Broken Soul ☆ Daniel Ricciardo

13 | Just a guest

♪
Andy Grammer - Some Girl:
'How does a stranger walk into my life and change what I thought it meant to be alive. It's crazy how you went from being just some girl oh-oh, to being my whole world. To being my whole world'

After the second practice, Daniel took off his helmet and balaclava and Michael handed him his drinks bottle. "That was quite okay actually". He told his best friend and trainer. The car had felt good, he was quick and the understeer issue had been resolved. In his mind though, all he could think about in the car was Emilia. Her surprise had made his entire weekend that much better. It was time for media now and he knew he would get some questions about her, but Daniel decided just to be honest. He went to his driver room to get changed quickly and headed over to the media pen with Michael. When the obligatory questions about the practice sessions were answered, the journalist did exactly what Daniel had expected. "So you were spotted with a nice young lady this morning. Is she your girlfriend?" Daniel laughed at the bluntness of the question before he answered. "Nope. She's a nice young lady indeed, that you got right. My trainer and I are just having some guests over this weekend".

The rest of the interviews went pretty similar and when he was done, Daniel headed back over to Michael to fill him in on the curiosity around the paddock. "It's so funny. You walk 50 metres with a woman next to you and all of a sudden she is your girlfriend. They're not far off though, but that's beside the point". The boys laughed and Michael gathered all Daniel's stuff to take back with them to the hotel. Daniel texted Emilia to meet him outside in the car park, so there wouldn't be any nosy photographers around and they could get in the vehicle together. "You did so well". Emilia said to him when they finally met again outside the gates of the track and kissed his cheek. Daniel and his trainer stepped into the front of the car, while the girls squished in the back. Luckily Michael had arranged a bigger car for this weekend because if they had brought the McLaren, it definitely wouldn't have fit.

"They asked a lot of questions about you.." Daniel said to Emilia while turning his body to look at her in the back of the car. She giggled and it made his heart flutter. He had come to love that sound so much over the last week. "They all asked me if you were my girlfriend and I said that we were just having some guests over. I didn't really want to draw any more attention to us for the rest of this weekend". He knew it sounded like a bit of an excuse, but he didn't want her to feel like she was just a friend to him. "I understand, this is exactly what I meant when we were in your driver room this morning". Emilia answered and he smiled. He was happy she got where he came from and she wasn't offended by him calling her 'just a guest'. He quickly squeezed her hand before he turned back to look ahead and they continued their journey back to the hotel.

The five of them had dinner in the hotel restaurant together before Gia and Michael said they were headed up to his room. "I'm going with Isabel to our room quickly to get changed and then I meet you at yours, okay?" Emilia said when they entered the elevator to go up as well. Daniel had asked her earlier if she wanted to watch a movie together and she was looking forward to spending some alone time with him. He agreed and kissed her before the girls stepped out. Isabel opened the door with her keycard and let herself fall onto the bed, face first. "I'm going straight to sleep". She said yawning and Emilia laughed while grabbing a comfortable pair of joggers and cropped hoodie and walked to the bathroom to change into them. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and washed her face to freshen up a bit since she had been running around all day since early this morning.

Spraying some perfume on her neck and some deodorant under her armpits, she made a final twirl looking at her appearance in the mirror. 'This is as good as it's going to get for a movie night..' She thought. Emilia walked back into the room to see Isabel was still on the bed but had turned to her back and was scrolling on her phone. "Well, I'm off. Don't wait up for me, I don't know if I will be back or not". Emilia said, winking at her friend who looked at her with a cheeky smile while wiggling her eyebrows before she said goodbye and headed back into the corridor of the hotel. Daniel's room was a few floors higher than theirs and she figured it would also be a lot bigger. Emilia checked the room number he had texted her again to be sure she was right and knocked when she found the door she was looking for.