"The good news is there's a vacancy...." Iris picked her camera up and inspected the lens for a second as she spoke.
"And the bad news?" Ben asked.
She picked up a small microfibre cloth and began to gently wipe the lens, spotting what looked like a small fingerprint on it, "the bad news is that it's not for Aston Martin but it's a full time contract until the end of the season with the travelling team of the catering department, I found it online."
"So of it's not with your team then who's it with?"
She looked at her phone where it laid on the desk, Ben probably wasn't going to sound quite so enthusiastic when he heard which team it was. "McLaren," she grimaced as she said it, ideally her husband wanted a job with the same team and definitely not McLaren. He hummed in reply and she knew he'd pulling a face and that he'd be disappointed.
But to her surprise he seemed interested, "well, it's a way into F1 and it means that I'd still get to see more of you than I do now, we'd be able to travel together and maybe share a hotel room."
"So you're interested?"
"Yeah, I think I am."
She shook her little cleaning cloth and then put her camera down on the desk, "I'll email the details to you and the link to the page to apply for it, you'll have to attach a copy of your cv too so make sure it's up to date."
"Yes m'aam," he giggled and she knew he'd be taking the piss and saluting at the phone.
"And don't hang about, I've been told jobs for the travelling teams don't come up very often," she added with a smile.
"I'll do it now, I'll check my cv and get my application sorted before I head to mums for lunch."
Standing up she went over to the window that looked down on the paddock, "good," she replied while wondering what Seb was doing right now.
"I hope I get it, I'd love to be able to see more of the world with you," Ben sounded so hopeful that it made her smile; she'd love to see more of the world with him too, they'd always wanted to travel the world but had never been able to afford to take a year out to go travelling.
"The sooner you apply, the sooner you could be flying around the world with me," she smiled, looking back at her phone just as someone tapped quietly on the door. "I've got to go Ben, I'll call this evening, ok,"
"Ok. Love you babe."
She loved how heartfelt he always sounded when he said he loved her and she picked her phone up from her desk and caressed the side of it as if she was stroking his face, "love you too."
With that the call ended and she looked behind her to see Neil standing in the doorway. Neil was head of media and PR and was technically her boss. He was around ten years older than Iris with short dark hair, a moustache and short goatee beard.
"Just to let you that Norbert's here and Seb's not always keen on having his father on the team's social media feeds," he warned her, "so if you can avoid getting him in the frame that would be great. Thought I'd better let you know in case no one has mentioned it before."
This was kind of surprising as she knew that Seb's father was regularly pictured on social media by fans and photographers, though he wasn't usually featured too often on the team's feeds. "No one's said before, so thanks."
"Cool, I'll leave you to get on," with that he left and Iris gathered what she'd need before heading out herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was cool and rainy as she headed out on to the track to find the two groups of people in green undertaking their track walks. She pulled the hood up on her rain jacket, having her camera meant that she wouldn't always have her hands free to carry an umbrella. She spotted Seb and his team first and behind them, walking with Antti was Norbert. Remembering what she'd been told, she got ahead of the group and carefully got everyone except for Norbert in the shot.
If it was possible, Seb looked even more happy and relaxed than usual and Iris figured that was down to having Norbert here with him. Your teammates might become your surrogate family during all the weeks and months spent away from home but having your actual family here with you to support you would mean a lot more and be a huge boost and it showed in Seb's demeanour today. He was glowing and through the lens of her camera he looked even more gorgeous.
As had happened before, she caught him staring back at her through the lens and again, for a second she forgot to breathe. Somehow she was going to have to get used to working with him; the butterflies were going to have to stop as were the dreams and these moments where they'd catch each other staring. Seeing him was going to have to become 'normal' and thinking what he'd be like in bed compared to what Ben was like most definitely had to stop.
All of a sudden Seb was jogging towards her and she lowered her camera down as he got closer.
"Hi, need some time under the umbrella?" He stopped next to her and held his umbrella so it sheltered them both from the rain.
"While your engineer gets wet?" she pulled a cloth from her pocket and began to delicately wipe parts of her camera to try and keep it dry.
He looked over to Chris who had now pulled his hood up over his head, "he's fine and he's not got an expensive camera in his hands."
"Well thank you," she smiled, "it's very much appreciated."
"How was the flight?" he asked, finding himself wanting to spend time talking to her that he hadn't really got.
"I expect yours was better in first class," she remarked dryly, "but as flights in cattle class go, it was good."
"If you want to fly first class all you have to do is ask me," he replied suggestively.
Her eyes widened and she laughed, "you'd pay for my upgrade would you?!"
To her surprise he looked at her seriously, "yes, I would."
Iris was speechless, surely Seb was joking! There was no way Aston Martin would let him do that! Was there?
He found it amusing at first but inside he knew that if she was his then she'd never fly cattle class, as she'd just called it, again; she'd be first class or business class on every flight they'd take or they'd even fly by private jet if it made her happy. But only if they couldn't drive or get to a race by other means, he didn't like to fly unless he really had to - which coming here from UK meant he'd had to.
Pretty Iris could have anything she desired, he'd make sure she wanted for nothing....if she was his.
With the sound of the rain pattering down on his umbrella, he snapped himself out of his thoughts and called his father over, wanting to introduce her.
Iris froze, feeling star struck all over again as Norbert wandered over and stopped next to his son, underneath his green Aston Martin umbrella.
"I'd you like to meet someone," Seb began, slipping an arm around his father's shoulders, "dad, this is Iris, she's our new photographer and it's only her second race with us. Iris, this is my father, Norbert."
Norbert was almost as perceptive as his wife when it came to their four children and he'd immediately caught on to the ill concealed sense of pride and admiration in his son's voice as well as the way Seb had stolen a quick, admiring glance at the new girl while he spoke. Meanwhile Iris looked kind of petrified, her top lip sticking to her teeth as she tried to smile and held out her hand towards him. "Hello Iris," he shook her hand, "good to meet you."
Norbert had a firm handshake; he had a rounded figure and wasn't as tall Seb but had the same blue eyes and she felt as though he could have the same piercing, intense stare as his son. "And it's lovely to meet you too," she replied, trying to sound cheerful and not as nervous as she felt.
"I hope Sebastian is looking after you," he said, preying on the fact that his son had most likely got a crush on the team's pretty photographer.
Next to him, Seb looked down at his feet, his cheeks heating up; was he really that obvious? Had his dad really figured out his attraction to Iris that quick?
Iris found herself blushing too as she glanced Seb's way to find him looking awkwardly down at his feet. Pushing a few wayward strands of hair back into her hood with her left she smiled as she replied, "he's made me feel very welcome and part of the team, everyone has." She'd added the last bit to try and take the heat off of him a bit and it seemed to work.
Norbert, however, had spotted her wedding ring as she'd fiddled with her hair; hopefully Seb had the sense not to try and pursue anything with a married woman. "They're a great bunch of people here, much better than Ferrari."
Seb gave his dad a gentle nudge with his shoulder and softly warned him, "dad, that's in the past."
But she understood what Norbert was getting at, she'd read several articles and seen online about Seb's treatment at Ferrari, especially during the last two years of his time there, "from what I hear, you had a lucky escape, Seb."
"Well, I didn't escape, they let me go," he admitted, wishing that Ferrari had never been mentioned.
"Yeah but you're better off here, much better for your mental health," Iris added, fiddling with her hair again as another few strands made a bid for freedom from her hood in the breeze.
"That's what I've said," Norbert agreed, "and since he's got out of the team he's been more like his old self."
Not feeling comfortable with his dad talking about him, Seb made his excuses before rejoining his team, "I'd better get on, otherwise they'll move on without me."
"Do you have children?" Norbert asked, "only I see you're married."
Surprised by his question she looked at her left hand for a second, "no." Kids had never really come into the equation for herself and Ben and it wasn't something that she wanted to pursue with him either. It was quite a disturbing thought.
"Come on, let's leave Iris to get on shall we?" Having been sent over by Seb, Antti patted Norbert's shoulder and guided him away and just in time too judging by Iris's troubled expression. What had he just said to her?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was now Sunday night and Iris was sat in the hotel bar at a table in the corner on her own, her finger swiping across the screen at images she'd captured using her phone.
She was quite surprised by them, she'd always insisted that nothing could beat having an actual camera to take photos with but the ones she'd taken with her phone were just as good quality, if not better. Maybe it was time to rethink her opinion of mobile phones and use hers more for work, it would certainly make things easier. But then Sebastian would look gorgeous no matter how you took his photo. She locked the screen immediately and turned the phone over in her hands, if she didn't look at him then she wouldn't think of him, right?
Wrong.
"Hey, come over and join us." A familiar German accent could be heard above the music that was playing and the noise that members of the team were making as they celebrated a double points finish in today's race which saw Seb finish in eighth and Lance in tenth.
She looked up to see him towering over her. Dressed in dark grey jeans and with an open navy and green plaid shirt on over a white t-shirt, he looked good....more than good. "I'm working," she replied, knowing that it was a feeble excuse.
"Oh come on," he drawled, smiling down at her, his eyes sparkling with mischief, "work is done, come and drink with us."
It suddenly occurred to her that he might be a little bit drunk but she couldn't help but smile back, his smile was infectious. "I'm ok here, you get back to your friends."
"Uh-uh, no," he shook a finger at her and then held out his hand. They both knew that if it wasn't for the drink then he wouldn't be doing this. "Come on, have a beer with me."
She wondered how he had the energy left to stay up late drinking after a busy weekend that had included qualifying on the Friday, a sprint race on Saturday and the main race today but then he was a trained athlete. "Ok," she gave in, "just the one and then I'm going to bed."
It was on the tip of his slightly drunk tongue to say how she could come to his bed but thankfully he kept it to himself. Instead of saying that, he took hold of her hand as she rose from her chair. It felt like her hand fitted perfectly in his and the small physical connection warmed his skin and made him tingle all over.
Iris felt it too, felt the tingles travelling up her arm and down her spine, her heart suddenly beating furiously in her chest, telling her that this innocent hand hold meant more than it should. She was so distracted by the sight of her hand in his that she'd forgotten her bag was on the floor and she tripped over it, stumbling into Seb who instinctively grasped her by her waist.
Finding herself against his firm chest, surrounded by the sexy but fresh scent of whatever fragrance he was wearing, Iris daren't look up him, she daren't even breathe. She just stood there, her hands full of his white t-shirt where she'd grabbed him for stability.
In the arms of another man, she felt like she was in the arms of the devil, as if she'd just betrayed her husband and strayed into the dark side where temptation was everywhere she looked, filling her vision. And that temptation was Sebastian Vettel.
Seb held his breath, he daren't breathe in case this moment was prematurely lost. Her body felt slight yet hot against his own, her waist felt like it was perfectly sized to his hands and the coconut scent of her hair made him think of wafting palm trees and white sandy beaches where he'd make love to her at the edge of a crystal clear turquoise sea. But more than that, it felt so fucking perfect having her close to him, so absolutely right, as if her body was made to mould perfectly to his. Perfect. It was a word that was going through his mind a lot but it was a word that just encapsulated how it felt to have this chance to hold her, like she was made for him. Perfectly.
And when she lifted her head and looked into his eyes....he was lost in her, completely gone. Connected to her and only her. "It's ok, I've got you," he murmured a bit too late, "I've got you." But then he wasn't thinking about how he'd just saved her from falling over.
Having her in his life as just a friend wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough.
A tap on his shoulder made him come tumbling back down to earth and as he turned to look behind him he felt Iris slip from his grasp.
Norbert had witnessed the whole incident from the bar and seeing his son holding Iris, even though it was only to stop her from falling after she'd tripped, it had just rung alarm bells in his head. Seb's attraction to his team's married photographer was written all over his face and was a lot stronger than Norbert had first realised and he'd had to step in before his son made what could have been a big mistake. "There's another beer with your name on it," he said, tapping Seb on the shoulder, "best you get back to the bar."
"I've just asked Iris to join us," Seb replied before he turned back to find that she'd disappeared along with the bag that she'd tripped over.
"Seb," Norbert kept his hand on his son's shoulder, "don't go there son, she's a married woman, you'll only get yourself hurt."
He looked around him, scanning the large room for any sign of her, his happiness and enthusiasm for celebrating with the team rapidly diminishing. He knew his dad was right and was only trying to save him from future heartbreak and realistically Iris would never leave her husband for himself but he still felt crushed. At least he still had the trip to Munich with her to come on Wednesday, it would be an extra day to spend in her company, extra time to get closer to her and he wouldn't have his father keeping an eye on him like he was an underage child.
With Iris now gone, he decided to call it a night, Wednesday couldn't get here quick enough.