Haunting - Daniel Ricciardo

Chapter 34

Daniel's alarm wakes me up. Daniel groans himself, turning the alarm off. I open my eyes to stare into Daniel's.

"Good morning, babe" Daniel says, putting an arm around me to pull me close. I just rest my head on his chest, although we have to leave soon. I'm too comfortable to move.

"I just want to lay in bed all day long with you" Daniel mumbles. I just cuddle even more up to him now.

"Just 3 more races, babe" I say, not even realizing what I called him. But Daniel did. He is grinning at me. I slowly realize it and blush.

"I like it, but I need to find a new word for you then" Daniel says, smirking at me. I just smile.

"You like it when I call you babe?" I ask him, causing Daniel to grin even wider.

"Yeah. I will come up with a new nickname for you today" he says, before leaning over to give me a kiss. He then moves away from me to get out of bed. I just stay in bed for 5 more minutes, before my phone makes me get up, as it's ringing once again.

I see that it's Max's number and frown.

"Morning" I simply say.

"Hey! I have an important question for you" Max says from the other end of the line. I nod my head, while grabbing my clothes for today.

"Go on" I say, trying to change my clothes with one hand.

"Do you think you could make sure Camilla gets safely to the garage? She will arrive at the track when I'm in the car for qualifying" Max says and asks. By this time, I had put my phone on speaker and was now putting on my jeans.

"Sure. If you could just give her my number so she can text me when she arrives, then I'll collect her and bring her to the garages" I say, now moving on to my shirt.

"Alright, I'll tell her. See you in a bit" Max says and hangs up. I lock my phone and walk into the bathroom, where Daniel had just emerged from.

"Was that Max?" he asks. I nod, brushing through my hair.

"Yeah, Camilla is arriving today" I answer him. Daniel nods and grabs his jeans now as well. I am having a hard time not to jump him, as he is still standing in just his boxers from his shower.

"Are you excited for today? You'll have some more work to do than yesterday" Daniel asks and says. That is true. Friday's aren't the greatest days for me. But on Saturday, there are post-qualifying interviews and those are always some kind of fun.

"Yeah. I'm also looking forward to seeing you all fight for the best starting position" I say, applying my make-up. My hair is now up in a messy bun, making sure it is out of my face.

"Good. I'm super excited for qualifying. I hope FP3 ends fast" Daniel says. He doesn't really get excited for the practice sessions, whereas he gets really excited for qualifying and even more excited for Sunday.

"Yeah, I get that. We should go out for dinner tonight" I say, turning around to look at a now fully dressed Daniel.

"Sure. Do you wanna go with anyone or just the two of us?" Daniel asks, a small smirk on his face.

"Well, it wouldn't be very nice to let your parents by themselves. I was thinking that maybe Max, Camilla and her friend will come along. Maybe Evy and Carlos as well" I suggest, really wanting to spend some time with friends as well.

"Sounds great. If you could ask Evy and Max, I'll ask my parents" Daniel says, walking over to me and kisses my cheek.

"Are you ready?" he asks. I nod while quickly putting my shoes on. Daniel opens the door for me and together, we walk out and towards the lobby.

Max and Joelle are both already waiting there, smiles on their faces. Joelle just replaces me and walks with Daniel, while I walk with Max to the car.

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I am standing in Max's garage, waiting for Q1 to start. My phone buzzes, signalling that I have a new text.

From : Unknown

Hey! It's Camilla. We're at the entrance and have no clue where to go.. Could you get us ? X

I smile and quickly text her that I'm on my way. Just when I leave the garage, Max moves to track, ready for his first lap.

I just walk through the paddock towards the entrance. I'm glad I had seen Camilla myself in Austria, so I know what she looks like. It makes it easier to spot her.

Her black, wavy hair is up in a ponytail whe I spot her and her friend. She gets a smile on her face when she sees me.

I walk over to her and pull her in a for a hug. She seems taken aback by it, but hugs me back after a second.

"It's good to see you again! Hi, I'm Sienna" I say as I also turn to her friend. She smiles at me and shakes my hand.

"Hi, I'm Ashley, nice to meet you" she says. She is kind of the opposite of Camilla. Camilla has dark hair and brown eyes, but Ashley has blonde hair and blue eyes. They are both gorgeous.

"If you would follow me, I'll bring you to the garage" I say, making both girls smile. They nod and follow me. We just make our way through the paddock, walking towards the Red Bull garage. We walk into Max's side.

Some mechanics look up, but don't really make any effort to greet the two new faces and I can't blame them. They are concentrating on their driver.

I just pull the two girls to the side, making sure we're not blocking anyone. I see that Q1 is still on it's way. Max's car comes into the pits, seeing as he had put down a second time for now. Camilla smiles brightly, while Ashley doesn't seem to understand a lot.

-

Qualifying is finally over and I am ready for Max. We have to go to the press conference, seeing as Max qualified 3rd.

"Alright, so Max and I have some interviews to do now, it might take a while. You can just chill in his motorhome if you want too?" I ask, more to Camilla. She nods. Max comes into the garage and greets Camilla with a hug and shakes Ashley's hand.

"Great job, Maxie. Let's get going!" I say. From the corner of my eye, I see Ashley frowning, but I ignore it. We quickly show them the motorhome before we make our way to the press conference.

I do the usual, writing down all the questions and answers, very pleased with Max's answers. He is getting very good at answering just in the right way.

The questions keep on coming, more directed to the pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton. I try to only concentrate on the things that Max says, which is easy.

After the press conference, I take him to the pen, where the media is waiting for the top 3 from qualifying. We move past everyone that wants to ask Max, my dictaphone recording everything.

Max seems really happy, pleased with the results of today. I just hope he'll be just as happy tomorrow, because I like smiling Max more than annoyed Max.

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