Valerie

Part 20

DANIEL

The rest of the week passes in a blur, I see Valerie around the paddock leading up to the race, but we're both busy and barely have time to speak two sentences to each other while at the paddock.

It's race day and I'm getting into the zone when I feel a hand on my arm.

I pull my headphones down and turn to see Valerie standing next to me.

"I'm sorry Danny, I just wanted to wish you luck for the race," she says quickly, her hand still resting on my arm.

I put my arm around her and pull her into me. "Thank you, Valley."

"Promise me you'll be safe? I'm stationed at the swimming pool complex today so try to give me a few good shots okay?" she smiles.

"I'm always safe, Val. But I'll be extra safe for you. Just make sure you get my good side with those shots. And at least pretend to take photos of the cars you're actually here for." I laugh.

She looks around then gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you later, Danny."

"See you, Val." I watch as she pushes through the crowd, one hand clinging to the camera around her neck.

"You're so fucked, dude." I hear Lando say from behind me.

I turn to see him watching her walk away. "What?"

"You are so into her. All I'm saying is, be careful, she's fragile." he shrugs. "See you on the track buddy."

I nod. "I'm careful. And she's not fragile, she's special. See you out there. Good luck buddy."

He fist-bumps me before he heads out to his car on the grid.

"Fuuuuuuuck." I groan as I get lapped by Lando. This race is not what I hoped it would be, starting so low on the grid was already a disadvantage on this track. I slam my hand on the steering wheel and push my foot harder on the gas. "Come on, Daniel, get your head in the fucking game." A part of me wonders if I'm distracted by what Lando said before the race. I shake the thought. "Focus, Daniel."

"Okay, Daniel, that's the chequered flag. Finished P12, I'm afraid." my engineer says over the radio. The weekend was rough and honestly, I'm ready to get on a plane and try again in Baku, I need this to work. I need to do better. I'm not performing the way that I know I can. And it doesn't help that my younger, inexperienced teammate is lapping me on his way to a podium finish. I'm happy for the kid but for fuck sake, I'm better than this.

I make sure to join the team to watch Lando's podium, and once it's done I head to my driver's room to get ready for the media pen interviews. The last thing I want to fucking do.

"Some chick from the Mercedes garage dropped in here looking for you." One of the mechanics says when I walk into the garage. "She left this for you. It's not a bomb is it?" He holds out a box.

"Blonde hair?" I ask, eyeing the box.

"Yeah mate, but not Angela." he shrugs.

I nod. "It's not a bomb. And she's not some chick, that's Valerie Wolff, Toto's daughter, show her the respect she deserves."

His eyes go wide. "Shit, sorry man, I didn't know."

I take the box from him and speed walk to my driver's room. Once I'm there I lock the door and drop down to the floor, my head in my hands. Jesus Christ, I hate feeling like this.

I look at the box that I put down next to me and then reach over, sliding it to me and pulling the lid off of it.

Inside is a framed picture of me on the track in Spain. There's a letter underneath.