Pushing the door closed with his behind, Seb sighed wearily as he looked at his phone. He'd been putting this phone call off all day but the press and media commitments were dealt with, the meetings done, the track walk completed and the social media video's were filmed and ready to be uploaded throughout the weekend. Alex was now in hospitality having a coffee and a sandwich with Britta and it was time for him make the call.....to Gisela. At least putting it off had given him time to calm down which was something of a miracle considering the amount of times he'd been asked about his personal life today.
Leaning back against the door, he selected Gisela's number from his contacts and then held the phone to his ear, waiting to see if she'd answer.
She did.
"Sebastian," her tone was blunt and to the point.
"Gisela," rattled, he matched her tone.
"I'd been expecting you to call," she announced smugly.
Seb could literally hear the smirk on her face and he bit the inside of his cheek for a second to stop himself from saying something he'd regret. Instead he stared ahead at the opposite white wall and said, "I've called you several times just lately but you've refused to answer the phone."
"What do you want?" She asked impatiently.
Now he could almost hear the eye roll that would accompany her question. "You know what I'm calling for, I want to see my kids."
"Ha! That's a bit difficult when you're in Saudi Arabia," she scoffed with a sarcastic little laugh.
"I mean when I get back, after next weekend, I'll be coming to pick them up."
There was silence for a few seconds and he wondered if she was about to hang up on him but then she fired back, "oh really?"
"Yes Gisela, really," he started to pace the room, feeling his temper starting to rise. Why was she being such an awkward bitch?
"Well, I'm not happy to let you see them. You're under a lot of media scrutiny at the moment and I don't want them exposed to that."
He stood still, fighting the urge to kick out at a chair or punch a wall. "Media scrutiny that you caused!" He growled before becoming unable to hold back, "what the fuck were you thinking Gisela?! We always said no press, no going to the media! We keep our private lives private for the kid's sakes!"
She was sounding remarkably calm, though her tone was now taunting, "that was until you decided to cheat on me Sebastian."
"You fucked me over! Have you any idea how much shit I've had to deal with today?! I never knew you could sink so low, selling out to the press! Did you not think about the girls? How they could read this one day?! How their friend's parents could read it and how it could affect their day to day life at school with their friends? You've fucked me over!" He yelled, removing his logo'd cap and throwing it across the small room.
"You fucked your PT, I think you'll find it's you who fucked me over!" She spat angrily.
"You'll be hearing from my lawyers about this, I won't have you spouting shit to the press again!"
"Oh please!" She sniggered, "this will be the same lawyers that wrote to me on your behalf, demanding access to the kids, right?"
He knew he should end the call now and take a moment to calm down again. Gisela had got him right where she wanted him, all riled up and on the back foot. "They're my kids too! You can't stop me from seeing them!"
"While you insist on screwing your personal trainer who has a thing for dangerous men you will not be getting anywhere near our children!"
He held the phone out at arms length, seconds away from hurling it at the wall. Getting angry wasn't going to get him anywhere. He closed his eyes and tried to take a breath, willing himself to calm down before he spoke again. "Gisela, please, I get that you're hurting and you want to hurt me back but using the kids...."
"No you don't! Oh no!" She cut him off, on the defensive straight away, "I am not using the kids, you abandoned them the second you shoved your dick into Aleksandra! You made your choice!"
"Don't you think that you're hurting them too by keeping them from me? I get you want to punish me, I'll even say that I deserved all that shit that's in the media but don't punish them too by keeping me away from them," he tried to reason with her. He was desperate to see them, he'd resort to begging if he had to. "Don't force me into having to take things further with my lawyers to gain access. Please Gee."
"I won't tell you again, you do not get to call me that anymore," she sounded very much like Alex at that point.
"They'll be missing me and I'm missing them too. Please, don't use them as ammunition against me, don't hurt them by keeping them away from their father. Try to see this from their point of view," he went back to leaning against the door, his finger picking at his thumb on his left hand, "I'm not going to go for custody or anything like that, I just want regular access, I just want to be able to spend time with them."
He heard her huff and then mutter something unintelligible before she brusquely asked, "are you done?"
"Yeah, just don't make me go down the legal route to see them, it isn't fair on them," he added.
"If they were old enough to understand I doubt they'd even want to know you anymore. You've completely destroyed their happy family home, you've broken their hearts as well as mine. Yes they're missing you, yes they're wondering where you are and I can't bring myself to tell them that daddy's left them and their mummy for another woman. You're lucky because right now they think you're away working, I haven't told them that daddy's run away with Alex."
He slumped to the floor, letting his back slide down against the door until he was sat down as the guilt began to eat away at him. But he wasn't going to let Alex go, he had something precious and rare with her and he wasn't prepared to give that up. "I'm grateful for that, really," he mumbled shamefully, "just please, think about what I've said, don't punish them, they're innocent in this."
This time he heard her sigh and then quietly sniff, now she was starting to cry. He stayed quiet, waiting for her to speak.
"I don't mean to punish them," she croaked.
"I know you don't," he agreed readily, feeling like he just might be getting somewhere with her, "and I'm sorry for what I've put you through, I really am. I know it won't make you feel any better but I was going to tell you about me and Alex, I didn't want you to find out the way you did, I wanted to be the one to break the news."
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed tearfully. "You were planning to leave me?!"
"I was going to tell you the day you threw me out," he admitted, "I wanted you to hear about it all from me."
"Jesus!" She sobbed.
He realised that telling her that probably hadn't been his best idea and so tried to ask her again about the kids, "I'll come and pick the kids up when I'm back from Abu Dhabi, yeah? Or I could pick the girls up from school and then come to collect Xiomar?"
All he could hear now was her crying down the phone, he felt like the biggest piece of shit on the planet.
But then he remembered how she'd sold out to the press, how she'd dragged his and Alex's names through the mud and made his private life public. "I'll collect them on the Wednesday after I've returned from the tyre test. I'll pick the girls up from school and then come and get Xiomar," he stated his intention clearly, he wasn't backing down - not when it came to his three children.
The response he got from her wasn't really surprising as she snarled back, "over my dead body!" before hanging up, leaving him looking at his phone screen, more determined than ever that he'd be seeing his kids as soon as he got back home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Seb had thought his weekend would get any better after Thursday then he'd been very much mistaken.
It had been an incident fraught race with periods behind the safety car and two stoppages under red flags and Alex could only watch on helplessly as he'd had contact with Yuki Tsunoda and then Kimi Raikkonen, leaving his car with too much damage for him to finish the race.
When he bought the car back into the garage four laps from the end, she knew he'd be pissed off and frustrated. Despite a bad qualifying and starting the race in seventeenth, Seb had clawed his way up into the points at one point and now it felt like all his hard work had been wasted.
She did what she knew she had to do and let Britta walk with her from hospitality and into his garage where she met him as he climbed out of the damaged AMR21.
Britta decided to wait around, knowing that he'd be keen to get the media pen done before heading to a debrief meeting. She observed Alex with interest who was coping with being back around so many people better than she had been on Thursday. As they had been all weekend, Alex and Seb remained strictly professional when in view of other people but with the increased presence of the media who were allowed around the garages, it seemed that interest in them hadn't waned just yet.
"You alright?" Seb asked the second he'd pulled his balaclava off.
"I'm fine, exactly the same as I was when you asked me on the grid earlier," Alex replied, holding his helmet upside down to allow him to shove his balaclava and racing gloves into it. "How about you?"
He pulled out his ear pieces, a vital part of his communication with the pit wall when he was in the car, and then unzipped his race overall to try and cool down. "I'll be better when we can get away from here," he answered before holding his hand up and showing Britta two fingers to indicate that he'd be with her in a couple of minutes. He then nodded his head towards the back exit of the garage, "come on, I need to cool down."
Aware of several pairs of eyes on the both of them, she followed Seb through the back and out across the paddock. His strides were large as he got to the doors of his hospitality unit and they swept open to let him in.
She soon found herself in the privacy of his changing room where he went straight to a mini fridge to grab a bottle of chilled water. She put his helmet down on a table as he nearly downed the bottle in one go, keeping his eyes fixed on her at the same time. "I'll check you over at the hotel later, just to make sure you've not suffered any muscle damage. Your car was like a magnet for attracting other cars out there today."
"Mmm," he hummed, the bottle still at his lips as he drank the remaining water. Once he was finished, he threw the bottle into a nearby bin and turned his attention to his girlfriend, she could make him feel better. Even just a hug or a quick kiss would help ease the frustration of points lost today, "come here."
She shook her head as he stepped towards her, "we don't have time for that. You've got to be with Britta very soon."
He said nothing but smiled as she showed very little resistance as he slipped his arms around her.
Instead of protesting further she became almost docile in his arms. He'd been the one to tame her, he'd been the one to melt her icy, man hating heart and he loved that.
He claimed her lips with his own in a tender kiss that had her pressing her body against his, instantly easing the adrenaline fuelled anger and frustration of his DNF.
"Better?" She asked as he parted his lips from hers, her hands toying with the beard growth on his cheeks.
"Almost but I'll sort it later when we're back at the hotel," he grinned, loving being in her arms like this.
"I'll be checking you over, tonight is remedial work only," she smiled back at him, patting his cheeks with her palms.
"You're not meant to be fully working yet, remember?" He reminded her.
"It's just a massage, it's not like we'll be out on a run or on the bikes."
"And the sex ban is done with for a few days too so......" he trailed off, waiting for her to agree with him.
She pointed towards the door, "go and find Britta, get this next part of the day done and dusted."
"Ok, I'll meet you back in the garage like normal yeah?"
She nodded, still surprised at how agreeable she was being. Aleksandra would have refused to go along with all this never-being-alone stuff, she would have dusted herself off and stubbornly carried on. However, Alex was different. She was happy and in love and in her first stable, secure, trusting and normal relationship ever and she knew that Seb just wanted to know that she was safe. "Ok, I'll steal your seat," she said, referring to his seat at the back of the garage where he'd sometimes sit and jot down a few notes.
"You might as well, it's not like I'll be using it anymore today. Just keep Jake at arms length though, yeah?"
"Seb," she groaned, giving him a gentle push back.
He opened the door and held it for her to step out first. Patting her behind as they started to walk, he leant closer and murmured, "it's ok really, at least now they all know you're off limits because you're mine. I guess I should thank Gisela for that."
"Don't you sometimes think that if it wasn't for me then you'd still be a happily married man? That your kids would still have their parents together?" She blurted the questions out, as if they'd just projectile vomited from her mouth but the truth was that this had been on her mind all weekend. "Sometimes I think that I should step aside and let you go back to being a family."
He stopped dead on his feet and snatched hold of her wrist to stop her before they entered the busier part of his hospitality unit where there would be guests and staff around. His lips were parted, a serious frown on his face because he couldn't quite believe that she'd just come out with that. "You're saying that you're considering ending things?"
"I don't want to keep being the reason you can't be with your kids Seb. I can see how much you're missing them and how it's hurting you not being able to see them whenever you want to," she explained, ignoring the awful wrenching feeling she got just from thinking about losing him.
"Alex," he swiftly but carefully moved to lightly press her up against the wall, holding her in place with his pelvis while his hands gently cupped her face, "nothing will make me give you up unless it was a last resort and even then it would have to be an absolute legal ruling. I will get to see my kids once we're back home, I will be sorting the issue out once and for all. Gisela knows that she can't stop me from seeing them, I'm their father and nothing will change that."
"Just know that if I had to go....."
"No, I won't let you go, I love you too much and everyone else will have to get used to us being together," he finished by capturing her lips with his own, mainly to stop her from spouting out anymore stupid nonsense about her leaving him.
"Ahem," a polite but purposeful cough made them spring apart as Britta appeared, letting the door to the main room swing shut behind her.
Alex pushed Seb back, mumbling a sheepish, "sorry," as she did so. "He's all yours now," she added, "I'll be in the garage."
He grabbed her wrist again, looking at her urgently, "Alex."
"Seb."
He needed to know that she knew he meant what he'd said and that he wouldn't be losing her anytime soon, "I meant what I said, I'll get it sorted and everything will be fine."
She could see the worry in his beautiful face and she nodded, freeing her wrist to lightly link her fingers with his, "I know you will."
He looked relieved and leant in to give her one last, quick, kiss before making sure that she followed himself and Britta out and got into his garage safely.
"Now I've got you alone," Britta began as they started striding it out on their way to the media pen, "I have some news."
"News?" He glanced at her as they walked, "you know you can tell me anything in front of Alex, as I've said before you've got to get used to us being together so whatever news you have, you don't need to wait until I'm alone."
"I've been copied in on an email from Gisela's lawyer," she ignored what he'd just said though she knew that from now on there'd be no keeping things private from his new girlfriend.
His interest was immediately piqued, "and?"
She couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. It was good news for Seb although it clearly meant that he'd never be getting back with Gisela. This was the first sign that maybe his ex-wife was considering moving on with her life. "She's backing down over the kids."
He stopped walking and covered his lips with his fingers. He knew that she'd eventually have to relent, it was either that or going to court, but he'd not expected it to happen so soon. It was the best news he could have hoped for and he was overcome with emotion at the thought of seeing his kids when he got back from Abu Dhabi.
Britta could see exactly how much this meant to him as his eyes glazed over with tears that he tried to blink back. Seb might have his faults and she still might not agree with his decision to pursue a relationship with Alex and walk away from his marriage but she could never fault his abilities as a father. "Do you need a minute? Want us to go somewhere a bit more private?" She offered, rubbing his arm.
He swallowed heavily before he could reply, his voice trembling a little. There was only thing he wanted to do now and that was to tell Alex, "I've got to go and tell Alex."
She was about to protest but he was already sprinting back in the direction they'd just come from before she could even open her mouth.
Alex was scrolling through the news headlines on her phone when he suddenly appeared, plucked the phone from her and then took hold of her hand. She had no choice but to get up from her seat and go with him, letting herself be pulled along as he dashed across the paddock.
She never even got the chance to ask him what was going on as they got into his changing room, he was bursting to tell her.
"I can see my kids Alex!" The relief and joy was evident in his voice as he held her hands within her own, unable to contain the huge smile that was lighting up his face. He looked as though he'd just won the Grand Prix, in fact he looked like he'd just won every single one of them. "Gisela has backed down!"
"That's wonderful Seb! Amazing!" She pulled her hands free to throw her arms around him, wincing as her ribs reminded her that she still wasn't healed just yet. "I'm so happy for you!"
It was another hurdle overcome, one less problem to worry about. She felt so relieved, this meant that she no longer had to think about leaving him so that he could see his children. Things were suddenly on the up.
Lady Luck had decided to start casting her good fortune their way and long may it continue.
***************
This chapter was such a struggle to write!
The next one will probably be the last for this story and then I'll re-start work on my new story, Standing In Front Of You, which has it's next chapter ready to go.
AB xxx