Taming the Bull ~ [Sebastian Vettel]

Chapter 17 - In the Land Down Under

"Ingrid, you need to stop checking your phone for updates every five minutes. If you haven't heard a notice go off then that means nothing new has happened!", Olivia sighed at Ingrid as the four friends were making their way down the packed paddock in Melbourne.

It was finally time for the first race weekend to start. It was something everyone in the Formula 1-world had been looking forward to since the winter break began, or for most people, ever since the title was sealed by Sebastian in Japan last year. Now it was finally time for all the teams to show their true pace. There was no hiding or sandbagging anymore, all cards were about to be laid on the table on display for all the world to see. Testing had left everyone with questions, nothing was clear, and it looked as though the season to come would promise a closer championship than the previous one. Therefore the excitement leading up to the 2012 Australian Grand Prix was immense and even on this Tuesday morning, two days before the cars would hit the track, it was hanging thick in the air.

It was Ingrid's first day back working. Due to her brother's accident and the severity of his injuries, her fellow co-workers and bosses had been kind enough to let her have the days leading up to the inaugural Grand Prix off and instead she had spent all of her time focusing on her family and trying to gather up the strength to travel out to the Grand Prix this weekend, and here she was. She had been filled in on all the important details, and with a new haircut that was a bit shorter than usual, she felt ready to bring the weekend on...or at least that was what she was trying to talk herself into feeling. Truth be told, Ingrid had never felt this nervous over a Grand Prix weekend ever before.

Not only was it the first weekend her abilities as a medical delegate would be put to test and be on display for virtually the entire world to see. She had also asked and accepted going on a date with Jenson Button again. Something she was now well and truly starting to regret.

Just moments after asking him out on the fly that day in the hospital, the feelings of regret had started to seep into her mind and what worried her, even more, was the fact that she still couldn't shake a certain blonde German out of her head.

Ingrid hadn't heard another word from Sebastian since he had sent all those texts to her about two weeks ago, and she still hadn't dared to text him back. He had seemed so upset and in some strange way that had made her retreat back into her shell even more. If Seb had forgotten about her, which he probably already had, then that was good. She shouldn't bother him anymore, the magical kiss and all of that had probably just been a fluke, because why would he want someone like her? It was better for both of them to just move on, and if that meant her going on a date with Jenson Button, then so be it.

On the subject of her brother Emil, his condition still hadn't changed much. Ingrid had spent almost all her time the last two weeks by his side, and whilst there had been small improvements, he still hadn't woken up from his coma. Therefore being away from him and her family on the other side of the world felt awful. They had all been very understanding and her parents had even been pushing her to return to her job and fly out to Australia, but Ingrid still felt uncomfortable and on edge being so far away from them. What if something happened to her brother and she wasn't there? Those intruding thoughts were the reason for her current state, constantly checking her phone for any news about how her brother might be doing or how her parents might be feeling.

Whilst making her way down the busy paddock together with Patrick, Olivia and David she had already tripped on herself a handful of times, much to Patrick's enjoyment as he had barely managed to hold in his laughter when she had stumbled over a poor Ferrari mechanic that had dropped all of his equipment on the asphalt. She had apologised profusely and helped him pick up everything as quickly as possible, but Ingrid's cheeks had turned red with embarrassment and her friends had been teasing her about her absurd level of clumsiness ever since.