The Surrogate

His House Guest

Friday April 1st, Switzerland.

Holly feels stupidly apprehensive as she enters the arrivals hall and begins to look for Seb. They've not seen each other in three weeks and conversations have either been by WhatsApp or slightly stilted phone calls, not helped by the fact that he's had to miss the first two races of the new season due to a nasty bout of flu. It kind of feels like she's meeting him for the first time all over again, only this time she's wondering which Seb she'll get; the warm, down to earth, kind Seb or the angry, hurt, heartbroken man that left her flat exactly three weeks ago.

She spots him first among the throngs of people in this busy hall and her heart feels like it's crying out to him, like it wants to pull him into her chest, envelope him with every rib and never let him go. He looks lonely and small standing there while people pass by him as if they don't even know he's there or they simply don't care. She pulls her small red case along behind her and as she gets nearer his eyes find hers and they don't leave her gaze until she gets close to him.

His black jacket is unzipped and underneath he's wearing a navy and dark green plaid shirt, teamed with dark grey jeans and a dark grey cap. His hair has grown a little more since she last saw him, it sticks out in little tufts from the bottom of his cap, especially around his ears and he hasn't shaved for a few days but he still looks as handsome as ever - as well as touch thinner, a result of him having been ill no doubt but also possibly because she broke his heart.

"Hey, how are you?" His smile is fake as he greets her, she can tell because it fails to reach his eyes, and he kisses her cheeks politely in a way he would an acquaintance or maybe a stranger.

What else should she expect though? She's back to being his surrogate, the woman who's carrying his unborn daughter....just a friend. Well, maybe not even a friend a right now, things feel too awkward for that. "Hi, feeling better? You've lost weight," she blurts out the last part, causing him to look down at his shirt for a moment, as if what she's said is a criticism and not an observation.

"A lot better than I was, thanks," he replies. He chooses to ignore her remark about his weight, he knows he's lost weight and so does Mark who's upped his calorie intake a little to help him put it back on. It's only over the past few days that they've started getting back in to his usual training regime, such was the force that his flu had knocked him out with. "Flight ok?" He takes the handle of her case from her hand, not wanting her to carry it anymore just in case it puts a strain on her pregnant body.

She's surprised when he sets off before she can answer but with a couple of big strides she catches him up, "the flight was good, I didn't sleep much though, it seems that your daughter had other ideas."

"Hmm," he hears her but at the same time he doesn't. Now he's taking her back to his home he's worried about how she'll react to his current house guest.

"You can feel her move now, she's grown so much that I can feel it from the outside," she adds.

He stops suddenly and turns to face her, a look of excitement briefly flashes across his face followed by disappointment when he realises that he's missed out on feeling the baby move for the first time. "When did you first notice it?"

"On Monday, it's not ever so strong because she's still so small."

He looks down at her belly, she's got a proper little bump now under her burgundy jumper and there's no way of keeping it hidden anymore. It's surprising how much bigger she's got since he last saw and he feels sad at how he's missed out on three weeks of his daughter's development. It's time that he'll never get back.

"She's getting bigger, isn't she," Holly pats her belly, watching a range of emotions flash through Seb's beautiful features as he stares at her bump, mesmerised.