The Surrogate

A first step

"I don't... what the... how long..." Seb splutters and blinks several times, not quite able to believe what he's seeing.

But she's definitely there, standing in front of him, having risen from the folding metal chair she'd been sitting on while waiting for him. She's searching his handsome face, looking for any clue that tells her how he feels to be seeing her.

He just stares at her and rakes a hand back through his hair while his mouth hangs half open. He looks understandably shocked to see her and for someone with such expressive eyes, it's impossible to tell if he's happy about her being here or not.

Her mouth has gone dry and she swallows as her brain fights to find the right words to say. On the flight over she'd had in her mind what she'd wanted to say to him but now he's in front of her they've vanished. "Hi," is all she can manage and her hands anxiously grip at the skirt of her green shirt dress from where her arms had been hanging at her sides because she hadn't known what to do with her hands.

Seb's expression softens as he takes her in. He can't believe that she's actually here, that she's actually turned up like this at his last race in Abu Dhabi. She looks amazing, far healthier than she looked the day she'd fled from his home. Her long, chocolate brown locks have been loosely curled and look silky soft, her shirt dress is cinched in at the waist with the tie of the same colour and fabric and it finishes a couple of inches above her knees, though is slightly higher at the sides and she's paired it with a cute pair of light tan coloured suede boots that stop at the top of her calf muscles. Her blue eyes look vibrant and lips look full, carrying just a hint of colour from whatever lip balm or lipstick she's wearing. She looks exactly like he remembers her looking the very first time they met and it hits home once again just how much he's missed her.

He tries to ignore the butterflies he's feeling though and folds his arms across his chest, his expression turning more serious as he asks, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," she answers quietly, shifting her hands in front of her and interlocking her fingers together. Then she takes a deep breath and adds, "and Emilia too and I also wanted to be here for your last race."

He kind of sniggers ironically, "well you've missed the race so...."

"No I haven't, I've been here the whole time, I watched the race from the Paddock Club," she replies.

"You've been here all day?" It's another surprise, he's had absolutely no idea that she was even in Abu Dhabi, let alone the circuit.

She briefly purses her lips together and tilts her head slightly to one side, "all weekend actually," she confesses, "I arrived yesterday morning."

He rubs a hand across his mouth as he processes this tiny bit of information. "If you've been here all weekend, then why wait until now?"

It's a valid question and one she's already got an answer for, "two reasons I guess. I didn't want to cause disruption or distraction for your last race today and it's also taken me all weekend to pluck up the courage to come and talk to you."

His eyes fall to the passes that hang from her neck, "who got you those?" As he asks the question, the answer pops into his head - Britta, now her nerves today make sense.

"Britta," she confirms what he's thinking, "I've been in the hotel since I arrived so I've not seen anyone yet, just the person who kind of smuggled me in earlier, someone who had the F1 logo on their white shirt."

He makes a mental note to himself to speak to Britta later about this, feeling like she should have told him the moment Holly arrived. But then what would that achieve? Nothing.