Chasing Daisy

one . . .’
    ‘I’m sure you could.’ He sounds amused.
    ‘But I don’t want one.’ Will you shut up, Daisy?
    ‘Fair enough.’ He glances at his watch again. Cazzo , I’m really messing this up.
    ‘Do your parents come to many races?’ I ask quickly. I don’t want to do small talk. There’s not enough time.
    ‘No. They don’t.’ His reply is blunt.
    ‘Why is that?’ I so want to get to the bottom of him . . .
    He rests his heel up on the edge of his chair and casually wraps one arm around his knee. When he doesn’t immediately answer, I start to regret my line of questioning, but then he speaks.
    ‘We’re not that close.’ He rubs away some of the condensation that has formed on the outside of his glass.
    ‘Has it always been like that?’ I swivel to face him, willing him to look at me.
    ‘Pretty much,’ he replies, glancing my way. ‘Ever since I was a kid and they sent me off to boarding school.’ He pauses. ‘Aah, there were moments . . .’ His voice trails off.
    ‘Like what?’ I prompt.
    ‘Oh, I was just remembering how one of our horses broke free and almost trampled me when I was very little. My mother was nice to me, then.’ I hold my breath because I can’t believe he’s opening up to me about this. But then his voice hardens. ‘On the whole, though, she kept me at a distance. My father has always done that.’ He takes a sip of his water.
    ‘That’s sad,’ I murmur, staring at him.
    ‘It’s okay,’ he says flippantly, putting his foot back down on the floor. ‘You come to terms with it.’
    ‘No, you don’t,’ I reply firmly. ‘You never come to terms with it.’
    He meets my eyes for a long moment. The hurt on his face is hurting me too, but I can’t look away. ‘They must be proud of you now,’ I say hurriedly. I want to make it better.
    His expression turns to confusion and he shakes his head slightly then turns away and laughs a brittle laugh. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you this.’
    I fall silent. He looks over at the bar again. ‘I should hunt out Luis.’ He starts to get up.
    ‘He’s probably picked up a screwdriver somewhere,’ I say bluntly.
    Will chuckles. ‘I’ll tell him you said that.’
    ‘No, don’t,’ I plead. ‘He hates me enough as it is.’
    He smiles, clearly thinking I’m joking. ‘Are you coming?’ he asks, pointing towards the bar. ‘I don’t want to leave you here on your own.’
    I look over and spot Holly doing shots with Pete.
    ‘Sure.’ Holly has left her handbag on her chair so I pick it up and we go to join the team.
    ‘Daisy!’ Dan shouts. ‘Come and do a shot with us!’
    ‘I’ve got to be up in a few hours!’ I laugh. ‘So do you for that matter.’
    ‘Where’s Will?’ Holly yells.
    Where is Will, actually?
    I look around frantically, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I feel out of it, separated from the crowd. If Will’s not here, I don’t want to be here. Where is he? Has he really—
    ‘He’s gone.’ Luis interrupts my thoughts and it’s like a shotgun has gone off in my head.
    I don’t look at him.
    ‘It’s alright, bun tart, you’ll see him tomorrow.’
    ‘STOP CALLING ME THAT!’ I shout at the top of my voice. Everyone turns to look at me.
    ‘Daisy!’ Holly jumps in surprise.
    ‘That’s it, I’m off!’ And with a look that could surely kill everyone around me, I storm out of the room.

 
Chapter 5
     
    Luis appears first for breakfast. I refuse to look at him so Holly takes over.
    ‘What can I get you?’ she asks warmly.
    ‘Muesli. And a couple of hash browns.’
    Nice, healthy mix there, Luis. I don’t vocalise my thoughts.
    ‘Coffee? Juice? Shake?’ Holly enquires.
    ‘Juice. Thanks.’
    And that’s it. He walks off. I watch his departing back with confusion.
    ‘What?’ Holly asks me.
    ‘He didn’t say anything to me.’
    ‘Are you surprised after the way you spoke to him last night?’
    Hmm. I go into the kitchen to bring out some more toast and have a quick tidy up and when I return, Will is walking away from the serving table. I look after him in dismay. Holly, thankfully, doesn’t make a point of noticing.
    The next time I see him is after I’ve clawed my way through the humidity to get to the pits. I have to stock up the food supplies for the team members too busy to take a break. There’s a drivers’ room in the garages at Kuala Lumpur’s Sepang circuit and as I’m about to return to the hospitality area, Will comes out of it, wearing his