Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 28: The Calm

Author's note: This chapter runs alongside __highflying's Lifeline chapter six. Link in comments.

The rest of the stay in Dubai flew by as they knew it would, as did the quick trip back to Milton Keynes for some simulation testing for Melbourne. And then it was back on a plane all the way to Australia, and a whole new battle... with jet lag.

The morning of the race brought with it a team breakfast. Both Seb and Dan would be there, as neither were obligated to attend the celebrity Grand Prix breakfast as some of the other drivers had been scheduled in for.

After a light workout in the morning, Seb and Tully made their way to the hotel restaurant, which had been exclusively booked out for the team. They quickly spotted half of Seb's crew dotted around the middle of one of the longest tables and headed towards them.

Evan and Jacob sat on the far side of the table, right in the middle, while Brand, Felix and Harry were down a few seats from them on the nearest side.

"Hello all." Seb greeted them as he took the seat opposite Evan. Tully followed him, taking the seat to his left, directly opposite Jacob.

"So, slept together yet?" Evan drawled, looking between Tully and Seb.

"Yeah." Seb replied casually as he read the menu, so casually that it went right over Evan's head.

"Out of ten?" Evan continued lazily, assuming Seb had been sarcastic.

"About..." Seb began, looking over at Tully thoughtfully.

"Forty five?" Tully suggested.

"Yeah, forty five. Maybe forty six."

"Wait, are you being serious?" Jacob asked suspiciously. Evan looked between them all as Jacob's suspicion suddenly fuelled his own.

Tully ignored their stares completely, instead looking over her shoulder as more of the team meandered through the doors.

Next to arrive were a handful of Dan's crew, and the Australian driver himself. After greeting everyone, they took their seats at the very end of the table. Management were next, with Christian Horner himself taking the seat next to Tully, and further along, Rocky and Adrian each took up a place.

"Did anyone save me a spot? No." Britta quipped as she finally showed up and stood behind Seb, smiling around at everyone.

"There's always room for you next to me, Britta." Evan called to her suggestively.

"Oh Evan, I can always rely on you." the German giggled before moving around the table to take up his offer. Slowly, everyone trickled in, filling up most of the remaining spots.

As everyone began to order, Tully gazed around the room and spotted Karin, the girl Evan had some sort of thing with, standing near the entrance. She was looking around the room warily, like she was pondering whether to stay or leave.

"Karin?" Tully called over to her. The brunette's eyes immediately darted over to her as she heard her name.

"Sit with us!" Tully smiled before looking along the rows of seats. They were all pretty much full. "There's, err, oh there's a free seat down the end." she continued, spotting a gap at the end beside Daniel.

Karin nodded and smiled as she made her way towards the seat, though Tully suspected the smile was just for show. The Finn frowned slightly, wondering if there was something less than pleasant going on in Karin's life. Perhaps she'd ask Evan later. Something just didn't look right about her. Then again, maybe Evan was the problem. She shook her head to herself, realising it wasn't her place to worry about anyone but Seb. Not only was he her first priority, but also her only priority.