„You look like you do this since forever."
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Daniel Ricciardo is 35 years old and his life change in few seconds. It was his best drive since he left Red Bull but it end up with accident and now he had to left Formula one world.
His parents...
Alira couldn't imagine the pain Daniel was going through.
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It had been over a week since Alira had last seen Daniel at the zoo. Every morning, Grace would wake him up because he still hadn't adjusted to being at work around six in the morning – animals simply wake up early. Alira had struggled with this at first too, as she was used to waking up later, but she quickly adapted. It was for the animals, her beloved creatures, her family.
Grace constantly checked up on her son. Wherever she left him, she would always discuss how he behaved that evening at the pub. She needed to know that her son wasn't embarrassing himself. She wanted to know that Daniel was trying to fit in and to love the animals. But Alira knew better.
He helped her with the lemurs. Just with cleaning their enclosure, and she thought she might go crazy. She understood that he was new to this world, but she didn't expect a twenty-minute task at most to take over two hours because he kept making excuses.
Alira accepted that he had an injured leg. She accepted that she would carry the heavy things because otherwise, his leg would hurt like hell. She had been carrying heavy things for years, so this wasn't a change and didn't bother her at all. She was prepared for that. What she didn't expect was having to do absolutely everything herself because Daniel refused to touch anything. Grace said Daniel was behaving exemplary, asking questions, and trying hard. But she was lying, and Alira hated lying – especially to someone like Grace. However, she couldn't tell her how awful her son was.
And Alira noticed this in the following days. Whenever she had to go somewhere because she was needed, she would notice this tall brunette with tattoos on his legs and arms. He looked good in the work uniform – almost as if he wore it all the time. As if he was born for it. But his face showed the complete opposite. He frowned and looked bored.
For the first two days, he worked in the local food stands. He helped out because the zoo had lost a few seasonal workers and had no one for the souvenir shops or food stands. Alira tried to help out when she could, but unfortunately, the animals took up all her time. On top of everything, the opening of the new snake exhibit was approaching, which meant a lot of work. Additionally, there were many things to repair, and she also had to care for a sick lemur that no one knew how it got sick.
Alira was up to her ears in work. She didn't even have time for her dog, whom Daniel's father Joe had to take out for walks, as he finished work earlier than his wife Grace. The Ricciardos were the first to take care of Alira when she showed up at the gate at twenty years old demanding a job. They were the first to show her how the zoo operated, and they even vouched for her to the zoo director, saying that if Alira turned out to be unsuitable, they would leave as well. It was a lot of pressure because she had to really try hard, as she didn't want anyone to lose their job because of her.
The Ricciardos were like a second family to her. Maybe she hadn't known their son until now, and she started to regret knowing him after seeing him at the zoo, but it didn't change the fact that Michelle, Joe, and Grace were wonderful people she loved to meet and spend her free time with. She spent holidays with them – when Daniel wasn't home, that is. She chose to stay home and visit when Daniel had left. It wasn't that she was afraid of him or anything like that. She just knew that Grace and Joe hadn't seen their son in a long time and didn't want to intrude. She preferred to leave them alone so they could work things out among themselves.
