The week after Melbourne didn't feel as cheery, in the office, as the weeks after winter testing did. Pietro had worked hard on the social channels, to maintain a certain level of engagement, but the fans, like the drivers, weren't impressed.

'They seem to like you, though' Pietro told her, as he scrolled the timeline of the official twitter account.

'can you blame them?' she joked, as she read a couple of tweets.

'The most interesting thing Ferrari has done this year is hiring someone who can give Rosberg some sass back'

'apparently she used to kart too, maybe she can give them some pointers' she read, out loud. 'wow, they have a higher opinion of me than my family does' she laughed. 'my mum called me after Melbourne to ask me why i didn't get a better and more flattering haircut and dad only called me to talk to Charles.' She told Pietro.

'Damn.' He laughed.

Valeria walked out of the office on Friday, ready to travel to Bahrain the following Monday. The PR and marketing schedule was already quite busy and she couldn't wait for another race week. She walked into her bedroom and checked that all of her uniform was clean, dry and ironed. She placed it in the open luggage in her spare room and went to the kitchen. She looked into her fridge, to realise she had nothing. She checked the time, she had just enough time to drive to a nearby shopping centre that was open later than the other shops of the small town. 'damn I miss London in days like this' she thought, grabbing her car keys. She opened the door to her flat, to be hit in the face by a hand.

'Ma che cazzo?!'she exclaimed.

'oh my god, vale, I'm so sorry!' Seb told her, as he walked her back into the flat. 'oh god, sorry' he repeated as she tilted her head back, checking for blood on her nose. 'I... the doorbell... it didn't work, I was about to knock as you... are you ok?' he asked worried.

'yeah, I'm peachy' she told him. 'I'm not bleeding, am I?' She asked him.

'let me see' he told her, lifting her chin. 'no you're OK, I'm so sorry' he repeated.

'it's fine, it's not your fault' she replied. 'what are you doing here?'

'I'm here to take you on a date' he replied. 'at my place, before your eyes explode out of your skull.' He added, as she looked at him shocked. 'We have been sneaking around for a month now, in a normal situation I would have taken you out to dinner more than once.. but, well, we know what we're doing, I don't have to explain it to you. So... would you like to come on a date with me?' he asked, in his usual polite manner.

'Sure. Do I need to change? Is this a fancy date? I mean, you're an f1 star, I guess I'll have to dress up?'she asked.

'you're fine as you are.' He smiled. 'I am only planning on getting you out of clothes' he smirked, making her blush.

'alright, Casanova. Let's go, then' she told him., grabbing her bag and her keys. 'am I driving there myself?'

'no, I'll give you a lift back' he told her, as she put her car keys back on the hook by the door.

They left her flat and got in Seb's car. 'will we go on the motorway? Will you finally get this poor baby up to at least 130?' she asked, nodding to car.

'Yeah, but not for long' he said, as he joined the motorway.

'you know, if you wanted not to attract attention we should have used my car.' She told him, as she noticed someone else look into the car curious, dropping their jaw as soon as they realised who was driving. Valeria had wrapped her face into her black hoodie, hoping nobody would see her.

'I know, I know. It's always fun to see the reactions though' he replied.

Not long after, Sebastian was unlocking the gate to his villa. He had picked a location not far from Maranello, but secluded. His house was surrounded by a large woodland area.

'Can I ask how comes you chose Italy, even if most drivers live in Monaco?'

'I just like to be close, and I like the quiet. Monaco is too much for my liking' he replied.

'fair enough. I'd chose Monaco just for the sea' she replied. 'but anywhere by the sea would do. It's nice to fall asleep to the sound of the waves' she told him, as he opened the door of his house for her.

'daaaamn' she let out, as she walked in.

'glad you like it' he smiled. 'I'll give you a tour...' he grabbed her hand. 'living room, kitchen, toilet...' he brought her upstairs 'my room, guest room, spare room/trophies room, gym, bathroom' he pointed at the different rooms. She peeped around the trophy room, where he had kept most of his racing trophies from the past few years.

'Is that you and Michael?' she asked, pointing at a picture of young Seb in a kart.

'Yeah' he smiled, watching her look around the room.

'Man, this is a lot of trophies.' She laughed. 'your guests must feel uneasy when they stay'

'my parents are used to this' he laughed. 'I have more back home in Germany'

'Alright, show-off!' she teased him. She liked the level of banter they had both got used to share with each other.

They walked back to the ground floor, Seb poured her a glass of wine and sat with her on the sofa.

'so, how is a man like you single?' Valeria asked him the question she had asked herself since she had met him.

'I'm not' he replied, watching her jaw drop. 'I'm with you' he added.

'idiot... you know what I mean'

'well, it's hard to keep any relationship going when you travel as much as we do, but I also never met someone who made it worth it. I had one serious relationship, but when I joined RedBull the pressure got too big and it didn't work out' he told her. 'What about you? I am more surprised you were single, you know? With your cute dimples, your British accent, your humour...' he asked, watching her smile.

'I have had a couple of relationships, the main one when I was at Uni in London. We were together until I lost Jules. The pain of loosing someone so close to you, changes you. Jules was my first love and my best friend, we dated for a few months, when he was in Viareggio.. that's how I met Dan. Losing him destroyed me, it was a very dark place in my life and Dave couldn't take it, he couldn't understand it. So since then, I just never found anyone who's prepared to deal with this kind of baggage' she explained.

Seb didn't know what to say, he just got her up and hugged her tight.

'there is nothing I can say that won't sound like a cliché but...' he took a deep breath 'I like you, a lot. I like the you I met two months ago. I don't care about what other people might call baggage, it's what makes you... you' he kissed her sweetly. 'and I love you' he added, in a whisper.

Her heart skipped a couple of beats. 'You love me?' she asked surprised.

'Yes, I love you. Ti amo' he added. 'please don't cry' he dried her tears with his thumb. 'Is it bad news?' he tried to joke.

'Oh god, no, I'm sorry. I love you too, Seb' she told him 'fuck. I love you. Fuck. This is going to make work a thousand times harder.'

'we'll worry about it when we have to' he kissed her again, more passionately. Valeria forgot everything else and responded to the kiss with the same energy. She felt his hands slid under her hoodie, which was soon thrown on the floor. She did the same to his tee shirt. Seb gently lifted her and carried her over to his room, laying her on the bed.

'Ich liebe dich' he whispered.

'can't believe Mr. Vettel puts out on the first date' Valeria joked, hugging him from behind after he started cooking dinner.

'I'm considering the karting our first date, I even got you a present' he replied.

'socks, wow. You didn't even get me flowers! Where's the romance, Vettel?'

'can you call me by my name? Every time you call me Vettel you bring me back to being told off in school'

'it's not my fault you're naughty' she winked.

Seb didn't reply, instead he just gave her a guilty look, looking rather pleased, however.

'what are you making, by the way?' she asked, curious, trying to reach into the pots and pans he had on the fire.

'hey hey! Keep your hands away, it's a surprise'

'maybe I should have offered to cook. You know.. Italian and that?' she tried to look over his shoulder again.

'Take this and just go wait in the living room, you're making me anxious' he told her, giving her a bottle of wine.

'sir, yes, sir!' she saluted him, walking out. Seb shook his head, a big smile forming on his lips; she was a creature of her own species. He wondered how much easier their relationship would have been if he had met her before she had joined Ferrari.

Not long after, he walked into the living room, Valeria was laying on the sofa, wrapped up in his hoodie. 'dinner is ready' he said. She hoisted herself up and walked over to the table. Seb joined her, bringing the dishes out.

'so, this will sound super lame and you'll tease me for this but I wanted to make something German and realised that anything I could think of would not agree with my meal plan, so I made steak. I have salad, you have roasted potatoes.'

'Lame' she teased him. 'you see, this is one of the reasons I didn't pursue a career in motorsports. I can't deal with not being able to stuff my face with chocolate, or have a drink on a bad day.'

'is that really the reason?' he asked curious.

'no, not really. It's the politics, the sponsors... I'm not keen on bending over backwards and having someone dictate who I am and what I can say or do... '

'and you work in PR... am I the one seeing the irony in this?' he joked.

'a job is a job. I'm just the spokesperson, my opinions might differ from Ferrari's sometimes, but i am not nearly as influential as someone like yourself, Lewis or Dan so nobody will ever ask me as me. I will be the face of Ferrari, my name is only a formality'

'I care about your opinion' he told her.

'That's just cause you wanna sleep with me' she joked.

'fair' he shrugged.

'you're not supposed to agree' she laughed.

'even when it's true? You see, you women are just confusing' he teased her.

'walking on thin ice, Vettel' she pretended to be annoyed.

'Let me sort those out' Valeria told Seb as he was taking the plates away.

'are you sure?' he asked.

'Yeah, I have done nothing to help, I have only drunk wine and annoyed you.' She smiled, taking the plates off of him.

As she was loading them up in the dishwasher, Seb joined her in the kitchen. She turned on the appliance and turned around to him.

'This is for you' he told her, passing her a small box.

'What? Why?' she asked surprised.

'I saw it and thought of you' he shrugged.

She opened it to find an ebook reader. 'your luggage is mostly full of books, so I thought I'd give your clothes a chance. SV' a note said.

'thank you so much, Seb!' she beamed. 'you shouldn't have'

'I have already got you the hobbit and the lord of the rings' he added.

'So you do know how to use technology' she joked.

'Walking on thin ice, Proietti' he told her, giving her a sweet kiss.