INVISIBLE STRING ☆ DANIEL RICCIARDO

twenty-six

LONDON, UK; AUGUST 1st 2022

song of the chapter:
'tis the damn season - taylor swift

Remorse. Guilt. Fear. All of them emotions Isla had felt the moment she had left Daniel last night in Budapest. Her heart ached in her chest as she entered her hotel room, tears running heavily down her face as she attempted to book the soonest flight back home. She couldn't be there anymore, she couldn't stay one more night and have to see him and spend time with him and all their friends when she knew what she knew now.

Daniel Ricciardo loved her. Her. He had poured his heart out to her and she was horrible to him. Isla felt the simultaneous need to scream and throw up at the thought, her heart heavy in her chest at what she could've had. Because she knew Daniel was good— hell, he was amazing. She knew for a fact that he could treat her right, he would give her the world if she only asked.

But she could never be what he wanted. She could never give him the full, unconditional love that he deserved.

Daniel Ricciardo had told Isla Nadine Farida that he was in love with her and she yelled at him and ran away.

So, here she was, lugging her luggage and Milo through her front door as her heart continued to ache and cry out to be saved. She doesn't even bother pulling her stuff to her room, leaving everything in the doorway and making her way to the kitchen

The first thing she needed to do was set out Milos bowls. She places his water and his food bowls on the mat at the food of the kitchen counter. The next thing she knew she needed was a fucking drink. The wine wasn't gonna cut it this time.

She hadn't pulled out any hard liquor in ages, even Milo could notice the shift in her as she pulled out the bottle of vodka and filled a full glass of it. And shit, was it strong.

The realisation of what she had done was catching up to her, it had barely been six whole hours since she walked out of that hotel room. Isla spent that entire time relating every single letter that was spoken in that hotel room, she didn't even want to think about how Daniel was doing right now. How he thought of her.

Isla knew she was nothing but horrible to him, wrongly so, but it was too late to take it back. So, she drank, one glass after another until her throat burned with the sensation.

Her phone ringing in her purse garners her attention a short while later, it had been left by the doorway in her purse as she now lay sprawled across her couch. She probably wouldn't have gotten up to answer it if it had rung a second time and Milo hadn't started to obnoxiously bark in it's direction— his own request to make it shut up.

Seeing Luisinhas contact pop up was both a relief and a stressor. For one, it wasn't Daniel, but she didn't imagine he would ever be calling her again. On the other hand, she didn't know if they had seen him since she left. For all she knew, he could've gone straight to them after their argument. But she also know that was highly unlikely, which is what tempts her to answer the call.

"Hello?" Isla answers, clearing her throat rather aggressively as the burning ceases to subside.

"Bom dia, querida!" Luisinhas bubbly voice comes through her speaker, heavily contrasting the way she was feeling herself right now. "I've been knocking on your door for ages, Lan and I just got down for breakfast. You wanna come join us?"