The other woman

Mine

Seb looked at his tired face in the bathroom mirror, he'd barely slept at all last night, his head full to bursting point. Everything was swirling round and round, like a tornado; Alex, Gisela, the kids, Britta. He was a husband, a father, a public figure; could he really risk everything for an affair? He could lose his wife, she could make it difficult for him to see his children, he could lose his home, a huge chunk of his fortune in a costly divorce that could well end smeared all over the media and even a long time friend in Britta if she chose to support Gisela. She certainly wouldn't want the extra work load that an affair scandal and divorce could bring. And what about his team? What would Lawrence and Otmar think? It wouldn't be a sackable offence but they'd be worried about his race performance being affected. The only certainties would be that he'd still have his career, at least for next year, and his feelings for Alex.

Running the cold tap, he splashed some water on to his face to try and make himself look more awake. He had no choice but to take things one day at a time and he told himself that things wouldn't suddenly collapse and change overnight. He was in control of this, no one would find out anything unless he or Alex made a mistake and he trusted her, she had his back, she wouldn't do anything rash or stupid that meant they were found out.

"Seb?"

His head snapped to the left, towards the bathroom door. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Britta knock or come in to his suite. He had seconds to compose himself and looked at himself in the mirror one more time, his hands gripping hard on to the sink as he silently told himself to get a grip. Nothing had changed, no one knew anything.

Britta stayed in the lounge, waiting for him. They hadn't got long until they had to check out of the hotel and leave for the airport to catch their flight to Austria. His black suitcase was stood at the end of a brown leather sofa, along with his rucksack and a smaller silver case that he'd take onboard the plane with him. At least it seemed like he was organised and was almost ready to go for once. It was quite refreshing not having to nag at him and hurry him along

He walked in, just about finished pulling on a plain white t-shirt, bracing himself for her questions. "Morning."

She looked understandably surprised when she saw him, the last time she'd seen him look this tired was when him and Gisela had had a bad night with a newborn Xiomar.

He spoke before she could say anything, "I had a shit night's sleep, don't ask me why, I just couldn't sleep."

"At least you'll be able to catch up a bit on the plane." She watched as he flopped down on to the sofa and began to put his trainers on. "Have you had breakfast? You didn't join me in the restaurant."

"I had room service." He lied, he was too churned up inside to eat.

"I ate on my own, Alex didn't come down either."

He'd just finished up tying up the lace on his right foot and looked up at her, a little concerned, it was unlike Alex to miss breakfast. "She didn't?"

"No, she text to say that she'd meet us downstairs."

"Oh." He carried on tying his laces and then stood up when he was done.

"I was looking for you last night, I knocked on the door and came in but you wasn't here, yet your car was outside, where were you?"

There was the question he'd been waiting for, he thought quickly, searching his mind for an answer.

"Gisela had been trying to call you, you know that right?" She asked, studying his expression closely. Unless he'd had a really bad race, it was unlike him to just disappear.