Without You [Daniel Ricciardo]

1. they whisper in the hallway, she's a bad, bad girl

Daniel tried to be nice and stay focused on arriving guests at the mansion, but some part of him stayed in the performance hall at the theatre. He stood outside, people shook his hand and headed towards the house, where Nico was handling the crowds. He felt like if he had shaken a million hands already. Some of the invited stopped for a minute to talk about how New Orleans changed since the last visit of East Coast crew. Although those persons were surprisingly comfortable with him and extremly polite, no one dared to ask about the whereabouts of other members of the crew. Maybe news didn't spread so fast as he thought.

When the last guests went inside the mansion Daniel was finally alone. It didn't seem like there will be any more visitors, although he didn't saw Egle yet. Daniel turned around to look at their new home. All those people and not even one face was familiar. Nico was clearly out of his mind. He began to fumble with his shoe in the white gravel that soon had stained the black material. He didn't want to go there, but there was no escape from this party. Not anymore. At least he's going to enjoy the peace and quiet for a moment before stepping into the lion's den. Suddenly, he heard the engine of another car. His head jerked up. Daniel immediately regreted it as he was blinded by the headlights. The red vehicle drove onto property's territory, turning sharply to the right. The car took the last place for parking, raising a cloud of dust. A women got out, dragging a black dress along with her. She slammed the door hard, while Nico left the house to greet her. Speaking of the devil. Egle started running as soon as she saw her boyfriend. Nico passed Daniel and came in front of her with his arms wide open. She easily jumped into them, wrapping her legs around his waist. She giggled like crazy which caused Daniel to lower his head. "Will you wait for me inside, Egle?". Nico asked, kissing her on the cheek and setting on the ground. Egle nodded and kissed him back. "Happy birthday, Daniel!". She exclaimed, before stepping inside with a wide smile on her face.

Nico waited until Egle disappeared between people, when he spoke first. "Why are you standing here alone?". He asked, worry present in his voice. "We're waiting for you". He added. "You don't have to worry about me all the time, Nico. I'm fine". Daniel replied. "I know, but you're not happy either". Nico continued. "Don't be angry, Danny. I just wanted this day to be different. But now I think I must have exaggerated a bit". "You think?". Daniel raised his eyebrows with a smile curling up his face. "The boss would have killed you if he saw all these people walking on his precious ancient floors". They both laughed remembering the boss of East Coast crew who was like a father to all of them and had a weekness for everything that was old, if not ancient. In some weird way they missed him. "Go inside, please. Egle has a gift for you and wants you to have it before the dance". Daniel rolled his eyes. "Please". Nico begged. "What about you?". "I'll just need a moment to breathe". Nico answered, but Daniel noticed he's up to something. He knew him long enough to tell. "What did you do, Nico?". "Nothing. I mean, nothing bad. I swear. Can you please just go inside now?".

Daniel shooked his head. He couldn't believe that after all of this Nico had another suprise for him. Daniel didn't want to pick up a fight with Nico, so he obediently walked towards the mansion. He stepped into the main hall. The guests already gathered in the ball room on the right side of the house. Egle was standing alone on the stairs with a small box in her hand. Daniel approached her as he could tell she was so excited to give him the present. "Happy birthday, properly this time". She smiled, while handing him a box. Daniel thanked her and opened it. His eyes laid on beautiful white handkerchief with his initials in one of the corners.

He and Egle were never close. The truth was that they barely knew each other, from obvious reasons. Still Egle managed to give him a wonderful birthday gift, something that suited him so well. "Do you like it?". She asked quietly. "I love it. It's great, Egle". The girl smiled and reached for handkerchef. She put it into the front pocket of his tuxedo. The initials were visible, but didn't strike the eye. "Thank you." Daniel said and he ment it this time. "Shall we go to the ball room? It's your night after all". In response Daniel extended his arm to her. They walked together through the main hall towards the ball room. The guests didn't notice them as they were busy with talking and drinking champagne. Daniel's mind was trying to figure out what his brother was up to next. As far it wasn't that bad as he expected this party to be.