In the Spotlight (Max Verstappen - Book Two)

Chapter Nineteen

"What in the shit?!" I scream, physically jumping when I see Daniel lying on my bed, hands behind his head, a wide smile at my extremely flustered self. "The fuck is wrong with you, you crazy Australian wombat?" I yell at him, my hand resting on my chest over my fast-beating heart. "And why did you set me up like that!" I continue yelling and he just lies there relaxed, seemingly unaffected by my yelling.

"Did it end up like a date? Cause that was the plan! I wanted you two to go on a date!" He says excitedly like a puppy as he sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and looking at me expectantly.

Completely ignoring all of my questions.

"I don't need a dog, I have a Daniel," I mutter under my breath at the sight of the Aussie.

"What did you say?" He asks, tilting his head to the side as if to further illustrate my point and I stifle a giggle.

"Nothing, Hunny," I say sweetly and sarcastically, a smile taking over my face as he stays confused for a moment before shaking it off.

"Anyways, tell me everything." He says leaning forward eagerly, quite clearly wanting to hear every detail.

"No, go to bed, it's late. How did you even get in here?" I ask him as I set my bag down on the table and sit down on the sofa, pulling one heel off at a time.

"You look fantastic by the way, I'm glad you still dressed up nice despite not realising..." he continues, completely ignoring my questions until I give him a fixed stare and he has the grace to look a tad sheepish. "I told Liv that I was going to drop the new merch that you had asked for off in your room." He explains and I look around the room eagerly, disappointed when I don't see it before narrowing my eyes on the Aussie.

"How long did you wait here for? And you could have at least bought it with you!" I say exasperatedly referring to the merch which he at least has the decency to feel sorry for.

"Like, three hours, I'll bring it to the shoot tomorrow?" He says with big eyes, begging for forgiveness and I nod, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Speaking of the shoot tomorrow, I'm exhausted and need to rest! Get out!" I tell him and he looks like he's about to argue before simply nodding his head when he takes in my exhausted form and I walk behind him to the door.

"Just tell me one thing, did it go well?" Daniel asks before he opens the door, turning around with a curious glint in his eyes.

I sigh as I think to myself. "Honestly, I don't know...but I think so," I tell him softly and a smile spreads wide across his face as he picks me up in a hug causing me to laugh.

"Good! You two deserve happiness, fuck everyone else!" Daniel says smiling and I roll my eyes.

"Nothing concrete you goofball, now get out of here!" I say opening the door for her and pushing him out lightly while he's chuckling. "And remember, this has to stay on the down low...I'm serious."

The giggles are wiped out of Daniel who nods seriously and I wave him goodnight before closing the door, happy and confident that he understands the situation.

I sleep for what feels like a few minutes thanks to the jet lag before I'm woken up by Liv and Nick who push me into the shower and similar to Daniel try to get details out from me. With them, I'm finally a bit more open, telling them bits and pieces of the night - some parts making them laugh and other parts making them aw, which is all in all rather amusing. When we arrive at the shoot, we're the first ones there and it's explained to me that Max and I are doing just a Red Bull question video together first, before doing a challenge video versus Daniel and Pierre. The hair and makeup girl that is around basically just for me gives me a quick touch up and as I'm standing in front of the camera doing sound checks I'm greeted by the pleasant sight of Max walking in, looking quite different from last night as he's back in his usual clothes, but still looking good. As soon as he sees me he makes a bee-line walking straight over to me and giving me a quick fist bump which I awkwardly return as I eye him curiously, wondering what he might do next but we're interrupted before I get the chance to find out as the crew brings some simple chairs for us to sit on, about a meter and a half apart from one another.