It's Called Leap of Faith - [Daniel Ricciardo]

20. What Do You Want From Me?

Elza had always loved Christmas. Every year she would spend the holidays with her parents doing absolutely nothing. They would eat, relax, watch movies and drink good wine. She loved it. This Christmas hadn't been any different except the feeling of pure joy wasn't necessarily there. After talking with Daniel few weeks before Christmas and recovering from all the crying Elza had decided not to fly to Los Angeles. She knew she had messed things up. There was also the fact that she had to say goodbyes to her dear colleagues so there was only so much she was able to handle. Elza was expecting to get all the support she could possibly need from her parents but she was wrong. Just like Kate and Ines, also her parents had told her to accept the plane ticket Daniel had bought and fly to LA fix things with Daniel. After few arguments and sleepless nights Elza was once again sitting at the Munich International Airport and unlike the previous two times, this flight was going to be a long one. 

Attention, flight 498 to Los Angeles is now ready to board on gate 22. We ask all the passengers  with first class and business class tickets to move to the gate. All passengers please have your boarding passes ready and make sure you have collected all your carry on luggages.

Despite Daniel maybe, possibly hating Elza at the moment, he had still bought her a first class ticket. Elza felt horrible when she saw the price in the ticket but she didn't say anything about it. Walking to the gate Elza gazed out of the huge windows. The sky was clear and the sun was only just starting to rise. 

"Miss? Your passport and ticket?" Elza gasped when she noticed someone talking to her. She handed her passport to the kind looking lady and scanned her ticket in the machine on the gate. "Have a pleasant journey."

"Thank you." Elza had never traveled in first class and only once in business class. The plane was a big Airbus. When she found her seat she couldn't believe her eyes. The seat was very spacious. It actually didn't even look like a chair but more like a bed. Elza sat down and made herself comfortable taking her phone out from her handbag. When Elza had texted Daniel few days ago telling him that she was coming, Daniel's reply had been short. He only said that he'll be at the airport picking her up. Elza knew better than to fight him at the moment so she didn't protest.

Hi, I'm turning my phone off now. I just wanted to let you know I'm on the plane and I'll be there in 12 hours. If you're unable to come and pick me up from the airport I can also just take a taxi if you text me your address... It wouldn't be a problem. See you. /E

Elza knew it was still Friday in Los Angeles. Daniel had landed to LAX somewhere around Friday morning the local time. Her flight would arrive 10 am on Saturday morning. Elza would lose only two hours of the day and she was hoping she wouldn't need to take a nap right away when they would get to Daniel's place because she was quite sure they needed to talk. Not sleep. She clicked the screen open when she saw there was a notification on her phone.

I'll be there. Have a safe flight. /D

Elza smiled a little. There were no emojis or kisses but at least he answered. Elza turned her phone on a flight mode and looked out of the small window. Bye home... This time she didn't have a return ticket.

• • •

Ladies and gentleman, good morning once again, this is your captain speaking. We are soon starting to approach the Los Angeles International Airport and we are ready to start making the preparations for the landing. The weather in the destination is quite nice, clear blue sky and the air temperature at the moment is 23 celsius. The local time is 9:30. Behalf of myself and the crew we hope you have enjoyed flying with Lufthansa and we wish you a pleasant stay in a sunny California and happy new year.

Traveling in the first class definitely had it perks. Elza had been sleeping for the past six hours. Few glasses of wine probably helped. Elza stretched her arms and looked around. Everyone seemed to be awake. It had been a long flight. She couldn't believe she was about to see Daniel again. She wasn't terrified but she was feeling more than nervous. Elza hadn't dare to ask any questions from Daniel about this whole trip. She didn't know if he was alone or maybe with some friends. She remembered him mentioning back in Monaco something about spending the New Year's Eve in Australia but of course plans could have changed. She had no idea what was waiting for her when she would step out of that airplane. Also for the first time ever, she didn't have a deadline to be back in Germany. Kate and Ines had insisted for her to stay as long as it took to make things right with Daniel. They even offered to check Elza's apartment every now and then. Her parents hadn't been as straight forward but her mom was very happy about the fact Elza was finally doing something that was probably more her heart talking than her brain. Karl, Elza's father had however told her daughter to come home immediately if she started to feel uncomfortable around Daniel. Karl knew Elza could take care of herself but she was still his only daughter.