The Battle Of The Heart

Chapter 8: Trouble

"Who dat?" Mariam squinted her eyes towards a leggy blonde who was talking to Lewis, down in the pit.

"No idea."

"Come, let's go congratulate Lewis," she urged. The Qualifying session had just come to an end.

I grunted. I have been trying to avoid Sebastian all day and I did not want to risk running into him. That guy had a strange effect on me. It's like I'm not myself when he's around me. In the end, it was Lewis who came to find us. He invited Mariam to dinner with us and I felt somewhat relieved that I didn't have to be alone with him.

Over dinner, Lewis was his charming self as usual but listening to him talk, I could not help but think wishfully: Why aren't you Sebastian Vettel? I quickly brushed that thought away.

I felt even more guilty when Lewis remembered his promise. "I just have a few things to go over with the team, then I'll come and pick you up and we'll go drive around the island. Okay?"

"Yayyy!" I grinned.

I went to my room to get ready when we got back to the hotel while Mariam went to find King Bach and Amanda in the lounge. However, my heart sank as soon as I stepped out of the shower and checked my phone. It was a text from Lewis.

Lewis: This meeting's taking for ages. Sorry won't be able to make it!

Well, I didn't need a man to take me. I called Mariam to see if she'd like to go with me. No answer. She was probably getting drunk with her new friends. Or maybe she met a rich hunk at the bar. I scrolled down to Sebastian's number on my phone. It was extremely tempting. It would be ideal, actually. No Dani, you're better than this! You're not a homewrecker. You're a strong, self-respecting woman. I sighed. Well, I didn't need anyone to take me.

So I dressed up for myself, took a look in the mirror, felt slightly better and went down to the reception to book a taxi.

"It's been booked ma'am," the receptionist informed me. "But I'm terribly sorry they're very busy at the moment. You might have to wait for a little bit."

"That's okay. I'm in no hurry. Thanks!" I sat down in the lobby and started scrolling through memes.

"Waiting for someone?"

I heard a German accent and looked up. So, the devil really wants me to fall in love huh?

"Erm, just the taxi."

"Oh, where are you going?" Sebastian asked.

I hesitated. "Nowhere, really. I didn't have anything to do. So I thought I'd just take a look around the island."

"Oh." His smile disappeared.

"I know you offered yesterday," I quickly added. "But I didn't want to disturb you. Especially when you've got a race tomorrow!"

His face softened again. "Dani, I told you. It would be my pleasure to take you around."

How would your girlfriend feel about that? I wanted to scream at him. But I decided that would be an overreaction.

"Unless you'd rather go with a taxi driver?" he winked.

"Well, when you put it like that..." I blushed as I followed him to the underground parking.

My jaw dropped when we stopped in front of a red, LaFerrari and he opened the door for me.

"Like it?" Sebastian had a mischevious grin on his face as he drove the beast out of the car park.

"I'm speechless." I've heard a lot about the LaFerrari but nothing had prepared me for this. It felt like an exotic spaceship. Smooth, sleek and fast. And the noise was the best part of it. My brother would die.

Sebastian had his seat leaned back and a smirk that said 'I'm in control of this bitch.' I watched him as he casually guided the car around the streets of Yas Island with one arm on the steering wheel. It was a busy Saturday night, full of tourists and fast cars. But in that moment, I felt completely disconnected from the world. I felt like we were in a little bubble that drowned all the noise around us. A safe little bubble. It was just me and him. I found myself wishing we could just drive on and on, leaving everyone behind until we found a place where we had no ties, no responsibilities, no obligations... and we could just be together.

He must have sensed me watching him. He angled his head slightly to look at me and bit his lip, as if to suppress a smile. Fuck. From then on, I kept my eyes on the road.

"We're here," he said, stopping the car. "I want to show you something."

He had parked in a secluded road, with dim lights. It looked like the kind of place you would take someone to execute them, mob style.

"Where are we?"

He saw the concerned look on my face. 'Don't worry. You can trust me."

I followed him to the end of the road which was a dead end. We walked into a side road which was blocked by a 4 ft brick wall. Sebastian swung over it effortlessly and turned around, expecting me to do the same.

"This does not look like a safe area, Sebastian!"

Still, I could not refuse him when he offered me his hand to help me climb over the wall. As I straightened myself, I realized we were on a secluded, semi-circular dock with a view of the entire marina in front of us. I looked around. There was no one. Not even a yacht.

"What is this?" I was in awe. A thousand lights shone in front of us from far away across the water.

"It's a private dock. I found it when I was bar hopping with the team on a night out." Sebastian looked pleased with himself. "We all got drunk and lost Ricky- my engineer. I came here looking for him. I thought you'd like it."

"I love it. It's so pretty. It's the type of place you'd propose to someone!" I immediately realized what I said. "I mean, not you. I meant, you know... like-"

But he just laughed. "I know exactly what you meant. Don't worry. It's not a bad idea actually. This place is quiet and stunning at night. It is perfect for a proposal."

I should've left it at that. I should've smiled and moved on. Instead I muttered, "Maybe you can bring your girlfriend here when you're ready to propose."

That wiped the grin off his face. He stood there looking at me intently, with his hands in his pockets. For some reason, it always accentuates his forearm muscles when he does that. I was pretending to admire the view when he finally broke the silence.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Dani."