Hello everyone! Thanks for, still, keeping up with this story! I hope you are enjoying it and let me know if there's any aspects of Valeria, or anyone else, you'd like me to explore more :) Happy reading!
PS: I wrote this chapter when Seb announced his separation from Ferrari and you can definitely see that at the end of the chapter. I, for one, am still heartbroken and not over it. Dunno about you!
Valeria had just arrived at the paddock in Montreal when she was stopped by Charles.
'Can I borrow you, please, Vale?' he asked.
They hadn't spoken since the "incident" after qualifying, Seb had tried to convince her to speak to him, but she had told him she had done nothing wrong.
'sure, Mr. Leclerc. Is there an issue with the PR schedule?' she asked, opening the schedule on her work phone.
'No, Vale, I need to speak to you. Not work you' he told her. 'I'm sorry. I acted like a...'
'complete and absolute dick?' she concluded for him.
'Yeah' he agreed. 'I'm really sorry' he repeated.
'it's OK. I have known you for a while, I wasn't surprised. I know you were annoyed and I was just a red shirt. Like in star trek'
'What?' he asked, confused.
'The red ones are the disposable ones' she explained, laughing.
'nerd' he told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. 'we good?'
'Yeah, I guess' she shrugged.
'Thank you' he kissed her cheek and walked in the motorhome. Valeria turned around to see a camera, she gave it a little wink and walked in herself. She had decided to embrace the attention, like Pietro had suggested back in Barcelona. If she didn't care, they would have stopped too. The rumours about hers and Sebastian's relationship had gained her some social media following. Not that she tweeted or used Instagram much, but she noticed people had started taking an interest in her a lot more.
She grabbed a cup of coffee from Andrea and followed the two drivers and their assistants to the driver's briefing and first press conference. She sat at the back, replying to work emails, not paying much attention to what was happening around her. Everything had become second nature. She looked up, as she hears the journalists chuckle. Dan must have said something funny, she thought. They walked out not long after, Valeria pulled her sunglasses down and started checking with Britta and Silvia for the next engagements.
'Taz, wait!' she heard Daniel call her. She turned around.
'What's up, my Aussie friend?' she smiled.
'you're in a good mood! I'm glad. I got you a present' he smiled.
Valeria opened the little box, curiously. 'it's a waterproof case!' he smiled.
'clever' she laughed. 'I'll make sure to have it on me next time I have a mental breakdown. Thank you'
'Anytime, Taz. That's what friends are for' he smiled. Since Monaco, he and Valeria had started chatting a lot more. Dan felt like the only way to help her let Jules go was being there for her to keep the good memories and send away the bad. He hoped he wasn't stepping on Seb's toes, but the two seemed to have come out of the experience stronger than before. They seemed like a good couple.
'I have a present for you too, but it's back in my room' Seb whispered.
'Seb!' she laughed.
'No, no. Oh god' he blushed 'I meant a real present' he added.
'Why are you telling me now? I want to know!' she huffed.
'You'll just have to wait' he winked.
Valeria, Seb and Britta walked out of the paddock together. Valeria followed Seb into his room. As soon as the door closed she felt him pull her close to him, his lips longing for hers. 'I just want to do this all the time.' He groaned.
'Oh yeah?' she whispered.
'mhmh, and this' he added, moving her hair away from her neck and slowly kissing it. She put her hands under his shirt, pulling it up and quickly disregarding it on the floor.
'is this the present you were talking about?' she joked, stretching under the covers. Seb's naked body was wrapped around hers, he was nestling his head between her shoulder and her neck, as he was playing with her hair.
'Nah, this was a little extra i wasn't expecting' he joked. He turned around to his bag, grabbing a box out of it.
Valeria unwrapped it. It was a brand new phone. 'Seb, what? You shouldn't have'
'I know you think you have a decent replacement but it's shit. It keeps crashing and the video quality is so bad. So... here.' he told her.
'Thank you' she turned around to kiss him. 'but you spend too much on me'
'Or not enough' he shrugged.
Valeria turned the new phone on to find that Seb had already set it up for her, he had set the lock screen to a picture of them smiling at each other someone had taken in Monaco at the paddock.
'We don't have any good pictures together, so it had to be a work one. But you looked beautiful there' he told her, watching her smile. 'there is also something Noemi asked me to show you'
Valeria looked at him confused. 'how did you speak to my sister?'
'she sent me an email' he shrugged. 'go to the camera roll' he told her.
Valeria unlocked the phone and opened the gallery. The first picture was a note. 'try to come home for Christmas' she scrolled to the second one to find a picture of an ultrasound. Her jaw dropped, she was going to he an aunt and her sister told her boyfriend before her! She checked the time, it was just past midnight in Italy. She knew Noemi had probably just got home from work but maybe calling wouldn't have been a great idea. She decided to message her instead.
'What a way to tell me! Congratulations, guys! Next time can I ask you to find out life changing news before my boyfriend does? I love you'
'How the hell did you find out about this before I did?' she turned around to Seb again.
'Well, your sister sent me an email. Britta picked it up, I had a nice chat with her on the phone and, well, your broken phone gave us an idea' he smiled. 'congratulations, Auntie'
'thank you' she smiled.
'well, you haven't introduced us yet so I decided to fix it. He's lovely. Or at least he seems lovely on the phone. Can't wait to meet him! Love you, Val' Noemi had replied.
Quali and race day
Valeria was watching quali in the garage. It seemed like Ferrari were going to be able to snatch a pole, everyone was feeling on edge at the end of q3, eagerly waiting for the chequered flag to be waved. By the end of it, Sebastian had managed to get p1, with Hamilton p2 and Charles p3. The garage was, finally a collection of happy faces again. Valeria watched the mechanics hug, with Mattia and the engineers patting each others' backs.
Valeria smiled as she watched Seb hug his mechanics too. It was amazing to see that even after all those years, he still celebrated a pole like it was the first one. She gave him a big thumbs up with a smile, as he went to hug Britta. She turned around to see the skysports crew approach the garage.
'Rosberg' she smiled.
'Newbie' he passed her a microphone. 'live in 3... 2...'
'Martin, hello. I feel like i spend more time with Valeria than my wife'
'That's how you start rumours, Nico. I think I had enough of rumours already' she laughed.
'we can see you're in a good mood, any comments?'
'I won't say anything until the end of the race, but of course we're happy to see two red cars in the top three'
'thank you'
She checked the cameras were off and said 'see you later, honey'
Nico laughed. 'bye, newbie. You and Seb make an amazing pairing' he winked, making her blush.
Valeria and Pietro were standing by the screens, watching the race unfold. Seb had kept the lead, but Lewis was closing up on him. Seb ended up going on the grass, rejoining the circuit extremely close to Lewis. The FIA decided that was worthy of a 5 second penalty.
'I had to go through the grass, and you come back, he has amazing grip, where the hell am I supposed to go? I have grass on my wheels. It's his fault if he decides to go that way. If he goes to the inside he'd have gone past me'
She heard through the radio. Seb wasn't impressed at the decision. He started pushing hard trying to create the gap.
'They're stealing the race from us' he said. Valeria agreed, but still kept a straight face, her fingers crossed under her armpit, she hoped he could get a 5 second gap by the end of the race. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
'You need to be an absolute blind man to think you can go through the grass and then control the car. I was lucky I didn't hit the wall. Where the hell am I supposed to go? This is a wrong world I tell you. This is not fair.' She heard him again.
Mattia tried to calm him down, over the radio, knowing that the message would probably be broadcast.
'I am not staying calm. This is not fair. It is not fair. I'm angry... and I have the right to be angry. I don't care what people say.'
Valeria looked up to the screen to follow his cooldown lap, but instead found her frowning face look back at her.
'but he still won, right?' she heard Charles' voice ask.
'No, p2' his engineer replied.
Valeria walked out of the garage, just in time to see Seb get out of his car. He was raging, you could see it even with the helmet on. He went to his driver's room for a while, everyone worried he would not even want to appear on the podium.
Valeria had been waiting around the podium area with the mechanics, when Seb finally appeared. He grabbed the 1 sign that was in front of Lewis' car and moved it to the side, putting the 2 in front of it instead. Valeria took a deep breath and followed him in.
She knew there was a camera behind her, so she tried to whisper. 'Seb' she started. He looked up to her, anger spewing from every pore. 'it sucks.' She started 'please don't let it win you over' she added, in Italian, passing him his cap.
He grabbed it out of her hands 'what the hell am i supposed to say? Well done on stealing my win? There's no need for PR talk now, I'm pissed' he replied in English.
'Mr Vettel, need I remind you I am not the FIA, nor the enemy right now? Please focus your anger on someone else. I'm not paid to get this attitude.' she hissed, walking off.
'Fuck racing drivers and their drama queen moments. I'm not here to be used as an emotional punching ball.' She thought, walking over to Mattia.
'Are we disputing anything?' she asked him. She knew they would be allowed time to contest it.
'we'll work on it, we need to watch the recordings again. Keep it brief with Rosberg, yeah?'
'Will do' she replied. She stood under the podium listening to 'god save the Queen' playing. She smiled as Lewis tried to share the top spot with Sebastian who was still as angry as ever. She watched the guys get their trophies, spray the champagne and walk in for their interviews. Seb hadn't changed his expression since he had spoken to her.
'newbie' she heard the infamous voice.
'Couldn't fucking wait for this' she laughed.
'Live in 3..2..1.. hey guys, here for a comment from Ferrari.'
'there isn't much to say, Nico. We are going to have a look at the situation and assess what our next step will be.'
'Sebastian didn't seem to agree with the FIA, we have heard some radio exchanges'
She took a deep breath and looked Nico in the eyes: 'Would you if that were you?'
'But it wasn't me, I wouldn't have made the mistake in the first place'
Valeria smirked, he was good. 'Sure.' She snorted 'anyway, we are going to consider our options. I'll keep you posted yeah?' she passed him the microphone back.
She rushed back to the garage, trying to avoid any cameras and journalists. She grabbed her backpack and work phone, put down her sunglasses and walked back to the motorhome where she joined Pietro.
'what are people saying?' she asked, sitting next to him as he scrolled twitter.
'People are angry about it. The FIA is not looking good to them today. Also people have caught yours and Seb's little conversation, they are impressed you didn't punch him. Here' he turned the tablet towards her.
'Damn! "need I remind you I'm not the FIA, mr. Vettel?" and you guys say these two are dating, I've never seen anyone owning up to a 4 time world champion this way'
'Valeria must have just walked out to punch a wall after the way Seb spoke to her.'
'Rosberg is lucky she didn't shove the mic down his throat' Valeria tried to laugh. 'also liked by Nico Rosberg' Pietro pointed out.
Valeria caught two red shirts in the corner of her eye. She got up and stopped to chat to the two assistants. She didn't want to look Seb in the eye because she would have ended up either crying or punching him. 'I'm gonna head off soon, if you guys are OK with next week's stuff. I'll see you all back in Maranello'
Silvia and Britta nodded, Valeria grabbed her stuff and just walked out of the motorhome. She nodded to Michael and Daniel who were having a chat with Lando and Carlos, the Aussie called her over.
'alright, dude? I have caught a little snippet of a certain... tension...'
'Yeah, I'll be alright. It was Charles last week, Sebastian today. I guess next weekend one of you guys could just start shouting at me, if you'd like. It seems to get people to feel better about stuff'
'Don't take it personally, Taz, we are all dicks' Dan tried to joke. 'inflated egos and fast cars'
'talk for yourself' Lando interjected with a laugh.
'Cheers boys, I'm gonna head off now. I need a fag and there's way too many judgy eyes here.' She gave Dan a hug and waved at the rest of the group, directing herself to the exit.
Once she was out of sight from most of the supporters and cameras, she lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. She dialled her sister's number.
'hey, little sister' she picked up. 'how is it going? Simone was telling me something about the FIA and Seb being pissed. I just saw the way he spoke to you. Are you ok?'
'Yeah, I'll be alright. It's part of the job but it hurts more coming from him.' She huffed. 'but I called to talk baby. Do you know the sex? Have you got a name? Will you christen them?' she started walking back to the hotel.
'Yeah, it's a boy. We were thinking Guglielmo, like grandad. And yes, you know Simone and I care about it.'
'yes, I know. I envy you, sometimes. Having that faith' she caught a glimpse of Seb as she walked into the hotel. It looked like he had been waiting for her to come back. He got up as soon as she walked in the lobby. She ignored him and walked towards the stairs. 'and I would tell you I'd happily be a godmother, but I know it's a big deal'
'I wanted to ask you that, Fabio was going to be the godfather. You wouldn't have to be involved in the spiritual stuff and you could still be the godmother'
'Are you sure? I'd love to, Memi' she said, calling her sister the way she had since she had learnt how to speak. She was about to close the door when she noticed a pair of blue eyes looking at her. 'sorry Memi. I need to go. I'll call you when I'm back to Italy' she hung up.
'can I help you, Mr. Vettel?' she asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Please, don't. Can I talk to you, Vale, please?' his voice was nothing more than a whisper.
'come in' she said, moving to the side. 'but if the next words to come out of your mouth are not 'I'm sorry I'm an idiot' trust me, you will see a new side of me' she added.
'I'm sorry. I'm an idiot.' He stated. 'but see it from my perspective'
'Seb, I always see it from your perspective. I will always put your perspective first. The fact that, because of work, I have to remind you sometimes not to act like a... dick... doesn't mean that I don't agree with you.' She took a deep breath. 'The way you reacted, the way you spoke to me, the way you looked at me.... It wasn't you, Seb. It really wasn't.'
'I'm so sorry' he started, watching her nervously play with her ponytail. He walked closer to her, unsure if she was going to punch him. 'i just... don't feel great. And I took it out on the wrong person'
'why don't you tell me what's wrong?' her tone automatically changed. Seb looked helpless, tired and dejected all of a sudden. A side of him he had chosen not to show her, but that was becoming dominant.
'I'm done. I'm done with the politics. I'm done with the favouritism. I'm done giving this team my heart and soul and getting nothing in return. I have given them years of my life and what did I get? Being used as the scapegoat and only getting hatred from everyone?'
Valeria was speechless. Seb had managed to hide his feelings so well. He always looked so happy to be the man in red.
'Seb, I had no idea. If it's worth anything I would like to apologise to you on behalf of Ferrari and on behalf of some "tifosi".' She grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. 'and yes. The team has shifted their attention on Charles pretty quickly. I love the boy, but I do think it's disrespectful of all the time and experience you have given us. There's a reason you are my favourite driver. When you won in Monza in 2008, I looked at you and thought who is this wonder kid in a midfield car kicking everyone's ass? Then Red Bull, 4 back to back championships... I felt guilty liking someone so much when they were not wearing the red I always loved.You have inspired people that you can be a decent human being and still be at the pinnacle of a sport. You reminded most of us of Michael, but you're Seb. You're your own champion. You're funny, you're humble, hell you're cute but most of all you're hard working and passionate. And passion will lead to mistakes, and mistakes hurt you a lot more, not because you're Sebastian Vettel, but because you care so much. We can ask any kid in a kart now who they want to be like and I can assure you most of them will say you' she concluded. Seb's eyes were shining with tears. Valeria pulled him close and hugged him tight.
'I love you, Seb' she whispered.
'I love you, too. Even if I'm scared you're a fan girl now' he tried to lighten the mood, chuckling.
'But I made you laugh and that's what counts. Wanna go get smashed at the after party?'
'Fuck yes'
'Seb, swearing doesn't suit you' she joked.
'alright, ill leave that to you' he kissed her sweetly.