Just Him ❤

70. Canada. Pt 2

"Come on, you need to pull yourself together." Antti murmured as he put his other arm around her. "For Seb." He added. "He won't want you to be upset like this. You'll need to be focused, I'm afraid you could be quite busy soon." He rubbed his hand lightly over her back, relishing this small but forbidden opportunity to have her close.

"You're right." She stepped back from him, wiped under her eyes again and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "What the hell must be going through Seb's mind right now?"

"I won't lie, he'll need space when the race is over. Just get him through the next hour or so as best and as quickly as you can and beyond that let him calm down and come to you." Antti had been through difficult times with Seb before so knew how to handle him. "He's not used to having a girlfriend with him at races." He added as he saw Chloe's worried face. "Take some time in here but make sure you're at Parc Fermé when Seb gets there, ok?" He gave her a small smile and stepped out.

                    ~*~

The race was over and after being coaxed back to the podium by a member of management, a rather awkward and tense podium ceremony had come to an end too. Pictures of Seb swapping the first and second place signs in front of Lewis' car and where his should have been parked (he'd abandoned it before getting to Parc Fermé) had quickly gone viral and were being spread worldwide as well the tv footage. Chloe stood waiting anxiously with Antti for Seb to emerge from the podium, she was dreading getting him to the media pen, if she could even get him to go in there at all. Mattia arrived by her side and gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Let me speak with him first, he will need to calm down before facing any press." He placed a hand on her shoulder before stepping forward to meet Seb who finally emerged with the second place trophy in his hand. She'd seen Seb wound up, but never like this. His face was flushed red with anger, his lips pressed together to form a hard line, his brows were furrowed with the scowl on his face and his blue eyes looked intense and full of rage. He looked at her but it was clear to see that he was just looking through her, he showed no signs of recognition or any flash of emotion to her at all. Her stomach churned as she watched Mattia slip an arm around Seb's shoulders and he leant in to talk to him as the two of them disappeared into a nearby room and closed the door behind them.

"Now we wait." Antti said, making Chloe think that he could read her mind as she was about to ask him what they should do now. "He'll probably be a little calmer after talking with Mattia but like I said earlier, give him space and a little time. Once he's with you I'll head back to find out where he's left his helmet."

"It'll be in hospitality somewhere, someone will have collected it for him." She replied as she stared at the white door. The amount of tv cameras, reporters and photographers hovering around was verging on ridiculous, they were all waiting for Seb to come back out, all waiting for their pound of flesh. Thankfully after a few more minutes he came back outside, following behind Mattia who soon left the area with his PA, Sofia. Seb walked over to Antti to hand him the trophy.

"I'll catch up with you two in a while." Antti could see how anxious Chloe looked but left her alone with him. Seb didn't utter a word or even look at her as immediately all the people that had been waiting for their moment to capture the German driver swooped into action. Without saying a word she started to guide him through the bustling paddock area and away from the hoards of press who were circling like vultures. They walked at a steady pace together and she placed her hand gingerly on his back to help guide him while using her other hand to try and keep people at bay. All the while she could hear his name being called and questions being thrown at him time after time. She glanced at him, his face remained stern, he was looking straight ahead while avoiding making eye contact with anyone, he was in no mood whatsoever to stop for anyone. As they reached Ferrari's hospitality suite it became obvious that that going to the media pen was the last thing he wanted and he swerved away from her side leaving her with no other option but to follow him. They got inside and Seb stalked away from her, heading through a door towards his changing room. He let it swing shut behind him without even glancing to see if Chloe was behind him or not. She stood for a moment and pulled her phone from her pocket, it was vibrating with a call and had been doing so for a while. She knew she was going to have to ask Seb if he was going to talk to any media at all as all he'd done so far was to say a few words on the podium. "Ah, so he's skipped the media pen then?" Antti appeared beside her.