Back To You (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 22: The Secret

Mariska's mouth dropped open, a sign that she couldn't believe with what she had just heard. "Seriously?"

"Yes, he is. The last time we met was around 12 years ago. And now... we finally meet again."

"Please explain it all, if you don't mind. I will listen," Mariska softened her voice to make Gia sure that she wasn't angry at her.

Gia kept playing the zipper of her bag with her fingers. "We both studied at the same school but different classes. I knew him for the first time in 1994. During the break time, I saw him alone. Then I walked closer to him. I got acquainted with him and we finally talked."

Mariska nodded as she was listening to Gia. Then, she continued, "He said to me that he wasn't too close with his classmates because he was only from an ordinary family. His father was only a carpenter. While, most of his classmates came from rich families."

"They were the bullies," Mariska mumbled as she was very dumbfounded with the explanation. "Sorry, Gia, go ahead."

"Then, we became friends. He often played with me. We became more familiar until he knew my family and I also knew his. He once told me that he wanted to be an F1 driver like Schumacher,"

"Until 2002, he had joined some karting events and he won most of it. I remember that one time he brought one of his trophies to school as our headmaster told him to do so. You know, Seb was thought to be showing off his trophy by some students."

"Then?"

"In 2003, he officially became a single-seater racing driver. He was getting busier and we barely met. The last times we met were when we did the Abitur test and also when we graduated in 2006. Some weeks after, he came to my home. He brought me to a restaurant. There, he told me that he would move to Switzerland."

"Did he tell you the reason why he wanted to move?"

"He said that he moved because he wanted to live independently. And he also likes the country."

Mariska nodded again. "So that was the last time you met him."

Gia shook her head slowly. "No. His family and I accompanied him to the airport. That was exactly the last time I met him."

"Ah, okay. After that?"

"After that," she sighed heavily and her eyes started teary. "I never heard anything about him. I once asked his phone number to his parents as I believed that he had changed it, but they refused to give it to me."

"Why?"

Gia shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Seb told them to do so."

Mariska was confused. "I still don't understand, to be honest. Then, what did he say to you today?"

"Now I know that Seb had tried to forget me all this time because... he loves me," Gia whispered when she mentioned the last part, but Mariska could still hear it.

She closed her mouth with her palm for a few seconds. "Really?"

"Yeah," Gia tried so hard to hold her tears. "He said that he loves me since we were teenagers. But at the same time, he wanted to focus on his career. So he thought that forgetting me would be the best decision he took. But he realized that he was wrong."

"Do you mean that he fully regrets it?"

"Yes. He apologized to me and wanted to repair our friendship."

"Do you accept him back, after everything that he did to you?"

Gia sighed. "That's the problem, Mariska. I think that I need time for now."