Back To You (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 11: Back Home

Gia knocked the door as she had arrived at her house. Mariska and Tobias were standing behind her. They immediately went back to Vienna after the race. They all smiled when Adelina opened the door.

"Gia!"

She hugged her mother so tight. "Mom!"

"How are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm very good, mom. What about you?"

"I'm fine, my dear." Then, Adelina looked at the couple. "Ah, my other children are here too!"

Mariska and Tobias also gave warm hugs for her. "Aunty Lina!"

"Mariska, Tobias, I want to thank you both for bringing Gia to watch Formula 1 race in Spielberg."

Mariska smiled. "With pleasure, Aunty. We know that this is too early but, this is her birthday gift from us."

"Gia has been very kind to us all this time. So, we decided to share this moment with her. We know that Gia doesn't really follow F1. But we believed that it would be an amazing experience for her. And it was!" Tobi added.

"You two are also very kind to me and my family. Thank you so much!" Gia was quite touched with their explanations.

"You're very welcome, Gia. Hmm, I'm sorry but we can't be long. Tobi is back to work tomorrow, and so are we," Mariska said.

"Don't you want to come in first?" Adelina offered them.

"I'd love to, Aunty, but Tobi has to drive me home. Next time, we'll come back here, we promise."

Mariska and Tobias said goodbye to Gia and her mother before they got back into his car. After that, they came into their house. Adelina locked the door while her daughter brought her suitcase and put it next to the couch.

"Gia, how were your days in Spielberg?"

"It was an amazing experience, mom. I'm grateful to have Mariska and Tobi as my friends," Gia said happily, but her facial expression said otherwise.

Adelina assumed that Gia had met Seb there. At first, she hesitated to ask her. But her curiousity made her brave enough to do it. "Gia, erm, did you meet Sebastian there?"

Gia's eyes showed sadness, which could conclude that she had indeed met Seb. "Yes, I did." She didn't want to cry in front of her mother. "Can I talk to you about him later?"

Adelina nodded. "Sure. You look tired though. Go to your room and have some rest."

Gia kissed her cheek before she went to her bedroom with bringing her suitcase. After she arrived at her bedroom, she decided to sit on her bed. She was crying. She took her glasses off first before she closed her face with her palms.

Then, she remembered of her race programme. So, she took it out from her bag. She opened the page where there was Seb's profile. Her tears kept falling down after she saw what was written there, above his autograph.

Für Gia :)

Gia then closed and put the race programme on the nightstand. She didn't know that he had written her nickname instead of her full name. "Seb, why do you pretend that you don't know me?" she whispered, talking to herself.

---

Gia had looked fresh before she left her bedroom. She was looking for her mother. But she could guess that she was in the kitchen. And she was right. She found her there.

"Hi, mom!"

"Hi, Gia!"

Gia took a cup from the cupboard to make tea. "Can I help you, mom?" she asked Adelina who was cooking for their dinner.

"No, thanks. You can sit and wait, Miss Georgia."

Gia bursted into laugher. She knew that her mother loved to joke, just like her late father. A moment like that always made her miss him. She took a cup of tea she made to the table. She sat and waited, as suggested by Adelina. Some minutes after, they had their dinner. They barely talked every time they were eating.

Gia washed the dishes after they finished their dinner. While, Adelina was waiting for her. She hoped that her daughter finally wanted to talk about Seb. When she finished, she sat back on her chair.

"Gia, are you ready to talk about him? If you aren't, we can talk later."

"It's okay, I'm ready to talk."

"Okay. Just explain how you met him."

Gia nodded. "On Friday, Mariska, Tobi, and I waited at the entrance, so we could meet all the drivers and asked them to sign their autographs. The last driver who came was Seb. Tobi called him, so he walked closer to us."

"What was his reaction?"

"Maybe he was surprised, but he could hide it. He signed Tobi's cap and then, Mariska and I shook hands with him. He remembered that we are the owners of the bookstore that he visited last Monday."

"And then?"

"We took a photo together. He stood next to me. Then, yesterday when we entered the circuit, there was someone who stopped us. She's from Ferrari, her name is Giulia. She asked Tobi some questions and after that, she gave us VIP passes."

Adelina frowned. "VIP passes? For all of you?"

"Yes. Mariska, Tobi, and I had the chance to watch the race from Ferrari's garage. And there were another things that we did there. This morning, we went to the garage and we met Seb again. He helped us to call Giulia, as she was the person who arranged everything for all VIP passes winners. Ferrari's official photographer also took some photos of us with Seb and his teammate."

"So, you met him twice there?"

"Yes, I did, mom."

"Do you think he forgets you? There was no talk between you two?"

Gia sighed. "I don't know, mom. But I have a feeling that he remembers me."

"Then why didn't you try to ask him?"

Gia's eyes began to glisten with tears. "I wanted to but I couldn't. And... not in front my friends."

Adelina moved her chair to get closer to Gia. She embraced her and kissed her head. "It's okay, sweetheart. I understand that."

"Mom, if you were in my position and Seb finally had a courage to talk to you, what would you do?" Gia asked, wanting to hear her opinion.

Adelina was thinking for a moment. "I would obviously say that I was disappointed at first. But then, I would try to hear all of his explanations and forgive him."

Easier said than done. Gia would probably do the same, but she didn't think that it would be easy to control her emotions before he gave his explanation. Adelina always knew that Gia loved Seb, but she was disappointed at him as well. She was hoping that they were destined to meet and talk soon.

Adelina held Gia's hands on the dining table. "Gia, maybe you often hear that parents' feelings are never false, especially when it comes to their children."

Gia nodded. "Yes, I know that, mom."

"Actually, I have a good feeling for both of you. I know how Seb is like. He was always happy when you played with him when you both were still kids. Then, he never hesitated to say everything on his mind to you. He told you about his family, dream, and other things. It means that he fully trusts you."

Gia was happy with what her mother said. Then, Adelina continued, "I must admit, I'm surprised that Seb doesn't get in touch with us for the last 12 years. We keep wondering what his reason is. But believe me, he doesn't forget you. Sooner or later, he will face you and talk to you. Moreover, he has known where you live at."

"Yes, you are right, mom. Thank you for calming me and making me ready to face him someday."

Gia knew that sooner or later, she would talk to Seb. On one side, she couldn't wait to see him again. But on the other side, she didn't know if she was fully ready or not.

After talking about Seb, Gia decided to talk other things such as some places she visited to with Mariska and Tobias a day before they came to the Austrian GP. She also said to her that she started to like Spielberg. She wanted to bring her mother there next time.