Friends with Benefits - Daniel Ricciardo

18. Saudi II

DANIEL

Quali day. I felt exhausted. I couldn't sleep the night before. I had a good time with Barbara, she managed to keep Soph out of my mind for a while until I asked her to go back to her hotel room. The image of Sophie laughing of whatever Charles was saying was kept replaying in my head. She looked happy, a different happy. I could see her eyes shinning while she was looking at him. I was about to run up to them but I just couldn't. Charles is a good guy. There was no reason for me to stop her, she was not doing anything wrong. She was not making any mistake. It was actually the opposite. She was having a decent date with a good guy while I was on my way to fuck a woman I did not have the slightest feeling for. I was putting my baklava on my head when I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. 

-"Good luck Dan" her green eyes shrank thanks to the smile forming on her lips and I just smiled back at her. I wasn't mad but knowing she had been with another driver made me feel helpless. What was I doing? She had made it clear that I could have her without the need of a relationship and I had pushed her away a million times.

-"Thanks beautiful" I murmured. Sophie was in my head more often than not. She had a pull on me and not being able to release the tension between the two of us was driving me insane. 

As quali started I shook all my thoughts off and focused on my drive. I really needed to make this work if I wanted to keep my seat in F1. Q1 went decent and I managed to get into Q2. Times were not too far apart between our two cars which got me a little of confidence that both Lando and I could make it into Q3. However, the total opposite happened. We both had failed to make it into Q3. I jumped out of the car and walked straight to my driver's room. On my way to the room I could see Barbara taking some pictures around the paddock. I rolled my eyes. I could not understand why did she want to be in every race if she didn't even like the sport. She was not my problem though. 

-"It's clearly not you" I heard her voice  once she had entered my room. Sophie was the only person that had full access to it. She knew she didn't need to knock, this was her room too. I was laying on the couch totally defeated with a towel covering my face. Although I could not see her, my heart raced a little when I heard her voice. She had the upper hand lately. Every time I see her I just turned into a handful of nerves. 

-"I could have done more though" I answered without taking the towel of my face. I could feel the weight on the couch next to me. I knew she had sat right next to me and this was going to turn into a conversation. I was biting my tongue to not say what I was thinking of 

-"Daniel, you were less than a tent behind Lando" she said as if it was obvious

-"Why Charles?" I asked the question I had in my head. I mean, I get he was a good looking and a good guy. But why another F1 driver?

-"What are you talking about?" she asked taking the towel off my face and I just exploded. 

-"Why the fuck would you fuck another F1 driver Soph?" I yelled. 

"That shit is stuck in my head! You are fucking someone I share with every weekend when you damn well know the freaking sexual tension that there is between us!" Was I being selfish? Yes. Did I sound like a fucking lunatic? Yes. Did I want to have her under me in that exact moment and made sure Charles never even crossed her mind again? Fuck yes. 

-"What the fuck are you on about?" She yelled back standing up from the couch

"You are the one forcing us to get rid of the tension! You are the one who kept begging me to let it go and just be the friends we've always been!" she talked fasted right on my face