Through the crowd, Daniel Riccardo emerged from inside the restaurant. He walked up to them and then looked at the champagne and then to Charles and then to Isla. He raised his eyebrows and smirked
Isla was frozen, she didn't know how to proceed so she hoped Charles would say something.
"Hey Danny!" Charles said a little too casually.
"Hi you two, a special occasion?" he asked a bit on the joking side.
"I was sitting here waiting for my date, and Isla just finished her date, and stopped to say hi before leaving." He said quickly
"He's right, I should get going" Isla stood up and grabbed her bag. She was a bit upset that she had to leave, but in order to keep things on the down low, these are the things she needed to do to keep her and Charles relationship private. Still didn't feel great, the date was going well. She didn't want to leave.
She smiled quickly and made her way out the door, she passed by the guys who were still on the patio. She waved a final time to them as she walked away. Daniel waved back and Charles looked apologetically at Isla. She looked at him but looked away quickly and then continued walking.
Daniel looked at Charles. "All good?" he asked
Charles paused for a second watching Isla walk away "Ya, I guess"
"Well I'll leave you to wait for your date, I'm curious how Isla's date went, I'm going to go shoot my shot, she's too fit not to" Daniel said as he walked out to the street. "Isla, wait up!" He said as he jogged to meet up with her.
Isla turned around, smiled and greeted Daniel as he ran up to her.
Charles was caught off guard by Daniels exit, He could see Isla greet Daniel as he reached her. She smiled at him. He could tell Daniel was stepping up his pick up game with her. Charles started getting more and more jealous of Daniel. He could hear her laugh and could see her playfully push Daniel. He has seen this happen over and over with him. He always gets what he wants, Charles thought to himself. He kept watching them in the distance. They all of a sudden changed directions and started walking back towards the restaurant.
Isla and Daniel passed by the table where Charles was still sitting by himself. "Where are you guys going?" Charles asked, looking intently at Isla.
"I told Daniel that my date sort of ended abruptly, and I was feeling down" Isla said looking from charles then down to the ground, avoiding any serious eye contact
"Then I asked if she wanted to get some ice cream to cheer her up," Daniel added grinning and he winked at Charles.
Charles sort of choked on champagne he just took a swig of. "You didn't mention that earlier" Charles said looking at Isla
"Well I don't really know you that well" Isla half snapped at Charles, she quickly looked over at Daniel who was still looking at Charles, she decided to give Charles a quick wink to get him to play along.
"True, we don't. Honestly we don't need to know each other" He said bluntly
Isla was a bit thrown off but she kept going with it "I agree, why would I even want to get to know you" she shot him a playful but intimidating look
"Okay you two, save it for our first race" Daniel interrupted looking confused at the two of them. "Let's go get that ice cream" Daniel said grinning at Isla. He held out his arm for Isla to link her arm in.
Isla smacked his arm playfully "Daniel, it's just ice cream, this isn't a date" She said clearly and with a smile. Just to let Charles know she didn't intend on anything happening. She turned and started walking.
"Ohhh playing hard to get, I like it Isla" Daniel Laughed and winked at Charles, and turned and followed Isla down the street.
Charles watched them walk away, his head was spinning and he was worried about what Daniel was going to pull with Isla. He quickly paid the waiter for the champagne and wandered the streets trying to distract himself.
He was still confused by all that happened. He was enjoying his time with Isla, but she was right, they needed to keep things on the down low. Especially for her first season in F1. He wanted to be respectful of that because he did really enjoy spending time with Isla.
Meanwhile, Isla and Daniel came to an ice cream shop, she opened the door and headed to the counter. "I'll take one scoop of the peanut butter cup Icecream" Said Isla rather quickly.
Daniel was shocked she made her decision so quick, She looked at him then back to the lady behind the counter, "And whatever he is having" She added.
" I'll have the same" he said quickly
Isla paid for the ice cream, and they headed out to the street to wander and eat their ice cream.
"So you like to pay on a first date" Daniel said nudging her with her arm
"Not a date Daniel, if you remember, you met me after my date" she smiled at him.
"Fine, not a date, but just know, I will get one" He smiled.
"I don't think so" She replied
"I'll take that as a challenge" He smirked
"You can try, but I don't think it will work" She said as she laughed
They chatted about the upcoming season and how intense the paddock can be. Daniel was a fun guy and made Isla laugh, he still wouldn't give up on trying to get her to go on an actual date.
Isla deflected every date-like question and avoided the questions about her date. "None of your business" was the reply to most of the questions Daniel was asking her about her date.
Isla yawned, "I think it's time to head home" she said to Daniel "I'll see you saturday!" She smiled
"Can't wait, see you then Isla, it was great to spend some one on one time with you" He smiled "Can't wait to do it again" he winked at her
Isla laughed and headed back to her place.
She entered the lobby of her apartment, and she was taken aback. There was Charles sitting on a couch fast asleep in the middle of the lobby.