In the end they made it out of the supermarket with all the right ingredients for the cake. The staff hadn't been too pleased about their problems with the eggs, but after apologising profusely they had been less angry. They had been giggling like little schoolgirls when they left the shop and had discussed the matter on their way home. At the moment they were standing in the kitchen and Sebastian had just burnt the chocolate. He had been too busy eating the stuff that he was less interested in actually melting the chocolate.
'I don't think it's supposed to look like this,' he pouted. He stirred the chocolate half-heartedly and the black pieces looked like charcoal. He put a piece into his mouth and screwed up his face. 'I don't think it's supposed to taste like this either.'
Keira rolled her eyes and pulled the pot out of his hands. 'Let's start again. Let me do the chocolate this time,' she said sounding annoyed. She had foreseen this problem and therefore had bought extra of everything, she was glad that her gut feeling had not let her down.
'I think that's wise,' he said, 'but I tried, honestly!' He licked his fingers and looked at her with excitement on his face.
She grinned, she had never seen someone so happy when he just had screwed up. 'Here, you can mix the butter and the sugars,' she put the right ingredients, a bowl and the mixer in front of him. 'Do you know how to use a mixer?'
'I don't think so, but it can't be that hard, right?' he said cautiously.
'Just don't put it on the highest setting when you begin mixing. Start slowly and gradually increase the speed, that will keep the kitchen from looking like there has been an explosion,' she smirked.
'Got it,' he said and he plugged in the mixer. 'Let's make you proud!'
'You think I'll be proud of you when you mix butter and sugar?' she raised an eyebrow and her mouth twitched.
'Yes?' he said with a broad smile.
'OK then, but only because it's you,' she grinned. She kept one eye on the chocolate to make sure she didn't burn it either, because that would make her look like an idiot. The smile he had just given her made it a bit harder to concentrate, because her knees were getting weak and she couldn't stop staring at him.
'You like me?' he winked and he put his hands on his hips.
She felt her cheeks burn and quickly focused her attention on the pot. 'If I didn't like you, I would ask you why you were in my kitchen,' she replied trying to sound normal. It was time to get a grip on herself, this wasn't normal. He definitely was very handsome, but she shouldn't lose her head over him. They were friends, if she could call it that already, and that's how it was going to stay. She had promised herself no more guys after David, or at least for a couple of years.
'Fair point,' he answered. He was leaning against the kitchen counter and his muscles were visible under his shirt. He was holding the mixer in front of his face and he was studying it intently. Then he tried to turn it on and off, repeating that several times as he clearly was enjoying it.
'Are you trying to break it?' she said while watching him play with the mixer.
'Yes,' he smiled innocently, 'or is that the incorrect answer?'
'Just start already, otherwise there'll be no cake.'
'That sounds bad.'
'So it's up to you,' she grinned. His face had looked upset when she mentioned no cake, that boy clearly doesn't eat enough cake.
'Look, I'm mixing and I haven't messed up yet!' he yelled cheerfully, clearly proud of his achievements. He was focusing really hard on the simple task and his tongue stuck out a little as a sign of concentration.
'I knew you could do it, so just keep going now,' she grinned, he looked adorable right now.
'You tell me when it's done, right?' he asked hopefully.
'I'll keep a look on it, don't worry.'
'I'm so glad I don't have to do this alone, by this time my house would have burnt down,' he sighed.
She observed him out of the corner of her eye while she was preparing the cake tin. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead and his strong arms had no problems with holding the mixer, like she always had. She had never been able to observe him like this, he would always have noticed it if she had tried. Now he was concentrating he didn't seem to notice and she found herself staring at him shamelessly.
'Shit,' she exclaimed. She hadn't been paying attention to the eggs she was cracking because Seb had just ran his fingers through his hair to get it out of his face. Now one egg was smashed on the counter and not neatly separated like the rest of them.
'Ha! I'm not the only one who messes up,' Sebastian said gleefully. He stopped mixing and shot her an amusing grin.
'Well, at least it's not on the ground this time,' she answered and carefully cleaned up the broken egg.
'You always see something positive in everything,' he chuckled.
'Makes life easier, it doesn't get better if you complain.'
'That's true, but I'm always quick to curse everything that's near me.'
'I've noticed,' she smirked. She secretly liked that about him and she had to admit that sometimes she tried to wind him up because of that.
'What's that supposed to mean?' he asked suspicously.
'You always curse in German when something doesn't go right.'
He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. 'I guess that's not one of my best habits.'
'I don't mind, it's kind of cute,' she answered. Oh God, why on earth did she say that, this was not something he should hear. Delete please, she thought, but she knew she couldn't turn it back. She was always perfect in making situations awkward and uncomfortable, well done to herself.
'Yeah, you think I'm cute?' he asked nonchalantly.
There was no denying it now. 'Are there people who don't think you're cute?' she retorted the question in hope of making it look like it was a casual thing.
'Probably not,' he grinned and he stroke a pose while trying to make a duck face.
'If you keep that up, then no one will think you're cute,' she said warningly while pushing the egg yolks in his direction. 'Here, mix those in,' she ordered him.
He did what she had told him to do and she whipped up the egg whites with the sugar, they were now finally making progress. She gave him the task to stir in the chocolate and then did the egg whites and flour herself. He had the honour of pouring the batter into the tin and putting it in the oven, because he had insisted that he was the best batter pourer in history of planet earth. That left them sitting at the kitchen table waiting for an hour before the cake would come out of the oven again.
'So, now we have to wait?' he asked while staring longingly at the oven. He didn't like waiting one bit, he was always a tad too impatient and he couldn't help it. He tried to make the cake bake faster with his carefully directed brainwaves, but of course that wasn't going to work. Waiting it is then and he sighed in disappointment.
'Yes, so I think we should clean up the kitchen in the meantime,' she said and she stood up again.
'You're also very organised,' he remarked. Kimi on the other hand was a slob and his room in the motor home was always a mess. He hated that, he liked everything neat and tidy, how were you supposed to find anything otherwise? Kimi didn't seem to mind at all, but he was the Iceman after all.
'I hate it when everything's a mess and I don't really mind cleaning,' she grinned and then turned around to start filling up the dishwasher.
'You're the perfect woman then,' he said with a smirk. He also stood up and picked up the dirty mugs that were still on the kitchen table.
'I wish, that would make life so much easier,' she responded and put the mugs into the dishwasher. 'Ouch,' she gasped and grabbed her chest, obviously in pain. She leaned against the kitchen counter and squeezed her eyes shut.
'What's wrong?' he asked alarmingly. She was breathing very shallowly and he could see that something was hurting her. Her face had gone pale and the bruise on her cheek was now more visible than ever. Maybe that was not the only injury she suffered from, he thought.
'Nothing,' she said with a small voice, 'just a stitch in my side.'
He could see that she was lying. 'That's not true,' he said while observing her face.
She froze on the spot. 'Excuse me?'
'You're hurt, I can see that. Broken ribs?' he asked. He had seen several rib injuries in his motor racing career, it was a common injury there. The signs she showed were definitely from some kind of rib injury and he also knew that is was damn painful.
She looked shocked and her eyes widened. 'Bruised ribs, but how do you know?' she spluttered.
'The way you acted gave it away really, I've seen this before. I'm sorry, this must be really painful.'
She sighed and sat down at the table, still massaging her chest. 'Yes, it is, but I'm not complaining or anything.'
'If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know,' he said trying to sound understanding. He felt sorry for her and also the fact that she felt the need to defend herself showed that something was wrong with her.
'No, you can't help,' she said quickly.
'Are you sure?' he raised his eyebrows, she had responded too quickly.
'Yes, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me,' she responded and she hung her head. Her breathing became more normal and she finally let go of her chest.
'What happened to you?' he asked cautiously, because he didn't want to upset her.
'Someone robbed me,' she answered while trying to sound relaxed.
She sounded rather convincing, but the fear in her eyes gave her away. 'You know that's not true.'
'Maybe it isn't, but I don't really want to talk about it,' she said timidly. She pressed her lips together and stared at her hands, which where clenched in fists.
'Why not, don't you trust me?' he asked.
'No, not really. I've only known you for like five seconds,' she suddenly looked broken again.
'But we're friends right?' he tried.
'We are?' she sounded surprised and she was chewing on her bottom lip.
'You don't want to be friends then?' he didn't know if he should feel offended or sorry for her, so he chose something in between.
She took a moment before answering and her eyes glazed over, showing she was deep in thought. Her hands were now stroking her arms, and a painful look was visible on her face.
'We don't have to be friends if you don't want to-,' he began.
She broke him off. 'Of course I want to be friends with you!' she said and it looked like she was holding back tears. Her eyes were definitely more watery than before and she tried hard to blink them away.
'Then why don't you tell me what happened to you?' he tried not to sound frustrated as he knew that it clearly was hard for her to talk about it.
She sighed and slumped back against the back of her chair. 'I can't, you'll despise me,' she said and a tear rolled down her face.
'I don't care what it is, but I'll never despise you!' he said loudly. To see her cry had shocked him, what kind of monster was he to make her cry? He stood up and he crouched beside her, trying to catch her eyes. Every now and then a tear escaped from her eyes and the look on her face broke his heart. He put a hand on her arm to comfort her, but she shrieked loudly and pulled her arm away. It was the same reaction she had had when they had been throwing pebbles at the lake. 'I'm sorry,' he said softly.
'I didn't mean to do that, you just surprised me,' she said and she gave him a weak smile.
'I'll write a note in my head, no touching,' he grinned back.
'When a car is about to run me over, you have permission to pull me away though,' she said with a small smile and with the sleeves of her shirt she started to dry her eyes.
'I'll also remember that,' he chuckled.
'I'm sorry for this, I didn't mean to cry,' she said and it was clear she wanted to sound cheerful.
'Really, I don't care. I've cried in public, so I think there's nothing wrong with crying.'
She chuckled and gazed at him in astonishment. 'You've cried in public?'
'Yes and I don't think anyone minded me crying,' he said, although he felt mortified inside. He remembered the day perfectly well, he had just won his first world championship after an intense race. He had been third in the standings and anyone expected Mark or Fernando to win it, even he himself thought he had no chance. When he had won it after all he couldn't contain his emotions, he had been crying like a baby on the podium. Standing there on the podium had made him realise what he had actually achieved and all the stress and emotions just took over. To this day it was still the best day of his life, it couldn't get any better. Maybe winning eight championships could do that, but he liked to stay realistic.
'You know, you surprise me every time,' she said and a genuine smile appeared on her face.
'Why?' he lifted an eyebrow.
'Because you're so different from any other guy I've known.'
'Is that positive?' he asked suspiciously.
She giggled. 'Yes, of course it is! I don't really like the macho men, I like my men normal and polite.'
'You do?' he asked sounding surprised. The girls he normally encountered were most definitely interested in macho men.
'Yes, I'm not cut out for all the drama that comes with a macho man,' she rolled her eyes and laughed.
'Then you're also really different from the girls I've known,' he grinned. He stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter. 'Another coffee?'
'Yes please, but don't you dare break my coffee machine!'
He winked and acted like he was throwing the coffee machine on the ground. 'Don't worry.'
'With you I do worry,' she smirked.
He put his hands in the air and turned around. 'Why are we friends again?'
'Because we're not like the others?' she answered and a corner of her mouth lifted.
When they drank their coffee they discussed the people in Switzerland and how different they were from the people back home. Sebastian of course found a lot of similarities, but British people were quite different. They joked about the stupidest things their countries had came up with and discussed how much better they would do when it was them who led the country.
In the meantime the cake had came out of theoven and when it had cooled down enough Keira gave Sebastian the job to cut it and cover it in apricot jam. In the end there was as much jam on Sebastian as there was on the cake and they laughed about their inability to bake a cake together. When Keira had finally put the chocolate glaze over the cake, they high-fived each other for making it to the end. After the chocolate was set they took a picture of them together while Sebastian was holding the cake. It looked like he was holding his first born baby, so proud he was for finishing it without any casualties. They sat down to eat the cake and they both agreed that it was at least eatable.