"Room 783," Camille read from her phone when she walked in the hallway of the hotel. Her eyes were scanning the room numbers. She found the right room and knocked on the door. In the time she was waiting, she put her phone back in her handbag and looked around.
The door opened. "Hey," Daniel said surprised, but cheerful. What was his aerodynamics engineer doing here? And that was Camille. "Miss me already?" A cheeky smile curved on his lips. "Come on in."
"G'day," Camille weakly smiled and stepped in his room. "Er... I got this headset from Mike, saying it is yours. So you might have forgotten it in the garage," she mentioned and opened her bag. She grabbed the grey headset and gave it to Daniel.
"Oh, yes. Thanks for dropping it off, Camille. I didn't know I forget it," he muttered and put the headset on the table. "And Mike sent you to give it to me?" He looked suspiciously at her, this was something Mike would do... Just to tease Daniel.
She nodded. "Yeah, I was the first to leave."
And Mike even gave her the best excuse. "Alright, thanks!"
"No worries." Camille gave him a short smile and stepped towards the door again. Her fingers wrapped around the door handle, and she had one last look at Daniel.
"Are you free now or do you still have to do work till one in the morning?" Daniel looked curiously at her, but a grin played on his lips.
"Actually, I have work to do, but I will do that tomorrow. It's not that we have to process it and sort it out for the next week," she honestly answered.
He nodded. "Good." Daniel ran his hand through his hair. "I have a few beers, fancy one?" The look in his eyes was hopeful.
Camille bit on her lip and looked down, she was doubting. So many thoughts were going through her mind; pro and cons. She wanted to say yes, but personal experiences were holding her back. But she would never work with him ever again, but she still was under contract. Camille looked back at Daniel, and she slowly nodded.
"Yes?"
"Yes," she replied and walked over to him.
"Alrighty," Daniel happily said and grabbed two beers out of the mini-fridge. He walked to the couch and placed the two beers on the table. Camille put her bag on the ground and sat down next to him. "Cheers," he said and held up the bottle.
"Cheers." She clinked her bottle against his and took a sip. "Shouldn't you be partying? It's the last race of the season at last." Her eyes found his.
Daniel softly chuckled. "I should be partying now, yeh?" He took a big sip from the beer. "How stupid it sounds, I prefer to be alone now. Let all the moments process, it has been a hectic week. And the team still has to work, so it isn't that fun now to go out."
Camille nodded. "Understandable. But how was your last race, from your perspective?"
"One with mixed feelings," he honestly replied. "After so many DNF's, I was happy I could finish the race this time. And I'm looking forward to the next season, new team, new car. But the thing is, it's like leaving my family behind and replace them for a new family - which is the case, but I have grown up with Red Bull, and we have a tight friendship."
"That's the hardest part of leaving the team," she muttered.
"Unfortunately, that is the hardest part," Daniel breathed. "But it's not I will leave the grid, I will just move to the garage next to you. How about you?" His eyes were scanning her face, she seemed off like she was covering up her emotions.
Camille took a deep breath and flipped her hair to the other side. "It was a good one, a powerful one. Wished we had that for the last few races as well." She pressed her lips into a thin line. "But overall a race to be satisfied and proud about. And the last one." She stared in front of her. "It will be hard to maintain your type of energy in the team."
