Driving Miss Catherine

‘It’s over. It’s actually over!’ Cat thought in disbelief. She sighed with relief and rolled out of bed at 10:30 with no intention of changing out of her pajamas. “Finals are over!!!” She yelled and skipped gleefully down to the kitchen. After making breakfast, she set about making plans for that night. She wanted to have a special evening with Seb to make up for all the late nights she spent studying. She knew there had been some tension between the two of them over the past few weeks, but she knew this special night would make up for it. Hopefully.

These days, it didn’t take much to put Sebby in a bad mood. For example, the nickname ‘Sebby’ was high on that list. He visited Kimi for a ‘guys night’ and only seemed to pick up some of Kimi’s personality habits. During an interview after practice, he made a terse remark about Kevin, one that was totally uncalled for and uncharacteristic of Seb.

Cat decided it was time they did something to set the record straight. First, they were going to get dinner. Cat had found one of the best restaurants in the area, and not wanting to leave anything to chance, she made sure nothing would go wrong by buying out the restaurant for the night. Nothing could ruin a night more than someone approaching Seb for an autograph, or worse, to berate him for his crash last year. She had not yet experienced anything along those lines yet, but she’d seen the looks people gave him, like silent boo’s.

Cat made sure his suit was hanging up in his room, and shined his shoes for him. When he got home, she was already dressed and was just finishing up her hair.

“You should wear that tonight,” she said with a cheeky smile. Seb didn’t ask any questions, but raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Okay,” he shrugged and closed the door to change.

“I’d like you to be my chauffeur again tonight, for old time’s sake. I need you to drive me to a date,” Cat added, and heard Seb sigh on the other side of the door.

“Yes Miss Catherine,” he replied, emerging from his room half dressed. As he buttoned up his shirt, Cat’s eyes drifted over his chest. Now that he was working with his physio getting ready for next season, Cat was starting to notice some differences, many of which she liked.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun tonight,” she said quietly and slid her index finger along his collarbone as she finished tying his bow tie.

“I bet you are,” he said under his breath as Cat turned to get her jacket. She heard him, but didn’t reply. When they got in the car, she talked about the restaurant they were going to, and how awesome it was. Seb was quiet, nodding occasionally.

They pulled up to the well lit front entrance, and Seb got out to open the door for Cat. As she was getting out, a valet slipped into the driver’s seat and asked for the keys.

“That won’t be necessary,” Seb said to him, “I’ll be taking the car.”

Cat snatched the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to the valet. “Don’t be silly Vettel,” she said with a wink, and led him inside.

“But, you said you were going on a date?” He sputtered as he followed Cat.

“I am,” she turned around. “With you.”

“Not with….Kevin?”

Cat cocked her head and gave Seb a confused looked. “Where do you get these crazy ideas?”

“But-but…” Cat walked ahead of him and was met by the hostess.

“Miss Catherine, your table is ready, and everything is exactly the way you asked.” She smiled and turned to lead them through the empty restaurant. Seb looked around in confusion as they passed empty table after table until they came to a table by the window and near a fireplace. The view was fantastic; it looked over the city down below, and if it had been a few hours earlier, they might have witnessed a spectacular sunset.

The flickering candles between the two of them reflected in Sebs wide, confused, blue eyes as a bottle of pinot was brought to the table.

“For you, Monsieur,” the waiter handed him a glass before pouring Cat’s. The sound of a string quartet starteld Seb in the quiet of the restaurant, and he looked behind him.

“I see we have our own private orchestra tonight,” Seb joked, and their first course was brought out. “This is my favorite, you remembered!” He remarked as he looked over his meal.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I checked with your physio and everything you’re eating tonight has been okayed with him. So you don’t need to worry about running an extra few miles next week to make up for it.”

“Actually, I was thinking how serendipitous it was that Kevin couldn’t make it tonight,” he added with a wink before he began eating. The rest of dinner really did contain his favorite foods, maybe altered a bit to fit his physio’s prescribed diet, but they were still delicious.

The last course, gelato, was brought out in a bowl on a decorative plate, but tucked in between the two was a handwritten note. He immediately recognized it as Cat’s handwriting and unfolded the note.

‘I love you, and only you.’

He was speechless, and for a second, he thought he might cry. He’d been so wrong about tonight, about Cat and Kevin, about everything! It was like the blinders had been lifted, and he could finally see the whole picture. Seb had been so caught up in the idea that Kevin and Cat might be hooking up behind his back, or even right in front of him, that he didn’t realize the exact opposite was happening. She loved him. She loved him!

He looked up at her, blinking away a few tears, and smiled. He was speechless.

“And that’s not the only surprise tonight,” Cat said with a smile.

Another surprise? Seb wasn’t sure he could take another surprise, although if it was as good as this one, he’d be glad to hear it. But what was it? (He couldn’t help but wonder if she was pregnant, but would that be a good thing? His mind wandered back to Heikki and the terrible things he’d done to Cat…) Seb was drawn out of his thoughts by Cat’s hands enclosing his.

“I won’t be going back to New York to finish school,” she said excitedly, holding Seb’s hand tightly.

“What? You’re finishing your classes here? Or are you dropping out…?”

“Not exactly… I’m still graduating in May, like everyone else, but I’ve worked out a way that I can stay here, with you.”

Seb thought the night couldn’t get any better, but he somehow got a little bit happier.

“I have to do a final project, like any other engineering student, and I was going to do it on something lame, but I’ve found something much more interesting to spend the next five months obsessing over.”

“And what’s that?”

“You,” she smiled. “Or, your car, rather. As an environmental engineering student, an F1 car is like a dream come true! And sinced I have a few connections on the team,” wink wink, “this is the perfect opportunity for me!”

Things were finally settling in Seb’s mind; all the pieces were coming together finally. He still felt like he didn’t deserve any of this, but at least he didn’t hate himself quite so much any more. The wrongs were slowly righting themselves, and everything he thought was against him, was actually what he had going for him the whole time.