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

29. Thunderclouds pt. 2

Daniel's POV

It was freaking scary when Elza didn't talk. There's a huge difference between her just being quiet and her actually not talking. I was in a point where I wasn't sure if I should make her talk to me no matter what it took or just let her be. This is the reason why I hadn't done relationships in a while, I mean serious relationships.

"Elza, you need to eat something. I can go and get you anything you want from the restaurant," I tried for a second time. She didn't even flinch. She was sitting on a armchair in front of a big window. The view from this room was quite spectacular but sadly it wasn't going to make Elza talk to me. "Please, just talk to me... You haven't said a word after-," I didn't want to finish. I sighed and ran my fingers trough my hair.

"Have you...?" She whispered removing her small hand from my thigh.

I didn't know what to say. Flashbacks from the end of the previous season, from Abu Dhabi flashed trough my mind. I turned my head slightly, afraid to see the look in Elza's eyes. And when I did, all I could see was disbelief and hurt.

I shook my head trying to get rid of the memory of us in the backseat of the car and Elza's confused face when she had looked at me. The memory wasn't even too distant. It hadn't been more than two hours but when your favorite person wasn't talking to you it felt more like two weeks.

"Do you want to be alone? Or maybe if you would talk to me, scream or shout or whatever you want, it would take us somewhere? If you want to cry that's okay too," I tried again. I needed to get her talk to me. Actually any kind of reaction would be a process at this point. "I am so fucking sorry Elza."

Oh. Oh, that did it.

"Like when you were fucking her?" her voice was so tiny and fragile but I heard her. Loud and clear.

"She meant nothing. I knew it and she knew it. I was missing you and I was drunk and I know it doesn't change what I did but-," I walked closer to her and knelt down in front of her but it only made her tightened the blanket she had wrapped around herself. She turned her head back towards the window to look outside. I sighed once again and sat down on the floor in front of her. I kept my gaze on her, analyzing her face, trying to find even the smallest sign of... something.

What happened in Abu Dhabi was a mistake, I knew it right away on the Monday morning when I woke up in my hotel room and saw that Elza had texted me. I would have known it was a mistake even if she hadn't texted me. And as if it that wasn't bad enough for me, I didn't wake up alone. Amber was her name. We had known each other for few years, she worked at paddock club. She was a nice girl and we always had this weird connection. Or maybe it wasn't connection but we got along well and she was always there when I would visit the paddock club so we saw each other pretty often. The Abu Dhabi race weekend just happened to be the breaking point. I was hurt and mad at Elza and Amber had just ended things with her long term boyfriend. I didn't even want to go to the Amber Lounge but it was Nico's last race in Formula 1 and the team wanted to party so I had given in. I didn't want to ruin it for Nico, he was my team mate after all. Amber was there and we started talking. She was the only person I had told about Elza that night. She realized right away when we met at the club that something was bothering me, and like I mention, we get along well so I told her. I remember Michael being so pissed at me when he heard I had told Amber about Elza. Michael had grown to be very protective over her. I didn't mind, he was like a brother to me and it made me feel good when I knew Elza was safe with Michael and Blake when I wasn't around. Even though she was perfectly capable taking care of herself but still.

"Elza...?" I whispered, carefully touching her foot that was poking from under the blanket.

"I can't talk... If I talk I'll start crying," her voice was just as quiet as mine and her head didn't move, she didn't turn to look at me but I could hear it in her voice that she was already on the edge of starting to cry.