Damage, Inc - [Daniel Ricciardo]

0.2

"You can't live without the fire. It's the heat that makes you strong. 'Cause you're born to live and fight it all the way. You can hide what lies inside you. It's the only thing you know. You're embracing that, never walk away. Don't walk away. Don't walk away".

Iron // Within Temptation

"Please, start from the beginning". Pierre leaned his head in his hands as Giulia sat in front of him. He had taken her to a beautiful restaurant to spend their last night in Austria together. Pierre thought his girlfriend looked absolutely stunning, a red dress on her that wasn't too formal, but also not meant for an evening of clubbing. Giulia put her glass of water back on the table and lifted her eyes up to his face to meet his. "Well, we met in kindergarten, Daniel's mother and my mother were friends, as I've heard". She started.

"We could get along pretty good and we continued to be friends, or well, what you can call friends on that age". Giulia chuckled and swung her left leg over her right. "Daniel was soon intersted in karting and that kind of stuff and I always liked coming along, his father let me drive one of those karts too and he'd teach me tricks and we spend a lot of hours at the track. He was scouted for some local racing team and I wasn't, I simply wasn't that interested as he was". Pierre raised his eyebrows with a smile as Giulia was now the new test driver for Red Bull.

"Sounds crazy right?". The Italian chuckled and Pierre nodded with a chuckle. "You're now one of the small amount of women in Formula 1". He smiled and let her continue with her story. "So, Daniel was scouted for the local racing team and I always came to support him and that kind of stuff. High school was a tough period as he was mainly away and I felt like I lost a friend and I felt a bit alone. Soon enough he was offered a seat at a bigger team, coming in Red Bull's junior programme and he was asked to join the big racing world and of course he said yes".

Giulia swallowed hard as she could remember the moment like it was yesterday.

Giulia's phone rung as she was busy with her history project, listening to some music while she typed away on her laptop. She lazily looked at the screen and it showed Daniel on the caller ID. She swiped over the screen to accept the call and put the phone between her shoulder and ear. "Hey, Dan". She muttered. "Gules! You have no idea what kind of call I just got". Daniel's excited voice filled her ears and her heartbeat started to quicken in her chest. "Tell me all about it". She replied, although she had a feeling it was the call she had been afraid of for years.

"Red Bull accepted me in their junior programme, the gates for Formula 1 just opened wide for me, Giulia". She was incredibly happy for him, but the ache in her heart hurt as she knew she had to let him go. They couldn't finish high school together like they had talked about for so many years. "Wow, Daniel, that's amazing news. I-I'm... A bit speechless actually". Giulia let out a breathy chuckle and he laughed. "Same for me, god, I'm so goddamn excited". It was quiet for a moment as they both didn't know what to say.

"I wanted to ask you something". He sounded again and she remained silent to let him speak. "Do you want to come with me?". Daniel asked and Giulia almost choked on her breath. "You want me to come with you to Europe?". She asked in disbelieve and she could almost see him frantically nodding. "Yes, of course. I can't leave my best friend behind". He scoffed as if she was being ridiculous. "Daniel, I can't just leave Australia to come to your races, I have to finish school, I...". Giulia stammered.

She wanted to fly into his arms for asking her to come and crush his bones in a hug but at the same time wanted to wrap her hands around his throat for him thinking it was that easy. "Gules, please".

"I can't, I'm sorry".

"You finished school without him?". Pierre asked as he took a sip of his beer and Giulia nodded. "I stayed in Australia and finished high school, got my diploma and went to university. I got a solid plan, study for aerodynamics and mechanical engineering, get into the racing business later with a steady bodom, but driving, racing, it was tingling beneath my skin every time I saw it on TV or saw it elsewhere. I had to get back into a bolide and that brought me in the Formula 4 series".