Melissa walked along the deserted beach. She had woken early and emerged from her tent to find everyone else was still asleep.
Her head ached slightly with the hangover from last night. She'd looked through her bag and taken two paracetemol, then decided to head down the cliff path and have a walk on the beach. Maybe the fresh sea air would help her headache.
She had left a note for the others underneath a bottle of water on the camping table so they'd know where she had gone.
It was so peaceful here. There was not a soul in sight, just her and the seagulls. She bent down and slipped her sandals off, rolled her leggings up and headed towards the surf to have a paddle. She flinched at the initial coldness of the water but she persevered and soon became used to it.
Walking along parallel to the shore, she finally stopped when she reached a cluster of rocks. She sat down on one and stared out to sea, reflecting on the past few months since she had moved back from Manchester.
She still couldn't believe a man like Seb was interested in her. He really was an amazing man. Not just as a driver but as a human being. She was so happy that he had come along on this trip. She was going to miss him once it was over.
Tonight was their last night on the island, they were going home in the morning. Everyone was talking about going out for dinner tonight to mark the last night.
A movement caught Melissa's eye and she turned her head to see a figure walking down the beach towards her. As the figure got closer she realised who it was and smiled.
"Good morning," she called out.
"Morning chick, how's the head? You had quite a bit last night," answered her best friend. She gave Joel the thumbs up. He sat besides her on the rocks.
"It's getting there. It was thumping when I first woke up. Everyone else still asleep?" she asked him.
"Sophie's up but no one else is yet. It was quite a late one for those of us that can handle their drink," he joked. "So, the next few weeks are going to be fun, not," he said, referring to the upcoming house move.
"It will be worth it in the end. It might take my mind off missing Seb though."
"Awww. Time will fly Melissa, it will soon be Spa and you'll have him back."
"This week has been so good. I know you guys have been here but in a way I had him to myself. No Antti, no Britta, no Otmar, no media. We could be just us, you know what I mean?" Joel nodded.
"The thing is Melissa, if you want a future with Seb you're going to have to put up with those things. It's a big part of who he is." Melissa gave a big sigh.
"I know. I don't know what to do J. I really, really like him. I just don't want all the shit from his fans. You know what they can be like, they'll be saying I'm not good enough for him and so on. I've seen the hate some of the other driver's girlfriends get. In a way I can see why Daniel doesn't want that for Sophie. I'm
also still scared about getting into a relationship because of the past. I know he's not Adam, but it is daunting."
"You need to be straight with him Melissa. He deserves that. He should be the one you are telling this to, not me."
"Yeah, you're right, as usual."
"I know I am. So, sort your shit out girl. Now come here and give me a hug." She leant over into his arms and he folded them around her.
They sat in silence for several minutes, the seagulls squawking overhead. Finally Joel let her go and stood up. He held out his hand to pull her up.
"Come on, we'd better go back before they send out a search party."
***
Seb was sat in a camping chair eating a banana for his breakfast when he spotted Joel and Melissa appear from the top of the cliff path. He'd been kind of disappointed when Sophie had told him that Melissa wasn't there when he'd emerged from his tent. He smiled broadly as he saw she was returning.
When Melissa and Joel finally arrived back Seb jumped up and offered her his chair, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She thanked him and sat down. Seb went and fetched another chair and sat besides her.
"Where's Ollie and Matt?" Joel asked Sophie, who was busy sorting their recycling out.
"Matt went for a run, Ollie has gone for a shower. When they get back we'll have to have a chat about today's agenda."
The sun was already getting strong. It was going to be another hot day. They hadn't yet decided what to do today. They had to pack a lot of the stuff ready to leave tomorrow but that wouldn't take long. The majority would be done in the morning.
"Well I vote for a lazy beach day," said Joel.
"I second that," said Sophie.
"Whatever you guys want to do is fine by me," added Melissa. She stood up. "I'm just going to the loo."
Seb watched her head off to the toilet block on the other side of the campfield. When she was out of earshot he beckoned Sophie over. She joined him and Joel.
"Guys, would you mind if I spent some time alone with Melissa tonight? I know we were all going out for dinner but I'd like to do something special as we wont see each other again until Belgium. Also...I'm going to ask her to go official, to be my girlfriend."
Joel and Sophie looked at each other, the shock evident on their faces. They started shrieking with excitement.
"Oh my God," said Sophie.
"That is fantastic!" declared Joel. "Do you have a plan of what how you want to do it? No? Well how about we all disappear to go to dinner as we were talking about. Then you can have something delivered for yours and Melissa's dinner, maybe from that posh looking Italian place in Freshwater. I can nip to the shop and get some candles, or flowers..."
"Joel, breathe," Sophie reminded him. "Let Seb work out how he wants to go about this."
"Sure thing, but if you need anything just let me know Seb."
"Thanks Joel. I appreciate it. I'll text you if I need anything so she doesn't overhear. Now quiet, she's on her way back." Seb smiled to himself. Joel's idea was pretty decent actually. No flowers though as they'd be dead by the time she got them back to Brackley. Maybe not the candles either, but the meal sounded good. Melissa arrived back. She smiled at him. He smiled back, life was good.
***
In the end they all agreed on having a lazy beach day. Joel and Ollie prepared a picnic for them all and they headed off down the cliff path. They found a suitable spot to spread out their blankets. Matt had brought a football and the lads started having a kick around.
Sophie and Melissa sat down on the blanket and watched the boys fooling around.
Watching Seb run about wearing nothing but a pair of black swimming shorts soon had Melissa feeling a little hot under the collar. He had a magnificent body. A modest amount of hair covered his chest, rock hard abs....she sighed. She needed to cool down!
The sun was pretty intense so she decided to have a paddle. Maybe that would cool her down in more ways than one! She stripped off her shorts and t-shirt, revealing the plain black bikini she was wearing underneath. She jogged down to the water and waded in until she was waist deep. She bent her knees and ducked under the water to wet her hair.
As she straightened up she saw a shirtless Seb wading towards her. So much for cooling down! When he reached her he grabbed her hips and pulled her close to him. He nuzzled her neck, brushing feather light kisses to her skin. She reached up and put her arms around his neck.
"Hello you," she murmured. He moved his attention to her face, kissing all along her jaw until he found her lips. The kiss deepened but suddenly Seb pulled away, breathless. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," he answered. "Just there's something I want to ask you. I've already spoken to Joel and Sophie and it's ok with them. When they go out to dinner tonight would you like to spend some alone time with me? I'm not going to see you for a few weeks. So I wondered if you'd like to spend the last evening with me."
Melissa was taken aback, she hadn't been expecting that. However she was really touched by the idea.
"Yes, of course. I'd love that," she replied instantly. Seb grinned and dropped a kiss on her nose.
"Anyway there's something else I need to talk to you about."
"Oh yes?"
"When Matt picked me up from the airport he told me some interesting information about you."
"Oh no, what's he been saying?" She began to think of all the embarrassing stories Matt knew about her.
"Well, remember back in Barcelona I asked who your favourite driver was but you avoided the question? Well apparently your favourite, since you were a teenager, is a certain blonde German driver. And I also heard you used to have a giant poster of him on your wall back when you first met Matt."
"Oh my God, that toad! I'm going to kill him!" Seb started laughing, then all of a sudden he scooped her off of her feet and deposited her in the waves.
"You git! Just you wait Vettel," she warned, getting to her feet and chasing him through the surf. He kept dodging her moves, laughing out loud as she kept missing him. Just when he thought he had got away again a large wave knocked him off of his feet and down he went.
Melissa laughed so hard. She held her hand out to help him up. He took it and yanked hard, pulling her down on top of him.
They messed about playfighting for several minutes before finally making their way back to shore hand in hand. The others had finished playing football now and were all lounging about on their blankets. Joel was fishing through the picnic basket handing out paper plates.
"Come on lovebirds," he teased. "Time to eat."
They headed back up to camp in the late afternoon. Melissa and Sophie started packing up some of the bits they wouldn't need again. Seb sat down outside his tent and picked up his phone. He tapped out a text to Joel.
Seb: Ok, so she's agreed to spend the evening with me. Your idea about the Italian sounds perfect. Could you collect it for me before you head off for dinner? Then it will be a surprise. If I disappear she will be suspicious. No candles though, or flowers. You know what she like to eat more than I do. A carbonara for me, and a bottle of whatever wine she drinks. I really should start learning these things about her.
Joel: No probs. We are heading out about 7.30 so I shall pop over about 7 yeah?
Seb: that's perfect, thanks Joel
***
"I'm just driving over to the town to the shop, I fancy some Vimto later. It drives me crazy that most pubs do not serve Vimto," Joel announced just before 7pm.
Melissa didn't think anything of it as Joel was always doing random things like that. The others all carried on getting ready to go out, whilst she and Seb lay down on a blanket chatting about random things.
It was just after 7.30 that Joel pulled back into the camp. He gestured to Seb to come over to the Merc.
"Ok, food's on the back seat. I got you a bottle of sweet white, that's her favourite. I also got my Vimto, I actually made myself fancy some. Good luck for tonight, although I'm sure you won't need it."
"Thank you Joel, I owe you one."
"Just make her happy Seb, that's all I want. Hurt her and I'll kill you," Joel said. Seb wasn't quite sure if he was joking or not.
"Oi you lot, come on. I'm starving here." Seb opened the back door and picked up the bag of food and the bottle of wine. He headed over to the camping table and put it down. The others piled into the Merc and headed off for their night out. Melissa was still in her tent sorting her bag out. He put the food on some plates, then put two empty beakers on the table. They didn't have any wine glasses so they would have to do. Then he went over to her tent.
"Babe, time for dinner," he called through the opening.
"Ok I'm just coming,"she replied. He headed back to the table. A few minutes later she exited her tent and headed over. She'd changed into a pale blue maxi dress. She's so beautiful, Seb thought as he watched her near him.
Melissa had nearly finished sorting through her clothes when Seb called her for dinner. They were running a bit low on supplies so wondered what they were going to have. She found Seb standing by the table waiting for her, and on the table was the most delicious looking Spaghetti Carbonara she had ever seen.
"What? How?" she asked, increduously.
"Joel," Seb stated.
"The Vimto run."
"The Vimto run," Seb confirmed.
"I wanted to do something special for you."
"You old romantic you."
"Less of the old," he warned her jokingly. "Wine milady?" She nodded and he proceeded to pour them both a generous beaker full. They both tucked into their meals and soon their plates were clean.
"Shall we go for a walk?" he asked her. She nodded and they headed towards the cliff top. The sun was beginning to slowly go down. She sat down on a grassy hill overlooking the ocean. No one else was around, it was just them. A flock of seagulls squawked overhead, the waves crashed onto the beach below. She felt Seb place his hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw he was smiling at her. She could see the desire in his beautiful blue eyes. He knelt down behind her and brushed her hair away from her neck. She felt him brush his lips over her soft skin. She gasped and he put his hand on her cheek turning her face towards him. She briefly remembered the dream she had had the night before she had flown to Melbourne for the Grand Prix. This was exactly like it. Only this time Joel wasn't there to wake her up.
Seb gently kissed her. She could taste the wine on his lips but it was the taste of him that was intoxicating her. He nibbled on her lower lip, persuading her to open her mouth so he could slip his tongue inside. They kissed for what seemed like hours but in reality was only a few minutes. Finally, they separated. They looked at each other. Both sets of eyes were burning with desire.
"Melissa, my life has changed so much since I met you. You drive me crazy, but you also ground me. You've pulled me back when I was near the brink again. You've given me the self belief and confidence I needed. I believe I can achieve what the critics say I can't. And I can't imagine life without you. Please will you be my girlfriend? I want the world to know that your mine and that I am yours."
Melissa froze. She couldn't believe what Seb had just asked her. She was lost for words. She adored Seb. She wanted nothing more than to be his, for him to be hers, but was it all too much? Could she handle all the pressure and media interest?
Then she felt a panic rise up inside of her. Seb stared at her, his eyes full of hope. She looked at him. She opened her mouth to speak...
Seb was shaking, he had finally got the words out. He had been trying to ask her all evening. She sat there, silent, just looking at him. She opened her mouth...
"Sorry, no, I can't."
Seb felt his heart break.