It's Called Leap of Faith - [Daniel Ricciardo]

12. One Visa and One Flight Ticket

Monday 12.8.2019

"Elza?" Daniel called out the German who was making some coffee in the kitchen for both of them after a long, sweaty 12 km jog they had done in the morning. Daniel had to get back to his training and Elza didn't mind running with him since she did it all the time back at home.

"Yes Daniel," Elza called him back and carried two big mugs of fresh coffee to the living room where Daniel was sitting on the couch with his laptop.

"You know the first race of the season is always in Melbourne? And you know I'm Australian right?" Elza sat down next to Daniel and handed him his coffee.

"Last time I checked I was aware of that... Everytime you start your sentence with you know, I feel like something bad is about to come out of your mouth."

"It's me preparing myself to be rejected by you," Daniel said and playfully pushed Elza's shoulder almost making her spill her coffee.

"You wouldn't have to do that if you stopped saying out loud all these crazy ideas of yours all the time... and why do I feel like there's another one in your mind right now." Elza was trying so hard to remember that Daniel lived in a completely different world that she did. And what was normal for him probably wasn't for her. His normal was taking a private plane and flying across the world to have a holiday. Or driving a brand new Aston Martin on the streets of one of the most exclusive countries in the world. Elza's normal was driving a Volvo and going to work every Monday morning.

"Well... What I am about to ask you isn't that crazy. It's just something that we need to go over so there won't be any unpleasant surprises in the future," Daniel explained. Elza wasn't sure if he was joking or being serious. Every now and then she found it quite hard to tell.

"Alright, shoot..."

"You need a visa if you want to come to Australia." There was a short pause before Daniel continued, he was truly horrified how she would react. "And I'm not saying you need to come with me or anything like that but it can take like five months for the authorities to grant you the permission." Daniel was being serious. He knew it was somewhat bit crazy, they hand't known each other more than a week but he also knew he was crazy about her.

"Daniel..." Elza's voice was dubious. She could understand where he was coming from but it was only one race and it was on the other side of the world. It was most likely she wouldn't be able to go and besides there were no guarantees that they would be even in touch anymore then.

"I know, it's crazy but what if you want to come and then you couldn't just because you don't have the visa... Better to be safe than sorry right?" Daniel took a hold of Elza's coffee mug and put it down to the table next to his. Then he reached out for her hands and looked into her eyes. He was as serious as he could possibly be. Being serious wasn't his strongest abilities.

"I know it's only been a week and I know how much your job means to you and I'm not asking you to give up on anything. All I'm asking you to be open minded. We don't know what's going to happen between now and March. I mean I hope you're still part of my life but we don't know. Applying the visa for you, it doesn't have to be that big of a deal. If things don't work out between us then you don't have to ever use it. Or you can do whatever you want with it. I just want to make sure you have the possibility to come if you want to."

"I'm trying not to make it a big deal but it kinda is..." Elza knew Daniel meant well and he was much more carefree when it came down to anything basically. But for her it was a big deal.

"I won't book the flight back to Munich for you if you don't agree to apply for the visa. And I am not letting you to book it either. I'm stealing your phone and hiding all the equipment that you could use to book the flight," Daniel pinned Elza down to the couch making Elza shriek out loud.