DREAM - Daniel Ricciardo

-2- River

Oh, I wanna come near and give ya
Every part of me
But there is blood on my hands
And my lips aren't clean – Leon Bridges

Daniel rode through a secluded part of the woods. It was peaceful, just the sound of nature, it made him think. Think about his career and his future. Even though he only saw Isa for 5 minutes, he could picture her at his races. He could see her standing at the bottom of the podium. How happy she would look when he was standing at the top, how proud she would be when he would be holding the biggest trophy. He could see them walking through the apartment door in Monaco after a race weekend. Mad tired from travelling, cooking together and then having a nice evening on the terrace, watching the sunset. As the horse walked along a stream Daniel looked at his surroundings, he thought that he was seeing things but after blinking a couple times he came to the conclusion that he wasn't imagining her sitting there. She was sitting at the bed of the river, with a notebook drawing the beautiful scenery in front of her. Daniel stepped down from the horse and tied the reigns to a tree. He sat down beside her, a calm and peaceful silence between them. Daniel felt nervous, sitting there as she was still drawing. He look at the notebook, it was beautiful, just like her. "Thank you," Isa broke the silence. "Did I say that out loud?" Daniel asked embarrassed. "You did, but I don't mind. What are you doing here?" Isa broke the silence once again. Daniel didn't say anything for a moment. He was nervous, he felt like he couldn't say the right thing in front of her. "I..," once again there was a silence. Daniel felt like the silence was saying enough in that moment. They sat next to each other for what felt like hours but in reality it was just minutes. It was not awkward, in the moment it felt like they had known each other for years. This time it was Daniels turn to say something, "how long are you staying for?" "The entire summer," Isa replied while looking at Daniel. Their eyes lingered. "Can I show you something?," Daniel asked as he stood up from the grass. Isa just stood up and brushed the dirt of her skirt. Daniel held out his hand and Isa hesitantly took it. They walked hand in hand, the horse walking behind them. "I.. You..," Daniel was struggling to find the right words to say to her. "I know me too," Isa said while giving Daniel's hand a light squeeze. Isa felt her heart hammer in her chest, from the outside she looked calm but on the inside she was screaming. She wanted to confide in Daniel, to trust him, but there was a voice in her head that was keeping her back. The voice that told her she wasn't good enough for him. "You feel it too right?," Isa blurted out. "yes," Daniel stopped walking and turned to her. He put her hand on his heart. "This is what you do to me, what you have been doing to me since I met you this morning. I can't take my mind of you. I can't look at someone without seeing you in them. You have captivated my mind and it scares me, it scares me that it feels this good even though I don't know you". Isa was mind blown, she looked Daniel dead in the eyes. " I'm scared too, it scares me that I feel the need to be close to you. I'm scared because I feel the need to tell you everything that has been going on in my life, even though most people in my life have no clue what's going on. I'm scared because I have never felt like this, I never felt this good. I'm scared because I want to trust you but I don't know you. I'm scared because I feel like you know me better than so many people in my life and we have not even spoken a hundred words to each other. I am so scared Daniel," Isa rambles. He hugs her tight, as they just stand there the tears stream down Isa's face. Daniel pulls away and wipes the tears underneath her beautiful blue eyes away. After a minute Isa is done crying, " Now I feel embarrassed, we have known each other for less than a day and I'm already crying". "It feels like we've known each other for decades. Come on I still want to show you something," Daniel intertwines their fingers and they walk further. After a short walk they stop at a cliff. "I never knew this was here, and I've been coming to the ranch since middle school," Isa tells Daniel as she takes in the beautiful scenery. "Thank you, I needed this," Daniel didn't know if she was talking about the spot he took her to or his company, but he stayed silent and just enjoyed the peaceful moment they had together.

-2- End