T.C.’s POV:
I pumped my fist in the air in victory as Daniel crossed the finish line. Second place. Not bad at all. I hugged various team members as we made our way to watch the drivers take the podium. I watched Dan as he took his place. His smile was gigantic. It made me feel like I was melting. We locked eyes for a second and he gave me the thumbs up. The drivers were presented with their trophies and then the German national anthem played for Nico Rosberg, who had taken first place. Daniel was still over the moon. I watched the happy Australian as the anthem ended and he popped the cork on the expensive bottle of champagne and began to spray it over the other drivers and then out into the crowd. I opened my mouth wide and stuck my tongue out as some of the bubbly liquid sprayed in my direction. Small beads of it hit my tongue. I giggled, it was absolutely exhilarating to win. I was brought of my euphoric daze when I saw the post-race interviewer go to Dan.
“So, you’ve had a challenging start to the season with your previous engineer stepping down. Has the change affected you any?” the interview asked Dan.
“Well, it was definitely a surprise in the beginning, but my new engineer is extremely talented. I trust her completely and I think we’ve really clicked and know how to achieve the results we want.” Daniel nodded smiling.
“Very good.” the interviewed nodded.
“Cheers mate.” Daniel said and the interviewer moved on to the third place racer. Daniel winked at me. I smiled and giggled even more. I wished so badly I didn’t have feelings for him, but this just reminded me of how much I wanted to be with him. That amazing smile and happy go lucky attitude. Everything about him was perfect.
That night I was on a flight back to Milton Keynes. I sat down in my seat on the plane and got comfortable. To my surprise, when I looked up Daniel was coming to sit next to me.
“I think this is my seat.” he said pointing at the seat next to me that I had set my bag in.
“Oh, sorry.” I quickly grabbed my handbag and moved it out of the way. Daniel took the seat beside me and pulled out his phone and a pair of headphones out of this jacket pocket. He put the earbuds in his ears and pressed play. I frowned, wishing he had wanted to talk to me. I sighed and pulled out the pages of data we had collected on the car this weekend. The car had been amazing, but there is always room for improvement.
“You’re always working.” Daniel said, startling me.
“I’ve got to make sure the car and you are performing at your tip top.” I smiled looking up at him.
“You should relax.” Daniel tried to take the massive stack of papers from me. I swatted his hand away.
“One of us has to be serious. Not all of us can be care free Australians.” I clutched onto my papers tightly. In fact I envied how chill he was about everything. I am just not that way. I’ve always worried about everything and been very uptight about making sure things are done to perfection. Whilst it can be a good quality, it is very tiring.
“Hey! I care about stuff.” he said defensively, but I could see him trying to hide his grin.
“I know, I know. You care about beer, and barbeques, and boobs.” I winked at him.
“Not fair.” he crossed his arms and pouted like a child.
“You know I’m joking sugar.” I smiled at him. “You always give your all when it counts. That’s all that really matters.” he seemed to accept this answer because his smile returned. I yawned. I hadn’t realized how tired I was, but it was after midnight.
