SOPHIE
Daniel never showed up that night. There were pictures of him and Barbara all over the internet. Any other stage of my life I would have found myself sobbing around because my lifetime crush had pretty much played me. Everything was different with Daniel though. He had been honest about his intentions the whole time. He had been clear to not set any expectations and I agreed to it. I wanted him so much that I was willing to take whatever crumbs he would give me. I focused in my job the whole week. I contacted Daniel through Blake whenever I needed him and that was all the interaction we would have. I had confirmed Daniel didn't want me. Or at least not enough to even have a one night stand with me.
- "It's whatever. He had no one at the moment and then found a model that night" I mentioned sitting in Max's private plane on our way to Melbourne. The Dutch sitting in front of me with Kelly and Samantha sitting next to me.
-" I don't think that's the case Soph" Max gave me a sweet caring look.
-" I think Max is right. But anyways, is it even worth to over think Daniel's situation when you have Charles Leclerc pretty much blowing your phone up?" Samantha added.
-"wait! Charles have been texting you!?" Kelly asked with her eyes opened. She looked at me, then Max, then back to me. To which I nodded.
"Soph! Charles is so cute! And he is a great guy!" she almost yelled.
-"He's not Daniel though" Max said under his breath.
-" What are you saying?" she asked Max visibly Max.
"Don't mind him Soph. He's just a jealous friend who's worried that you will start rooting for Charles to win the Championship" she said to me which made both Sam and I laugh.
-"No no no. All I'm saying is Sophie is so obsessed with Daniel that she doesn't see Charles. I wish you would give him a chance. He is actually a great boyfriend and we all want you to be happy" Max clarified.
-"Well, that's hard when she has Daniel asking her to not flirt with other drivers" Samantha added.
-"Asshole" we heard from both Max and Kelly at the same time
-"He did cheat on his girlfriend" I added.
-"At least he had a girlfriend" Kelly defended.
-" Hey babe, Daniel is still our friend..." Max said to Kelly rubbing her arm.
-"He's being an asshole though" she replied.
-"Ok guys. I promise if Charles is still interested I will go out with him again" I said calming them down. Well, Max and Sam. Kelly opened her eyes one more time in surprise.
-"AGAIN!? Omg I love this" she yelled excited.
As Max dropped Sam and I in the Mclaren hotel, I could see a lot of people from the team walking around the lobby. It was wednesday night. Everyone should be already in the hotel getting ready for press day tomorrow. Including Daniel.
-"Sophie! How come you didn't fly with the guys?" Zak said referring to Daniel, Mike, and Blake. He hugged me and gave Sam a smile.
-"Zak this is my friend Samantha. I hope you don't mind I got an extra pass from my uncle" I smiled innocently to which he laughed.
"And I didn't go to Perth with the guys so me and Sam flew in with Max. We are just checking in" I added. While he shook Sam's hand.
-"That's totally fine! But don't be afraid of asking for extra passes if you want Samantha to be in our garage as well. You know you are like a niece to me" he patted my back.
-"Perks of having two uncles in the paddock" I said and hugged him again.
-"There she is! If it's not the missing part of the team!" I could hear the Australian accent behind me. Taking a deep breath I turned to Michael's direction just to find Daniel next to him.
-"Mikey, hey! How was Perth?" I said happily hugging him. I could feel Daniel's eyes on me but I decided to not let it make me feel uncomfortable.
-"It was great! I wish you would have come! Everything is more fun with you" he smiled at me in a flirtatious way. Michael and I would always joke about being soulmates that would never be together.
-"Well I was working back in England while the boys were having extra fun" I said still trying to ignore Daniel's piercing look.
-"Hey Dan! Enjoyed your time with the fam?" I moved my attention to him and forced myself to act happy. As if nothing ever happened. As if we were just a pair of best friends that haven't seen each other in a week. As if he wasn't inside me a couple days ago. As if he didn't bail on me to go fuck a model. I hugged him just the way I hugged Michael and I felt his hand landing on the lower of my back.
-"Soph yes. It was great, they were asking about you but they'll be here this weekend" Daniel's stare had a hint of desperation on it. It was almost as if he was trying to tell me something. He wasn't smiling but he wasn't avoiding me. It was the opposite. He was giving me his full attention.
"How was London? lots of work?" He asked ignoring the conversation Michael and Sam were having in the background and fully disregarding Zak who decided to walk away.
-"Yes, just work. I reckon Blake gave you my messages" I answered. Taking my phone out of my pocket that was ringing.
-"Yes. I got all the interviews scheduled for next week. You are staying with me, right?" he asked while looking at my phone almost questioning if I wasn't going to answer. I was going to answer when Sam jumped in the conversation
-"Oh gosh, is that Charles!?" She asked excited. I realized I hadn't check who was calling so I turned my phone to look at it. To my surprise, it was Charles. Daniel and Michael stared at me waiting for an answer. I just looked at Sam and nodded in silence noticing how Mike's eyes went wide and turned to look at Daniel.
"What are you doing!? Answer!" She insisted. I looked at Daniel who's lips were now pressed in a line and his left foot started tapping the floor.
-"I prefer talking to him when I'm by myself. I'll make sure to call him back. Don't worry" I gave Sam a smile to which she answered with little jumps of excitement.
-"Guys, as Sophie's friends we are all team Charles. Imagine our friend dating the hottest and sweetest driver in the paddock! Good shit happens to good people!" she said. Clearly on purpose. While she moved in between Daniel and Michael and hugged them. Michael had an awkward smile on his face and Daniel had a neutral expression but his body was visibly tense. I waved Sam off and decided to change the subject
- "Dan, I am staying in a hotel. I would like to explore Melbourne on my free time and I'm sure you want to spend time with your family" I rejected his proposal nicely.
-"My family won't be here. I can show you around monday to wednesday and then I'll fly to Perth to see them. You could come with me too, I know you loved the farm house last time you were there" he said calmly. I just nodded in silence.
-"We can talk it out during the weekend. Guys I am going to leave my suitcase in the room and I'll see you in a bit if you are having dinner" I said getting a grip of my suitcase.
-"Yes, I'll do the same. I am exhausted!" Sam agreed. We were staying in separate rooms in case any of us wanted to have "fun" this weekend. Sam was a wild soul and I was down to party the night away in order to get my mind off of Daniel.
-"I'll help you with your suitcases" Michael offered earning a smile from both of us.
-"Why don't you help Sam and I'll help Soph. We'll meet here for dinner" Daniel said fast.
-"The suitcase is not too heavy Dan, don't bother" I said giving him a smile.
"Thanks for offering though"
-"C'mon Sophie. I'll walk you to your room either ways. Might as well just grab the suitcase" I wasn't sure why he took for granted that he was going to walk to my room with me but I was so tired I didn't feel like fighting. I once again nodded and started walking without saying one word.
The four of us took the elevator. Mike and Sam got out on the 3rd floor and Daniel and I continued on our way to the 9th floor.
-"I fucked it up" Daniel said turning towards me and taking me by surprise.
"big time" he continued. I just stood there not knowing what to say to him. Should I act like it wasn't a big deal or should I yell at him? I didn't know. All I knew was that I was holding my tears back.
-"I don't know what you are talking about" I said. Right away punishing myself. Who would believe I didn't know what he was talking about?
-"Soph, I was a coward. I really wanted to come, I was dying to come and I couldn't just because I didn't know how I was going to act after we..." he said and he stopped himself.
-"fuck? Dan, it's really not a big deal" I said carelessly but didn't miss how his jaw tensed up when he heard the word 'fuck'.
-" Don't say that Sophia" he growled before the doors open and I walk out. I could hear his steps following closely
-"Don't say what Dan?" I asked without looking. I felt his hand on my shoulder turning my body around.
-"Don't refer to this as a fuck Sophia! That sounds so bad!" He said loudly.
-"Isn't that what you do?" I questioned calmly.
-"No! I mean yes!" He responded causing my eyebrow to raise in doubt.
"Yes I fuck around. I am not the one to make love to you Sophia, I never will! But it's also not a fuck! I care for you, I love you as a friend and that's what is confusing me! I feel if we have sex I won't help it but feel you are mine! and I don't want you to be mine!" He continued almost yelling without noticing he was breaking my heart.
"I want you to be yours Soph. I don't want to worry about how you feel about me leaving your bed as soon as we have sex. I don't want to worry about how I'm going to feel if I ask you to not sleep by me after sex. To worry about how you are going to feel when you see me with someone else or how I won't want our encounters to end if you get serious with Charles or Mason, or whoever. I am so fucking confused because I care for you Sophia!" he finished.
-"So you decided to not even send a text and go fuck your model friend" I concluded still calmly. I would even be afraid of myself by how calm I was acting.
"Daniel, it's not a big deal if you don't want to fuck me as much as I do want to fuck you. At the end of the day is just that, a fuck. It won't be the end of the world if it doesn't happen. I'll just move on to the next one. Look Dan, I get it. If I had one night and had to choose between fucking me or a super hot model I would go for the model too" Daniel face was pale. He's frown was visible from miles away. He ran his hands through his hair in desperation.
- "Sophia! I fucking want you. I've wanted you since I saw you for the first time in Woking! For God's sake Sophia right now I would rather have you one night than having any other woman as many times as I please but I was confused. I AM confused still" He was so close to me I could feel his breathe on my face. His frustration was visible by the way his breathing was becoming stronger.
"fuck Sophia I don't know why I'm so weak when it comes to you" he said grabbing my chin in his hand.
-"We could have had sex as many times as you and I wanted Daniel. We could have still care for each other without falling for each other. I wasn't planning on falling for you" I lied. I had fell for him since we were both at Redbull but he didn't need to know. I was older and more mature now.
"I wouldn't have cared if you stayed the night or not. I would have gladly left your bed right after we enjoyed whatever he had going on but you were too afraid and now is a bit late. I want to focus on work and see what is happening with Charles" I was determined. I had convinced myself I wasn't hurt by Daniel not reciprocrating my feelings, instead I was just mad at the rejection.
"Just friends and coworkers will have to do for now" I said grabbing the suitcase and making my way to my room.
Sorry guys! My life have been kind of a mess lately. I was thinking of just cancelling the book cause I was so busy with school and job hunting! However, I saw some comments and I really appreciate you guys letting me know that you like the story! I'll do my best to keep updating now that I am free from school and I am just job hunting! THIS IS ALSO NOT EDITED. I JUST WANTED TO DELIVER IT TO YOU FAST SO IM SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES!