Fifth Light (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 42: Overheard

"Mum, please!" Casey half-begged, half-laughed, thoroughly mortified by this point.

---

The next day, they all headed back to the track for qualifying day. Julie and Greg took their allotted places at the back of the garage as Casey, Jacob and Evan changed into their pit crew suits.

The third and final practice session went reasonably smoothly. Although Seb felt they could make some further improvements to the balance during the break before qualifying began.

The crew were busy and didn't have time to stop properly for lunch, instead sending a couple of people at a time to grab something to eat out the back before getting straight back into it.

Casey and Evan were eventually elected to take their turns and headed out the back, quickly grabbing lunch from a stall out in the grounds and leaning against a couple of trees near the side of the pit lane building.

"This is gross." Evan complained, eyeing his lunch with distaste.

"I told you to get something normal." Casey retorted, chewing on a mouthful of her plain old ham and cheese sandwich.

"I'm trying to broaden my horizons, be a little cultured." he said, glancing at her sandwich and giving her a look that clearly indicated he was judging her.

"Don't look at me like that, just because you're a pillock and chose a lunch that no sane human being should enjoy. What is that anyway? Sprouts?"

"I don't fucking know." Evan replied regretfully.

Casey laughed and handed him the other half of hers, "Here, idiot."

"Are you sure?" he asked as his face broke into a grin.

"Take it." she insisted. She was well and truly used to sharing her food with him by now anyway. 2 years of eating around Evan was probably the only reason she kept her figure. She would quite frequently look down at her plate and notice half her chips had mysteriously disappeared.

---

Hayley looked around the bustling room full of people drinking and mingling. Jennifer was somewhere nearby chatting to an eager young journalist while they rubbed shoulders with the other VIP's in the pit lane lounge. She took a sip of her champagne and wondered if she might bump into Sebastian in the hallway on their way back to the garage later. So far that weekend, she hadn't been so lucky.

She gazed out the window across the room and walked towards it, feeling the cool breeze seeping through the open frame. She leaned on the window sill and looked down from the second-storey at the people bustling around the grounds below. Her expression changed immediately as she instantly recognised Casey, her replacement, standing with an attractive blonde guy she didn't know. Her ears pricked up immediately as their conversation floated up to her.

---

"So while I have you alone..." Evan said, swallowing a mouthful of Casey's sandwich.

"What?" she replied, only half paying attention to Evan. She was busy shooting Blake a glare as he sauntered past with a pack of his Ferrari cronies. He winked at her before they disappeared indoors.

"I'm now pretty much convinced you were kissing Heikki in the hallway back in Austria."

Casey gulped down her mouthful and gaped at him in surprise. She quickly looked around them to make sure nobody was near enough to overhear.

"What makes you say that?"

"He just seems to... gravitate around you, and he get's all moody and leaves the room whenever you're PDA'ing with Seb."