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Qualifying went decent for Mercedes, Lewis and Daniella secured the third line. It's not the best result but at this moment they couldn't have done better as there are still a lot of unresolved issues with the car, nevertheless both the drivers are happy and believe they could end the race in a higher position.

After Daniella was done with the interviews she made her way to exit the area and head to the Mercedes garage but stopped when she and Carlos locked eyes when he was on his way to his next interview. The look of disappointment and anger was visible on his face since his qualifying session didn't go well and only managed to secure P9.

Daniella shot him a soft smile and in return got a tired smile.

"Tough day?" She asked.

"Yeah," Carlos huffed. "The red flag ruined my lap time," He looked down.

"Hey," Daniella said softly, making Carlos look at her again. "It's only the third race weekend, there are still twenty more to go," She gave a gentle smile. "Besides, it's tomorrow that counts, you have the best car on the grid, I am sure you will manage to turn things around."

Carlos smiled and his face lit up a bit, finding her words encouraging.

"There you are," Daniel interrupted Carlos and Daniella. "I have been looking everywhere for you," He put his hands on Daniella's shoulders and nudged her.

"And why were you looking at me Daniel," Daniella playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Carlos got a bit annoyed as their conversation was once again interrupted. He looked at Daniel who looked excited.

"My family wants to meet you," Daniel replied.

"Why?" Daniella turned to look at Daniel and was a bit taken aback. All of a sudden she started feeling nervous.

"Chill," Daniel let out a laugh. "My nephew is a big fan and he wants a picture with you, and you never met my family so I thought I would introduce you guys."

Daniella relaxed, letting go of the nervousness. She gave Daniel a tight smile and nodded before looking back at Carlos.

"I have to go," She politely said to Carlos.

"Yeah, I have to go as well," Carlos smiled at Daniella, then exchanged a look with Daniel before moving on.

"Come on," Daniel grabbed Daniella's shoulders and pushed her to walk towards the McLaren hospitality.

***

"Are you moving to McLaren now?" Max asked as Daniella walked out of there after meeting Daniel's family and having a good little chat.

"Maybe," Daniella chuckled as she joined Max and both started walking towards their respective garages.

"Maybe?" Max raised his eyebrows. "No one is going to be surprised if you actually move to McLaren," Max chuckled. "Your car is shit this year, and you have a record of changing teams every year."

"Don't start now," Daniella said sternly as she glared at Max. "You know why I left Red Bull, and it's only my second year in F1 so I only changed teams once. Honestly, I thought we moved past this months ago," She sounded annoyed.

Max looked at her, studying her reaction before looking ahead again.

"Did someone piss you off again?" Daniella asked, feeling confused about why Max is bringing up the past again.

"No," He replied, sounding just as annoyed as Daniella.

"Then what is going on?"

"Nothing is going on," Max sternly replied. "I just..having a bad day."

Now Daniella is even more confused.

"Bad day?" She was not convinced. "You just qualified second. If anyone is having a bad day it's Carlos, and Seb, and Latifi."

"What is going on between you and Carlos?" Max suddenly asked as her last sentence caught his attention.

"Why do you think there is something going on between Carlos and me?" Daniella sounded annoyed and angry.

"I saw you two earlier," Max replied as he looked at Daniella, both stopped walking and now just facing each other.

"And?" Daniella raised her eyebrows, looking frustrated.

"And he was looking like he was going to..." Max couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. His jaw clenched as he looked away.

"Like he was going to what?" Daniella held his arm and pulled him to look at her again.

Max took a deep breath and just gave a knowing glare. Daniella sighed and looked down, clearly understanding what he was trying to say and why his mood is so damp.

"I have told you this before and I am telling you again," Daniella looked back at him. "Nothing is going on between me and Carlos, okay?"

"Well, you did seem pretty happy and comfortable with him, smiling at him...until Daniel came and took you away," Max scoffed.

Daniella was surprised by his words.

"If it bothered you so much then didn't you do anything?" Daniella argued. "You were there too, you could have easily..." She stopped, not knowing what came over her, but knew it was Max's fault.

Max's face softened a bit as Daniella's expressed frustration and hurt.

"I am sorry," Max breathed out. "I don't know what..."

"I don't want to hear it," Daniella cut in. "Because I am sure you will bring up this stupid conversation again every week, no matter how many times I tell you that there is nothing going on between me and Carlos."

"Look, Dani..." Max sounded apologetic.

"And even if something is going on I don't think it is any of your business," Daniella said rather harshly as the anger and frustration got the best of her.

Max felt like he deserved it but knew well that she didn't mean to be rude, it was his fault.

"I didn't mean to.." Max tried to explain again.

"You didn't mean to start the stupid argument? Great, got it," She voiced her anger. "Enjoy the rest of your day," She shot him a glare before walking away.

Max didn't try to stop her as he knows it will cause more harm than good.

"Shit!" He mumbled under his breath, cursing himself for lashing out like that.


**********


A/N: Max and Dani are fighting ;) Do you think something else is going on there? 

Thoughts on Dani and Carlos? 

Next chapter will be the race, how do you think it will go?

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