong friendship in all those years, even though he never drove for Ferrari at the time my father was team principal.
When everyone was gathered in the room, Giovanni brought the news of Mattia. There were a lot of surprised faces, and I knew the team had a lot of questions. Giovanni gestured for me to start my part of the meeting.
"It is difficult for all of us, and I completely understand it. But when I see how we work together, with all the setbacks we've had this year, I believe that we will come out of this stronger. I'm not letting this team fail. Not on my watch"
Some of the team members started clapping for my little speech. "Thank you guys. My faith in us is big. Keep up the good spirit" I said and with that I excused them from this meeting. Everyone went back to what they were doing except for Sebastian. He stood by the door, waiting for me to leave. "Hey" I greeted him as I shut the door of the meeting room, making our way back to my office. "You did great" Sebastian told me while I gestured him to take a seat in my office.
"Thanks Seb. It's difficult though" I admitted, taking a seat next to him on the couch. Sebastian chuckled and shook his head. "I know you'll do great, it's in your blood" he reassured me. A blush crept upon my cheeks. I looked down at my hands and started picking at one of my nails, an old habit I got rid off years ago.
Sebastian noticed it and took ahold of my hands, stopping me from picking. I looked up, directly into his eyes. We stared at each other for quite a while before he shot a wink at me. God, how could one make me feel so uncomfortable, and yet so comfortable at the same time. "You know" he started, still holding my hand, "I have always admired how strong you are." He scooted a bit closer to me and pulled me into his side, holding me tight. I laid my head on his chest and sighed.
"Do you ever think about the past?" I asked him. He didn't flinch or move when I asked him, his breath stayed steady. "Of how two youngsters were in love but too afraid to admit it?" he remarked. I had to laugh at his comment. It was completely the truth; we were too scared to admit it. And now, about 10 years later, we were talking about it like it was nothing. "I wonder how my life would've been if I wasn't such a scaredy cat" I said, adding, "and if you weren't so terrified of my father."
His face was priceless. His face turned red in embarrassment and his eyebrows raised. "I wasn't afraid of him!" Sebastian exclaimed, poking my side. I laughed and wiggled out of his grip. "I was just too scared to do this" he said as he took ahold of my face and kissed me. It took me so much by surprise that I froze into the kiss. Though, the kiss lasted long enough that we were breathless when we pulled away. I looked at him wide-eyed. "That was.. unexpected" I stated, disbelief in my voice.
"I can do it again if you want. Wouldn't be so unexpected this time" he chuckled. I smacked his arm lightly and laughed. "Casanova" I told him as I shook my head. His hand found my face again, making me turn my head towards him as he leaned in and closed the space between us. His soft lips brushed against mine, and this time I made sure I enjoyed every bit of it.
