The Limit (Sebastian Vettel)

8. Back To The Status Quo

A/N: all f1 2018 results will be true to life. F2 results will not. They will all be fictional.

Lily took a sip out of her tea, glancing around the canteen for any sign of the man she was trying to avoid.   The word was he would be coming in to the factory today.

Just over a month had passed since her father's memorial.  Just over a month since she'd thrown herself at Seb and he'd rejected her.   How humiliating!   What was worse though was how she'd showed him her vulnerable side, gave him a sneak peek at the real Lily Scott.  She'd been an idiot.   She had to toughen up.  She couldn't keep using her dad as an excuse when she had a weak moment.  It had been ten years! 

Her head shot up as she heard the door open.  She sighed with relief.  It was just one of the engineers, not him, not Sebastian.   Maybe she'd be able to get through the day without bumping into him.   

It had been easy to avoid him since Jerez.   He'd been busy with his pre season routine, the launch, testing.  She'd been busy with hers, and had spent a lot of time at the Prema base which was nearly a couple of hours away from Maranello.  She was putting in as many hours as she could, not just in the simulator but in getting to know her team.

She already knew them in passing, after all she'd been with Prema for a year now, but with her making the step up to Formula 2 she'd have a whole new crew.

The door opened again and she saw Kimi Raikkonen enter the canteen with his trainer, Mark. They were laughing about something. It was unusual to see Kimi laughing. Lily thought he should laugh more often. He looked far less scary. They passed through and out the door on the other side. 

"Hey Lily, long time no see!" She glanced up and saw Charles approaching her.

"Charles!" she exclaimed, beaming at him. "What are you doing here?" The young Monagasque was making the step up to Formula 1 and had signed for the Swiss Sauber team.

"I am still part of the FDA," he chuckled. "Seriously, I just came to say hi to everyone as I had a day off and I was in the area."

"In the area? Charles, you live in Monte Carlo. Not exactly "in the area"!" Charles blushed.

"I may have been visiting someone."

Lily burst out laughing. She knew full well he'd have been visiting his girlfriend, Giada. She just liked teasing him.

"How is Giada? I would have thought you'd have had her at the Christmas party with you. I'd love to meet her."

"She's great. She had the flu for the party. She's coming to Bahrain next month, so you will meet her then."

Lily smiled as she thought about Bahrain. She couldn't wait to get her Formula 2 career started. Her goal was simple. Win the title, get a Formula 1 seat for 2019.

"How long are you here?" Charles asked her.

"Only till the end of the day. I'm driving up to Vincenza this evening."

"Ah, well I'm glad I saw you.   I'm gonna have to make a move.  Still a few people I want to see. I'll see you in Bahrain."

"See ya Charles."

Lily picked her phone up and began scrolling through her Instagram.  She didn't post often, she wouldn't have it at all but the head Prema media officer had advised her that it would increase her popularity.  She didn't personally care about popularity but she supposed it was good for the team.  

She looked through her recent selfies trying to decide which to post.  She got so invested in it that she didn't hear the door open, and she didn't see Seb stood in the doorway watching her.