A Walk to Remember - [F1 - Daniel Ricciardo]

Chapter 8

It was still dark outside when Scarlett woke up in her hotel room, she sat up in bed and looked around the room. Pillows were strewn about and all the girls were asleep in the extra beds that were brought in for their sleepover. Everyone was still passed out from the large amounts of drinking games they played the night before.
Scarlett looked at her phone, it was still early. She did have some work to do, the last couple of hockey games were the night before. Scarlett needed to watch them and write a post for the website. She quickly grabbed her headphones, and laptop and put them into her backpack. She then headed out to the hallway quietly to not wake anyone up.
When she closed her hotel room door, she heard Daniel's door opening. Scarlett excitedly turned to greet him, but immediately she turned away from the door.
A stunningly tall and beautiful brunette with sleek hair and wearing a silk nightgown walked out of Daniel's room laughing and holding two coffee cups. The girl turned back, "let's go back to the room, and continue this fun time" she said.
There was laughter in daniels room. Scarlett felt like she had her heart torn out of her chest.
Scarlett needed some fresh air immediately, she took the elevator to the top floor. Made her way up the ladder and onto the rooftop. It was still dark but the warm morning breeze was a nice treat. The lights were still just as gorgeous as the morning before.
She sighed, dropped her bag and inhaled. "Of course, Daniel has a girlfriend who is gorgeous!! I am just a teacher from canada, why did I think he would have liked me" she yelled out to the darkness. She let out a calming breath as she sat down looking out over the water.
"Scarlett?" Said a voice in the darkness.
Immediately Scarlett pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight and scanned the rooftop. Further down the rooftop where she had sat the day before was Daniel. He squinted through the light. She put her phone down, she felt the colour drain from her face.
"Jesus, you scared me Daniel," She said. "Shit, did you hear what I just said?" She added quickly.
He gave Scarlett a knowing nod "I think you met Kelly downstairs" He laughed.
Her face burned red from embarrassment "Oh, Kelly! Max's girlfriend" Said as she put the pieces together in her head.
" She texted asking if I had coffee, I let her and Max in my room to make their coffee, I needed some quiet time" He laughed. "Last night was a bit too much fun," he said rubbing his forehead.
"Oh, I can leave," Scarlett said standing up.

"Please don't," He said standing up and walking closer to her.
"I do need to get some work done though," She said sitting down and opening her laptop.
Daniel sat down beside her and leaned over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Scarlett turned to look at him, she smiled, "want to listen?" she asked as she handed him one of her AirPods.
"Sure, don't know what I am watching but I'll give it a shot" He laughed.
" Hockey, we are watching Ice Hockey," Scarlett said with a chuckle.
Scarlett gave him a rundown on the game as she took notes. Daniel asked plenty of questions about the rules and how the game worked. By the end of the game, Daniel seemed to be understanding the basics of the game such as offsides and icings. Scarlett worked on her article and was finishing it up as soon as the sun started to make its debut across the sky.
"Perfect timing," Scarlett said as she shut her laptop and placed it back into her bag.
"No kidding" Daniel agreed. He stood up and reached his hand out to Scarlett.
She took it and he helped her to her feet. Scarlett blushed immediately when she looked into his eyes. There was a lot of intensity behind his deep brown eyes.
Without saying a word, Daniel pulled her close, his hand moved around her waist and landed on the small of her back, and pulled her hips closer to him. His other hand rested under Scarlett's chin, tilting it up towards him. He looked down at her and smiled. He slowly moved his lips closer to hers.
With a sudden thud, the hatch opened and out clamoured Pierre and Charles laughing. They stopped in their tracks and looked at Scarlett and Daniel who had now separated and were staring back at them.
"Oh sorry," Charles said quickly.
Daniel sighed and turned towards his friends. "Did you guys even go to bed?" Daniel asked. His voice was almost mirroring a father's tone.
The two men looked at each other and laughed like kids.
"I'll take that as a no" Scarlett said crossing her arms over her chest and laughing. "You boys need some sleep before today's adventure" She added.
Daniel looked at Scarlett, "Should we get these guys back to their room?" He asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
Scarlett looked up, smiled, and nodded.
"Wait, no! I need a photo of this sunrise for my photo dump". Pierre exclaimed as he pulled out his photo and took a quick photo of the sky.
Scarlett wasn't too sure if she and Daniel were in the photo, but she shrugged it off. Scarlett and Daniel set off to corral the two drunk guys back down the ladder. She grabbed her bag and followed the guys back down.
They staggered down the hallway to the elevator. Pierre and Charles were still laughing and joking about things as they made their way into the elevator.
Daniel and Scarlett exchanged amused looks and Daniel hit the button for the guys' floor.
After getting Pierre and Charles into bed. Scarlett quickly filled up two glasses of water and pulled out some Tylenol from her bag and made the boys take the pain reliever and chug the glass of water.
"Trust me, this will save you," She said handing the glass to Pierre. Charles finished his water and then Pierre. Scarlett refilled the water and put them beside their beds. "Get some sleep you two," She said firmly.
"Yes Mom" Charles drunkenly teased from his bed. Which caused Pierre to laugh.
Daniel led the way out of the boys' room and Scarlett followed him down the hall and into the elevator.
"They are something else" Scarlett laughed.
"They are" He nodded in agreement as the elevator doors opened on their floor.
They both stepped out and headed toward their hotel rooms. While walking down the hallway, Daniel reached out and took Scarlett's hand. Scarlett felt the warmth radiate up her arm, she smiled as she continued down the hall.
When they got to their hotel room doors. Daniel was still holding Scarlett's hand. Scarlett looked down at their hands and their fingers intertwined. She didn't want to let go.
"Coffee?" Is all Daniel asked.
"Please," Scarlett smiled. Daniel opened his hotel room door. And led her inside.
"Where did we leave off?" He asked looking down at Scarlett with a smile playing at his lips.
"We were were here" Scarlett smiled as she wrapped his arms around his neck and slightly pulled him lower so she could reach his lips.
Just as their lips were about to touch,a loud knock on the door caused them to separate. Daniel went to answer it. He looked through the doors peephole.
"It's Liam." Daniel sighed over his shoulder, as he opened the door. "Hey man," he said casually as he ran his hand through his hair..
"Hey," Liam said shortly, then he made eye contact with Scarlett. His face fell. "There you are, I have been looking for you." He said to Scarlett.
"Just getting some coffee after putting Charles and Pierre to bed" Scarlett laughed.
Liam looked back at Daniel. "Nothing else?" He questioned him.
Daniel just smiled a cheeky grin, causing Liam to get frustrated. Liam looked back at Scarlett. "Can we please talk about the plans for today?" Liam snapped.
"Sure, Just the yacht party, you have the plans, but if you need to talk we can." Scarlett said.
"Oh a yacht party?" Daniel interjected.
Scarlett smiled at him. "I think it will be fun." she said.
"I think there is more things we need to talk about." Liam said as he shot a nasty look at Daniel. That look upset Scarlett, why was he acting this way she thought to herself.
"Fine," Scarlett said. "But, can I get that coffee later Daniel?" Scarlett said as slyly as she was capable of. She winked as she passed him and followed Liam into the hallway.
"Anytime" Daniel grinned and returned the wink as he closed his door.
Scarlett stopped Liam near the elevator. "What did you need to talk about?" She said.
"I just needed to get you away from him," Liam said.
"Why?" Scarlett asked as she scrunched her face up trying to figure out what Liam could mean.
"He is a player," He said.
"Why do you say that, how do you know that?" She asked.
"He travels all over the world for work," He said desperately trying to think of the next thing to say.
"But you do that as well, does that make you a player?" She said defensively.
"No, but... I just know him" He stammered. "I want you to be careful." He said as he put a hand on her shoulder.
Scarlett didn't know how to feel about this, maybe she was getting played and she would never hear from him again after this week. Scarlett shook her head. "I will keep that in mind, but I don't need saving, Liam. If I make a choice, I will have to deal with it myself. I don't need you to keep an eye out for me." She said as she turned away from him and headed back to her hotel room to check on the rest of the girls and Thomas.

Authors Note: I'd love to hear your thoughts and guesses of what's going to happen! Also please vote to support this story 🧡