Snap Happy (A Daniel Ricciardo story)

6. Down To Business

 DANIEL

She was glowing, there was no other word for it. I tried to catch her eye, give her a sign of encouragement but she didn't seem to need it She was clearly in the zone - a feeling I knew well, and I relished the fact that I had made it happen for her. 

Sebastian too had noticed her.

"Who's your friend" he muttered quietly into my ear as he joined me for our joint photographs.

I raised an eyebrow at him and continued to smile for the waiting photographers. 

"Some of the guys were saying you'd turned up with a woman." he continued "and I don't see any other strange women round here. Are you sure it's not just cameras that you've had flashing at you in Monaco". 

I bit my lip and shot him a look as he continued to tease, laughing at his own wit. 

"That's brilliant guys, we want more of you joking around, thats perfect!" Darren gave us a nod and Emily was smiling broadly at the pair of us. Sensing an opportunity for revenge I swooped at Seb, picking him up and pretending to throw him over the side.

"OK, OK - I'll stop!" he gasped, as our audience dissolved into hysterics and the shutters clicked like machine guns. Dan 1: Seb 0.

"THAT'S A WRAP!"

The photographers and media crews were satisfied so we were beckoned back inside for a briefing on the schedule for the rest of the day. I shot Emily a glance before I disappeared through the door and she gave me an exhilarated thumbs up. I looked around for Seb, hoping he hadn't noticed but fortunately he was deep in conversation with his own personnel. I breathed a sigh of relief, I wasn't even sure what this was myself, but I certainly didn't need any interference from a notorious prankster like Seb. 

EMILY

"So?" Darren was looking at me enquiringly. 

"AMAZING!" I couldn't keep the smile from my face or my voice. 

"Lets get a look at your shots then"

Apprehensively I handed over the camera. I hadn't even had a chance to have a proper look myself yet, so for the experienced professional snapper to be the first one to review my images was beyond nervewracking. 

"Not bad" he nodded approvingly. You've really captured some of the more spontaneous moments and facial expressions incredibly well, you just need to work on nailing the exposure first time, rather than on the second or third shot. If you can do that I'll be out of a job in no time.

"Thanks" I breathed a sigh of relief. 

"No problem, give me your details and keep in touch - if we're ever in need of an extra photographer we'll bear you in mind. In fact, if you want to send me half a dozen of your best ones from this shoot I'll see if I can sneak you into the magazine as a guest photographer. No promises mind! Just one thing I am interested to know though..." he stared at me curiously "F1 drivers are usually keen to reduce the number of photographers around, not increase them. What's your connection with young Daniel?"

"Sorry, no exclusive scoop here" I told him, shrugging my shoulders with an embarassed laugh."We met by accident and he liked my work. Guess he felt sorry for me and wanted to help out"

"I guess so" he said slowly, not entirely convinced "he was certainly very determined that I should give you a chance today, you're lucky that he brought your photos along to persuade me." 

"Yeah, I'm very lucky"

Lucky didn't quite cover it. I was on cloud nine or beyond, and it was all thanks to one man. I let my mind wander back once more to Daniel,  and felt the warmth creep into my face.