Something Gained

Chapter Thirty

Cameras were waiting outside the restaurant, waiting to take pictures of Daniel. He normally kept his private life a lot more private, never giving much away so I never expected him to be so open as he was right now. He was holding my hand on the table as we chatted away, I tried to ignore the constant looks.

"Please don't worry, people in Oz are more laid back and chilled. They'll give you the space, it's only the cameras we need to worry about" he said, he stroked the back of my hand with his thumb
"But you're not worried now. They can see what's happening and they're taking pictures constantly, I wouldn't be surpris-" I was cut off by my phone ringing. Lando, I looked up at Daniel and answered my phone
"Lando, you okay?" I asked him
"Alex, the media is going crazy. You and Daniel are all over social media, the news, everything" he spoke
"Oh god" I didn't care I was seen with Daniel, nothing mattered more than him. It was an potential backlash from it that worried me. "Can I have your phone?" I asked Daniel, he unlocked it and handed it to me
"Go on Twitter" Lando spoke in my ear, he was right, it was quite literally everywhere. I switched the call to facetime and Lando popped up on my screen
"They're here now, look" I pointed my phone out the window to the group of cameras waiting outside
"It's going to go nuts, I wouldn't worry. Zak has your back, as does Andreas, I've got your back" Lando said, it was nice to hear that, I then realised that he was right. Regardless of what happened, I knew who I had in my corner, and that was enough. "Enjoy your dinner and keep smiling, you look great" he said as he winked at me. He waved goodbye to Daniel and I and my screen went black.
"Well, it's too late now, let's give them something to really chew on" Daniel said with a laugh, he leaned across the table and kissed me. I was in shock, but it all felt right, so I kissed him back and we continued with our date night.

When we left the restaurant we were swarmed. Daniel kept hold of my hand and I walked slightly behind him keeping my head down. We got into the car and once the door closed I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding. I was used to cameras and people, I worked in formula one, but I think it hits different when it's right on you. I pulled out my phone as Daniel got in the car and had a look.

Daniel Ricciardo dating his communications manager Alex

Alex Walker new girlfriend of Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel and Alex, inside the relationship of the Australian driver and his PR Manager

Daniel Ricciardo spotted at home in Perth with his PR Manager

McLarens PR with boyfriend Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo takes takes girl home to Perth

"Well, this will be interesting to manage" I said laughing. Daniel was looking over my shoulder reading the headlines.
"Wow, all that in two hours. The devil works hard, but the media works harder" he shook his head
"Are you okay?" I asked him
"Yeah I don't care, why are you okay?" He asked looking at me, I nodded and he kissed my forehead.

We spent the two weeks we had left travelling around, sometimes with his mum and dad. We went for family dinners with them all and spent a lot of time out of the house. I met his sister and her family, we became quite close, watching Daniel with his niece and nephew was just amazing, he was such a good uncle. Then each night we came home together, it felt so nice. I liked living with him, it was amazing. Cameras followed us everywhere and the more they did, the more we ignored them. He never ignored his fans, but he paid no attention to the constant flashes and clicks of the journalists, he was never horrible to them. I don't think Daniel had a horrible bone is body.

But we were back and we were in Belgium for the next race. Coming back was nerve racking and I needed to catch up on so much, sort out the schedules for the next few races, I needed to work with both Daniel and Lando. We had a big team meeting before the race weekend, so as soon as we landed in Belgium I didn't see Daniel properly outside of "work" until Friday when we all got up early and headed to the track. I had only met with him and Lando to discuss certain things and to also put in place a answer to the obvious question that would be fired at us. The whole team were so supportive, it wasn't like being at work, it was like being at home with your family.

I walked into the paddock on Saturday morning, Daniel and Lando were behind me and I was greeted by Zak.
"Let's walk and talk, I'm sure you're very busy" Zak said, I nodded and walked off with him towards the McLaren trailer
"Did you see that, it's like she entered the paddock and became a different person, work mode activated" I heard Lando laugh
"So big thing going on is you and Daniel, are we confirming or denying?" Zak asked
"We're not doing anything, we're going to let it run, I've prepared them for questions which I'm sure Hannah has done the same. I think if we just make it apparent we're not going to discuss it. We're here to work and race and get the job done" I replied to him. We entered the trailer and went up to my office
"I think that's very good, we'll keep our heads down and focus on what we're here for, yeah Hannah told me she consulted with you" Hannah was Zak's communications girl. We frequently consulted back and forth on things as I worked with the drivers and she worked with the CEO. I put my stuff on the my desk and opened up my laptop
"Yeah, Hannah's great. But yeah if we do what we need to do, people will speak and that's fine, it's not exactly hidden but it's also not of interest. Especially not ahead of our jobs" I told him
"That's great Alex, I knew it wouldn't hinder you. I've got to get going so I'll leave you to it and I'll see you down in the garage" I nodded as he left my office. I saw Daniel and Lando walk past my door
"5 minutes Daniel, and you've got a conference with Carlos" I shouted out
"She's bossy" Lando laughed, Daniel nodded and chuckled going into his room

Down at the media pen I had both Lando and Daniel talking to different media outlets. Daniel was currently with sky sports and Lando with ESPN. I listened into both of them
"How was your summer break, was it much needed?" Will asked him
"Er yeah much needed. Just even from a recovery point of view, just to switch off and just kind of recharge the batteries and all that stuff and obviously just mentally get a break as well"
"I suppose it's also nice to spend time with those close to you"
"Yeah it's always nice to go home and see the family again, I spend so much time apart from them and I'm a big family man so it's nice to see them again"
"And you're now more acquainted with some of your personal team, how was that?" Oh dear here we go
"McLaren is a big family, and we're back now and it's time to get in the car and get racing" Daniel finished off the interview quite calmly, and I moved both drivers round to different media outlets.

The weather in Belgium was not pretty for the weekend, all practice sessions had been wet sessions and now it's set to be a wet qualifying, and it always scared me when the guys went out while it was wet.
I watched Daniel standing at the back of the garage watching the screens with his headphones on, Michael next to him. He looked over and winked at me before returning to the screen checking weather and tactics.
We had both cars into Q3, the track was awful, so much water standing on the track and it was still raining, I watched the screens intensely with the rest of the team when Lando went crashing into the barriers and spun. Gasps rang out around the track, I put my hands over my mouth as I listened to hear it was okay.
"Lando are you okay, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I'm sorry boys" after a brief pause he replied, he sounded so shaky. The session stopped and Daniel came back in and and stayed in the car, but he waved me over and pushed up his visor
"What happened? Is he okay?" He asked
"Shaken, but he's okay. They're getting him checked out and need to do an x ray on his elbow" I told him. He nodded and Michael came over to speak to Daniel
"I'm gonna go over to the medical centre" I told Zak and he nodded, I walked down with Jon. When I walked in I gave Lando a hug, he was sat in the chair and looked bewildered
"We cant continue on that, it's so bad out there" he said
"We'll see what happens, are you okay?" I asked
"A little bit sore, but I'm fine. Mechanics are gonna hate me that's for sure" he said trying to laugh it off. Thankfully he had no issues or injuries and his x ray was fine. We headed back to the garage as we saw Daniel had qualified p4. Thankfully he made it through fine.

I walked with Daniel to the media, Lando was given a break and didn't have to speak to anyone. I held the umbrella over Daniel's head as he spoke to the journalists, he spoke his mind and said the track wasn't safe and to be fair I did agree with him. Once all the commitments were done we headed back to the trailer and saw Lando sitting on the sofa. Daniel went over to check on him straight away.