All of Me (Sebastian Vettel)

8. Bournemouth

"Hello, can I help you?" said the petite black lady that opened the door. Seb thought her accent sounded like she was from the Caribbean but he wasn't completely sure. She was dressed in a nurses uniform, her braided hair pulled back into a ponytail. Seb guessed her to be in her late forties, maybe even early fifties.  

"Hello?" she said again. He then realised that neither he nor Joel had replied to her.

"Sorry. Hello, we're looking for Alyssa. Alyssa Harper? I believe she lives here," he began. He saw a frown cross her face.

"Maybe she does and maybe she doesn't. Who's asking?" the lady said, more than a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"My name's Sebastian, and this is Joel."

"Joel?"she said, a look of recognition crossing her face. "As in her brother Joel?"

Joel nodded eagerly. "Yes, I'm her brother. Is she here?"

"She's not here," the woman said curtly. "I'm sorry, you've  had a wasted journey." She slammed the door in their faces. Joel and Seb looked at each other. Seb knocked the door again. It opened a few inches. "I told you she isn't here."

Seb quickly stuck his foot in the gap before she could slam the door again.

"Then please can you tell us when she will be back? We really need to speak with her."

"I'm not telling you shit mister," the woman spat, a look of fury on her face. "I don't know who the hell you are,  but brother of the year there abandoned her, and when she went for help he'd moved away."

"She came back?" Joel exclaimed.

"Yes, but you'd fucked off somewhere, and your Grandad too. She was left alone without anyone. It was a good job she had me!"

"I thought she didn't want anything to do with me. If I'd have known I'd have stayed!"

"Yeah well. It's too late for that now. If you could please remove your foot from my door, I have a lot to be getting on with."

"Please." Seb looked her in the eye. "We really need to see her. It's important. Please, when will she be back?" The lady sighed.

"You ain't giving up are you?" Seb shook his head. They'd come this far. There was now way he was turning back now.

"No. We will wait out here until she gets back if we have to," he told her.

"You'll have a long wait. She's at work. She won't get in until gone midnight. It's only three now, so get comfy." With that she stamped on Seb's foot. He pulled it back, yelping. She slammed the door once again.

"Well I guess we might as well go find a hotel or something, we'll have to come back in the morning ," Joel said, sounding defeated. "Or maybe we should just go home. She's never going to want to see me."

"Joel, you can't give up, not when we've got this far. If you can get her to listen to you just tell her everything you've told Sienna and I."

"I've got to get past her guard dog first," he said, smiling wryly. Seb gave a small chuckle. Alyssa's flatmate did remind him of a Rottweiler, fierce and protective. He was actually happy that Alyssa had someone loyal fighting her corner.

"So, shall we find a hotel?" he said to Joel. Joel sighed and nodded.

"Come on, let's go."

They headed down the stairs, avoiding the nappies, beercans and syringes.

"I can't believe she lives in a place like this," Seb muttered as they reached the lobby.

"I guess she had no choice, thanks to me," Joel replied. "If I hadn't moved..."