Singapore was hot and sticky and sticking to the European time zone kind of messed with his body clock but Sebastian wouldn't have it any other way. Nothing could wipe the smile off of his face, he was on cloud nine and had been for well over a week and it was all down to one person, his fiancée. Their engagement was still a secret to the outside world with only close family members and Antti knowing. He had a few minutes left before he had to get into the car so he zipped up his race overall and stepped over to Chloe.
"Come." He motioned with his hand for her to follow him and led her just far enough away so that they couldn't be seen by any photographers or tv cameras. Hooking his fingers in the belt loops of her red skirt he pulled her close and kissed her, quickly flicking his tongue into her mouth while sliding his hands round to her behind to press her against him. With all the noise that was going on around them, he felt her moan rather than heard it and he pulled away knowing that if he didn't stop now then he'd never make it into the car. "Ok, where has my nervous wreck of a PA gone?" He'd noticed her distinct lack of nervousness and had expected her to get more nervous as they got closer to the race, but this didn't seem to be happening. Maybe it was down to their new found closeness and their little secret?
"Don't ask me why but I just don't feel nervous this time." She shrugged and fiddled with the velcro fastening at the neck of his race overall. "Not one bit."
"Long may that continue." He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Hey Sebastian, put the girl down and get in the car." Riccardo poked his head around the corner, grinning at the pair of them.
"Time to go." He stole one more kiss from her. "I'll see you on the grid, yes?"
"On the grid?" She asked in surprise.
"Honestly, I ask Antti to do one thing for me." He muttered. "He's to take you with him to the grid."
"He's in love Seb, we both know how that feels, I'll be there." She smiled as he blew her a kiss before walking away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you ok?" Antti nudged into her shoulder as they stood in the garage.
"Yeah, why?" She looked at the screen to see Seb's car waiting, for what she knew he'd think was far too long, in his grid slot.
"You're not shaking with nerves."
"Oh....." She paused as the lights lit up red, one by one. Outside the scream of engines suddenly filled the air, masking the roar of the crowds that packed the grandstands. The lights went out and the cars accelerated at frightening speeds towards the first corner, miraculously all getting away cleanly and she continued watching the screen, as Lewis defended his position from Seb, until the cars were flying past to start their second lap. "Would you rather me be nervous then Antti?"
"Right, where's Chloe and what have you done with her?" He joked.
"I'm just not nervous. I thought I would be, but I'm not. Even I'm surprised."
"It's gotta be down to you and Seb getting back together. Annukka was stoked when I told her."
"I don't know what it's down to. I honestly can't say why I'm not nervous, I'm just not." She shrugged, for her the whole weekend had felt different, it had felt calm and everything had clicked into place, nothing had gone wrong, there'd been no stress and they'd simply enjoyed working and being together. They always worked well together but it was the first race weekend that had ever felt like this and she didn't want to say anything more to Antti in case she jinxed it. "Have you told her about....you know?" She didn't want to say too much being well aware of the tv cameras that were hovering just outside of the garage.
"Uhm....yeah." He scratched his head and looked a little guilty. "Don't tell Seb for fucks sake, he'll go mad. I'm the only one outside of both of your immediate families to know and he didn't want me to tell Annukka, I'm not sure he completely trusts her yet even though I do."
"He won't find out from me." She looked back to the screen to see that four laps down the top six cars were still in the same order that they were on the grid. So far, so good.
"When are you two going to make it public or in Seb's case, just stop hiding it?" Spotting a tv camera pointing in their direction, he held his hand over his mouth as he spoke.
"Seb wants to buy me a new piece of jewellery, if you know what I mean." She replied, doing the same as Antti. "So I guess it'll be after that."
"What's taking him so long?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." She looked at her bare left hand. Antti was right, what was taking Seb so long? After about half an hour car number five came in for a pit stop, dropping Seb down to tenth; Chloe rose her brows, surprised at herself, normally she would be worrying about him being dropped down in position, but not this time and as Charles came in for his stop on the next lap and came out in eighth behind Seb, who had already moved up a couple of places, she started to feel a little flicker of excitement replacing the calm. Looking at the screens she realised that the two Mercedes cars still had to pit, Ferrari might just have made a smart move with their cars. By lap twenty-seven Chloe's eyes felt strained, but then she'd barely blinked and hadn't moved her gaze from the screens; both the Mercs had now pitted and, crucially, both were behind the Ferraris. The time and the laps kept on ticking by, Seb had passed Lance Stroll and Daniel to move back up to third. Pride and excitement bubbled away in Chloe's stomach, her man was on a serious mission, this was like Germany all over again, he was obviously hungry for the lead and he pulled an aggressive overtake on Pierre Gasly causing a raft of shouts of encouragement and excitement from his pit crew that only grew louder and more urgent as he made an easy pass on Giovinazzi on the very next lap. Now he was in the lead, and her excitement really began to build. Antti looked at her as she wrung her hands in front of her and chewed on her bottom lip, his driver had certainly seemed rejuvenated since his reunion with her and this was proof of it. If Seb won today he had no doubt that this woman would have had something to do with it. Just over twenty laps later and as the safety car came in for the third time, the atmosphere was tense, electric yet expectant as everyone was daring to hope and believe. Seb was still in P1 with Charles close behind in P2, a one-two finish was now a likely result for the team and Chloe just hoped that neither driver made any rash moves and that Mattia didn't give in to Charles' moaning that he'd been unfairly undercut in the pit stops and that the drivers should be swapped back to their original positions. Seb needed this, she needed this and he deserved it. He'd driven a beautifully controlled race after his pit stop, managing his tyres and now managing his pace to keep his teammate out of DRS range, he'd not put a wheel wrong so far and it was as though he'd finally 'gelled' with his beloved Lina. This was more than making up for Monza.
"Did you know?" Antti grinned at her as Seb started lap fifty-three, with everyone still unsure if the two hour time limit was going to be reached before the sixty-one laps was completed.
"Did I know what?" She turned to him, fairly confident that nothing would go wrong now.
"That Seb's going to win? Is this why you've been so calm all day?"
"I honestly have had no idea, but the whole weekend has felt different. Anyway, don't jinx it by saying he's going to win, we don't know for sure that he will yet." She replied trying to sound serious while the excited look on her face said otherwise.
"You do." Antti slipped an arm around her shoulders.
"I don't!" She exclaimed, with her excited smile turning to one of sheer pride for their driver, her fiancé. "Just be prepared for the longest...." She paused to check her watch. ".....twelve minutes of our lives." They both returned their attention to the screens, Seb was keeping a gap of around one second between himself and Charles. Lap fifty-four.....fifty-five.....fifty-six.......fifty-seven......the gap was now close to two seconds, neither Antti or Chloe could look away. Lap fifty-eight....fifty-nine....the adrenaline was kicking in and she was already welling up with happy tears, she felt so incredibly proud of Seb and so, so ecstatically happy for him. Lap sixty...his pit crew were all on their feet, his entire team was watching which ever screen they could see. The atmosphere in both sides of the garages was lifting, this was actually going to happen. Seb started lap sixty-one, his final lap, with Charles now two seconds behind him and Chloe could barely contain her emotions.
"You're not meant to cry. He's going to win." Antti gave her a gentle squeeze. "Get yourself ready to run to Parc Fermè, I'll bring your stuff."
"I can't help it, these are happy tears, believe me! Are you sure you don't mind?" She wiped under eyes.
"Not at all."
"Oh my fucking god!" She squeaked. "I just can't believe it's actually happening!" She watched as members of both Seb's and Charles' teams ran across the pit lane and clambered up onto the wall while both cars were completing the last few turns. No one had expected a win here; a podium, yes, but not a win and definitely not a one-two finish, not only that, but Ferrari were about to become the first team to achieve that in Singapore. The garage erupted into near hysterical screams and cheers, almost lifting the roof, as Seb crossed the line two hours after the race had started. He'd done it! He'd won the Singapore Grand Prix!
"Go!" Antti urged her to make a run for it and she didn't need telling again as she bolted from the garage. "And stop crying!" He yelled after her, laughing. She might not have been a nervous wreck today but she was definitely an emotional one. She flew along the pit lane as fast as her feet could go, blinded by happy tears. She'd never felt such an explosion of emotions and a massive sense of relief, it was a euphoric release and it mixed with a rush of intense love, happiness and complete and utter pride. It was as if all the calmness she'd been feeling was just a dam, holding everything in and now that Seb had won the dam had burst and everything was flooding out. No one deserved this win today more than Seb, he'd driven a faultless race and no one could take it away from him. Reaching Parc Fermè there was already a large gathering of scarlet red uniforms and a huge mass of media and photographers, Seb's name and image was already being displayed on the large screen, the numbered signs were awaiting the drivers arrival and the sky was full of colour as fireworks erupted all around. She soon found herself ushered to the front, her relationship with Seb was common knowledge within the team and everyone there knew that he would want to see her waiting for him when he arrived, which he did less than a minute later. It was then that Chloe realised that she was shaking and still crying with happiness, but she didn't care and she knew that he wouldn't either. She watched as Lina rolled into her first place position underneath the podium and nudged the number one sign as she came to a stop. The engine cut out and seconds later Seb climbed shakily out of the cockpit to stand on the car and hold his steering wheel aloft while holding up a gloved finger, giving his famous number one gesture. Camera flashes erupted like lightning from all around them, reflecting and glittering off of his helmet and Chloe was nearly deafened by the roar of mainly male voices around her and of the crowds in the grandstands. After a moment he jumped down to the ground and ran over towards where she was stood; surrounded by his team, he was immediately engulfed in hugs and hands seemed to come out from everywhere, patting him on top of his helmet and on his back and all she could hear was words of congratulations and praise in English and Italian. She could feel her body being pressed into the barrier as everyone surged forward, reaching out their hands and calling out to him but as he moved to stand in front of her the discomfort she was feeling quickly vanished. Putting his gloved hands on her cheeks he leant in until her forehead was pressed against his open visor and his beautiful blue eyes were looking into hers, twinkling with the elation he was feeling.
"You're my champion, you were awesome out there! I'm so bloody proud of you!" With the noise of the crowds, the fire works, the last few cars coming in and with his mouth covered by his helmet she didn't know if he'd heard her and had no idea if he'd replied to her or not. "I love you!" She yelled, wanting him to hear that part and not caring that a tv camera was inches away. She could tell by how his eyes crinkled at the corners that he was beaming underneath his helmet and she watched in surprise as he stepped back and motioned for her to come over the barrier. Before she knew what was happening she could feel a pair of strong arms lifting her up, she squealed in surprise but lifted her legs enough to clear the top of the barrier and found herself being steadied by Seb as she landed his side of it. Suddenly she felt like she had stage fright as every lens was pointed in their direction and she froze for a second until she felt him take her hand. What on earth was he doing? He led her back to his car and she stood, feeling rather self conscious and fully aware of the worlds media being focused on them, while he removed his gloves, helmet, HANS device and balaclava. His hair was damp and his face was wet with sweat but he was grinning broadly and she could tell by the glint in his eyes that he was up to something. Seb looked back at her, although she was smiling proudly at him, she had a look on her face that said 'what the fuck are you up to?' Shoving his gloves and balaclava inside his helmet, he placed it down on his car. He ruffled his hair as he glanced around and saw Antti who gave him a thumbs up and a knowing grin because his trainer knew that he was about surprise his fiancée, his fans, the world and everyone that knew him.
"Hallo schön, wait there one second." He jogged over to Antti, not quite able to believe that he was going to do this in front of millions of people. Antti leant over the barrier to speak to him.
"No need to worry about her saying no." He shook Seb's hand while discreetly passing him Chloe's brand new engagement ring, pleased to have finally passed it on as he'd been paranoid that he was going to lose the expensive piece of jewellery, that was probably worth more than his whole years salary, all day.
"Thank you." Seb grinned at him before turning back and walking towards his puzzled looking fiancée.
"Why do I get the feeling you're up to something?" She asked as he took her hand once more.
"Because you know me too well liebe." He led her to stand in front the number one sign. "I love you." He squeezed her hand, her gaze was now totally focused on him, as was everyone else's as they all wondered, like Chloe, what was going on. Even David Coulthard was hovering, aware of time constraints and keen to get the post race interviews started. Seb went down onto one knee in front of her, taking hold of her left hand, sparking a flurry of camera flashes and a collective hush fell among the people surrounding Parc Fermè while the noise from the grandstands got louder as the image of him on one knee was beamed onto the massive screen nearby. Extra tv cameras seemed to appear out of nowhere and David respectfully stood back knowing that Seb would want this moment just for himself and his PA, although the tv cameramen clearly weren't thinking the same and hovered as close as they could.
"Oh my god!" Chloe whimpered, absolutely stunned. "You do remember that....."
"Sshhh." He smiled up at her before starting to speak. "I've been wanting to do this for so long, waiting for the right moment, for the win...." He swallowed, he had no idea why he was nervous, she'd already said yes once and as he looked at her happy, yet tearful, face he knew she'd say yes again. "Chloe, my beautiful girl, I love you so much with all my heart and I'm asking again, will you marry me?"
"Yes." She half sobbed the word out without any hesitation and nodded her head and he rose up to his feet to slip the most exquisite diamond ring that she'd ever seen onto her finger. She'd thought the first ring he'd got her was breathtakingly beautiful, but this was even more so. A large pear shaped diamond sat on a platinum band with twelve smaller diamonds, six either side, set into it that glittered and sparkled under the lights as the camera flashes continued, it was a spectacular piece and very befitting of the man who had given it to her.
"Oh Seb, it's so.....it's beautiful...I'm actually lost for words. Thank you." She rose her left hand to his cheek, smiling tearfully as he leant into her touch. "I love you." She whispered and although he couldn't hear her above the noise of the crowds and the repeated calling of his and Chloe's names from the ever expanding amount of media, he knew exactly what she'd said and pulled her in to hold her tightly against him, burying his face against the top of her shoulder as he felt her arms go around him, he could feel her shaking with adrenaline and excitement as much as he was.
"Sebastian." David's voice interrupted their moment, causing them to pull apart but Chloe appreciated that he had a job to do. "Seb." He put his hand on his shoulder. "May I be the first to offer the both of you my congratulations?"
"Thank you." He shot Chloe a dreamy smile before rubbing his face as it hit him once more that not only had he just won his first race in over a year but he'd just very publicly proposed to her, she watched as he blinked a few times, his eyes going a little glassy looking as the magnitude of it all clearly made him feel emotional. Someone dashed in behind her, thrusting a red Ferrari cap into her hand and she quickly passed it to him, remembering that he had to wear it when speaking to the media. Still wearing a megawatt smile, he winked at her as he put it on.
"Sebastian Vettel, you've won the Singapore Grand Prix for the fifth time and it's your first win since Belgium last year, how does it feel?" David asked, knowing that to ask anything about Seb's engagement would be pointless despite it happening in front of millions and it being a highly unusual thing for the notoriously private driver to do. Chloe stepped away, not wanting to stay in view of the cameras anymore than she absolutely had to, and she walked into the FIA garage to look for Antti who found her first and pulled her to one side, knowing that she'd appreciate a moment to gather herself.
"Ok?" He asked.
"You knew!" She poked his chest lightly.
"Yeah, you're right, I knew." He gave her a smug smile. "It's been difficult keeping it from you all weekend. If he hadn't finished on the podium I'm pretty sure he was planning on doing it in the media pen."
"I can't believe he's just done that!" She looked at the sparkling ring on her shaking left hand and shook her head in disbelief. "I just can't believe it." She bit her bottom lip as her eyes overflowed with happy tears again. This had been a huge thing for him to do, he'd never shared moments like this with the world before and probably never would again but he'd just proved to the world and to her beyond any doubt (not that she had any) just how much he loved her.