Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 3: The First Session

Hayley stood at the top of the stairs, listening to the faint conversation coming from the kitchen. She sighed irritably and sat down on the top step, resting her chin in her hands as she balanced her elbows on her knees. She could make out Heikki's tone and an unfamiliar female one. Fantastic, the new personal trainer was in the house, right on schedule.

Finally, she heard their voices getting louder and quickly got to her feet, retreating back up to the top of the landing. She heard the front door open and close again and then nothing but silence. They'd gone.

Hayley quickly ran down the stairs and through the living room into the kitchen, peering through the high-set window over the bench. If she craned her neck, she could just see the driveway to right.

And there she was, strolling along casually between Heikki and Seb. Tilly or Tully or whatever her name was.

Her long, wild blonde hair fell across her back in thick, layered waves. She looked small and slim next to her well-built brother, and only a little shorter than Seb. She had a rich olive skin tone, which Hayley was able to see due to the fact that she was wearing shorts even though it was barely 5 degrees outside.

Hayley hadn't been able to see her face, but was sure that experience would come up later in the day. She sighed at the prospect.

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Tully, Sebastian and Heikki made their way around the perimeter of the house and down to the rocky lake's edge. They skirted the water at a casual walking pace until they reached a point where the residential area stopped and the terrain became hilly and blanketed with trees.

They walked until they reached a small, grassy clearing with a sign showing diagrams of all of the hiking trails in the area. At that point, Sebastian and Heikki automatically proceeded with a routine of stretches they'd obviously done a million times over. Tully copied them and tried to memorise the specific order her brother worked in. If she could mimic it, at least at first, then that might help Sebastian to adjust to her presence.

"I'll get Tully to finish the rest yeah?" Heikki asked Sebastian who nodded and rested a hand on his hip.

"Okay so..." Heikki began, commanding Tully's full attention as he placed his hands on Sebastian's shoulders.

"In a nutshell, there are no persistent concerns. He has no injury residue, no specific strains or points of weakness." Heikki explained. Tully could feel Sebastian watching her as she listened intently. His gaze was intense and borderline distracting. Just one more thing she'd have to become accustomed to.

"Do you want to just go through what you'd normally do in a stretching session and I'll let you know if you miss anything we usually cover?" Heikki asked.

"Sure." Tully nodded, clapping her hands together and throwing Sebastian a quick smirk, "On the ground then." she instructed.

Sebastian nodded before sitting down and laying back on the grass. Tully knelt down beside him and Heikki followed suit.

"Arms out." Tully instructed softly. Sebastian complied instantly.

She placed a hand on his closest shoulder, pinning it down against the ground firmly. She then tucked her hand under his knee on the same side, lifting it to cross it over his body. He automatically twisted his torso away from her, well and truly familiar with this particular stretch.

Once in place she moved on to all fours and used her weight to apply pressure, pushing his leg as far over as it would go without his shoulder lifting off the ground. This caused his whole upper half to be stretched out beneath her.