Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 2: The Trial

Half an hour later, Tully turned into the driveway of a modern town house in a small, quiet little village on the outskirts of Bern. She pulled up next to a black BMW M3 that was already parked in front of the house. Heikki was first out of the car and walked around to the boot to extract Tully's luggage.

"So, what's the plan?" Tully asked, pulling the keys out of the ignition and looking over at Sebastian in the passenger seat.

He seemed to contemplate her for a second, "Do you have a nickname?"

Tully raised her eyebrow at him in amusement, "Not really, it's pretty hard to cut my name down any shorter. Do you have a nickname?"

"A few." he nodded.

"And which one would you prefer me to use?"

"Handsome?" he replied with a grin before opening his door and jumping out.

Tully smirked as she watched him shut the door and walk around the car towards her side. She unhooked her seat-belt and opened the door before sliding out on to the gravel below. Sebastian reached her door and shut it for her.

"Thanks... handsome." she said sarcastically.

"Actually that's probably not going to go down well. Better stick to Sebastian." he laughed casually, walking ahead of her up the quaint pathway leading through the garden of the townhouse.

"What if I just called you Seb, would I be fired?"

He looked over his shoulder and nodded solemnly, "Instantly."

Tully grinned and shook her head. He really was a joker, just as Heikki had described him to her in the past. Almost every second thing out of Sebastian's mouth so far had been tongue-in-cheek.

As they reached the front door, Heikki skirted past the two of them and dug a set of keys out of his pocket. Tully looked down at the set still in her hands. There were definitely house keys on her set too.

"Whose keys are these?" she asked, jostling them out in front of her as the two boys entered the house in front of her.

"Mine." Sebastian called back cheerfully as she followed after them.

"What?" Tully laughed, "Did I just drive your car?"

"You did." he replied nonchalantly.

Tully bit her lip bashfully, "I would have been more careful if I'd known that."

"So you were showing off?" Heikki taunted.

"Not really, just demonstrating a reckless abandonment of care for your possessions." Tully shrugged.

"Old habits die hard then." Heikki huffed.

Sebastian chuckled to himself quietly as he walked over to the large bay window in the lounge room. Heikki had disappeared upstairs with Tully's luggage, leaving her alone with her potential new client.

Tully looked around the spacious, yet homely room. It had light wooden floorboards and white-painted timber furniture. There were two couches, both adorned with soft navy upholstery and set in an L shape facing the bay window and a large plasma television in the corner of the room. There was a square, glass coffee table with several stacks of paper set atop it haphazardly. On the other side of the room was a staircase leading up to the second landing.

"Nice view." Tully remarked, stopping next to Sebastian and looking out at the vast, crystal-like lake stretching out into the distance. Large, proud houses were dotted every so often about ninety degrees further around the perimeter of the water.