"Covered by roses, when this dance is over, we all know all beauty will die. The choirs have awoken, left no words unspoken. Remember you as long as I can. Hold you in my arms all night and spill the wine until the end. We all have our place in time, need to live every moment".
Covered By Roses // Within Temptation
Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium, August 2017.
"How does the car feel, Giulia?". Simon's voice rung through her ears as she drove over the circuit of Spa Francorchamps. It was an early morning, the sun just raising itself above the horizon to light up the Belgian nature. The three week summer break were over before Giulia could blink, yet she didn't have any trouble with getting out of bed as her alarm rung at half past six this morning. "Great, supple in the corners as always". Giulia replied, daring to take the Eau Rouge flat out. She almost giggled at the rollercoaster feeling when the car zoomed over the asphalt with threehundred kilometers an hour. This was truly the greatest feeling in the whole world.
Her foot moved to press onto the break pedal, smoothly braking through the corner and accelerating on the right moment to have a decent exit. "We can see". Simon chuckled. "Please come into the pits for a brief practice of starting and stopping and we're done". He commanded and Giulia drove the car into the pit lane, limiting the speed down with the button on her steering wheel. The engine rumbled beneath her, ready to go back to that amazing topspeed within a couple seconds again, however she braked in front of the light at the end of the pits as it colored red.
Daniel let out a huff of air at her cat like reflexes when the light turned green and she sped away again. She wasn't as fast as the best drivers on the track, but she was still easily beating some of them and it amazed him how quick she was learning. "I'd like you to stop day dreaming about my driver, Daniel". Daniel almost screamed like a little girl when Pyry placed his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Pyry". He took a deep breath and the trainer started to laugh. "I'm not daydreaming about your driver". Daniel muttered. "I believe we've had this conversation before". Pyry shrugged. "Basically everyone can feel the harmony between you two".
"Just shut up and mind your own business, will you?". Daniel gave him a teasing push and watched how Giulia turned the car in front of the pit box and let the mechanics push her back. She hoisted herself out of it and took her helmet off. Daniel chuckled at the electricity when she pulled the balaclava off and her hair stood straight up. "What's up, doc. Car feeling good? Smooth? Sexy?". Daniel asked and she laughed. "All of them". Giulia replied. "Great, it looked good as well". He smiled. "Hey, do you have some time to eat lunch later? I'd like to catch up with you after the summer break". Daniel suggested, his hand moving to the back of his neck.
"Yes, sure. If Pyry lets me". Giulia looked over her shoulder at her trainer. "My ship is sailing so, please go". Pyry dramatically waved her away and she rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you later". Giulia smiled at Daniel and pushed her helmet in her trainer's hands, who replied with a huff of air and he quickly followed her as she walked out of the pit box to get to the hospitality and get dressed for her training. Pyry said he had something special in mind and she was more than glad it was something different than on her usual training schedule. Giulia slipped out of her racing overall and got dressed into some lighter clothing to train with Pyry.
Giulia felt better after the break, she and Pierre were on better terms now, although she still couldn't avoid the gnawing feeling in her chest when they spend time together. It felt as if she was more free in what she did and said whenever she was alone or with someone else than Pierre. She didn't let anyone notice that, she just said her and Pierre were fine and didn't want others to stick their noses in their business. "Everything okay there, Giulia?". Pyry asked as she zoned out during the stretches. "Hmm? Si, I'm okay". She muttered. "Just thinking about the session of this morning". She replied and he nodded, too focused on stretching her legs than on the conversation.
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.
Daniel realized how deep in he was, and man it was deep. He was sure he could see the Titanic somewhere, that deep. "Good to hear that it was a good session". He replied, hoping he gave the right answer. Somewhere in between, the waiter had brought them the lunch and Giulia was happily poking her fork into her salad. "It really was, I love the circuit too. I hope you guys will have a good weekend". She said, her smile a bit apologizing as she meant the fellow Red Bull driver, who wasn't having his season at all. "We'll see, I hope so too". Daniel replied with a smile and looked down at his own food, he wasn't even hungry anymore. "Could we meet up again, tonight perhaps? I'm in for a drama free topic night. Some movies, a new series on Netflix". He suggested and she nodded straight away.
"Yeah, of course". She smiled, already forgetting about the slightly weird moment they had a couple minutes ago. "Brooklyn 99 is a great series for that. It's hilarious". Giulia continued and he nodded. "Then the plan is settled". He answered. "I'm sorry to interrupt our lunch, but I need to get back to do some media for Red Bull". Giulia cursed in Italian under her breath as she read the text her PR had sent her. "It's okay, I'll finish this on my own". Daniel laughed a bit as he was still busy with his lunch. "Please, have my money". Giulia dramatically threw some Euro bills on the table, which made him laugh again. He just couldn't stop laughing whenever she was around. "Seriously, please do. I owe you enough". She said, pushing her sunglasses over her eyes. "I'll see you tonight!".
Daniel waved at her as she got in her car and drove away, nibbling on his lower lip and rubbing his temples. It was all so complicated. He had a girlfriend, she had a boyfriend. Jemma and Pierre suddenly seemed to be interested in each other too. The fight he had with Jemma was about the dinner she had with Pierre at the airport of Tokyo. He was just angry that she was jealous at him for spending time with Giulia and she was 'just' having a dinner with Pierre. He looked at the time of now and shoved his plate away, asking for the bill to pay and leave. He had an hour till Sam expected him to be present for his second training schedule of the day and then he was going to see Giulia again.
Giulia wasn't shocked by the fact that his touch, a simple hand touch, had ruined her concentration for the rest of the day. She gave some weird answers during her interviews and she even received some sighs here and there as they needed to record it again. The end of the day neared thankfully quite quick and she could hide in her hotel room from everybody that wanted something from her or her brain. Her bed was soft and inviting to lay down on and sleep for a couple weeks, months, maybe, just till everything was over. She got changed in a pair of shorts and a top, she had an hotel room that was in the sun the whole day and because she wasn't here the whole day, the airconditioning wasn't on and it was quite hot in there.
She opened the doors of the balcony and let the fresh air come in, squinting her eyes a bit at the orange light of the setting sun. Daniel had texted her that she could come over to his if she wanted to, he went to take a shower, but his door was open. She decided to wait a bit, not wanting to come in at the moment where he only wore a towel around his waist again. Well, she actually wanted to, but also not. You could get what she meant. Giulia rolled her hair up in a bun and made her way to his room, which was on a floor higher than hers. He was indeed showering as he didn't open when she knocked, so she just opened the door and got in, closing it behind her. "Oh hey, what a timing". Daniel smiled as he walked out of the bathroom, shirtless, but with some shorts on. Okay.
Giulia smiled in response. "Do you ever learn how to dress yourself or do you just want people to walk in on your nakedness?". She teased and Daniel chuckled at her choice of words. "I want to show people how manly I am, how full of testosterone my body is". He lowered his voice and tensed his biceps, which made her laugh hysterically at the face he pulled. She laid down on his bed, her legs dangling over the edge. She looked up at the white ceiling, spotting the chandelier and starting to sing the chorus of the song with such a bad voice than even Daniel cringed. "Jesus, stop before the thing falls down to the floor". He joked, poking her sides as he moved to lay down next to her. She squealed at the tickling and pushed him away, however he was of course way stronger.
Her laughter echoed through the room as he didn't stop tickling her till she hung like a rag doll on the bed, her cheeks wet with tears. "I surrender, please". Giulia giggled and wiped her face, rolling on her side to face him. "I thought we were going to watch Netflix". She said, her eyes briefly looking at the tank top he had swung over his head somewhere in the past few moments. His skin was more tanned than hers was, his biceps firm, the veins running over his arms without him having to do any effort. "We still can". Daniel replied, yet they seemed to get lost in a moment of staring at each other. The same feeling when they touched hands earlier this day came back and it made her swallow hard. She nibbled on her lower lip and felt his breath ghost over her face as he moved closer to her.
Her hands were itching to pull him close and smash their lips together. So that's exactly what she did. Her hands cupped his face and their lips met in the most beautiful kiss she had ever felt.
A/N: Jesus christ it was about time.