Saturday January 25th. Kitzbühel, Austria.
Chloe's nerves were jangling as they exited the hotel to take the short walk to the ski slopes of Kitzbühel. Stepping out into the freezing cold air she heard Seb let out a deep breath beside her, a small cloud of steam forming in front of his mouth as he did so. He looked apprehensive, people were already staring, she could hear their names being mentioned and he took a firm hold of her hand that told her he'd heard them too. So far they'd managed to get through the airport and to the hotel with no interruptions but he was sure that this is where their luck would end. And he was right.
"Sebastian!"
"Over here please Sebastian!"
"Can I have a photo Sebastian!" Out of nowhere a woman appeared at his side holding her phone up in front of them. He felt Chloe let go of his hand and step away, they'd agreed on the short flight over that she was to be in as few photographs as possible when it came to fans taking selfies. However, he knew he could do nothing about the press. "Can I have your wife in it too? Please?" The woman asked while keeping up with his brisk pace.
"No, sorry but thank you for asking." He was grateful that she'd at least asked instead of just trying to get Chloe in the photo too and gave her a hint of a smile that he hoped would be enough for her photo and make her leave. It worked. Chloe returned to his side and he took her hand once again, once he'd put his RayBans on in a futile attempt to stop people from trying to interrupt him.
"It's great to see you recovered Chloe!"
"You're looking great Chloe!"
"Can you both look this way!"
"Over here guys!" More calls were coming thick and fast as they got nearer to where the events were being held and the press were starting to home in on them. Seb was beginning to feel like they being hunted down and was starting to wish he'd asked for a security guy to escort them but then he hadn't wanted to draw attention to themselves by doing so. His eyes were looking everywhere, just in case....... Everyone was a suspect.
"How are you feeling Chloe?" People seemed to be appearing from nowhere.
Chloe lowered her head to look down at the ground letting her hair fall around her to try and shield herself. She could hear multiple cameras clicking away and the scuffling of feet as they got closer to them and she felt Seb tug on her hand to bring her closer to his side.
"Sebastian, can you sign this for me please?" A boy, who was probably no older than about ten, approached them holding a model, replica helmet of Seb's. Immediately they stopped for him, he would never ignore a young fan.
"Sure, what's your name?" Seb took the model helmet and the Sharpie pen he was offered.
"Louis." The boy replied. Seb glanced at Chloe and then smiled before he wrote a message and signed the helmet for Louis. He handed it back to him. "Danke!" Louis looked delighted and ran back to his parents leaving the couple to carry on walking.
"Cute boy." Chloe remarked as Seb took her hand once more.
"Ours will be cuter." He replied quietly.
"You better hope no one can lip read." She gave him a knowing look. With a long jumper covering the top of her new, bigger sized jeans and her coat buttoned up, her tiny bump was well camouflaged and Seb revelled in knowing that their secret was safe for the time being.
"A tiny part of me can't wait for the rumours to start, for people to start wondering and guessing." He mused, the thought of her bump 'breaking cover' temporarily distracting him from looking for danger.
"You mean you can't wait for people to start saying I'm fat." She remarked dryly.
"That's not quite what I meant liebe and you know it." He chided her gently, smiling at her comment.
"I know what you meant really." She said deciding that they should probably say no more with people watching them.
"Are you here to support Sebastian in his role as race director today Chloe?" Another question was fired at her.
"What's your thoughts on the upcoming court case in Norway Chloe?"
She shot a quick look at Seb after that question, it was no surprise that his jaw was tensed. She wished she'd got her sunglasses handy instead of them being buried in her handbag.
"Have you spoken to Michael or any of his family since the shooting?" A short, pale, ginger haired man joined her side, holding a dictaphone in front of her. Again she looked to Seb, even with his RayBans on she could tell his patience was already near it's end. "What about Mr Cole, has he been in contact? What have you got to say on the images he leaked of you and Michael?" The man tried again. Seb's already brisk pace went up a gear and she was grateful for the flat heeled snow boots she had on her feet that enabled her to keep up with him. They reached the entrance to the slopes and she was beyond thankful for the rep that met them there and the security that stopped the unauthorised press from entering. As the rep checked their passes and then pointed them in the direction of the grandstand she snuck another look at her husband, he'd let go of her hand and looked a little less stressed now but she could tell by his tone of voice as he thanked the rep that he was still on edge.
"This way." He placed a hand at the small of her back to usher her along towards the grandstand. Even though they'd reached a more secure area, he was still looking everywhere, he trusted no one. He slipped a protective arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry." She said, feeling like she had to apologise. Those questions can't have been nice for him to hear and if she'd stayed at home like he'd wanted then he wouldn't have had to have heard them at all. In fact, he probably wouldn't have had to deal with half of the amount of press and photographers if he'd been here on his own.
"Don't be, it's fine." He muttered quietly, leaning in so that she could hear him. "It's not your fault."
"I feel like it is." She replied as they climbed a flight of steps to get to their row of seats. She followed him along the front row, uttering apologies and hellos to the people they passed.
"Well don't." He sat down and watched as she sat down next to him and then rummaged in her bag for her sunglasses. The pure white snow that surrounded them was dazzlingly bright. As uncomfortable as he'd found the questions she'd been asked, he knew it must have felt a whole lot worse for his wife, although she didn't have the fear that he had; that awful, nagging fear that something was going to happen.
"I love you." She whispered after she'd put her sunglasses on and her bag on the floor by her feet. She noticed his face visibly relax at her words but only for a few seconds as he glanced at her and then started looking around again.
"I love you too." He took her hand in his own and brought it to rest on his thigh. He took a deep breath, trying to relax; while he was here sitting next to her she was ok, she was safe.
"Nothing will happen today Seb, I'll be fine." She whispered, feeling his leg starting to bounce up and down with her hand on it. "Please stop that."
He said nothing back but made a point of stopping his leg from bouncing. He was already aware of the tv camera that was pointing in their direction. No doubt the image of my wife is being beamed across various sports channels and somewhere out there is another nut job who wants to take her from me - another one that I'll have no control over, who'll be biding their time.....
"Seb, will you please stop that?" She nudged his leg with her own and he looked down, he was bouncing his leg again and he hadn't even realised he was doing it. "Please try and relax otherwise it's going to be a very long afternoon." He looked at her and nodded, glad that she couldn't see his eyes behind his RayBans.
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It's too bright, too windy, too cold, I'm bored, I need to pee again and I'm bloody freezing. Chloe rolled her eyes; while she was happy that Seb had relaxed and appeared to be enjoying himself with Bernie Ecclestone down on the course, she'd had quite enough of sitting in her seat with numb feet and a numb bum. Oh my god....I'd die for a nice warm bath right now and a hot chocolate while I'm in there. The idea popped into her head and it beat sitting here among the well heeled and elite of Austria, hands down. Seb might have happy sitting here chatting with a guy he knew from last year (who turned out to be a blessed distraction and had finally made him start to chill out) but now he was busy with Bernie and she was sitting here on her own, she'd had enough.
"I wonder if she's still in touch with Michael?" A woman behind her had started to whisper, but badly.
"Maybe she's still seeing him behind Seb's back." Commented another. Chloe resisted the urge to turn around and say something.
"Did you see it all in the press though?" Asked the first woman.
"Yeah, those pictures were almost pornographic. I'm surprised that Seb's stayed with her and not divorced her." Replied the second woman. Chloe got ready to leave, she could feel her cheeks heating up and anger starting to boil away inside her. How dare these two women sit there talking like that with her sitting right in front of them and she knew that they'd know she was right here!
"I doubt it's done his profile much good, bet his press officer had her work cut out dealing with the fall out from all that."
"I always thought him and Britta were together, you know." The second woman remarked rather too loudly. Chloe grabbed her bag from off the floor, she'd heard enough.
"I must admit they always looked extremely well suited." The first woman commented as Chloe sprang to her feet, she turned around to face them, they looked back at her, clearly not giving a shit. She wanted to say something but with an audience and being too wound up, her brain just wouldn't get into gear. She turned and left, walking back along the row as fast as she could and then running down the steps. The sooner she got back to the hotel, the better but with her bladder reminding her how badly she wanted to pee she nipped into a nearby cafe/bar and quickly found the ladies toilets. She entered a cubicle, slammed the door shut and locked it, leaning her forehead against it and dropping her bag to the floor as she became overwhelmed with shame. People were still talking about it, people were still talking about her and to hear them say those things and not care that she was there, right in front of them...... she swallowed hard, she wanted to cry as her confidence dwindled. She sniffed and blinked back tears as she undressed her bottom half to go for a wee, she wasn't going to cry, those vile women didn't deserve her tears. Instead she grabbed her bag and pulled her phone out from it to send a text to Seb to let him know where she was going to be.
Me: Hey superstar, just wanted to let you know that I'm heading back to the hotel. I'm freezing my tits off, I'm feeling a little tired and I'm going to defrost in a warm bath then maybe have a kip so I'm ok for tonight. Me and little bump love you loads xxxx
She hit send and then dropped her phone back into her bag so that she could finish up and redress. Then after flushing the toilet, she exited the cubicle and went to wash her hands at the sink. She smiled to herself as she thought of getting into the warm water of her bath, that was going to be much better than sitting in that grandstand listening to herself being talked about while freezing half to death and she hoped that Seb wouldn't mind her going back to the hotel alone, given his fears that something would happen to her.
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Getting back into their rather luxurious hotel room, she sighed happily as the warmth of it surrounded her. This was better already, back in the warm and away from everyone. She dropped her bag onto the bed and went straight into the bathroom to start running herself a bath, then she came back out to start undressing, leaving her gloves, scarf, hat and coat on the bed and then removing her boots before starting on the layers of clothing she had on. Once she was down to her underwear, she went back into the bathroom and added some bubble bath. As the bubbles began to form and a heavenly rose scent filled the air she wondered if Seb had replied yet, she hadn't heard her phone go off but with it being in her bag she didn't always hear it. She went back out and straight over to her bag where she found her phone and checked the screen, there were no notifications, rather oddly he hadn't replied. She rolled her eyes, surely he wasn't annoyed that she'd gone back to the hotel and was giving her the silent treatment, was he? She stood for a moment, maybe she should text him again? Maybe she should wait a bit longer and then text just to make sure he'd got it? She took her phone into the bathroom with her and placed it on the side of the bath. She inhaled, filling her nose with the scent of rose and then looked at the inviting bubble covered water. There was only one thing missing now and that was Seb, since their trip to the Maldives he loved to share a bath with her and there was nothing better than laying back against his firm body and feeling his arms wrap around her front and his hands rest on her belly. Maybe that's why he hadn't replied, maybe he was peeved that she was having a bath without him. Well, he knew where she was if he wanted to come and join her. Turning the taps off she bent to check the temperature of the water, it was spot on. She smiled as she dried her hand and then found a hair tie in her makeup bag. She was just about to tie her hair up in to a messy bun when her phone went off.
"Finally!" She said out loud. "What took you so bloody long?" She swiftly tied her hair up and then picked up her phone, her smile faded as she looked at the screen and her heart leapt up into her mouth as she unlocked it to read the reply.
M.S: I don't think you meant to send that to me, did you? Fantastic news about the 'little bump' x
"Oh shit. Oh fuck!" No wonder Seb hadn't replied, she'd text Michael by mistake. Thinking quickly, she copy and pasted her text, making sure it was definitely going to Seb this time. She hit send and then went back to looking at Michael's reply, should she send him something back? Should she explain that it wasn't meant for him? Should she ask him how he was? Should she call him? She shook her head and put her phone down, then she stepped into the bath. Instantly the warm water relaxed every muscle in her body and she closed her eyes, turning her thoughts to her husband instead.
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The door to their room being slammed shut woke her suddenly from her slumber. Seb was back and the way he'd slammed the door shut suggested he wasn't happy. Aware that she'd fallen asleep on the bed in nothing but her bath towel, she sat up, holding it up to keep herself covered.
"Hi." She said, watching as he angrily removed his coat and grey beanie hat. He looked back at her, shaking his head. "Seb, come on; you're not mad at me for coming back here, are you?"
"Could you not have stayed until the end, it was only another hour?" He removed his boots and then started undressing.
"I was cold....."
"What do you expect? Hot temperatures and palm trees? We're at a ski resort for fucks sake!" He cut her off, it wasn't that she'd gone back to the hotel that had angered him, it was that she'd gone alone when she knew what had been going through his mind and after she'd pleaded with him to come here.
".....and I was tired....."
"I don't care Chloe! You put yourself at risk, you know I don't want you wandering around here alone!"
"Nothing happened though, did it. I'm here and I'm ok." She shuffled towards the edge of the bed, with Seb unknowingly treating her to an anger filled strip show and her hormones all over the place, he was making her horny without even trying.
"But it could have! That's what you don't get! I'm trying to keep you safe here but you're so fucking selfish! You wanted to come here, you begged to come here! Then you get bored and just wander off back to the hotel without even thinking about how worried I might get!" He sat on the bed close to her and yanked off his jeans. She looked at him, stunned; he'd just called her selfish? "You just don't understand." He muttered miserably. "You could have at least text me again to say you'd got back here ok."
She sighed and moved to kneel on the bed behind him; he was right, she'd been selfish. She'd been so keen to get back to the hotel and to escape those two women that she hadn't fully thought about what he would be thinking or feeling. She let her towel fall away from her body and her hands glide over his shoulders and down his chest as she pressed herself against his back, she could feel how tense he was and how rapid his breathing was. Now wasn't the time to tell him about those women or how she'd messaged Michael by mistake, although she knew she'd have to, she didn't want to keep anything from him but she didn't want to wind him up further. Right now she wanted to make things right between them, she hated that he was so angry with her and she hated that he was so worried about something bad happening to her again. She nuzzled his neck with her nose and then kissed him there.
"Chloe, don't." He flinched and grabbed her hands. "I'm not in the mood."
"I'm sorry." She said softly, not giving up and not moving, still wanting to hold him. "You're right, it was selfish of me to just leave like that." She tried again by gently pulling her hands from his and kissing his neck once more. "I do understand, I know you want to keep me safe."
He closed his eyes, trying to quell his anger. She'd said she understood, she'd apologised but did she really get it? Did she get just how scared he was of losing her? No she didn't, she couldn't. She didn't remember getting shot and laying bleeding in his arms. She didn't remember hearing that single gunshot. She didn't remember a thing about that day. But he did. "I'm going for a shower." He stood up making her arms fall away from him and stalked into the bathroom, he didn't even look at her, he couldn't because he knew how upset she'd be looking right now at his rejection and if he did then he'd feel guilty as hell. He shut the door and then leant back on it, letting his head fall back against it with a bump. If he was like this now, how the hell was he going to cope when the season started and he got busy and had to leave her for hours at a time? When people got to know that she was pregnant, she'd be at even more of a risk and he'd be even more on edge.
"Seb?" She knocked softly on the door and called his name. He opened his eyes and held his breath. "Talk to me." She pressed her palms to the door, worried about him and hating that he was shutting her out. "Seb, I get it, I really do but you have to understand that nothing happened today and nothing will happen this evening, I'm fine and no one is out to get me. I'm perfectly safe." She leant her forehead against the door, listening for any sound he might make. "Sebastian please, don't be like this. I love you." She stayed where she was for another minute, listening. He hadn't made one single sound and he wasn't going to come out of there while she was standing here. She sighed and gave in and turned to walk back to the bed, deciding that she might as well start to get ready for this evening. She heard the door open and Seb was soon behind her, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders to turn her around to face him. He didn't utter a word but his love filled gaze told her everything he wanted to say and he pulled her close before lifting her and feeling her wrap her legs around him. Locking eyes with her, he carried her back to the bed where he carefully put her down and then made her lay back. He was quick to lower himself on top of her and claim her lips in a kiss that he poured all of his forgiveness and love for her in to while letting her melt away his fears with her embrace and the warmth of her skin against his. Once again she was his safe place and he never wanted to leave.