I placed two mugs of tea on the coffee table before sitting down next to Seb on the sofa, his arm going around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. We were watching old episodes of Top Gear, I loved watching it but I had no clue about anything car related. I was trying to learn to drive but struggling greatly. My last instructor was horrendous, every time I made a mistake he would make a comment about how all women are awful drivers and I shouldn't even bother. I stopped lessons a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't ready to find another. Every time I got into the drivers seat I start to panic that I'm going to cock up and stall or worse, so I just gave up the idea of driving. I had legs and access to public transport so it wasn't like it was the end of the world.
I knew Seb was good at cars as he said he worked at Aston Martin, he didn't say what exactly he does but we'd only been dating a couple of months so I didn't really want to press, he would tell me when he wants to. Seb pressed a kiss to the side of my head before picking up his tea.
"When's your next driving lesson?" I looked down at my lap briefly before picking up my tea and taking a large gulp.
"Not for a while, I um- I left the instructor I was using," I said quietly, keeping my eyes glued to the screen as I took another couple gulps, almost finishing the cup.
"What? Why? I thought it was going well?"
"He wasn't exactly pleasant and put a lot of pressure on me. It's fine, I can get buses and trains." I finished the cup of tea and stood up. "Another cup?" I asked, trying to escape the conversation. He grabbed my wrist and gently pulled me back onto the sofa, pausing the tv at the same time.
"Hey, talk to me. A month or so ago you were so excited to get on the road and now it's like you never want to get in a car again?" I looked down at my empty mug that I was fiddling with in my hands. "What if I taught you to drive?" He offered, lifting my head up by chin to look him in the eyes.
"Seb it's okay, honestly-"
"I won't pressure you, we can take it slow and take a break at anytime you need? Just one lesson and if you still don't wanna drive I won't bring it up again. Okay?" His crystal blue, almost puppy like eyes were too much to say no to.
"Okay, just one lesson. And no shouting if I stall or cry."
"I wouldn't even think about that darling."
We walked down the stairs of my flat building, gripping the keys so tight in my hand I had a small Volkswagen logo imprinted in my hand. Seb took my free hand in his and gave it a squeeze and rubbed his thumb across my hand.
"Just breathe sweetheart, the calmer you feel the easier it will be." I nodded and took a couple deep breaths and unlocked the car, slowly getting in.
We sat in the car for a few minutes, making sure my seat as in a comfy position and I could see out of all the mirrors. I started the car and sat there in terror of attempting to pull away.
"Okay baby, foots on the clutch?" I nodded and whispered a yes. "Okay, take your foot slowly off the clutch and when you can feel some resistance against your foot, gently press on the accelerator." I nodded again before slowly taking my foot off the clutch, when I could feel a difference in the pedal feeling I ever so gently put my foot on the accelerator and the car slowly began to move forward.
"There you go! Now go slow but see if we can do a lap of the car park okay? We'll go slow so you can stay in first gear."
"Okay." I pulled out of the parking space and turned left, making my way around the car park, I only went 10mph but it felt like so much more in the moment. As we approached the spot again I started to panic, not wanting to stall when braking.
