INVISIBLE STRING ☆ DANIEL RICCIARDO

twenty-one

PARIS, FRANCE; JULY 4th 2022

TW: mentions of hate comments and severe death threats in second half of the chapter.
please proceed with caution!

     If there was one thing that Isla Nadine Farid loved the most in the world, it was fashion. And what better place to have that love than Paris? To make it even better, during haute couture week with her two best friends in the world.

They had flown in together the day after the Silverstone race, Isla with the most raging hangover ever. She could barely remember anything from the night before, and she just knew she had embarrassed herself in one way or the other. All she knew was that Daniel had taken her home and they had apparently gotten takeout, judging by the numerous boxes she found in her living room that morning.

It felt nice to be with just her girl friends again, without the presence of race cars and boyfriends and especially, Daniel Ricciardo. He had texted her that morning to make sure she was okay— which was also how she found out that he had dropped her off. He had even been gracious enough to leave her a pack of tablets and a glass of water on her nightstand.

She was slightly worried over what had occurred that previous night, since it was evident they spent quite some time together before they called it a night. Maybe she should call him and ask later.

"I'm starving." Amani calls from the bedroom, they had just arrived at their hotel for the week and Isla was laying out her toiletries in the bathroom while her friend gave up on unpacking and tucked herself into her bed. "Why didn't we get food on the way here?"

Isla rolls her eyes at herself in the mirror. "Because we said we'd unpack then go for dinner, you just can't stick to your word."

"Rude!"

Isla packs her toiletry bag in the drawer under the sink and walks out to join Amani— who was now rolled up under the duvet in the cold room. It was quite sunny outside today but the AC had already been blasting when they'd arrived, which left the room feeling slightly chilly.

"You're joking." Luisinha exclaims as she lets herself into the room through their joining door, she was already fully dressed and ready to head out. "Are we not going out anymore?"

Isla stretches her arms out as a signal for their third to join them, and Lu does just that as she throws herself into the hug. "Mani looked so comfy and now we're both warm and lazy."

"Hm. Room service?"

"And romcoms!"

The two girls quickly leave the comfort of the large hotel bed to get into their pajamas while Isla orders their dinners and sets up her laptop by the TV. After almost half an hour of arguing, they had finally settled on 'Crazy Stupid Love', one of Amanis favorite movies. The argument had proven fruitful as it had wasted enough time for their food to arrive, which meant that they were curled together on the bed with plates in hands as the movie played on the TV.

"I think this is the best pasta I've ever had in my life." Amani moans through a mouthful of food.

"You are something else when you're hungry."

"She once bullied me into giving her my lunch money in secondary school."

"No you didn't!"