Snap Happy (A Daniel Ricciardo story)

11. Past and Presents

 "What's up?" he asked

"Just nerves I guess - suddenly feeling very small"

"No it's more than that, I can tell" that guy doesn't miss a thing.

"It's pathetic" I hung my head in embarrassment

"Go on, how bad can it be?"

"I've never spent my birthday alone before" I blurted out "and I'm telling you this when you spend most of your life away from home"

"It's your birthday?"

To my surprise he stopped walking and swept me into a hug, crushing me tightly against his chest, the camera trapped painfully between us. 

"My company not good enough for you eh?"

"Someone might see us" I wriggled reluctantly out of his embrace. "Just because I AM sort of press now, doesn't mean I'm not fair game if somebody sees me hugging Daniel Ricciardo"

 "It's early! There's nobody around yet except teams and..."

"Photographers?" I interrupted, pointing at my pass.

"I guess" he admitted "So Emily Taylor, what's your birthday wish?"

"I think I'm already living it"

"Hey, that's not fair!" he protested sulkily "there must be SOMETHING you want." 

Don't look into my eyes. I begged silently.You might just find out the answer to that one.

"Ice cream!" I said out loud "everyone wants ice cream"

"At this time of the morning? Are you sure you wouldn't rather be standing here with Kimi?" he asked in mock suspicion, the corners of that seductive mouth twitching slightly. 

"Has Kimi got ice cream then?" I teased, pretending to leave.

"Hey not so fast! I've got an idea that even beats ice cream!"

DANIEL

"Come and have dinner with the team tonight!" I babbled spontaneously. "Call it a birthday treat"

"I thought you drivers had your own special menu in your own special restaurant on your own special floor or something like that"

"haha not exactly - when you spend so much time away together you develop your own travelling family away from home. We have to follow the meal plans obviously, but I prefer the company. Plus it's the home race for a lot of the crew so there's bound to be a few empty spaces around the table."

I pulled my best puppy-dog expression but she still looked doubtful. 

"Won't they be a bit pissed about you just turning up with a random photographer they've never heard of?"

"Erm....yeah...that's not quite true" I rubbed the back of my neck uneasily, waiting for the backlash that was sure to follow.

"Dan?....what have you done?"

"Well, y'know Seb knows who you are cos he spotted you at the Monaco photoshoot, aaand Christian knows who you are cos I introduced you, aaaand most of the team know who you are even if they don't know your face cos I was waving your photographs around like a mad thing aaaand......"

"Oh God" she flushed with embarrassed, but looked pleased I noticed thankfully "that reminds me - I've got a birthday gift for you too...it's not tea with the Queen or anything like that but I thought you might like it?"

If possible, she blushed even redder, and fishing out a plain brown envelope from the depths of her camera bag, she handed it to me with trembling hands. Opening it I came face to face with myself, lit by the glow of the monaco harbour. It was a photo I had come to know well, and yet not a photo...

"You paint too??" I gasped in amazement

"A little" she shrugged modestly "that's just a print of course, but if you ever want the original it's yours - I didn't know what else to get you that you couldn't go out and buy for yourself. To say thanks y'know - I never expected you to do anything for me let alone..." she gestured to the circuit around her "all this".

"It's awesome" I told her honestly, because it was. This girl was full of surprises. I looked around quickly and pulled her into another hug, noting with relief that she didn't try to pull away this time, taking in the slim curves of her body, the scent of her hair.

"Your hair smells good" I observed aloud without thinking.

"Thanks" she giggled with a sudden realisation "It's Aussie brand shampoo - I guess it works better than I thought if I get all the Aussie men burying their noses in it"

Remind me not to let any other men within six feet of you...

"Good job I'm the only Aussie on the grid then!"

"Don't you mean shame?" She asked with a wicked glint in her eye. I chose to ignore that remark. 

"So, have you been to Silverstone before?" I changed the subject, earning myself an amused glance.

"Three times...in very different circumstances" she said slowly "this place holds a lot of memories for me". I said nothing, trying to convey through body language alone that I was a willing listener, and keen to learn more about her.

"The first time was my 18th birthday, a surprise trip of a lifetime from my parents. From the moment we began walking to the track and felt the engine sounds course through us everything was perfect." Her eyes lit up and she glowed at the memory. "Three years later I came back to photograph the Porsche test day for a work placement. It was so cold I could barely grip the camera and my eyes were streaming but I wanted to prove to the photographer mentoring me, and to myself that I had what it took to do this...for real, whatever the conditions."

"And the third time?" I asked as she paused.

"With Jamie." She stopped, and I watched a cloud of regret and loss extinguish the light from her face. "We had gone through some tough times but managed to cling on - he bought the tickets as a gesture of confidence that we would still be together to make use of them. And we were."

"And now you're here with me"

"To new memories" she clinked an imaginary glass

"New memories"