The Race Director's Daughter (Sebastian Vettel)

63. The Waiting Game (1)

Seb sat on the armchair, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands.  He wished this was just a bad dream, but the fact was he was in a living nightmare. 

Leah hated him. He'd lost her, and it was all his own fault.  Well strictly speaking, not entirely all his fault. Her father had played his part too, but if he'd just told Leah the truth months ago this wouldn't have happened.

"She'll be back. She just needs time to calm down," Jamie said, breaking the silence that had fallen on the remaining members of the dinner party. 

"Back to tell me again how much she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, she's just hurt and lashing out.   You can't really blame her though, can you?" Luca said softly.  He was struggling to get his head around what had happened.  He wasn't at all surprised about Clarissa being caught at it, he'd always suspected her of cheating after his father had returned from Montreal alone, but he was really surprised about Seb.   Not the whole Clarissa thing, he didn't know what Seb was like back then, and Seb's previous conquests were nothing to do with him.  He was surprised by the lying.  Seb had seemed such a genuine guy.

"I know I should have told her, but I was scared of losing her.   I already lost her before and it nearly killed me.  She is everything to me.  Everything!  I have to find her, I have to explain."

He stood up and promptly fell back down as a sharp pain shot through his knee. 

"You ought to get that looked at mate," Jamie said. 

"I have more important things to think about at the moment," Seb snapped.  "Sorry, I don't mean to snap, I just...I have to find her."

"Just give her some space," Luca said.  "Joel is with her, she'll be ok.  She'll be back, and then you two can talk and sort things out."

"Does anybody want a cup of tea or coffee?" Vicky said, standing up, just wanting to keep busy.  Seb shook his head. 

"No thank you Vic," Luca said. 

"I could murder a coffee please," Jamie said. 

"Martin?" Martin didn't respond.  He just carried on staring at the floor. 

"I'll help you," Tamara said, eager to escape the tension in the room.

After the women had left the room, Martin looked up and glared at Seb.

"This is all your fault!" he ranted, pointing his finger. "If only you hadn't pursued my daughter, she would still be here, not out there somewhere in this fog!"

Seb didn't respond. He couldn't disagree with what Martin had said, it was all true. If it wasn't for him Leah wouldn't have fled, heartbroken. He felt his chest heaving with another sob. He'd lost everything because she was his everything. How could he live without her? Exist yes,but not truly live. He'd never felt more alive than he had with Leah.

He tried to stand again, Jamie restrained him. "There's nothing you can do but wait for her to come back."

Seb suddenly had a thought. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. He pulled his phone out of his shirt pocket and rang her number. It rang and rang and rang. Finally it went to voicemail. After listening to her greeting he began to speak.

"Leah baby, my lovely Leah, please come back, please forgive me. I'm so sorry. I love you so much."

Seeing Seb on his phone, Luca had an idea. He pulled his own phone out and opened Snapchat. He loaded the map up and zoomed in on the local area. He immediately saw that Leah was showing as still being at home. She couldn't have used the app recently. He looked for Joel. "Bingo!" he exclaimed.