Into the Unknown (Sebastian Vettel)

10. Time To Say Goodbye

It was a hot, sunny day. Not the type of weather you'd associate with a funeral, but death didn't look at weather forecasts.

The mourners filed into the small village church. They were gathering to pay their respects to a man they had all loved and respected.

It had been nearly two weeks since that fateful night.  Monaco had been and gone. Seb had been ready to tell Otmar to put a reserve in the car, but Melissa wouldn't hear of it. She'd insisted she would be ok on her own.  

Seb hadn't left her since he'd taken her in his arms at the hospital, and it had  taken all of his strength to walk away and fly to Monaco.  The team's heart just hadn't been in it that weekend. They were all still shell shocked and heartbroken over their loss. In the end  they felt lucky to have walked away with a second and a fifth. 

Seb reached down and took Melissa's hand as Matt's coffin was carried in. He felt a lump in his throat. He had to stay strong for her.  She needed him to be her strength.

Melissa felt Seb squeeze her hand. She felt so beaten up inside.   Flashbacks of her parents' funeral were haunting her. A car accident had taken them from her. Now one had taken Matt. It had taken Abbey too, such a beautiful girl, inside and out, that Melissa had been looking forward to getting to know better. Now she never would. Poor Ollie was still in the hospital and would be for some time. Abbey had already been laid to rest after a private, family only, service.

She felt someone take her other hand, gripping it tightly. She turned and looked at Joel who was sat besides her.  He smiled weakly, the grief etched on his face, his eyes bloodshot from crying. He seemed to have aged several years since the accident. Sophie and Daniel were sat behind them, Daniel holding his distraught girlfriend in his arms.

Melissa felt the tears starting to well up again. How was this fair? How would she never see Matt again? His sarcastic, but gentle ways. He was the sensible one, the voice of reason in their group. Now everything had changed forever. She wished she could wake up from this horrible nightmare. She squeezed her eyes shut, tightly. Be a dream, be a dream, she wished to herself. She opened her eyes but it truly was a living nightmare. Matt was gone forever.

January 2014

Melissa and Joel got out of the car and nervously walked across the car park. They were starting their new jobs today. They were absolutely thrilled when they had heard the news that they had both been offered jobs at GP2 team, Arden.  They were starting as apprentices in the PR department. This was their dream come true.

For several years their goal had been to work in motorsport, and now it had become a reality. It was a step closer to their ultimate goal. Formula 1. They entered the building and approached reception, where they were handed their team lanyards and told to take a seat.

They'd only been waiting for around five minutes when a cheerful looking blonde lady approached them.

"Joel and Melissa? Hi, I'm Penny Holt, we spoke on the phone. Welcome to Arden. If you'd like to follow me please. The other new starters are already here." 

They followed Penny down a long white corridor and into a large meeting room. Sitting around the round table were two very nervous looking figures. One was a slim blonde girl. She gave them a big smile as they sat down.  The other was a dark haired boy that didn't look old enough to be out of school, let alone working for a GP2 team.

"Hello, welcome to Arden all of you," said a male voice, entering the room from the far side. "I'm Martin Crompton. I'm head of PR at Arden, this is my number 2 Jenny Firth," he said, introducing the tall, elegant brunette by his side."But you already know that, as we interviewed you." Everyone gave a small laugh. "Now, maybe you could all introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about yourselves. Joel, maybe you'd like to go first."  Joel stood up and cleared his throat.