Unchained Melody (Daniel Ricciardo)

Reconcile

Seb checks his watch to find he is running five minutes late for his dinner with Ayla. He grins, last time she was shocked to see him there on time, now she will probably make fun of him for being late. As usual.

He doesn't know why, but it's just something he can't help. Even when he thinks he leaves in time, somehow he will still end up being late somewhere.

He's got his dark, blue skinny jeans on with a white button up shirt. White being dangerous, but as long as he doesn't eat anything with tomato sauce he should be alright.

It was nice catching up with Ayla last night. She is a great listener and he is glad to have her back in his life. He was finally able to talk about his break up with Melissa and Ayla seemed to be convinced they could fix it. If it was up to him they never would have broken up in the first place, but Melissa felt otherwise.

For him it was very painful to find out Melissa didn't trust him enough to believe him when he told her he'd never cheat on her. What that woman did was all fake and a set up. He would never touch or kiss somebody else. Melissa was and is still the only one for him and he would still want to start a family with her someday.

But Melissa is in the UK and she doesn't answer his calls or respond to his texts. He is here, in the desert and there's nothing he can do to make things right again.
He's just going to have to find a way to get over the woman he loves more than anything, but that's like saying he isn't allowed to breathe again.

He slips his phone in his pocket and grabs the keycard for his room.
After turning off the lights he shuts the door behind him and decides on taking the stairs because he hates waiting for the elevator.

He jogs down the stairs whistling a very out of tune song. If anybody heard him they probably wouldn't even recognize it.
When he walks through the hotel lobby he greets some of the team members and he also nods at Lance and his father as they are walking in.

He turns and walks into the restaurant, looking around to see if he can spot Ayla, she isn't too hard to recognize with her colorful hair, but right now he can't see her.
He raises his eyebrow. Ayla is never late, she's the most on time person he knows, but still she isn't here.

Then his eye gets drawn to a woman who he sees from the back. He can't see her face, but somehow she seems familiar to him. She's got brown hair just like Melissa has, she's wearing some red dress with quite a low back, but that isn't anything special. There are plenty of women with red dresses walking around here this week, but why does this woman catch his attention?

He frowns as he watches the woman pick up her glass of water to take a sip. This also does something to him he doesn't understand. He doesn't even know who this is, yet he feels like he knows her very well.

Her little movements remind him of his ex girlfriend. The way she flicks her hair back, the way she seems to be fidgeting with a bracelet she is wearing.

Slowly he moves closer, his heart racing in his chest. He knows it's impossible that this is the woman she reminds him off. That woman is all the way back in the UK, she can't be sitting here in this restaurant.

Yet... he needs to see the face of the woman in red. He needs to see for himself that this is not Melissa. Then he will take a seat and wait for Ayla to arrive.

With sweaty hands he walks over to the table, he will just walk by her and take a quick look so he realizes this is a complete stranger who just happens to look like the woman he loves. At least from the back. She will probably look nothing like Melissa from the front.

He's right behind her now, she hasn't turned around yet.
Why would she though?
Because he is unable to swallow due to his throat being squeezed shut. He almost chokes in his own saliva and starts to cough.