Driving Miss Catherine

Cat slowly awoke and looked out her window. The dark clouds below told her they were still in flight and it was now night time, but not where they were. She stretched and yawned as she stood up, catching Seb’s attention from the back of the plane.

“Hey you’re awake!” He stood up and walked toward the bar. “Want a drink? It’s kind of cool your dad let us take his plane.” He started mixing two drinks without waiting for her response.

Cat snorted and replied sarcastically, “yeah, because everyone’s dad has a plane.” She leaned on the bar near Seb and he pushed her drink toward her. “Thanks. How’d you know I’d want a drink?”

“Because you can drink,” he lifted his glass as if to toast, so Cat held her glass up. “To not being knocked up by a crazy gold digger!” He smiled, yet there was sadness in his eyes as he clinked glasses with her.

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited about that too, although,” Cat furrowed her brows, her brain still waking up after a restless nap.

“What?” Seb set his drink down and looked at her, concern and worry drawing his face into lines. For a second, he thought Cat looked disappointed.

“Isn’t it too soon to tell? I mean, it was only a week. Now that it’s been three weeks, should I take another pregnancy test? Couldn’t there still be a chance-”

“No, you’re fine,” Seb interrupted her. “You can take another test if you want to, you didn’t even miss taking any of your medicine; you have nothing to worry about.” He tried to smile reassuringly, but the mix of emotions in his eyes kept it from looking sincere. He was still more than angry at Heikki for misleading Cat and treating her like dirt, but now, as they were less than an hour outside of Geneva, he was anxious. He was not ready for this, yet he wanted it more than anything. He needed to see Kimi, to know if he was okay, or even alive. He couldn’t stop himself from replaying that race in his head and all the actions he might have taken to prevent the crash. It was an accident, he told himself. That was his mantra every night as he lay in bed trying to sleep, trying to block the images of the crumpled Ferrari cart-wheeling across the track and into the wall.

The captain announced they would be landing in twenty minutes. Seb broke out into a cold sweat and set his glass down, his hands shaking too much. Cat was already buckled into her seat and staring thoughtfully out the window at the city below, sipping her drink. Seb slid into the seat next to her and tried to calm down as the plane came in for landing.

‘Next week,’ he thought. ‘Maybe tomorrow, I will find him, but for now, I cannot worry about it. It isn’t helping anyone.’

Once they were on the ground and he was driving yet another one of Albert’s many cars, Seb felt more relaxed and was able to distract himself long enough to get Cat home. She went straight to bed, since she started school the next day, and Seb sat awake long into the night searching online for clues of Kimi’s whereabouts.

Cat was busy with her studies most of the week, so he had plenty of time to research. However, the further he looked into it, the less truth he found on Kimi, and the more lies he found about himself. Tired, frustrated, and a little depressed, he was more than willing to oblige to take Cat for a drive when she asked.

“After my first week back at school, I need a break,” Cat smiled, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“And where are we going?” He asked as they got in the car.

“I don’t know, just somewhere I heard about at school,” Cat continued to talk about her week at university and her new friends. “Turn left here.” She gave random and sudden directions, mostly to keep Seb on his toes, but she also didn’t want him to figure out where they were going.

“Are you sure?” He slowed the car and looked questioningly at the driveway Cat indicated. It looked unused, grass growing between the pavers, the trees lining the driveway untrimmed, and the road sign rusted and falling off.

“Yes, this is it. Just go all the way up and we’ll be there.” Cat felt nervous, but it wasn’t for herself. The car slowly rolled up the driveway and Seb looked around anxiously. He stopped and looked at Cat like she was crazy, before pulling in next to a parked car. Cat glanced at Seb before opening the door, “Come on; let’s have a look around.”

He slowly got out of the car and looked around the yard before his eyes settled on the house. ‘House’ is probably too modest a word for it; it was a beastly structure, a small castle, a mansion with many windows.

And in one of those many windows was a figure, just a slight reflection, and it was gone. Seb felt his breath catch, but he blinked a few times and the figure was gone. He looked over at Cat, smiling so calmly, and wondered what she was up to. She came around the car and took his hand. At first he was shocked; she’d never approached him like that, or made any kind of gesture to touch him or hold his hand. But he let her lead him toward the house and up the few steps that led to the front door. She let go of his hand to ring the bell, and he tucked his hands nervously in his pockets.

The door swung open and a man greeted them formally in French. Cat explained, in French, that they had an appointment, and they were led to a sitting room/parlor. Seb stood in the middle of the room and looked around, trying to make sense of everything. They were alone in a room that looked rarely used, but was still tastefully decorated. Cat pulled Seb onto the couch next to her.

“Don’t stand there like an idiot,” she giggled.

“What is going on?” He finally asked. He turned to face her, her hand comfortingly on his arm, though he wasn’t sure what he needed comforting for.

“I’ve been doing some research….actually I had some help. Dad’s got a team of lawyers and investigators with connections all over the world, that’s how he found out about Heikki’s past,” Cat added quietly, and continued explaining. “I convinced them they should help me, but keep it a secret from dad, of course. After a few weeks they found what I was looking for, and that’s when I decided I was going to study abroad in Switzerland.” She took a deep breath before continuing and moved her hand down his arm so it was clasped in his hand. “Seb, Sebastian the crab, I know who you are. You are Sebastian Vettel, former Formula One driver and world champion and overall amazing person….and I know why you stopped driving.”

Seb’s heart was beating faster than the RB10 he crashed months ago. “I can explain- I wasn’t trying to keep any of that a secret from you, it’s just-”

“It’s okay,” Cat was smiled reassuringly. “If I were you, I would want to disappear too, and luckily for me, you didn’t go into hiding and cut yourself off from the world. Why you became my chauffeur, I still don’t understand, but I’m not complaining. But I didn’t drag you all the way out here to say that, actually, I have something to show you. It should be here soon.”

She looked around anxiously as the seconds passed. Seb was more nervous than he’d ever been before, and he didn’t know why; it was not knowing that made it worse. Their silence was interrupted by the sound of someone walking with a cane and pausing outside the door, followed by muffled angry muttering. Seb froze as he recognized the voice, and his blood turned to ice in his veins.

“I can get it myself,” the man on the other side said to an unseen attendant, before the door opened completely. Standing in the doorway was a sight Seb never thought he’d see again: Kimi Raikkonen. He was leaning on a cane, but other than that he looked pretty good.

The two former drivers looked each other over before Kimi finally spoke:

“Asshole.”