Damage, Inc - [Daniel Ricciardo]

1.4

The training session had worn her out. Pyry's suprise was a run through the Ardennes, but the uneven floor beneath their feet made it tough to run on a steady pace. "I wish I pushed you off that cliff when I had the chance". She huffed, leaning her hands on her knees to steady her breath. "Hey!". Pyry laughed and gave her a playful push, which caused her to almost fall over. "Hit the showers, baby cakes. I believe you have a date this afternoon". He winked at her and Giulia swatted his arm with another roll of her eyes. Daniel had texted her that he would wait at the restaurant next to their hotel and Giulia quickly replied that she was busy getting there. It was a warm day in Spa and Giulia replaced her jeans and her Red Bull polo with a summer dress after a shower.

Daniel was seated on the terace of the restaurant as he saw her getting out of one of the company cars, shutting the door behind her and making her way over to him. He looked at her for a moment, eyeing the way the dress slightly moved in the fresh, summer breeze and how her curls roamed with wind. A smile automatically curled his lips when Giulia took off her sunglasses and her sparkling greenish, hazel eyes looked at him. "An Aussie enjoying the sun, I almost expected you to make a comment about how it cold it is here". She giggled and sat down on the opposite of him. "It is quite chilly here in comparason to 'Straya, ya know". Daniel replied, his grin only widening. He stood up to hug here, which made her stand up from her chair too. "It's good to see you again, Gules". He muttered. She felt his voice vibrate through his wide chest.

"It's been only three weeks!". Giulia laughed and sat down again, moving her hair away from in front of her face. "Three weeks can be a long time when you're not having fun". His eyebrows rose a bit and his voice softened. "Oh...". Her smile sunk. "I guess it has something to do with Jemma?". Giulia asked and he nodded. "She seemed to be in a bad mood the whole week we spend with my parents and than the week to Thailand wasn't great either. She was so tired and had a headache and all". Daniel played with the sides of his sunglasses as they laid on the table. "Was she feeling ill or something?". Giulia asked as the sympthoms of Jemma could lead to some kind of sickness. "She said she didn't, but we basically only saw the hotel for that week, that was fun!". Daniel said with a preppy tone and she shook her head with a smile.

Daniel had already ordered a latte machiato for her and just a coffee for himself, knowing she'd order that anyway. The waiter came to bring it and they continued their conversation after the waiter took their orders for lunch and left their table again. "We only come together to discuss our awful relationships, don't we?". Daniel laughed and took a good look at her, to see if she denied the thing that he also meant her relationship 'awful'. But of course Giulia didn't, because she knew she and Pierre shouldn't stay with each other anymore. They still kissed, they still had sex, but it was all so meaningless. "Yeah, we do". Giulia replied, a chuckle leaving her mouth, however he saw that her eyes didn't laugh along. It was quiet for a moment and he wasn't sure what he could say.

She sucked in a sharp breath as he placed his hand over hers, making them look up at each other. They were distracted by each other for a good couple seconds. Daniel cleared his throat, looking a bit away from her. "Listen, Gules. If you ever need help or just an escape or something, you know that I'm there for you". His heart was hammering against his ribcage by the physical touch of his hand on hers, as if small sparks pierced through the nerves beneath the skin of his palm. Giulia nodded, a bit confused by the moment, yet neither could she ignore her quickly beating hard and her hand that was surely becoming a bit sweaty against the marble counter of the table. Daniel pulled his hand away and sat back a little, his knee bouncing up in down in an attempt to get rid of the nervous feeling that almost made him a bit nauseous.

"Back in the car this morning, how was it?". Daniel decided to get rid of the awkward atmosphere, or no, it wasn't exactly awkward, but it had something to it that he couldn't place and he wanted to get rid of the unknown. He didn't think these three weeks would have any effect on his feelings for Giulia, but now she was seated in front of him, the healthy blush on her cheeks and her sparkling eyes and her sunkissed skin, he wanted nothing else than drop everything and be with her for the rest of his life. He swallowed the thoughts and tried to soak in the answer she gave him, her smile returning as she was talking about something in her comfort zone, something she loved and she always had those higher tones in her voice when she spoke about something that excited her or she was passionate about.