Hi guys, here it is, chapter 50! I never thought I would make it this far, but here we are.
I loved writing every single word of it and the characters are very close to my heart now after writing their journey and their view on life. I loved developing the characters and there's still so much more to come!
I want to thank you all for reading the story and sticking around for updates, your feedback has been wonderful and reading all your comments always make my day. Your feedback helped me look at things in new ways and it also inspires me to write as often as I can :)
It felt like she was going crazy, she was now even confusing herself, let alone her colleagues. One moment she was happy, feeling like a strong independent women who didn't need a man and another moment she felt like running into Seb's arms to kiss him. It was only getting worse when the weekend progressed, but she had been able to close her mind to these feelings when she was at work. Okay, maybe not so much when Seb had been sitting next to her, but she had pretended well enough she thought. He had been trying to get her attention the whole time and it was a miracle that Rocky hadn't noticed anything that was going on between them. Luckily for her she wasn't as weak anymore as David had made her and she had been able to stick to her plan and ignore Seb's attempts. Although it had taken a lot of effort, because her body longed to be close to him, to be touched by him. It was really annoying, why did he have to be so handsome all the time?
'Do you know where Macy is?' Jenson had caught up with Keira and was now walking next to her.
Surprised that Jenson was talking to her Keira almost walked into a planter. Jenson was just able to pull her away and she was now bright red as a result, way to go to make a good impression. He must think she's an idiot or something.
'Careful there, people will think I pushed you to beat Seb on track,' he grinned cheekily and made sure Keira wasn't able to walk into anything else.
'Sorry,' was all she could mutter and she hoped no one else had noticed.
'So, any idea where Macy is? I checked the Red Bull garage and hospitality, but she isn't there,' he said and he looked somewhat disappointed, although his signature cheeky smile never really left his face.
A smile appeared on her face as she realised what was going on, he wanted to see Macy, but not for work related stuff. 'I think she had to pick up some spare parts, but I'm not sure. Why don't you text her?' she suggested, because Macy was always quick to reply. You never saw her with a phone, but she somehow always was on it.
'That's what I wanted to do, but there's only a slight problem,' he said slowly while he cocked his head. He had used his thumb and index finger to indicate the size of the problem, although of course sarcastically.
'What?' she asked. She couldn't understand what was difficult about sending a text to someone, he could even try to call her.
He scratched his chin and looked a bit uncomfortable. 'You see, I don't have her number,' he said while staring up into the air.
'Ah, that bit is crucial,' she grinned at the goofy look on his face. She was surprised though they didn't have each other's numbers. Especially after last race weekend as they both had suddenly disappeared at the party on Sunday night. She hadn't had time to ask Macy about it, because they had always been in the company of others, but she could imagine what had happened.
'So maybe you can help me out with that?' he asked tentatively, as if it was Keira's number he was after.
She grinned and held out her hand. 'Give me your phone,' she demanded.
With suspicion Jenson held out his phone and didn't let go at first when Keira grabbed the phone.
'Don't worry, I'll not look through your photo's,' she said and she was finally able to grab the phone from his hands. She looked up Macy's number in her own phone and copied it into Jenson's, making sure all the digits were correct. 'Here you go,' she smiled smugly when she gave the phone back. 'You could have asked her yourself, after your-,' she paused for a second, 'shenanigans, you know that right?' she chuckled.
'Yes, but I didn't,' he answered matter-of-factly and was almost successful in hiding the fact his cheeks had turned pink.
'Well, good luck,' she winked before Jenson stepped inside the McLaren hospitality unit. She grinned when he gave her a double thumbs up accompanied by a broad cheeky smile. He was a really fun guy, she thought. She could understand what Macy saw in him and they would be perfect for each other, both very outgoing and cheerful.
She walked back to Red Bull and secretly hoped Macy wouldn't kill her, maybe it was better to inform her before Jenson was contacting her. Although it perhaps was already too late for that, she better prepared herself for some accusing words. Not that she would mind, because they were obviously made for each other and this was just another little push they both needed.
'So, you're giving your number to any driver in the paddock now?'
The voice with a thick Spanish accent made Keira jump. 'You scared me,' she replied, ignoring his question. He had once again appeared out of nowhere, maybe he was actually a Ninja instead of the Samurai he claimed to be. She had heard about the tattoo on his back he had gotten this year and she was somewhat curious to see how it looked on him. Normally she wasn't really a fan of tattoo's, but she liked Kimi's, so maybe Fernando's wasn't too bad either.
He grinned and put his hand on Keira's arm, like he did whenever he saw her. 'Didn't mean to, just wanted to catch your attention before you could give your number to any other guys,' he said with a wink while giving her arm a little squeeze.
'The only driver I have ever given my number to was you, so I don't know what's the problem,' she said with a half smile. He must have seen her with Jenson, did that mean he had been staring at her? She didn't know if that disturbed her or if it was flattering. 'I was giving my friend's number to Jenson,' she explained the situation.
'Ah,' he scratched his beginning beard and he furrowed his brow. 'So if I'm the only one, that means you didn't give your number to Seb? I feel special now,' he chortled and he looked rather smug.
'He found out himself, he's a smart guy,' she said. She still felt the need to defend Seb, especially when Fernando was involved. Although she had promised herself to not think about him anymore, because she wasn't going to let him hold her back. There were enough other guys like Seb, she just had to give them a chance. Not that anyone would ever have such a perfect smile and those beautiful blue eyes, but she just had to settle for that.
'True, he needs something to compensate for his lack of talent,' Fernando said and he lazily pushed his hair out of his face.
She swallowed and decided not to reply to that, so instead gave him a smile and a nod. She didn't want Fernando to think that there was something going on between Seb and her, because he of course knew about Hanna and she didn't want to give him another reason to attack Seb on. She knew she shouldn't care, but she did anyway and she wanted to kick herself for that.
'I know I have tried many times before, but I'm not going to give up. Are you free tonight to have dinner with me?' he asked in the most flirtatious way possible. He rubbed his fingers along his chest, clearly with the intention to draw Keira's attention to it.
'Yeah, alright. I think I'll be able to fit you in,' she answered distractedly, as his tactics had worked and she was now staring at his body. He knew how to play her and she wasn't even sorry for that, in the beginning it had frightened her a bit, but she knew what to expect by now.
'I'll come by after I'm done with debriefing, around seven. Do you want me to pick you up from the hotel?' he asked. He waved at a few people who were walking by, before turning back to Keira to hear her answer.
'OK, I'll be in the lobby at seven and for your information: I hate waiting,' she pointed at her watch to make a point.
He showed his perfect white teeth again and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed. 'Understood.'
'Oh and don't make me eat weird food, I'm not really into fish heads as you Spanish people are,' she hoped it didn't sound too insulting, but no way she was going to eat that. Seb was a very simple kind of guy and they were on the same food level, but she remembered once again that she didn't really know Fernando at all.
'Don't worry beautiful,' he said and he took both her hands in his own. He squeezed them before letting go, because one of his team members had came to usher him away. 'Make sure to wear something nice,' he winked before walking off.
She felt her cheeks burning up and looked around if someone had seen, but luckily everyone had been too engulfed in their own conversations. After a few seconds she realised she was still standing at the same spot Fernando had left her and quickly fixed her hair and straightened her shirt before walking towards their hospitality unit.
'Ah, there you are. I have been looking for you, do you have a few seconds?' Christian Horner had just stepped out and almost bumped into Keira who had wanted to go inside.
Really, was she not able to get a moment for herself? It seemed like everyone wanted something from her today and she longed for her hotel room. She wanted sleep as she was not nearly getting enough during the night, she didn't care that it was midday and she needed to work. Her soft pillow was calling her and her warm duvet which she snuggled in while watching a film. Her head resting on Seb's chest and hearing his comforting heartbeat, while he played with her hair and commentated on all the things he found stupid in the film. Wait, what was she doing? This definitely wasn't something to think about, because it would never happen again. She was clearly very tired and that made her delusional.
'Are you alright?' Christian asked as he had noticed Keira was staring into the distance, clearly her mind somewhere else.
Shit, he was her boss and she was making a fool of herself. 'Sorry, I was just thinking about some changes we have made on the car,' she said apologetically, hopefully he wouldn't notice her white lie. She was also starting to get nervous, what wanted he to talk to her about? Maybe Rocky had noticed something, or maybe she had been screwing up massively. Or it could even be Seb who said something, after she had been so distant to him. Her heart turned cold at that very thought.
'It's good to see that you take your job so seriously, that's what I like to see. Everyone is really positive about you, especially Rocky and Seb,' he said with a smile and he patted Keira on her back. 'That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, how you're going on and if there are points where we as a team can still help you. Do you mind to sit down for a bit?'
Thank God, it wasn't a telling off. With a sigh of relief she smiled broadly and suddenly noticed how beautiful the weather was. 'Of course, no problem,' she answered and followed Christian inside.
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Qualifying left the team very positive, because it was the first front row lockout of the season for Red Bull. Seb had kept his 100% record of taking pole at Suzuka and he had shown the whole paddock that he was meaning business. Keira smiled when she saw his elated smile when he got out of the car, Asia was really his territory. That reminded her of that time they had sat in his room in the garage and she had tried to cheer him up, saying from now he would be on top. She hadn't been wrong and she hoped he could convert it into a race win the next day. However he was still going to be investigated for impeding Alonso and she prayed they wouldn't take his pole away. Not only would that crush Seb, but she imagined Fernando would be bragging about that tonight and she didn't think she could handle that.
'That was a good session, wasn't it?' Macy was cleaning her hands and sat down next to Keira. The cars were now in parc fermé, so there wasn't the normal hustle going on in the garage.
'Perfect result, you did some good work,' Keira complimented her colleague. She stretched her back, the nerves always made her very tense and that resulted in a stiff body.
'You too, the performance has improved since you joined the team, so you should get more credit,' Macy chuckled and she opened a bottle of water. She only put it down again when it was completely empty. 'It was hard work though, I'm completely knackered,' she sighed.
'Asia is Seb's area, has nothing to do with me. Although I'm glad I haven't screwed up, I agree if you give me credit for that,' Keira grinned and she also opened a bottle of water.
Macy rolled her eyes and tapped her foot against the stool. 'He has been looking for you this morning, did he find you?'
Keira shook her head and made sure not to look at her friend. She knew he had been looking for her, hence all the messages and calls. Of course she had seen him to discuss work related stuff, but she had always made up some lame excuse to hurry up and get away from him.
'Is there something wrong?' Macy eyed Keira suspiciously and leaned on the table to get a better sight of her friend's face.
'No, everything's alright, don't worry,' Keira smiled quickly and tried desperately to think of something else to discuss. 'Oh by the way, Jenson came to find me,' she suddenly remembered and sat up excitedly and almost knocked Macy off her stool in the process.
'Really, why?' Macy's eyes had gone wide and her arm slipped off the table, which resulted in her head almost smashing the top. She could just rescue herself and looked slightly embarrassed.
The clumsiness made Keira laugh, it showed her that Macy really liked that guy and it was really adorable. 'If you really want to know, he asked me for your number,' she giggled.
'He did?' Macy was stunned and looked like she belonged in Madame Tussauds. 'What did you do?'
'I gave it to him of course, that guy is so into you I couldn't resist,' Keira grinned. The whole situation was highly amusing, Macy normally was full of confidence and very loud, now she was the complete opposite.
'You think so?' Macy asked in a small voice and checked if no one else could hear them.
'You should know, not me,' Keira raised an eyebrow. 'You are the one who disappeared with him at the party last race weekend,' she smirked.
The face of Macy instantly turned red and she had hopped of her stool. 'Quiet! Don't talk about that in here,' she hissed and she pulled Keira's arm, which resulted in Keira almost falling flat on her face.
'Hey, be a little more careful!' she exclaimed, but Macy wasn't listening.
It felt like her arm was almost being dislocated and she was glad when her friend let go of her arm when they were standing in the women's toilet. The perks of being in a team with almost only men was that they had the toilets all to themselves and it proved a perfect place to discuss serious matters. 'So, spill it,' Keira demanded and she leaned against the back of the door.
'Alright, but don't you dare tease me,' Macy still looked flustered, but her eyes had narrowed and she pointed at Keira with a warning look on her face.
'I'll behave, promise,' Keira chuckled and used the mirror to check her hair. She used her fingers as a comb and made it look a little more presentable.
'OK, we left the party together and we went back to his hotel room,' Macy looked down at her feet and her face looked as red as a tomato.
'And?' Keira sounded impatient and tried her hardest not to laugh.
'We slept together, I think you had figured as much,' Macy said and she looked back up at Keira, although the embarrassment was now replaced by confidence and she laughed for finally getting it off her chest.
'Yes!' Keira almost yelled and she pulled Macy into a hug. 'I'm glad my little plan worked,' she chuckled and was somewhat proud of herself.
'What do you mean?' Macy sounded confused and she pulled out of the hug.
'I might have said to him that he should get his arse into gear, he had been staring at you almost the whole evening at the last party,' she confessed and she hoped her friend wouldn't be mad.
Macy stayed silent for a second and then the corners of her mouth quirked up and it didn't take long before she was beaming again. 'Thanks then, I guess?' she laughed and wrapped her arms around Keira's waist and lifted her up, which resulted in screaming from Keira.
'I keep forgetting how strong you are, because you're so tiny,' Keira said a little out of breath when she had been put down again.
Macy only grinned and she turned towards the mirror. 'I even stayed the night and we talked a long time while just cuddling in bed. It was perfect, especially when I woke up in his arms,' she closed her eyes and unmistakably cherished the memories of that night.
She couldn't understand why, but a heavy and stinging feeling made Keira's smile disappear. She stared at her friend and her stomach twisted uncomfortably, her friend was so obviously in love. She could tell, because by looking at her friend she immediately understood what she was feeling, she recognised that look on her face. The look you get when you're feeling on top of the world, like the world doesn't exist when you're with him and the feeling that you're chest is going to explode when you think of him. The spring in your step when you're walking around, the way the sun is shining brighter just for you and they way you hope it's him whenever someone walks in. The way his smile lights up your world, the way his jokes makes your heart jump with joy, the way his voice make you want to listen to him all day long, the way his nose crinkles when he laughs and the way your heart starts racing whenever he is mentioned. Yes, she was definitely in love with Seb.
'Go chase him,' Keira said to her friend and sheplastered a smile on her face. She ignored her heart breaking again when shetold her friend exactly what she wanted to do, but couldn't do herself.