Camille's eyes were plastered on the time of her computer and blew up her cheeks. The time went slow, too slow. She blew out the air, and she spun her desk chair while sitting on it.
"What are we doing here?"
Camille gasped for air and stopped spinning around. Her eyes shot to the person, and they widened. "I...uh..."
A smile curved on Daniel's lips, and he walked towards her desk. He grabbed a desk chair of another desk and sat down on it while sitting in front of Camille. "Don't make up an excuse, it's me, I'm not your boss," he smirked. "For real, what are you doing? Don't you have to be in a meeting like everybody else?"
"I'm not a part of the 2019 team, remember?" A relieved smile grew on Camille's lips. "The bus got cancelled, so I'm waiting for the next one. And since it is bloody cold outside, I'm making it myself more comfortable to wait inside."
Daniel nodded. "And why the bus? I thought you had a car."
"Some wanker drove damage at the back of my car by driving and texting at the same time, so my car is at the garage until Saturday. Public transport it is."
"Where are you heading to?"
"Woking."
"And when will the bus departure?"
Camille scanned the time again. "36 minutes."
"I can drop you off," Daniel offered and grabbed a pencil from the jar of pencils. "I have nothing to do here anymore."
She looked at the pencil in his fingers, but realised it would be weird if she kept looking at it for longer. Her eyes found his again. "Oh, no, thanks. It's Woking, that's not in the neighbourhood." Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Checking on my new apartment. I've got a new kitchen, bathroom and stuff - pretty cool. Gotta check if everything wen't well."
"Cool," Daniel nodded. "Because you're going to work at McLaren?"
"I'm too lazy to drive to work every day if it takes me an hour and a half," she smirked.
"Touché." Daniel looked around. "I can bring you."
Camille raised her eyebrows. "It will..."
"Cam," he interrupted her. "I'm finished, I've nothing to do. And besides that, you have made me curious about your new kitchen and stuff." He looked at her and widely smiled.
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "If you don't mind it, yes, please."
"Of course, I don't mind! Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you."
A soft smile played on her lips. "Really?" Her eyes began to sparkle.
"Yes. Helping someone out I care about. And it's almost Christmas, gotta do a favour," Daniel winked and put the pencil back in the jar. He got up and rolled the desk chair back to its desk. "Lets go then."
Camille looked at him and blinked a few times, she was processing the situation. "Right, yes, give me a sec," she mumbled and shut down her computer. She collected her stuff and put it in her handbag. "I will pick up the rest later," she said to herself and put on her coat and scarf. Camille threw her tote bag on her shoulder and collected the golden and blue Red Bull cups. "Route via the kitchen," she said and raised the cups.
"Of course," he replied and smiled on the way she was talking to herself. Daniel put on his coat and checked if he got all of his things. "But does this mean the Red Bull chapter is officially closed after Christian's speech?"
"Yeah, I guess so. For the past two weeks, I have been updating the systems and processed all the data of this year, and that's it for me. Raymond, the new head of aero on Pierre's team, and the crew are now developing and discussing the options for the new car. And I'm competition now," she told him and smirked. "Who would have thought that I would be competition?" Camille and Daniel entered the kitchen, and Camille rinsed the two cups before putting them in the dishwasher.
Daniel leaned against the wall. "It looks difficult to deal with."
"It is, but that comes with the fact I'm leaving and will be working for another team," she said and washed her hands. "It's sad because next week is my last week and it's not that I can do a lot here, but on the other hand, the team has to move on."
"True."
"And why are you still here? I assume you are facing the same problem."
They walked towards the exit. "Same problem, but I walked my round and said thank you to everyone in person - well, every department. Today is my last day here, besides the Christmas party next week," Daniel explained and guided Camille to his car. "Even though it was my decision to leave, it is difficult to actually leave because it's my family in there. You're acting pretty calm about it." For a moment he regretted on saying it since that was how Camille was and he should have known better.
"Trust me, I'm having multiple breakdowns on the inside," Camille simpered.
Daniel smirked. "It looks like you have it all under control," he impressively said and unlocked his car.
"Still the Aston Martin?"
"Yes," Daniel proudly said and stepped behind the steering wheel. "I have to hand the car in before 2019, so I will use it until the very last minute of 2018."
Camille stepped in the car and put her bag between her legs. She fastened her seatbelt. "Smart, smart," she muttered. "Never drove in an Aston Martin before, crossing it off my bucket list now."
"Enjoy," he chuckled and drove away from the factory. "You can type in your new address in the sat-nav. I would love to drive around and guess the route, but that's not ideal."
"Yeah," Camille muttered and grabbed her phone. She looked up for the address in her notes. "I've literally been saying, writing and visiting the place for a million times and I still cannot remember it," she said annoyed and typed in the address in the system.
"That is..." Daniel looked at her. "I don't think McLaren would appreciate it if you are forgetful." An amusing smile curved on his face.
She snorted. "Fuck off." She looked outside. "If I really was this forgetful all the time, things would have gotten escalated badly while you were racing - on the terms of aero."
"Touche."
The way to Woking was filled with small talks about work, making short jokes during the conversations and exploring the new area.
"Ow!" Daniel looked at Camille and grinned. "Camille, take your moment, own it - I will do it, so you will do it too," he excitedly said and turned up the volume of the radio when the bells of a Christmas song filled the speakers. "I..." he sang. "... don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need..."
Camille raised her eyebrows and burst into laughter on the dramatic way Daniel was singing. She looked around, to see if people were watching them from outside the car. An elderly couple from the car next to them happened to look at them. That was embarrassing. Camille's laugh filled the car, and she looked back at Daniel.
"Come on, Camille!" Daniel pointed at the radio. He was waiting for the drop. "Go, go go!"
"I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need. And I don't care about the presents. Underneath the Christmas tree."
Daniel and Camille both sang together with Mariah Carey like their lives depended on it. Daniel continued driving and singing at the same time. Every now and then Camille broke into giggles, something that Daniel adored.
