Never Again

Chapter 61: Repeat

Keira turned her head towards her colleague and could see the pleading in her eyes. She swallowed and fixed her eyes on the floor. 'I don't know what I'm doing, but even then I don't know how to stop,' she answered. If it was up to her, she would have gotten up and run away, grabbing Seb's hand in the process and drag him along. Not possible of course.

She ignored the way Macy was looking at her and pulled her phone from her pocket. Three new messages. She hadn't even felt her phone vibrate. They were from Abby and Tom of course, but even her father had send her a message. She smiled, he was the one that had introduced her to Formula 1, so it was very special to share this experience with her father. He had just texted that he was proud of her and that without her Red Bull would have qualified last. She chuckled, she knew that wasn't true, but still it felt good to hear her father say it.

'If you could have come up with a better plan, I would have been on pole.'

She looked up from here phone and almost got lost in his eyes. That twinkle got to her every time. It also showed that he wasn't accusing her of anything, just teasing her. She loved that, the way he teased her. Nobody was allowed to do that, but for some reason she didn't mind if he did it. Hell, she even liked it.

'Well, if you just had driven a little bit faster you would have been on pole,' she retorted and shot him her sweetest smile. She tried her best not to laugh at her own joke.

For a second the smile disappeared from Seb's face, but he recovered quickly. 'Well, if you had made sure the car had a better set-up, I would have been able to,' he said while he high fived one of the mechanics that walked past them.

'Mark did alright though with the set-up he got,' Macy chipped in into the conversation. She tried to look innocent, but Keira could see that it was maybe more meant as an insult than a joke.

'Too bad he can't do that more often,' he winked at Macy and then turned his attention back on Keira.

'You seem a lot more cheery than I expected,' she admitted and she started to gather her papers.

He shrugged his shoulders. 'Oh well, I out-qualified Fernando and Lewis starts in between us. So it could have been a lot worse.'

'Like Fernando rear-ending you tomorrow,' Macy had gotten up from her chair, but clearly couldn't let this one go. She was biting her lip when trying not to laugh at the expression that had appeared on Seb's face.

Seb didn't even know what to respond and when he seemed to finally have thought of something, Macy had already disappeared.

'She got you,' Keira grinned as she put the last of her stuff into her bag. It wasn't as organised as she would like, but it'll do for the day. She would have to look at some more data tonight anyway.

Seb sighed and closed his eyes for a second. 'You'll never know what to expect with her,' he said and he followed her movements with his eyes. 'She's been like this the day she arrived at the team, she scared quite a few of the guys,' he huffed while he remembered that time.

'She's awesome though,' Keira defended her friend. Yes, she was very close to being an unguided projectile, but she was always straight forward and honest, what Keira admired in her. Sometimes she wished she could be more like Macy, not being held back my self-doubt and fear to fail. She slipped of her chair and looked around if she had forgotten anything.

'Not as awesome as you, though,' Seb whispered in Keira's ear and he had taken a step to get closer to her. They were both leaning against the table now and for an outsider it would look like a casual conversation, but they both knew it was far more than that.

Keira was sure that her face now could be mistaken for a tomato and she quickly looked around the garage to see if someone had noticed. Of course they hadn't, because everyone was busy packing up already. The freight needed to be flown out as soon as possible, which meant that as soon as the cars crossed the finish line, the garage turned back to life with pieces of cars and furniture scattered everywhere. Although the place was full of activity, Keira could only focus on one thing. The way Seb was looking at her right now, while slightly biting his bottom lip and even if she wanted to look away, she knew she couldn't. Her breath caught in her throat when Seb stretched out his hand and with visible affection put back a strand of hair behind her ear. The delicate touch of his fingers on her skin made her shiver and although the moment was brief, it felt like it lasted for hours. She closed her eyes, to try and recall the moment and a warm feeling spread through her body. Only the sound of a phone ringing brought her brutally back to the present.