My Book of Fics

Enchanté - Daniel Ricciardo

You found yourself in a little coffee shop, wearing one of your roommates' oversized sweatshirts. The aim being a change of scenery in hopes of having better luck while job searching on your laptop. The state of the bun on top of your head is sure to let bystanders know that your life is a bit of a mess at the moment. The pandemic having shut down any job prospects you were hoping for once you had finished your university degree, the two jobs you currently held being part time because you still had your cut of the rent to pay.

While your head is lowered, eyes plastered to the computer screen you don't take note of the curly haired man whose eyes are focused on you. As you keep scrolling through job sites and company websites your hope starts to diminish as you sigh and slouch down in the seat you're occupying. "Excuse me?" you jump slightly and look up with wide eyes, a man stands in front of the table you've claimed, "yes?" the mask he wears prevents you from seeing his face but the crinkles by his eyes tells you that he's smiling. "Is this seat taken?" he asks while gesturing to the chair across from you, that's when you notice how busy the coffee shop has gotten and see that it's the last seat, "woah when did the whole city get here" you murmur, the man laughs which makes you blush. "Not sure but frankly I'm not a fan" you giggle and he chuckles leaving a warm feeling in your chest, "let me move my things and you can sit" he nods and you spring into action grabbing your bag off the chair for the stranger. You can already imagine what your mother would say about letting a man you don't know share a table with you, but something about the brief first interaction puts you at ease.

Once you've focused back on the laptop you don't think about the man sitting across from you. "I like your sweater" he says making you look up, his mask is now off as he takes a sip out of the cup he's holding, you need to blink a few times, not expecting how handsome he is, "uhhh thanks, it's my roommates', grabbed it on the way out" you reply with a shrug. He smiles a dimple popping on his one cheek, making you weak at the knees, "well it looks amazing on you" his compliment makes you blush, "it's from some merch collection for an athlete she's crazy about, Ricciardo is his name I think, damn she would be mad at me for not remembering his full name" he laughs which makes you giggle. "I'm Daniel by the way" you smile at the man, "my name is Y/N" he slides his phone onto the table, making you lift a curious eyebrow. "I'd really like to find out more about you beautiful" he explains while pushing the device towards you, your finger stay poised on the keyboard of your laptop unsure if you're imagining this whole interaction, "It's okay if you don't want to Y/N" he adds with defeat in his voice while starting to take the phone back. 

You shake your head and place a hand on his to stop him, "that's not it, I feel like this is my imagination playing tricks, and that I'm actually asleep somewhere" you explain, immediately regretting that you've told the handsome man your doubtful thoughts, "it's not your imagination Y/N, we're actually here in the now" he replies and his fingers move along your hand, leaving sparks in their wake, the only proof you seem to need so you quickly slide the phone from his hand. He smiles while watching you type your contact information into the device, "there" you say and move the phone back across the table to his hand, which takes yours again, "I gotta go, but it was great to meet you Y/N" he explains while standing up and hooking the mask back around his ears covering the smile that makes your knees weak. You smile as you watch him walk towards the door of the coffee shop, "oh and it's Daniel Ricciardo" he adds making you tilt your head in confusion, "the merch collection that sweater is from" he says making your mouth form an O, he winks and walks out of the shop leaving you smiling while turning back to your computer. 

••••

As you walk into the apartment later, you're holding your laptop close to your chest a small smile still on your lips while you kick off your shoes. "You left here pouting and moaning about having to look for jobs, what happened Y/N?" you look up at your roommates' voice, "it's nothing" she snorts, "yeah and i'm the wizard of oz" you put your computer down on the nearest surface before replying. "I met a guy" she gasps and steps forward while you take off your mask, "what? really?" you smile, "I mean he needed somewhere to sit and I had the last available chair so he sat at the same table as me" she smiles widely, "he liked this sweater, so I owe you one" you add with a laugh. "Was he cute? what's his name? did you get his number?" she asks in a jumble of words, you place a hand on her arm, "his name is Daniel, I gave him my number, he looks like a greek god" you reply making her squeal in excitement before pulling you into a hug. "Oh and he knew about the Ricciardo guy that you love so much, its funny that he has the same name" you add when she lets go, "it's a common name so it's probably nothing" she waves off your suspicions and walks away leaving you to go to your room with your laptop now in hand. 

While you're taking a break from job searching you turn on a Pixar movie to de-clutter your mind. The vibration of your phone pulls you away from the movie, you grab the device from the nightstand and bring it closer. When you see a text message from an unknown number you sit up feeling your heart jump in excitement as you unlock the phone. 

unknown number

Enchanté Y/N, it's Daniel

You bite your lip to prevent the huge grin from appearing on your face as you save his number into your phone before typing a reply.

Y/N

I didn't think you would actually text me

Daniel

when I have a pretty girl's number I use it 100% of the time

Y/N

do you say that to every girl you meet?

Daniel

no, only the ones that I share a table with at a coffee shop, and that is only you

Y/N

mhmm okay

My response that does nothing to hide my doubts sets Daniel off on a message spree to try and prove that he never does say that to all the girls. In the end he asks you to grab another coffee with him so that he can further prove his point. With almost no hesitation you agree to meet him the next day between shifts at your jobs.