Broken Soul ☆ Daniel Ricciardo

7 | A big surprise

♪
Landon Austin - Feel Something:
'When I'm with you, I feel something so I'm hoping you'll stick around. And I'm sorry I keep calling but I really need to tell you now.  'Cause with you, baby, I breathe, oh yeah and when I rest my eyes, I see you every time. So don't tell me we're nothing, 'cause when I'm with you, I feel something'

"So this new client you have been so mysterious about? Can you finally tell me who it is?" Isabel asked Emilia over dinner while keeping a close eye on her phone. It was like she could receive an important phone call at any moment now. The last two weeks had been rather busy for Emilia and it involved signing a pretty big new client from England. She had been trying to keep the identity a secret as long as contract negotiations were going on, but this morning they signed the papers which made everything official now. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you.. It's Emily Ratajkowski. Do you know her?" Emilia asked knowing her friend would freak out and she laughed when he saw Isabel's eyes go wide and her mouth fall open. "Do I know her? She's a famous actress and model, of course I know who she is. I even follow her on Instagram already! Did you sign Emily Ratajkowski, for real?!" She almost yelled at her best friend. Emilia nodded and laughed at the girl's reaction. "That's amazing Mil, let's pop a bottle to celebrate!" Isabel said and she jumped up from the kitchen stool to open the fridge and grab a bottle of champagne when her phone beeped loudly.

A few minutes later, just when Isabel was about to pop the champagne, their doorbell rang. Emilia saw a look of excitement in her friend's eyes, while her face must have been full of confusion. They weren't expecting anyone and Gia had her own key so she wouldn't ring the doorbell. In her mind, Emilia ran through everyone that could be at the door, like her brothers or some friends of Isabel's, but when she slowly opened it, she was completely stunned. In front of her stood Daniel, with his signature smile on his face and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers in his hands. "Wh-.. Ho-.. What?" Was all she could get out of her mouth at that moment. Daniel laughed and before she knew it, he had pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Surprise, Mil. Congratulations on signing a big client today!" He said and Emilia pulled back a little to look up at him. 'Was he really here? And how did he know?' She looked into his gorgeous eyes for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his torso and cuddled up to him again. "How did you know where I live?" She softly asked and he chuckled. "Your friends are to blame for that". Emilia shook her head before she let him inside the house and walked to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

"I'm racing here in Italy next weekend so I came a few days early to spend some time with you". Daniel said when they sat down on the sofa. He looked over at Emilia's best friend who was grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks for helping me arrange this, Isabel". The two of them laughed and Emilia's face was still full of confusion. Daniel explained that he had messaged her and she told him that Emilia had some days off this week and send him their address. It was hard for Isabel to keep a secret from her best friend, but the look on her face when Emilia saw him was the reason she had stuck by it. "I'm staying over at Gia's the next few days to give you some alone time. Have a good night!" Isabel said before she grabbed her already-packed overnight bag and left the apartment. It was all a bit much for Emilia to comprehend this fast. A few minutes ago she told her best friend about the big new client she signed today and they were about to pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate and now she was alone with Daniel sitting on the sofa, just being in complete shock. Not that she was complaining or anything. Emilia ultimately turned to him and let out a big sigh to try and steady her heartbeat.

"Hi.." She finally said after being silent for the majority of the time he was here. "I hope you don't mind that I just showed up without letting you know, but I wanted to surprise you. I've known about this race the entire time of course and I never told you anything but I knew I wanted to take you out on a date this week all along". Emilia smiled at him and she shuffled closer to give him another hug. It was the sweetest thing a man had ever done for her and it made her speechless. "How long are you here before you have to go to the track?" She asked softly while still holding on to him. "I have until Wednesday morning and Isabel told me you had taken some days off, so we have three full days to spend together. I've booked a hotel room for me nearby, so I won't cause you any discomfort in that sense, with staying here you know.." Daniel said. He was so thoughtful. Emilia trusted him but letting him sleep over, even on the sofa would have been too much for now. "I still can't believe you're actually here.." She spoke up and softly pulled away from him to see if this was real. "Mil, will you go on our official first date with me tomorrow?" Daniel asked while he looked into her eyes and she nodded without any hesitation. "Now, let's pop that champagne, shall we?"

Spending an evening watching movies with Daniel was all Emilia had thought about for the last few weeks. It had been a full month since she had seen him and taking into consideration that they only saw each other for about two weeks in LA, it was a huge step for her to feel this comfortable with a man so soon. Daniel was sitting in the corner of the sofa and Emilia sat beside him with her legs pulled up beneath her. There was a small space between them, but she noticed herself shuffling closer to him every once in a while. Daniel hadn't tried to do anything besides the kiss on the forehead earlier and the amount of patience this man had, made her heart flutter. They had finished the bottle of champagne and a few minutes into the second movie, Emilia made her body fall to the right, cuddling up under his arm. Daniel looked over and smiled at her, kissed her forehead again and moved his attention back on the screen. Emilia stared at the side of his face for a while before she took his chin in between her fingers and gently made him look at her.

She leaned in before her courage could fade away and closed the gap between them. Emilia was in awe of the softness of his lips and after the initial shock, Daniel responded by cupping her cheek with his hand, drawing circles on it with his thumb. The kiss was very innocent and sweet, both of them too afraid to deepen it just yet. It felt even better than the kiss in LA because Emilia knew she wouldn't have to say goodbye to him for another three days. Daniel kissed her more firmly now and a tingling sensation shot up Emilia's spine. She hadn't kissed anyone like this in years and she didn't think she ever felt this emotion before. Her hands moved up to the back of his neck and Daniel pulled back a little to see if she still was okay with everything that was happening. Emilia smiled before she pulled him back to her and kissed him again. She loved the confidence she was feeling right now and his other hand stroking the tiny sliver of bare skin on her waist made sparkles shoot up and down her body. Daniel finally let his tongue run slowly over the seam of her lips and even though she was really nervous, Emilia let him find hers. The new sensation was nearly paralyzing and she couldn't move for a second, which made Daniel almost pull back, but her hand in his hair told him to stay right where he was.

A small whimper escaped Emilia's lips when Daniel's hand pressed more firmly into her waist and for the first time ever she wasn't scared while kissing a man. Her little noises seemed to encourage him to keep going and it felt like she was floating right now. Emilia's eyes opened slowly when she pulled back and when Daniel rested his forehead against hers, her lips curved into a small smile. 'What did I do to deserve this man?' She thought. "Th-Thank you.." Emilia whispered, almost immediately slapping herself for saying it like that. "F-For being so patient with me, I mean.." She quickly added and by the look on his face, she knew he understood what she meant. Daniel's palm caressed her cheek and it made her eyes fluttered closed again. "You're so worth it". He said and Emilia's breath hitched in her throat when he softly kissed her again. The rest of the evening was filled with lots more kisses, cuddling, looking into each other's eyes and they didn't even notice that the movie had ended a long time ago. Daniel decided it was time to get some sleep before their date tomorrow and he booked an Uber to his hotel, unable to drive himself because of the bottle of champagne they had finished together.

After they said goodbye, Emilia cleaned up the coffee table and strolled to her bedroom, still floating on the feeling of kissing Daniel. He made her so happy without even trying. His patience, reassurance, his consideration and his touch made her feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet and she had never felt like this before. Daniel didn't want to tell her about the date tomorrow, it was a surprise and even though she didn't like surprises before, after tonight she knew Daniel's surprises were different than the ones she was used to. Emilia brushed her hair and her teeth and changed into her pyjamas and slipped under her covers. Before closing her eyes, she took a look at her phone to read any missed notifications and saw a text from Daniel that made her heart skip a beat.

Daniel ✌🏻:
The smile hasn't left my face yet and I don't think it will for a while. I can't wait to finally take you on a proper date tomorrow. Goodnight beautiful, sweet dreams ❤️ x