INVISIBLE STRING ☆ DANIEL RICCIARDO

twenty-four

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY; JULY 28th 2022

song of the chapter:
so it goes - taylor swift
'i make all your gray days clear'

Isla loved Hungary. She hadn't been there plenty of times, but she had definitely gone enough times to know that it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. The country was full of so many tradition and rich culture, she could barely ever find time to explore and discover all she could about it.

She was there for yet another race weekend, on Luisinhas request. Her flight had landed in Heathrow only two nights ago and she wasn't planning on going this week, but Lu had called her almost as soon as she landed and asked that she be there. And Isla definitely couldn't say no.

Especially since her friend had missed the last two race weekends. Even though she had flown to Austria from Paris, she had skipped out on the paddock due to the severe comments she had received. Lando had put out a statement asking for people to stop, but apparently it barely did much, which meant Luisinha had skipped out on France as well and went home to see her family.

Now with Isla being back though, she felt that if she had her best friend there with her, she could walk through that paddock as confidently as she used to. Lando had never agreed to an idea quicker, he had missed being able to be with his girlfriend freely and if Isla showing up is what it took then he would do everything he could to make sure she was there.

Isla also had her own reasons to be there, though. A certain curly haired Australian man kind of reason, to be specific.

Daniel had stuck to his word, and had called her almost everyday or whenever he could find the time. He desperately wanted to bring up that last night in London that they had shared, but he knew that conversation should not be done over the phone.

Arriving in Budapest on Thursday morning meant that she could have a day with Luisinha, all to themselves, just to explore the city. She had done nothing but drop her bag in her hotel room and quickly freshened up before she headed to her friends room to pick her up for the day. Isla had never been hugged tighter by the Portuguese woman.

They had spent almost their whole day just being tourists; walking through heroes square, visiting St. Stephens Basilica and they had even took the time to spend a couple of hours at the Széchenyi Thermal Bath. It was safe to say, it was the exact kind of day Luisinha had needed, and Isla was more than happy to deliver.

The two women were now sat on a sightseeing night cruise across the Danube river, the city somehow managing to look even more beautiful in the night time. Thankfully, their ticket had come with an open bar, which meant free drinks and drunk confessions for the night— Isla definitely didn't need more than those though, even though she still didn't know it.

"So, how have you really been?" Isla asks a couple minutes into their one hour trip, pouring a couple glasses of red wine for them to enjoy as they cruised through the city.

Luisinha takes a large gulp of her glass before answering. "I don't know. I haven't been on instagram much since we left Paris, which is good. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

"But?" Isla urged, already sensing it coming.

"But," she sighs heavily. "I'm worried that it's just that. Because I'm not seeing it, I'm pushing it away and that's why it's not affecting me anymore. Tomorrow...tomorrow all of that could change."