Driving Miss Catherine

Between a rock and.... a gorgeous Finnish psycho

Albert sat at his desk and stared absently at the mantel over the unlit fireplace. He'd been there for hours reconfiguring the numbers, trying to find a way out of this conundrum. But every time he came up short. Wayyy too short. Like, 25 million euros short. Exactly the amount Cat had given Ferrari. 

"Oh Catherine," he sighed and his eyes rested on the portrait of her over the mantel. It had been painted shortly after her eighteenth birthday when she officially became a part of 'ACE.' Had he known she would spend his backup money so carelessly on some boy, Albert would have left her out.

He had created ACE as a tax free way to tie up his money, while looking like a family oriented guy. The name is of course an acronym of Albert, Catherine, and Elizabeth- something Briggsely had suggested. It gave Albert the appearance of caring about more than just his business and increasing the yearly profit. While that wasn't true, he was perhaps a little more ruthless and hard than some of his competitors. 

But not with Catherine; he chose the more 'distant yet stern' approach to parenting. He knew Catherine's upbringing lacked in some areas because she didn't have a mother. Albert had not dated anyone since Elizabeth died, never tried to find a mother figure for his daughter. Some thought it was because he was afraid of getting tricked again, into marrying someone who only wanted his money. But the real reason is far less complicated than that. He hardly talked about her, and he'd told even less people this, but he had loved Elizabeth and was heartbroken by her death.

She may have tricked him into getting her pregnant, but he fell in love with her of his own volition. The fact that she started to show her interest in him after he'd made his first million showed what kind of a person she was. But they had that in common- they liked money. However, she was not interested in making money herself. She wasn’t as terrible as it sounds; Elizabeth just prefered the freedom of not having to work. She was involved in many charities, and wanted to help other who were less fortunate. She also loved interior design, and had decorated all of Albert’s homes. She always said she would have been an interior designer if Albert hadn’t come along, and often said once Cat was older she might make a profession for herself in that field. However, Elizabeth, never had a chance to do that, and Albert kept the interior decoration the same in her memory, no matter how outdated.

Albert had been in his office in London when he happened to come across Mr. Vettel. His office was on the top floor, shared with the offices of none other than Red Bull Racing. There was a terace on the west side of the building that the two offices both had access to, however hardly anyone went out there other than to smoke due to the wind. It might have been a bit windy and unpleasant, but Albert didn't mind and liked to watch the sunsets in person. 

He was only in his London office every few weeks and often didn't stay too long, so this chance meeting really was unexpected. Albert hardly ever saw anyone from the Red Bull office next door, and certainly never any of the drivers. The majority of the team was based in Milton Keynes- this office was mostly for dull paperwork. 

So exactly what Mr. Vettel was doing there Albert couldn't work out. However, what he was planning on doing, leaning far over the railing, was quite clear.

"I hope you aren't planning on jumping." Albert said, taking care not to sound too interested. "We're up so high, some poor chap will have to scrape you off the pavement."

Seb leaned back a little, but still kept his eyes on the ground far below. Albert remained where he was and continued to watch the sunset. He was busy and didn't want to be tasked with talking someone off the edge of a building. Surely someone else will notice and come out to assist him.

But no one from the other offices seemed to care, and the two remained alone on the terrace. Albert sighed and took a few steps closer so he wouldn't have to speak so loudly.