Driving Miss Catherine

Albert sat at his desk and stared absently at the mantel over the unlit fireplace. He'd been there for hours reconfiguring the numbers, trying to find a way out of this conundrum. But every time he came up short. Wayyy too short. Like, 25 million euros short. Exactly the amount Cat had given Ferrari.

"Oh Catherine," he sighed and his eyes rested on the portrait of her over the mantel. It had been painted shortly after her eighteenth birthday when she officially became a part of 'ACE.' Had he known she would spend his backup money so carelessly on some boy, Albert would have left her out.

He had created ACE as a tax free way to tie up his money, while looking like a family oriented guy. The name is of course an acronym of Albert, Catherine, and Elizabeth- something Briggsely had suggested. It gave Albert the appearance of caring about more than just his business and increasing the yearly profit. While that wasn't true, he was perhaps a little more ruthless and hard than some of his competitors.

But not with Catherine; he chose the more 'distant yet stern' approach to parenting. He knew Catherine's upbringing lacked in some areas because she didn't have a mother. Albert had not dated anyone since Elizabeth died, never tried to find a mother figure for his daughter. Some thought it was because he was afraid of getting tricked again, into marrying someone who only wanted his money. But the real reason is far less complicated than that. He hardly talked about her, and he'd told even less people this, but he had loved Elizabeth and was heartbroken by her death.

She may have tricked him into getting her pregnant, but he fell in love with her of his own volition. The fact that she started to show her interest in him after he'd made his first million showed what kind of a person she was. But they had that in common- they liked money. However, she was not interested in making money herself. She wasn’t as terrible as it sounds; Elizabeth just prefered the freedom of not having to work. She was involved in many charities, and wanted to help other who were less fortunate. She also loved interior design, and had decorated all of Albert’s homes. She always said she would have been an interior designer if Albert hadn’t come along, and often said once Cat was older she might make a profession for herself in that field. However, Elizabeth, never had a chance to do that, and Albert kept the interior decoration the same in her memory, no matter how outdated.

Albert had been in his office in London when he happened to come across Mr. Vettel. His office was on the top floor, shared with the offices of none other than Red Bull Racing. There was a terace on the west side of the building that the two offices both had access to, however hardly anyone went out there other than to smoke due to the wind. It might have been a bit windy and unpleasant, but Albert didn't mind and liked to watch the sunsets in person.

He was only in his London office every few weeks and often didn't stay too long, so this chance meeting really was unexpected. Albert hardly ever saw anyone from the Red Bull office next door, and certainly never any of the drivers. The majority of the team was based in Milton Keynes- this office was mostly for dull paperwork.

So exactly what Mr. Vettel was doing there Albert couldn't work out. However, what he was planning on doing, leaning far over the railing, was quite clear.

"I hope you aren't planning on jumping." Albert said, taking care not to sound too interested. "We're up so high, some poor chap will have to scrape you off the pavement."

Seb leaned back a little, but still kept his eyes on the ground far below. Albert remained where he was and continued to watch the sunset. He was busy and didn't want to be tasked with talking someone off the edge of a building. Surely someone else will notice and come out to assist him.

But no one from the other offices seemed to care, and the two remained alone on the terrace. Albert sighed and took a few steps closer so he wouldn't have to speak so loudly.

"I'm sure whatever it is can be worked out, and it really can't be worth ending your life over."

Seb did not turn, but he lifted his face slightly so Albert could see him more. In the light of the setting sun she could see the unkempt beard, the deep circles under his eyes, the lines of worry marking his face. It took him a second, but Albert realized who he was talking to.

"My longterm girlfriend dumped me," Seb started. "I might have killed or seriously injured my best friend, and I'm about to lose my dream job and the only thing I'm good at. If I go back in there they're going to fire me and pin the whole accident on me, even though it might have been a technical error."

"And you thought, I'll just jump off the building so I don't have to go back inside? You know, there is another way off the terrace. You can just come through my office."

"And then what?"

"And then you can figure this out somewhere besides the side of a very tall building."

"What's there to figure out? I'm going to lose everything."

"Now you see here boy, that's where you're wrong. Growing up in the East End was hard for me and my family and I was so determined to get out of there. All I had was determination and a good head on my shoulders, as my mother would say, and now I'm here." Albert gestured back toward his office. "And this is just one of my offices."

"That's really great, but I'm not looking to become a millionaire or business tycoon. Although, I did just lose all of my money."

"Then it looks like you could use a job."

"What?" Seb gave him a look that said 'I'm contemplating killing myself, don't offer me a job.'

"Nothing is worse than a man without a purpose or a mission. Let me give you one." Seb didn't say anything, but something in his expression changed, so Albert kept talking. "I'm based in New York, but I have a vast network and many connections. I could sneak you through my office and out of the county. That would at least give you time to think things over some more."

Seb was deep in thought as he considered Alberts proposal. It would be very drastic, but not as permanent as his solution. At least he'd have the chance to come back once things blew over, if they did. He gave one last look at the doors at the other end of the terrace that led into the RBR offices.

"Okay. But we'd better go quickly before they start looking for me."

Back in his London office almost a year later, Albert couldn’t help but wonder if events might have been different if he’d left Seb alone on the terrace. Of course Albert didn’t wish he had let Seb go through with it (although he never thought he really would.) However, he was starting to wonder if he should have just stayed out of it. Let Seb walk back into the RBR offices and sign whatever paper he had nearly jumped off a building to avoid. It certainly would have gotten Albert out of this mess with Catherine and Ferrari, and his missing 25 million euros.

‘I already have the jet on collateral, so that will go, and I could sell the country house in Connecticut to cover the rest,’ Albert thought, still staring absently at the mantel. ‘That would break Cat’s heart, though. However, she is the one that got us into this mess.’

Well, not exactly. Albert was the one that put too many of his eggs in one basket. He wasn’t the gambling type, but sometimes you had to take chances. This particular chance had now led his fate to be in the hands of a woman he wasn’t entirely fond of any more: Mrs. Houvinen.

She had been contacting him almost daily since his deadline was up. He said he would have the money by the 15th, and when it wasn’t in the account when he tried to wire it to her, it didn’t take Albert long to track it down. Today it was Heikki who gave him a call, at his mother’s request. After a bit of debating (which Cat’s name came up several times), Heikki finally suggested something as a last ditch effort.

"Why don't you just date my mom? She's the one you want a work relationship with-keep Cat and I out of this. Hasn’t she been through enough already?”

Albert scoffed at Heikki’s crude remark, but he was really just mad he hadn’t thought of it first. Really, it was an excellent business move. They both had influence, but in different circles. Together they would be able to help each other out, filling in where the other was lacking. On the outside it would look completely natural: a widow and a widower finding love after their children’s failed attempt at romance.

But could he actually do it? After what she’d tried to do to Cat? There must be more to it; Albert convinced himself there had to be. Mrs. Huovinen was smart, a little on the cunning side, but she wasn’t evil and selfish enough to do that. She must have some kind of reason behind her actions, however crazy they were, and Albert was willing to find out what they were.

“I think she and I should talk in person,”Albert finally said to Heikki.

“Okay, but the deal is still off if you can’t come up with that money by the end of the week,” Heikki said before he hung up.

“I’m sure we’ll work something out,” Albert said to himself and smiled.

Cat was scrambling to get her notes together before she flew to New York to meet with her advisor. She’d spent the whole week worrying about what her dad had said, and many times considered calling Heikki. If her dad was right, and getting back together with Heikki would fix this problem she’d created, then she could at least try talking to him. Cat wasn’t even sure what the issue was with the money, but she knew her dad was pretty upset so it had to be bad.

She felt guilty about investing in Ferrari without consulting him, but she didn’t think she needed to. He had said it was hers, ‘a little something to practice investing with.’ Almost like a plaything, a toy; like when you give a child an easy Easy-Bake oven so they can pretend to bake, ‘just like mommy.’ That 25 million euros had been Cat’s Easy-Bake oven. And she had ruined it.

On the eve of her flight to New York, she sat in the Ferrari headquarters in Italy gathering some last minute statistics to present to her advisor. It was pretty quiet, only a few people remained at the end of the day. Cat sat at a desk and was pawing through her papers trying to make sense of her notes, but she was too distracted by thoughts of Heikki and guilt for spending her father’s money. Finally, she just laid her head on the desk and started crying, completely lost and overwhelmed.

Kevin came around the corner and heard her crying softly. He was going to keep walking and not disturb her, but she looked up when she heard him. “Are you okay?” He asked and came over to her desk.

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” she sat up and dried her eyes. “It has nothing to do with this, just personal stuff.” She gestured around the office and her notes with her free hand as she grabbed a tissue with the other.

“Oh. I’m sorry; is there anything I can do to help?” He sat down on the couch near her desk and she turned her chair to face him.

“It’s just…” She searched for the right way to say this without giving away too much information. “I’ve made a huge mistake, and now I’m going to have to pay for it. Like, pretty bad.” A new round of tears came pouring down her face at the thought of breaking up with Seb so she could date Heikki.

“Hey there, it’s alright. I’m sure things will work out in the end,” he scooted forward and put his hand on her arm, trying to comfort her. He never knew what to do when girls cried, especially not girls he had a crush on.

“I don’t think it can be okay. My sponsorship for Sebby? It was funded with money that my dad had put in a kind of trust fund for me. But it turns out he only did that so he could keep it as a ‘backup’ source of funding. And he was going to use it in a very important business transaction that he’s been planning for months. And now I’ve ruined it!” She leaned forward into his arms, crying on his shoulder as if he were Seb. Nothing made sense anymore, and everything was falling apart. She would have to leave Seb, leave Ferrari, go back to New York to finish school, or maybe move to Finland to be with Heikki, if that would fix whatever it was her dad was trying to negotiate with Mrs. Houvinen.

There were other options, of course, but Cat’s brain was swimming and she only saw all the negative and worst outcomes. She only saw her and Seb breaking up, and her having to be with Heikki for…. she didn’t know how long. As Cat pulled away from Kevin her lips brushed against his cheek.

As Kevin was trying to figure out if it was an accident, or if she’d meant to do it, she did it again- except this time her lips landed on his. Before he could resist himself, he was leaning into the kiss, trying to extend it as long as possible. He didn’t know what this was, or why she was doing it, but he couldn’t help himself and he didn’t see him being the one to stop it. ​​