Sebastian Vettel (One Shots)

Danke Didi (L.I.M.D.)

October 2022

Clara was playing with her 18ct white gold engagement ring which featured a slanted center stone that showed an eye-catching, modern look in the driver's room. It had been more than a year since she said yes to become Sebastian Vettel's fiancée.

She was a little shocked when her fiancé decided to end his F1 career after the 2022 season although she knew that retirement had been on his mind since the Corona pandemic began in 2020. But knowing that one of his reasons was because he wanted to tie the knot and build a family with her made her feel like she was in seventh heaven.

As she was a little bored, she took her phone out of her backpack. She found a lot of notifications, which was a normal thing for her as a press officer, but there was one that caught her attention. A notification from the F1 official app which said that the founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, passed away at the age of 78.

She quickly tapped on the article. Her eyes were blurry with tears as she couldn't believe the news she had just read. A couple of days ago, she accidentally found a tweet from someone who said the same thing, but she was grateful that it was just a hoax. But this time, it was a reality that completely shocked her.

Dietrich, or Didi, was someone who had played an important role to both of their career. It wasn't even a secret for everyone that Seb had been sponsored by Red Bull since 1998, when he was only 11. Without the brand, people would've probably never seen him in racing industry.

He was also the person who gave full trust to Clara on replacing Britta as the German's press officer from 2013 season. She still remembered very well how nervous she was when she entered the interview room to find out that she would talk face to face with none other than the owner of the team.

She was undecided whether she had to tell him as soon as possible or wait a little longer as the qualifying session was about to start in 20 minutes. She was afraid if the news would bother his mind and it could affect his performance.

"Cla?"

She hadn't realized that the man she was currently thinking of had been standing next to her. She didn't even hear when the door was opened. "Seb." She blinked her eyes a couple of times as she didn't want him to see her cry. But she was late as he had seen it.

"What happened?" he asked while lifting her left hand for her to stand.

"Erm, no, I-"

He was starting to worry. "Clara, please don't hide anything from me."

She finally gave in. There was no way for her to hide the news anymore. "Yes, there's something happened. But I need you to calm down." As he just stayed silent, she continued, "Dietrich passed away."

He released her hand slowly. He was stunned with the news she told him and he failed to say something which made her worry if he was upset. He walked away from her to look at the sky through the rectangular window in the room.

She quickly followed him and observed his face from the side. That beautiful man in front of her still hadn't said anything. Her words kept replaying in his mind. Didi wasn't only a big boss to him. He was a friend, an inspiration, and a helper. He helped kids, boys, girls, men, and women to chase their dreams.

She gently rubbed his upper arm that was covered by nomex top he was wearing. "Seb, you shouldn't hide your feeling. Cry if that makes you calm."

Right after she said it, his blue eyes started teary. "I haven't seen him in a long time and today I have to find out about this."

"I know."

He turned around to look at her. "It's a loss for us, massive loss. I know that he was important to you like he was to me. How did you find out the news?"