A Walk to Remember - [F1 - Daniel Ricciardo]

Chapter 16

      Authors Note: Next chapter is ready to be posted. Please let me know if you want it sooner than Friday. (Also don't hate me for this chapter ) 😉
(chapter 17, is probably my favourite so far)

       The plane landed in Montreal and Scarlett stretched in her seat, she turned on her phone, hoping for a message from Daniel. She waited as her phone connected to the network. Of course, she thought, nothing. She didn't even give him her phone number.
       She turned to Liam, "I know this is out of the blue and weird for me to ask, but do you have Daniel's phone number?" She asked a little quieter than normal.
       "Oh..." He paused and unlocked his phone. "Sure It is -" he started to read out the number to Scarlett. She quickly typed it into her phone, "-84" he said the final two numbers.
       "Sorry, last numbers again please, I missed it," She said.
        Liam cleared his throat "Oh sorry 83 are the last two numbers"
       "Great thanks so much" She smiled. Scarlett quickly typed a message to Daniel. Something that seemed casual and allowed her to say goodbye since she ran out on him in the morning. ""Hey, I hope you didn't have too much of a hangover this morning. I had a lot of fun - Miss Fisher ;)" She hit send and let out a sigh. She turned back to Liam. "thanks again," She smiled.
       They gathered their bags and headed out to catch a taxi. Liam suggested sharing one and splitting the fare. Scarlett's apartment was the first stop. Liam got out and took out her suitcase. Scarlett pulled out her wallet. "Don't worry about it Fisher" Liam laughed. "I'll pay for it, So I'll pick you up around 7 tomorrow for dinner?" He asked.
       Scarlett smiled. "Sure, 7 for dinner!" she repeated back to him, she pulled her suitcase up the stairs. Her apartment was located on a one-way street, that was paved with cobblestones and the smell of pizzeria underneath her apartment always made her hungry. The old stone building was gorgeous and Scarlett loved it, Her bedroom window had a small view of the St. Lawrence river. She put her bag down in the living room and dove onto her couch. Pulled out her phone hopeful for a text back. But nothing.
       The next night Scarlett was getting ready for dinner out with Liam, she had zero contact from Daniel, so she needed tonight to forget about him.  Her phone rang, which caused her to sprint towards it, but it was just a facetime call from Thomas. She answered. "Hey" she smiled.
        "Hey, I just got back to Vancouver," Thomas said sounding exhausted.
      "Oh, you had a long layover didn't you?" She said as she did her makeup in the mirror.
        "Makeup? What's the occasion?" Thomas asked.
       "Oh, nothing really. Just going to dinner with Liam, we made plans on the flight home" She said casually.
       "Oh...." Thomas trailed off, "What happened the night of the wedding then?" He asked.
Scarlett sighed. "I slept with Daniel, it was amazing, but it was just a fling, I even got his number from Liam and texted him but haven't heard anything. Clearly, he isn't interested, so I need to move on." She stated matter of factly as she walked away from the phone to get her outfit from the closet.
       "So you're moving on with Liam?" Thomas shouted so she could hear him through the phone.
       "Not the main plan, but if it happens, oh well" She yelled back. Scarlett emerged from the closet wearing a white sweater and a black mini-leather skirt.
        "Love that outfit," Thomas said still on the facetime call.
       "Thanks" She touched up her natural blonde curls. The buzzer to her apartment rang, "I have to go, Thomas, get some rest, you look exhausted" She hung up the phone and then she ran over to the intercom. "Coming," She said as she popped on her boots, grabbed her purse and ran down to meet Liam at the front door.
        "Looking good Fisher" He smiled as he walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Shall we" he held out his arm, and she laced her arm in his and followed him down the cobblestone street.
       The old Irish bar at the end of her street was packed. They walked in and were immediately greeted by a wall of people. "It may be a drink not dinner type of night" Scarlett yelled over the music. Liam smiled and nodded and followed Scarlett up to the bar.
       "4 shots of Whiskey," She said to the bartender. She passed Liam two and carried her two shots to a just empty table in the corner of the bar.
       "Cheers," Liam said holding up a shot, they took it in unison, followed by the second. "This is definitely a drinking night" Liam laughed as he stood up and came back shortly with a Rum and Coke and a shot of tequila for both of them.
       "Rum and coke!" Scarlett exclaimed, She smiled, "This was my go-to drink as a teenager,"
        "I know" He smiled at her knowingly. They both took a shot of Tequila.
       The night continued on, Scarlett was swaying in her seat to the music and staring at the crowded dance floor. Liam came back over with another shot. "Wow, someone is trying to get me drunk tonight" Scarlett laughed while poking him in the nose.
       "I can tell you need to blow off some steam" He laughed and watched Scarlett take her shot, "You have one more," He said as he handed her his.
      "Fine, twist my rubber arm" She cackled as she downed her 8th shot of the night.
        "You're pretty good at the whole shot-taking thing," He said.
      Scarlett swayed in her seat, "I think so, but I am very drunk right now" she laughed.
       "Let's Dance," Liam said standing up and extending his hand toward her.
       Scarlett popped up out of her seat happily and followed him to the dance floor.
        Liam pulled her in close to him and wrapped his hands around her waist as they started to grind to the music. Scarlet's hips moved side to side and the heat from Liam's hands was felt on her sides. A handful of songs passed by and Scarlett was still dancing and swaying to the music with Liam. She did have to admit that she loved the attention and the physical attention from Liam.
        Liam leaned in close "Having fun?" He  asked.
       "Definitely" Scarlett smiled
      "I'll be right back" He smiled as he left the dance floor.
       "Drink up!" Liam said as he returned with even more shots.
       Scarlett took the two shots, and her vision started getting slow and wobbly. She grabbed Liam's shoulder to steady herself.
        "I think we should get you home," He said as he wrapped his hand around her waist and led her off the floor.
        Scarlett nodded as they left the bar and walked back down the block to her place. Scarlett pulled out the keys to her apartment and struggled to get it into the lock. "Here, let me," Liam said taking her keys and unlocking her front door. He helped her up to her apartment, and Scarlett immediately sat on the couch. Liam followed and sat next to her. "Feeling okay?" He asked as he placed his arm around her shoulder.
       "Just drunk" She laughed and she looked up at him. Liam smiled down at her, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Scarlett was shocked and pulled away quickly. "Woah," She said.
       "From your dancing tonight, I thought this was the way the night was going" He admitted. He leaned in again and kissed her lips again. She had to admit she didn't mind the way it made her feel. It wasn't Daniel, but it was nice to feel wanted. She decided to lean and kiss him back.
        The next morning Scarlett woke up with a killer headache, she was in bed and then she looked over, Liam was also in bed. "Oh shit" She muttered to herself when she realized both of them were not wearing clothes under the cover.
Scarlett leaned over and shook his shoulder. "Wake up."
       Liam rolled over and looked at her, obviously hungover as well. "Woah," he said "Did we..." he said pointing between the two of them.
       "Honestly I don't know, but I'm assuming. The last thing I remember is kissing you" she admitted.
       Liam laughed, "I think we did have sex," He said.
       Scarlett groaned "You have to admit it is a little weird."
       "I liked it" he admitted.
       "Don't get used to it." She said jokingly back.   "You should probably get going," She said throwing his shirt at him.
        "Message received," he said as he stood up and got dressed.
       "This was a one-time thing" Scarlett emphasized.
       "Got it," He said as he pulled his jeans on "But, if you ever need another one-night thing again, please let me know. I'll always be here for you" he winked and turned and left.
        "Bye," she yelled after him. She heard the door close and she collapsed onto the bed, found her phone and quickly texted Thomas. 'Problem - I just slept with Liam last night' within seconds of sending that text, Thomas called her.
       "Hi, Spare the lecture please," she said immediately.
        "Girl, what happened?" He laughed.
         "Drinks, lots of drinks, I didn't hear back from Daniel, I was sad, I drank more, then decided it was a good idea apparently to sleep with Liam. That is how I got to this point" She laughed at her own stupidity.
       "Whatever makes you feel better," He said "But I do have to get back to family brunch, I just needed to hear it directly from you," He laughed.
"Well, I hope you enjoyed the thrilling story," Scarlett said putting emphasis on thrilling.
Thomas laughed as he ended the phone call.
*** Two Months Later ***
       It was a warm June night, Scarlett was working on an article on a golfer for her sports journalism job when her phone binged.  She pulled it out and saw she got an email from Mia.
Subject: Wedding Photos!!
       The email was followed by a facetime call from Mia. "Scarlett!!" She squealed when Scarlett accepted the call.
       "Mia!" She mimicked back. She stood up from her patio dining table on her porch, walked back inside her apartment and sat on the couch.
        "I wanted to show you the photos we just got back from the photographers!!" Mia half shouted.
        "I can't wait to see them!" Scarlett said clicking the link she was sent. She scrolled through the gorgeous photos,
       "Even crazier news, some of them are going to be published in a magazine!" She trilled.
       "That will be incredible to see!" Scarlett said genuinely happy for her best friend. "Do you know which ones?" Scarlett asked, curious if somehow a photo of herself may get posted.
       "No clue, the magazine is also looking at the photos right now, we will see which ones they choose when the issue goes out." She smiled.           "Also, I'm reminding you of our Lakehouse weekend in August," Mia said quickly.
         "Oh I can't wait for that vacation, it is always the highlight of my summer, Can't wait to hear about your honeymoon-" She continued to flip through the photos while talking. Suddenly Scarlet's face fell when she came across the wedding photos where she was able to stand next to Daniel, his hand wrapped around her waist, the way he looked at her in the photos, she hadn't seen the way he looked at her before. These photos stung, and Scarlett blinked back tears. "I'm so happy for you Mia, I am so sorry, but I have to go, I have to get this article written by Friday, or else I'm in some hot water at my second job." She quickly ended the call. The article part was true, but she only ended it to not cry over a boy she only knew for a week.
       She continued to flip through the photos of the wedding, Scarlett stood up and grabbed a bottle of wine out of her wine rack. The one perk of being a teacher, is lots of parents gift bottles of wine at the end of the year. There was only one week left of the school year, but the wine was already rolling in and Scarlett needed something to numb the pain in her heart.
        The next thing she knew, Scarlett was two bottles of wine deep and Liam was on his way over with another. She needed some help distracting herself.