THREE - Daniel Ricciardo

Chapter 27 - Guests

AMY

"Your brother called me to say that you are depressed, are you depressed?"

As I ran around the house cleaning, I kept my Mom on loudspeaker so I could get the chores done as quickly as possible. It was currently only 8am but the boys were expected to land at Heathrow at 7:30am so they should be turning up within the hour. I chuckled at my Mom's overreactions and fluffed the cushions on the sofa.

"No Mom, I'm not depressed." I said and moved into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher.

"It's that Daniel boy isn't it?" She asked, the silence filling through the air, the only noises were the clinking of plates and dishes as I placed them back into the cupboards.

"We aren't seeing each other anymore. Look, it's complicated and I don't want to talk about it." I said and slammed the dishwasher door shut before placing my elbows onto the work surface above, resting my head in my hands.

"I'm here when you are ready angel." Mom stated as she could hear my frustrations. A small smile curled at the side of my mouth as my Mom comforted me.

"Thank you." I whispered, trying not to get too emotional as my guests would soon be arriving.

"Why are you up so early anyways, you're usual fast asl-," My Mom got cut off by the sounds of knocks at the front door.

"Got to go Mom, love you." I said quickly and hung up before she could speak.

I looked down at the floor, straightened my outfit; teddy fleece loungewear, and ran my fingers through my hair. I wasn't wearing any makeup but who does this early on a morning?

"You can do this. Just smile and act nice." I whispered to myself as I walked down the hallway to the front door. I could see the shapes of the boys through the stained glass either side of the wooden object. I reached up on my tip-toes to unlock the deadbolt at the top of the door and twisted the key to the left to release the catch. Swinging the door open, my eyes met with the guys who would be living with me for the next week.

"Mom!" Lando shouted and ran to give me a hug. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too sweetie." I ran my hand through his hair, ruffling it up and moving backwards so the others could make their way into my house. I didn't make contact with the two Australians near the back of the group, my heart racing in my chest at the prospect of seeing them again.

They all formed an orderly queue as they made their way inside the entrance to my home, kicking their shoes off and throwing their coats to the ground. I groaned as the mess of items piled up on the floor. My spaces were always spotlessly clean and tidy, I couldn't stand any mess of any kind so having eight men haphazardly living with me for a week was going to be a struggle for me.

I scurried on my knees to pick their coats up and lined their shoes up against the wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ame." George bent down to help as I tidied everything away.

"No, it's me being weird. I don't like mess." I looked up at George as he was still taller than me even when we were knelt to the ground.

"Noted. We will be as tidy as possible." Michael spoke, the first Australian accent I'd heard from the group. I looked up at the group, making eye contact with Michael who stood next to Daniel. For a split second, our eyes connected and I felt the same rush of feelings I have always felt when I look at Daniel. Like the world stops for a moment and it's only us in it's existence. Nobody else makes a sound and I can focus on the soft waves in his hair and the warmth which radiates from his skin, the tattoos that stain certain areas but bring his personality to the front. I noticed I had been staring for a while, too long, before blinking and rising to my feet again.