A World Alone - D.R.

thirteen

Qualifying had been by far the most Daniel had smiled. In the interview circuit, almost every question posed to Dan was related to the picture he'd posted late last night. Dan thought Ellie, his esteemed PR officer, hadn't totally done her job of ensuring the questions posed to him were race-related, but he secretly was a bit happy, he hadn't done the best he could in Quali, down to the slightly different set-up with the car, and was happy to avoid as many questions around his less than stellar performance and instead talk about his new girlfriend. He could talk about Jade for hours.

Jade's face had also been broadcast on the F1 screens, a lot more than it had ever been before, and the second Jade caught sight of her face, and the name tag to go with is 'Jade Kirke, Girlfriend of Daniel Ricciardo' caused her face and neck to heat up bright red. She almost couldn't believe that she was his girlfriend, but was very happy she was.despite the public scrutiny that came with it.

When Dan came back to the garage after the media circus, the camera's for a few TV networks were still poking around the Renault garage, despite the engineer's attempts to keep them out. Every camera was trained on him and Jade, filling the screens with their every interaction. Jade had set some ground rules for their PDA when the cameras were out and about. Jade and Dan agreed they should be limited to hand-holding, cheek pecks, and not much more. It did mean, that the cameras came in extra close every time they did touch each other, regardless of how briefly it was.

Joe has been concerned that Jade's presence that weekend would distract him from the work that had to be done on track. Except it was the complete opposite. He and Dan had spent the best part of the last 5 years together, and considering that Dan trained almost every day, they'd quickly become very close friends. And, in those 5 years, Joe had never seen Dan as focussed as he was this weekend. He hadn't put a foot wrong all weekend. He was on time to all their PT sessions, he'd had a lot to contribute in all the debrief sessions and despite the little trouble with the car, he'd done a near-perfect qualifying lap. Everything so far was pointing to a good weekend him. A podium this weekend after a tough few weeks and a very tough year would really work wonders in terms of his confidence. Especially considering he had Jade by his side now.

Sunday morning caused Dan to be very quiet. He was mainly away with the fairies, his ears obscured by a large pair of headphones. Aside from a small bit of conversation between the couple in the morning, after they first woke up, Daniel hadn't said a word to his girlfriend. Jade kind of understanding, He was under a lot of pressure to get a podium. The media had been on his back, along with the rest of the team. His performance over that weekend and the last few had been so close to a podium, but the race had ended a few laps short of the result both he and the team wanted. This weekend, he was in the zone.

In his small room in the back of the garage, Jade and her new boyfriend shared a kiss, and just before Dan had to go out into the car Jade clutched him close in a hug. He was so close to her she could hear his heart beating against her ear. It was a steady drumming sound, that helped her slow her own heartbeat down to the same pace of his. If he wasn't nervous or worried she wouldn't be either. She had watched him race a handful of times before now, but after the recent realisation of how much he meant to her, there was a marked change. She didn't want to let him go for the next 60-something laps, anything could happen to him in the delicate car that was wide open to the elements. He'd be safe, he'd been safe for 160 odd races, he'd be safe for one more, and that was all she asked, for him to be safe for just one more race. They pulled away from each other when they heard the soft knock at the door from Joe, and they shared a parting kiss. When Joe entered, they had their foreheads pressed against each other. He cleared his throat gently, and the two separated, smiling at each other and then at Joe.

"You okay?" Dan asked his girlfriend, his smile growing wider as he looked at her, remembering that she was his girlfriend.

Jade chuckled, as he put his hand on the small of her back as he let her through the narrow corridor first. "Aren't I supposed to be the one asking you that question?"