Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 10: Last Night Out

Author's Note: I know a few people missed the clues in the last chapter surrounding just who Seb was dreaming about. If you assumed it was Hayley, you may want to go back and check it again!

January 17th, 2014

It had been almost six weeks since Tully had signed her contract with Seb in the middle of Heikki's lounge room. Today marked the very last day of her contract with Stoffel Vandoorne.

Back in Switzerland, Heikki and Seb had planned a late afternoon session followed by dinner at a quiet bar nearby, if for no reason other than to celebrate their last weekend off before the new season's preparation began. The following week, they would be off to Milton Keynes for a week of simulator work before moving on to the first testing session in Jerez, Spain at the end of January.

"Has she told you when she's moving out here yet?" Heikki asked Seb as the German maneuvered them through the quiet village towards a quaint lakeside bar about 20 minutes away.

"Nope." Seb replied, shaking his head. In fact, Tully had told him two weeks ago, but Heikki wasn't allowed to know about that yet.

They pulled into a parking space right outside the bar and walked inside. Not a single patron paid them any notice. No photographs, nobody asking for autographs, nothing. The peace and quiet that small Swiss villages offered could simply not be beat.

The sun had just about set for the day as they found a table near the window with a full view of the darkening lake outside.

"I'm ordering a burger." Seb declared.

Heikki looked up from his menu and narrowed his eyes at the driver.

"Oh well, it's Tully's problem now if you don't fit in the car." he retorted. Seb grinned back at him in amusement.

"Speaking of Tully, I think it's weird that you haven't heard from her." Heikki continued.

Seb made sure his face remained casual as he shrugged, "I'm sure I'll hear from her soon." Tully had requested one thing from him, and he was going to come through.

The waiter came over to take their orders before shuffling off again. Heikki pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at the list of apps for a moment.

"Time to stalk her I think." he announced, selecting Instagram.

Seb peered down at the phone in Heikki's hands with piqued interest, "She has that?"

"It's on private, but yes." Heikki replied, navigating to his follow list and scrolling down to locate his sister.

A new waiter was back with their drinks. Seb accepted his gratefully and took a sip before gazing out the window at the last remnants of the sunset.

He turned back as Heikki snorted suddenly.

"What? Show me?" Seb said eagerly.

Heikki slid his phone across the table and Seb quickly picked it up.

The second his eyes landed on Tully's face in her profile picture, his mind instantly reverted back to the dream he'd had about her all those weeks ago. Thankfully, he hadn't dreamt anything like it since. He wondered if he'd ever forget the image of her cold, blue lips.

"The most recent post." Heikki prompted.

Seb nodded and tapped on the top left picture, opening it up. The corners of his lips pulled up into a smirk as he saw Tully with a guy and a girl on either side of her, kissing each of her cheeks. They seemed to be sitting in the back of a car. His eyes darted down to the caption.