Those Who Wait (Formula 1 - Daniel Ricciardo)

7... Neighbours

"We've just been told to expect 6 weeks for Dany's recovery as his appendix was ruptured before surgery. So Noni, you should expect to be driving the car in 3 weeks in Spain," Christian had told me down the phone.

6 weeks. That gave us not only the Spanish, but Monaco and potentially even the Canadian GP. My heart was in my throat. If I drove for those 2 more or even 3 grand prix, I would have driven for more of the season than Dany. What would happen if I won points? No, I couldn't think like that.... Yes I could, teammates are not your friends.

That phonecall had been what had broken my lips away from the soft lips of Daniel Ricciardo. That phonecall had also been the catalyst for his quick departure from my apartment, running his hands through his hair, leaving me and my wrinkled forehead staring out at the dark night sky.

For those few moments we had stood so close, eventually the gap closing between us and my body giving in to his kiss, I had felt something I could not describe. But all good things must end and sometimes they can't even have a chance to begin. If I was driving the other Red Bull car I couldn't be having any sort of relations with the other driver. Not only was it slightly unprofessional, but it was also probably a bad idea for the mental fitness of both drivers.

So with a single phonecall, I knew that what ever had happened, should be forgotten.

*

A huge grin spread across my face as my best friend jogged towards me, her baggage trolley almost losing control. It had now been a week since we'd parted in Bahrain and I'd moved into the apartment in Monaco.

"I still can't believe we're living in Monaco!" she squealed, letting go of the trolley and pulling me into a hug.

"It's a pretty good deal," I grinned, stepping back out of her arms and helping with the overladen trolley. After all she had been kind enough to bring some of my things out for me.

Thankfully I'd been clever enough to book a driver instead of picking Jen up in the Mini, as I'm sure all of the luggage would not have fitted in the tiny boot. Plus it also meant that Jen and I could have a long catchup in the car. Of course I had to fill her in on my training and how much of my diet plan I had stuck to, but the 30 minute journey also gave us a chance to gossip. Friends from home had gotten engaged and our neighbours in MK had sold their house, so she had plenty to fill me in on.

After piling all of the luggage into the lift and lugging it all down the corridor, I was fumbling with my keys as usual, praying that the door opposite didn't suddenly open.

"So Dan lives opposite? Seen much of him?" Jen asked, noticing the name card beside the doorbell.

"We're just neighbours," I shrugged, dropping my eyes to the floor and finally managing to get the key in the lock.

"And teammates," she added. "So why are you avoiding him?"

"I'm not!" I replied a little too quickly, and probably a tad too loudly seeing as Dan's apartment door was right beside us. Thankfully the door swung open to my apartment, allowing me to dart inside with a couple of bags, Jen following with the rest and letting it click behind her again.

As soon as my door was shut, Jen gave me a look that told me I'd better start talking. I knew that look, and if I didn't comply I knew she'd give me a hundred more sit-ups than necessary.

"Ok... we kissed." I ran a hand through my long hair, walking across the large openplan living space and collapsing onto the couch.

"And..?" She followed, sitting crosslegged in the armchair opposite, staring at me intently.

"And it can't happen again," I sighed, sitting up. The more time that passed since the kiss, since the phonecall, the more I felt myself breaking inside. Should I have followed him out? Should I have atleast tried to speak? I hadn't been able to, I'd been literally speechless. It was an impossible situation I had been put in. On the one hand I had been handed another chance at my dream, of racing. But then on the other hand there was a small chance that the man whom I'd suppressed feelings for, for so many years, maybe had feelings for me too.

"Why not? I know you like him." If there was one thing I loved about Jen, it's that she believed in never leaving an opportunity to waste, and she always liked to be a voice of reason.

"But he's another driver... and my teammate. And we got cutoff by Christian's call about me driving." I felt myself getting more torn inside with every word of explanation I made.

"You've never let friendships get in the way of driving so why would a relationship?" There was that voice of reason again.

"I just got my drive Jen... I can't jeopardise that."

"I'm not saying you have to, just atleast speak to him... I can see you tearing yourself apart."

And so Jen convinced me to invite my teammate out for a drink, where she told me that I should at the very least clear the air to give us a good working environment.

*

Sat in a waterside bar at 8pm on the 2nd Tuesday after the Bahrain GP, a week and a half until the Spanish, I sipped my drink nervously. I'd sent Daniel a text the night before, heavily influenced by my nagging trainer, and he'd replied agreeing to have a drink.

Once he'd arrived we'd settled into our usual relaxed conversation, talking about cars, motorsport and our training. But there was an unusual tension still between us and I found it hard to make eye contact the way we had before.

At a pause in the conversation I took my moment, bringing up the evening the previous week. "Dan..? Can we talk about what happened last week?"

He breathed out slowly his usually jolly expression becoming much more serious. It reminded me of the expression he held during conversations with his engineer.

"Of course, its something we probably need to clear up before we're thrown onto the same race track." His words whilst reassuring that he was open to talking, were also a slight dagger to my heart. He was taking the professional route just as I was, and somewhere deep inside I had been hoping that maybe he'd give more of a fight against our rationality.

"I... urm... well I guess what I should start with is that I didn't mean to try avoiding you, I just wasn't sure what to say," I stuttered, dropping my gaze to the table between us.

"To be fair I was doing the same thing. I'd finally got up the guts to... and then you got that phonecall through about Kvyat." He swallowed as he finished speaking, obviously finding this conversation just as hard and awkward as I was. Usually we were both much more outspoken, but this situation seemed to have eaten our words.

"The timing was certainly not ideal. I just need you to understand how much of a big deal getting a drive is for me... I don't want to do anything that might cause that to be taken away."

"Noni, I understand perfectly."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I mean how many female drivers can say they've driven an F1 car? You've beaten so many obstacles to get here and now you've finally got your chance. You don't need any distractions."

"No I didn't mean that... I'm just worried. I like you, and I'm worried that the team with see that as something that will hold me back from driving as well as I can."

"You like me?" I could feel my cheeks starting to heat in response to his cheeky grin.

"Well I thought we'd kinda made that obvious." I was quick to reply; hopefully making it sound a lot cooler than I usually did when I was flustered or embarrassed.

"We had, but it's still nice to hear it." He was grinning from ear to ear, a cheeky glint in his eye.

********

Not sure when the next chapter will be as I've got a packed diary from Wednesday onwards for 2 weeks. I hope you all enjoyed reading.

Also big shoutout to TwentySomething, who just finished her story 'Snap Happy', if you haven't read it you should seriously check it out. Same goes for anything by __highflying or lacellac

Have a great day, I hope the sun's shining wherever you are :) x