It was the next morning when Callum was having breakfast at the hotel. The morning started off with some trouble with waking up to being almost late for breakfast. Callum didn't sleep well last night, he couldn't stop thinking about Catherine, about the kiss. He had to stop thinking about that moment, he needed to focus on himself. There was so much confusion on their status, like were they friends, or more than friends, were they even friends?
Catherine entered the restaurant, and Callum's eyes were plastered on her. She looked so beautiful, so effortlessly beautiful. The blue dress she was wearing, hugged her body perfectly. Callum quickly looked away when his eyes met Catherine's. He slowly continued eating.
"Good morning," Catherine greeted Callum.
He looked up, and the corners of his mouth curled up. "Hey, how are you?"
She nodded. "I'm fine, thanks. How about you?" She returned the question.
Callum was scanning Catherine's face when she was standing at the end of the table he was sitting at; her eyes looked small, meaning she probably wasn't awake for a long time or was just tired. "I'm alright," he answered the question.
"I..." Catherine didn't know what to say. "I have your hoodie. Thank you for letting me borrow it," she said and opened her bag.
"No problem," Callum smiled. He saw Catherine having difficulties opening her bag, particularly her right arm, which was obvious. "Thanks," he said when Catherine gave him his hoodie back.
A smile grew on her face. "I will see you around. Have a nice day," she said and closed her bag.
"You too, Catherine," he said. He had to stop himself from getting up and hug and kiss her. Callum tightened his jaw and watched her walking away from him.
Callum took a deep breath and grabbed his phone. He needed a distraction. When he had checked some stories and posts on Instagram, he saw he had a few DMs from friends. The first one was from Robert, who send him the story of Gordon Ramsey: it was a picture of a dish with Catherine tagged in it. Callum rose his eyebrows, did Gordon Ramsey finally discover Catherine's talent? Callum opened another chat with Marcus, who had shared a story from Catherine's account and send the text: 'You have competition, I'm afraid... woman's with Ramsey in a kitchen at 4 o'clock in the morning eating the best dishes' with it.
It made Callum curious, so he watched her stories. For a moment he forgot Catherine could see he watched her stories, but he didn't care about it anymore. It was a photo series of ten pictures; the making of the dishes. The last story was a closeup selfie of Catherine, having an exciting look in her face and eating something.
A smile curved on Callum's face, Catherine looked genuinely happy. It made Callum fascinated to see that Catherine was delighted because her wish came true; getting recognised by Gordon Ramsey. But why they were eating dishes at 4 o'clock in the morning, was still a question to him. Now it made sense why Catherine looked tired.
"What had Catherine to say?" Mick curiously asked when he took a seat across from Callum at the table with breakfast.
"Hmm, what?"
Mick chuckled. "I saw you talking to her."
"Oh," Callum muttered. "Yeah, I saw her yesterday, and she came to see me."
"Uhu." Mick nodded and looked expectantly. "And? What did you do?"
"We didn't do much, we didn't talk a lot, we just sat outside and... Nothing special." The kiss? It was special. Callum doubted on sharing it.
Mick took a sip from his cup of coffee. "Were you at the kitchen thing of Catherine and Gordon Ramsey as well? I'm just wondering why Catherine was with Gordon Ramsey in the middle of the night, and eating his dishes," he questioned.
"Nope, that was after we saw each other. Catherine is a chef at one of England's best restaurants: Lilou, and it was her dream to get noticed by Gordon Ramsey. I have no idea what the reason behind this night dining was, but I'm happy for her she met Gordon Ramsay."
"She's a chef?"
"Yup."
"Wow, then it is something huge," Mick said, impressed.
Callum nodded and looked around at the restaurant. His eyes fell on Catherine again, who was talking to some people. He heard her say something about having a short night. "She deserves it."
"Don't you have to eat?" Carmen worriedly asked Catherine.
Catherine was shaking her head. "I'm not hungry. I ate too much last night, it's enough for the morning," she said, and a yawn escaped her mouth.
"What even were you doing with Gordon Ramsey?" George asked, confused.
"Cooking, obviously," Catherine smirked. "He's your chef on Sunday evening, he's serving everyone at F1 a meal, and he asked me if I wanted to help him. I couldn't help him because of my wrist. So I assisted him in tasting the dishes, and I gave him my opinion. Living the best life at night," she explained. The tone in her voice was different, it sounded somewhat sarcastic. Catherine was happy she had met Gordon, but... "And then having a mental breakdown because I finally got recognised, but I can't do anything."
"Jesus Christ, Ted," he muttered.
Catherine shrugged. "It is what it is. But I'm gonna get a cup of coffee. I will see you later," she said and pressed a fake smile on her face.
❉
Masha deeply inhaled and exhaled when she put the pregnancy tests on the kitchen counter. She looked at Catherine and nodded. Masha bought two tests, just in case.
"We have to wait for fifteen minutes," Catherine told her and put the description on the table. "So you will call Vince in ten minutes."
"I'm so nervous. Jesus," Masha muttered and walked around the kitchen. "I don't want to call Vince, I don't want to tell him via FaceTime, how pathetic."
"He's in Abu Dhabi, there's no other way to do it. Only if you want to wait for a few more days," Catherine said.
Masha nodded. "True." She ran both of her hands through her hair. "How was Bahrain and Abu Dhabi?"
"I had fun. Enjoyed the time in Bahrain with the fam. I almost turned Bahrain into a murder scene for certain reasons," Catherine emotionlessly said and shrugged. "Like mate, how badly can you screw up a pit stop as a champion team? But fine, we have to get over it. It was tough to see Callum and to enjoy my time in Abu Dhabi. I didn't want to bother George and Carmen because they are a couple, of course. Or Lando," Catherine breathed.
"But George asked you to be there together with him. George likes it when you are supporting him, it feels special to him because you have such a busy life. And I swear, you are the only person Lando wants to see when you are around the track."
"I felt like a bother."
Masha rose her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips. "You are in a real crisis, my love."
The front door opened and closed. Masha and Catherine both looked confused at each other, they both didn't invite someone else. Their eyes were focused on the connecting door. Someone was walking through the hallway.
Vince opened the connecting door. "Good morning," Vince cheerful said. "Why are we looking like there's a burglar in the house?"
"My goodness, Vince," Masha breathed relieved. "I thought you were the burglar. What are you doing here?" She walked over to her husband and hugged him tightly.
"This is my house?"
"But you wouldn't come home until Wednesday," Masha said perplexed.
"Surprise! The team gave me a few days off to get ready for our honeymoon," Vince chuckled and kissed Masha. "I'm so happy to see you, cutie," he happily said. He looked at Catherine, who was standing in their kitchen. "Hey, Cate."
Catherine smiled and hid the pregnancy tests. "Hi."
"But that means you had the same flight as Cate," Masha stammered.
"Possibly, yes," Vince smirked. "But what are we doing here, so early, in the morning?"
Masha let go of Vince and looked at Catherine for help. Catherine gave Masha a nod. "Uhm, babe, I have to tell you something. I actually was about to FaceTime you, but I might be pregnant and..."
"You might be pregnant?" Vince almost shouted, and he was about to get emotional.
Masha grabbed his hand. "Yes, we are now waiting for the results."
"Holy smack, Mash. Are you joking?"
"No, of course not."
All kind of positive emotions flushed through Vince's body. He looked at Catherine, and she nodded. "Oh, my God," he whispered. "How long do we have to wait?"
"Ten more minutes," Catherine mentioned.
She decided to give Vince and Masha a moment, this was their moment after all. Catherine drank a cup of tea and sat in the kitchen. A part of her wanted to have a small sneak peek, but she couldn't do that. She tapped with her fingertips on the counter and yawned again. This was again a night without sleep.
The timer went off on Catherine's phone. A nervous feeling went through her body. She quickly put her phone on video recording and placed it on a shelf. This moment needed to be recorded. Catherine stepped away from her phone and folded her hands together. "Guys! It's time!"
A few moments later, the nervous couple walked to the kitchen and stepped towards the two tests. Masha tightened her jaw and grabbed Vince's hand. Vince took a deep breath and looked at Masha.
"Ready?" Vince asked.
Masha nodded.
They turned around the tests and looked at the results. Masha let out a cry and started to jump. A gigantic smile covered Vince's face, and tears filled his eyes. Masha looked at Vince, and she burst in happy tears. They embraced each other and let the fact sink that they were about to become parents.