Winter Break (Sebastian Vettel / Max Verstappen)

Chapter 3 - Switzerland

Laura's plane landed at Zurich late that Saturday afternoon, just as the sun was starting to go down beyond the horizon, casting sharp streaks of red and orange into the sky.

She jostled her way off the plan amongst the hordes of fellow passengers, all pushing and shoving their way through, she queued for an extortionate amount of time at passport control, and jostled with impatient travellers in the scrum to get her suitcase.

On the flight she had been so lost in constructing scenarios of how their reunion would unfold, that she'd not spent any time preparing herself for it mentally.  As she emerged into the arrivals hall, all those scenarios fled her mind like scared children, and her brain was full of white noise, like the black and grey static on an old television set. 

Laura immediately spotted Seb in the far corner, doing his best to stay out of sight, sunglasses on, and the hood of his bottle green jumper pulled low shadowing his face.

The last time she'd seen him they'd been alone outside her hotel – as Laura looked at him now she wanted to take him by the hand and lead him away, but surrounded by so many others they must follow the rules of social decorum.

"Hello," he said as she walked up to him, putting her bags down on the floor and holding out her hand to shake his.  "No, none of that," he said with a smile, batting her hand away and bringing her into a close hug.

Despite herself Laura took a long deep breath and absorbed his scent.  It wasn't what she was expecting: he smelt of the outdoors, of sawdust, of moss, and of lemons.  She was soaking in the smell, giving her an energy that made her body keep on moving even though her feet were still.

Feeling she had lingered in close proximity for too long, she pulled back.  "I don't care who's working for who, we'll have no shaking of hands," said Seb seriously, "this is just one friend helping another friend out for a couple of months, that's how I want the girls to see it, ok?"

Wincing at his double use of the word friends, Laura nodded in agreement.  "We're on a level playing field."

Seb picked up both her large bags, and despite her protests that she could manage, led her outside to where he'd parked his car.  He loaded up the trunk of a large navy blue 4x4, and climbed into the driver's seat.

As he put the keys in the ignition, he turned to look at Laura and gave her a large grin.  "Are you sure about this?"

"I think we're past the point of return now!" she said with a smile.

Seb responded by clicking the car into gear, and driving off towards the exit.

~*~

Laura always tried to approach meeting new people in the same way: like developing a Polaroid photograph, nice and slow.  The most important idea for her, was to be able to slowly get a true feeling for who they were before forming an opinion of them.

With Seb she hadn't managed that.  Seb had seamlessly demonstrated so many extreme characters to her that she'd been forced to make decisions after each one.  He'd shown faces of a rude disinterested third party, a forward flirtatious admirer, a thoughtful protective father, and now a happy smiley employer.  Laura had met so many different version of Seb that she was left with no idea of which of these personas most reflected the true him.

Determined not to make the same mistake with his children, Laura entered his house that evening with an open mind and a keenness to defer all opinions until she knew them both properly. 

But she need not have worried, almost immediately after being introduced to Rose and Isla Laura was certain they would all get on.  Seb's selection of Laura as his chosen Winter Break event planner may have seemed rushed, but he'd got it spot on.  Within the first fifteen minutes Seb was able to take a step back and let the three of them excited make plans for what they could do over the coming weeks.