Joey woke up in a bed she didn't recognise. Her head was pounding and she felt sick. Why did she let herself drink so much? She knew she was getting older and it wasn't the brightest idea she ever had to mix cocktails and shots. Suddenly she remembered. She had got in a taxi with Lewis and his family and, once Nick and Anthony had gone to sleep, she and Lewis had carried on drinking and chatting remembering the old times. Lewis had also convinced her to not take the couch and, instead, sleep in his bed.
'What did you do, O'Shea?' She asked herself. She touched her body, happy to feel she still had clothes on. They weren't hers, but at least they were clothes. She slowly turned to her side, scared to be met by Lewis' face. Instead her gaze was met by Roscoe and Coco who had taken over the other half of the bed. Joey slowly lifted herself up, leaning on the headboard. The room was spinning like mad and she felt like she was about to throw up. She took a deep breath. 'An Irish girl never throws up' she repeated in her head.
She scanned the room for signs of Lewis. She spotted the sleeping Brit on a sofa, covered in a light blanket.
Lewis must have felt observed because, at that point, he sheepishly opened an eye, slightly smiling.
'Good morning' he mumbled. 'How did you sleep?'
'I slept well, but I don't think I should ever leave the bed if I don't want to be sick' Joey replied, scratching Roscoe's ear. 'How much did I drink?'
'A fair bit' Lewis stretched up from the sofa.
'Thanks for letting me stay'
'Anytime.' he replied. 'You need some breakfast, I'll go get you some.'
'And a coffee, please' she begged. 'I need caffeine'
'Of course' he smiled once more. He grabbed his shirt from the floor and put it on, walking out of the room.
Joey turned her attention to her phone charging on the bedside table. She found messages from her friends back in Ireland wishing her a happy birthday and one from Liam checking up on her and how she felt, asking if the holiday had helped her clear her head. Two names had caught her attention, however. Fab and Seb were the only two chats she still needed to read.
She clicked on the first:
Fab: happy birthday, Jojo. I have seen you're in LA and I think I know the reason why. I hope it's helping. Anything you need, any screaming you'd like to direct at my stupid brother, please use me instead.
I love you.
And congrats on the sponsorship, you truly deserve it.
So, the brothers have spoken. She thought. And Fab seems to agree with me. She looked over to Seb's chat, a lump forming in her throat as soon as she clicked on it.
Happy birthday, Süße. I thought hard and long about what I wanted to tell you today, to wish you a happy birthday, but I couldn't come up with anything better than this. I know you've asked for space, but I can't do this. I miss you, I miss our chats and I miss being able to hold you in my arms. I fucked up, I really did. And I want to make it right. I'll be in Austin early, please join me if you want to fix this as much as I do. Love you, Seb x
Joey took a deep breath. She would be lying if she said she didn't miss the man and she would be lying even more if she said she didn't want to fix their relationship. She typed a quick reply:
Thank you, Seb. I am definitely feeling older today. I am currently in LA (long story, I will explain in Austin) so I will get an early flight out to Texas, just let me know when you'll be there and I'll join you. I think we really need to talk it out. X
She hit send and typed I love you too. Then deleted it and typed it a few more times, until she just decided to send it just before Lewis returned to his bedroom with a tray and breakfast.
'Thank you, Lew' she said, grateful, sipping the hot cup of coffee he had just given her.
'You're more than welcome, Jo.' he smiled.
'And thanks for the clothes' she pointed at the oversized tee and shorts she was wearing. 'Was I a bad drunk?'
'No, you were a funny drunk. You do share a lot when you're drunk, though' he smirked.
'Like what?' she asked, worried. 'What the hell did I say?'
'Not much, not much. I mean... nothing more than your new Mercedes deal that I didn't even know about, the fact that you and Seb had a fight and that he is the reason you came to LA...and that today is your birthday' he joked. 'This is from me, dad and Nicky' he presented her with a box that seemed to have been magically conjured from nowhere.
'You shouldn't have' she replied.
'Well, we almost didn't. You told me at 3 in the morning, I had to send dad on a mission, as he was the least hungover' Lewis laughed. 'How are you feeling? About Seb I mean... I asked you last night but you only replied by forcing me to do a shot of whiskey'
'Oh, Jesus, I am so sorry' she buried her face in her hands. 'I am... ok, I think. I woke up this morning extremely worried that we'd... You know... I was drunk... I was upset...' she blushed. 'I don't want to cock it up with him. I love him, I really do. He's just crossed a line and that planted a couple of doubts in my head.'
'It sounds like you two need to talk. I know what that feels like' Lewis said, with a sad smile.
'Oh, did a girl take the eye of the world champion?' Joey teased.
'In a way.' he sighed. 'Anyway, open it, come on! Weren't you obsessed with presents growing up? Have you changed?'
'Oh, no, I haven't' she laughed. Joey opened the box to find an expensive looking watch. She could barely contain a gasp, that was probably more expensive than anything she ever bought for herself.
'This is too much.' she mumbled. 'Way too much'
'Shut it, I am just giving you the share you were asking back in Australia' he teased.
'Wait, you won four championships... this is maybe worth the share of one?' she teased back.
'Ungrateful. I even made you breakfast!' Lewis laughed.
'Thank you, Lew' she reached over to him to hug him.
'And we're taking you out for lunch, if you survive getting out of bed' he added.
'I'll need a shower and some clothes for that, so you might need to drop me off at the hotel'
'Anything for the birthday girl' he smiled. 'I am going to take a shower now, you enjoy your breakfast'
~•~•~•
Joey ended up spending a pleasant day with the Hamilton boys, they insisted on taking her out to a fancy restaurant and insisted on paying for her meal. They had also bought her a cake and just made a big fuss about her birthday. For a few hours, Joey had forgotten all about the impending chat she needed to have with Sebastian.
'You guys might wanna check your socials' Nicholas told them, out of the blue. 'Unsurprisingly, people have caught up on Joey's new hair colour and are speculating'
Joey unwillingly opened the app on her phone, finding a few mentions and a lot of people going slightly crazy.
Wasn't @irishbabykangaroo dating Seb? What is she doing out dancing with @lewishamilton and now having lunch with his family? Was the first tweet she read.
Most of the others were all along the same lines. Joey groaned, she had no patience to deal with made up drama. Sure, the pictures that paparazzi had taken of them dancing together at the club and of them leaving the club together could easily be misunderstood, especially due to the high quantity of alcohol that had been involved, but deep down Joey knew she had done nothing wrong.
'I hate social media' she huffed. 'I really do. I think Seb... Sebastian does the best thing not even having one of them'
'I'll deal with it, don't worry, Jo' Lewis reassured her.
'You know me, I never worry' she tried to say 'I just hope others don't either'
~•~•~•
Back in Switzerland, Seb was sitting in Kimi's living room having a chat with his teammate after a day spent training together. Kimi knew Seb just needed to feel distracted from Joey and he knew the German hadn't been himself since the day of the Japanese grand prix. As soon as the race had ended, he had stormed off to his driver's room, not wanting to speak to anyone but Britta and Antti. He had opened up to Kimi on their flight back, when the Finn had caught him staring blankly at his chat with Joey.
'It's Jo's birthday today' Seb suddenly said. 'I thought you might want to wish her a happy birthday' he explained in response to Kimi's confused look.
'She's in LA' he continued.
'Seb, do you want to talk?' Kimi asked.
'Kinda. I don't know. I... maybe?' Seb mumbled
'I'll get us a drink' he stated.
Seb was grateful to have Kimi as a friend, he already knew he was going to miss him once the season ended.
Kimi silently put a glass of whiskey in front of him and sat back on an armchair.
'Talk' he simply said.
'I... told you I said things I shouldn't have. It was in the spur of the moment and... you know what it's like at Ferrari lately, with all the rumours about Maurizio stepping down and Mattia stepping in. I could still win this, I feel like If I do then Maurizio can stay. Mercedes offered to sponsor her and I asked if she didn't think they did it to get to my head'
'What a stupid thing to say' Kimi interrupted him.
'I know. Please don't remind me. It wasn't my finest moment' Seb frowned. 'She was rightly pissed. She left without saying anything. She asked for space. I haven't slept properly since. Am I crazy to have fallen for her so badly?'
'You're not. You have been looking for someone like her for a while. What's going through your head?'
'I love this girl, Kimi. I love her more than I loved anyone in a long while. I just don't wanna lose her. That's it! I will ask her to move in with me. Or I'll move in with her. I haven't figured that out yet'
'Are you sure?'
'100 percent.' Seb nodded.