Girasole - [Daniel Ricciardo]

0.9

      Elina had told the staff she wanted dinner upstairs, not in the mood to be social at all. She hated herself at the moment. She tried to find a way to deal with everything in the situation she was. Acting like the shy, quiet type didn't work out. Acting like the brave, girl boss didn't work either, well, she maybe impressed a lot of people with it, but next to that, nothing was achieved. Her crying scene seemed to have gotten some more feelings loose from Mr. Ricciardo and perhaps he wasn't a complete stone cold robot on the inside as she thought he was. The staff had told Daniel Elina preferred to stay upstairs and he had accepted the request with a sigh. He figured she just needed a lot more time to adjust. Mitch was at her door of the cinema room and around midnight he had said she didn't come out of it yet.

He called his boss to say he didn't want to just come in and invade her privacy, knowing she could have quite a temper if she needed to. Daniel knocked softly on the door and opened it when he didn't hear anything in response. He peaked inside the room and the lights were dim, the big TV screen still playing some kind of series while Elina was curled up in the corner of the couch, a blanket over her legs while her head rested in her hand, her eyes closed as she had fallen asleep. Daniel told Mitch he could go. He shut down the TV and lifted her up from the sofa. Instead of bringing her to her own room, he brought her to his room. He saw she was in some comfortable clothing already, so he didn't bother to let her get changed. He laid Elina down in his bed, covering her with the sheets.

She didn't seem to notice much as she only curled her hands around the blankets to pull them a bit higher. Daniel stripped himself down to his underwear and laid out some clothing for the next day. He quietly got into the bed with her, keeping his distance as the bed was big enough. Elina laid faced towards him and he couldn't let it to reach out and caress the side of her face. Her eyes briefly fluttered open and he was ready for the panic or the anger that might bubble up in her calm hues next, but they kept reflecting the calm remained in her eyes. She only looked at him for a moment before closing her eyes again, seeming to doze off right away. Elina was simply too tired to figure out why he was in bed with her, so she just went to sleep as the day had been tiring enough.

     Elina woke up the next morning, her eyes puffy from crying as she opened them. She rubbed them gently, taking the sleeping crumbles away from her lashes. She looked at the sheets that weren't familiar to her bed and she sat up next, looking around to discover she wasn't in her own room. She blinked against the bright lights that shone into the room. Elina looked up at Mr. Ricciardo who came out of the bathroom with just a towel around his hips, his hair still slightly wet. "What am I doing here?". She asked, trying to look annoyed and not get distracted by his glorious body. "You fell asleep in the cinema room last night, Elina". He replied, turning his back to her when he picked a tie out of his closet. "And you couldn't bring me to my own room". She replied, now he had his back to her she could shamelessly look at him.

The muscles rippled beneath his shoulders as he reached for a new blouse, deciding the one he had laid out last night wasn't matching up good with the slacks. "You didn't seem to protest when you laid here". Daniel shrugged, turning back to her. Elina pursed her lips together as she didn't have a comeback to that. "I have to go". He followed up and Elina looked away as he dropped his towel to get some new underwear on. As she heard the clinking of his belt buckle, she dared to look back up at him, finding him dressed in a neat pair of slacks and the blouse in the lighter colour tucked in it. "Where to?". She asked and tied her hair back in a bun in her neck. "Work". Daniel replied. Elina rolled her eyes at the vague answer. "I'm seeing Mr. Giovinazzi again to sign the deal". He said, sounding a bit bitter at the Italian's name.

Elina blushed, remembering the flirting she had done with him during the lunch yesterday. "I think he can concentrate a bit better without you seated next to me". Daniel said and her eyebrows furrowed together, her lips parting to speak up. "Don't". He shushed her, nearing her as he adjusted the tie around his neck. "You're so beautiful, everyone wants you". He hummed, looking down at her face that was lit up by the morning light of Sicily. "But then I remember you're my gorgeous sunflower". Daniel said, looking at the way she sucked her lower lip into her mouth. "Breakfast is ready for you downstairs. Mr. Evans will be handling the financial process if you have your internet shopping thing for whatever you want". He said. "I'll probably be back around noon". Elina blinked as he tucked some escaped strands behind her ear, tracing her face to her chin before he stepped away from her. "Ciao, Elina". He said in an obvious tone as she didn't respond much.