Chasing Daisy

it?’
    ‘Rabbit.’
    Hmm. Thought so. Not really a big fan of rabbit.
    ‘Great!’ I fib. Nonna doesn’t need to know . . .
    ‘What have you been doing, my darling girl? How is work?’
    I fill her in on my time on the racing scene while we sit at the table and drink cups of coffee. It’s cool inside these thick stone walls, but the weather outside is mild, even in the mountains.
    Nonna lives in an old stone cottage nestled under the rocks, just off the main road. She has a vegetable patch in the garden, and keeps goats and chickens in a small adjoining paddock, but by far the best thing about her place is the view: on a clear day you can see for miles. My favourite thing to do here is sit on the terrace on Nonna’s stone bench and look out at the tree-covered mountains while sipping a glass of acqua alla menta – mint water.
    But it’s been a long day, and tomorrow will feel even longer, so after we’ve eaten, Nonna sees me to my room, a tiny box with a single bed under the window and a small wooden cupboard on the opposite wall. I get ready for bed quickly because the cold has set in, and nestle under the sheets, blankets and Nonna’s colourful hand-stitched quilt that I remember from my first ever trip here. I feel more at home in Nonna’s place than anywhere else in the world, and while that thought makes me feel momentarily sad, I fall to sleep feeling at peace with the world and everyone in it.
    The next day I’m inside the marquee laying out morning tea for the film crew when I feel a gentle nudge on my back. I swivel around to see Will standing there.
    ‘Hi! How are you?’ I say. He looks unfamiliar again. Not better, not worse, just unfamiliar.
    ‘Good.’ He smiles. He’s wearing dark denim jeans and a yellow T-shirt with surfer-style graphics on the front.
    ‘Have you filmed anything, yet?’ I ask.
    The advert he and Luis are filming today is for a petrol company. They have to pretend-race each other around the bendy mountain roads in fast sports cars.
    ‘Not yet,’ he replies. ‘We’ve just been getting our hair and make-up done.’ He casts his eyes to the heavens. I peer more closely at him.
    ‘What?’ he asks.
    ‘Did they put foundation on you?’
    ‘Yes, unfortunately. Why?’
    ‘I can just see a little spot of it, right there by your eye.’ I lean in and smooth it away.
    ‘Thanks.’ He awkwardly rubs his finger at the place where mine just was. I glance to my left to see Luis raising his eyebrows at me as he walks in the direction of one of the trailers. I look back at Will to find him staring darkly after Luis.
    ‘Are you okay?’ I ask Will, cautiously.
    ‘Yeah, fine,’ he assures me.
    ‘Is everything okay with you and Luis?’
    ‘He’s being a bit of a dick at the moment.’
    ‘Nothing new there, then.’
    He smirks and shakes his head. ‘No.’
    ‘Is he still pissed off you won the last race?’ I ask. ‘I thought you guys got over things like that?’
    He shrugs and brushes some fluff off his bare arm and then looks up at me and grins. ‘Have you forgiven me for all my prying the other night?’
    I smile. ‘Yeah. But you know I’m going to have to get you back, right?’
    ‘I look forward to it.’ His blue eyes meet my green ones and my heart starts to beat faster in my chest.
    ‘Will, we’re ready for you!’ A man I don’t recognise calls to Will. He’s wearing headphones and is carrying a clipboard.
    ‘See ya later . . .’
    ‘For sure.’ I hold up my hand in a half wave, but it’s ten minutes before my pulse returns to normal.
    I barely see Will for the rest of the day – only at lunchtime when Holly and I are busy serving the crew.
    ‘I didn’t realise how much work this would be,’ Holly says at one point.
    ‘Me neither,’ I agree. ‘So what are you up to tonight?’
    ‘I don’t know. Guess we’ll have a few drinks back at the hotel with everyone. What about you? Are you coming along?’
    ‘No, I’d better get back to Nonna. I don’t see enough of her as it is.’
    We hear an almighty roar and look outside the marquee to see two sports cars – a pale blue one and a lime-green one – zoom past.
    ‘The boys are back,’ Holly comments.
    ‘Do you think they’ll be finished filming by tomorrow?’ I ask. This job was only supposed to take two days.
    ‘I should think so, yes,’ Holly says.
    ‘Well, I guess we’d better get this mess tidied up.’
    We’ve been serving snacks throughout the day. Filming is supposed to