𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚: 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖 1

𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖 𝙤𝙣𝙚

"You want to know how many people have messaged me complaining in the last twenty four hours"

Ana stood in her kitchen leaning against the island scrolling through her phone at the thousands of messages she received since the formula 1 Instagram account had posted her promotion.

"Just wait until you get yourself into a controversy" George laughed, sitting on the bar stool opposite Ana.

"Can't wait to get more death threats" She 'smiled' putting her phone down onto the bench and resting her face in her hands.

The front door to her apartment opened and a moment later Charles appeared in her kitchen, wine bottle in hand.

"There he is" George stood up from his seat and hugged Charles.

The group had finally reunited after a long winter, George spent it with his family and Anastasia had gone back to Russia to be with her mother and father, Charles on the other hand spent his winter mountain climbing and skiing.

"How were the Swiss alps" Ana laughed.

"Shut up" Charles pulled her into a deep hug.

Charles still wore the Armani cologne that she bought for him for his birthday, the scent filling her with memories of the coast of Pantelleria, Italy.

"Some champagne" Charles lifted the bottle.

"Dom Perignon? Charles you shouldn't have" Ana admired the bottle of the worlds classiest champagne that he had brought.

"What would we do without you?" She smiled, reaching in her cabinet for her finest champagne glasses.

"Not get drunk every afternoon" George took the bottle from the bench and moved around the island to Anastasia.

"May you do the honours, miss formula one"

Ana took the champagne from George and twisted the cork off of the bottle neck. After the pop came the fizz and then the overflow of champagne.

Ana quickly filled their drinks and then set the bottle down.

"You should get used to that" Charles nodded towards the half empty bottle.

"Abu Dhabi is calling your name Stas" George lifted up his glass, raising a toast to the newest addition to the grid.

"Remember in karting it was pop the lemonade" She laughed, taking a sip from her Perignon.

"Yeah and Charles wasn't allowed to drink it because he'd get a sugar high" George loved the trio remembering their childhood together, those were his fondest memories.

Charles laughed with his face in his hand, taking a drink from his glass.

The three friends continued to reminisce on childhood memories, karting tournaments and holidays they would go on together.

The air outside was cool and the sun began to set, the warm golden glow creeping into Anastasia's apartment, it faded to a baby pink glow and then eventually the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

The group continued to talk and laugh well into the night, playing a board game and discussing their winters. Charles showed them photos of his new dog, Ana told them stories of her winter in Russia and George would not stop talking about how Natalia met his family for the first time.

As the night set in and the group grew tired, George hugged and kissed Ana goodbye and thanked her for a lovely night, he left her apartment, taking his coat from the hanger beside her front door.

Now the only guest that remained was Charles.

"Guess what I have" Ana led Charles from the living room and into the kitchen. She opened her fridge and took out a white box with a ribbon tied around it. She undid the bow and opened the white box.

"Tres leches, you're joking" Charles smiled at the thought of Ana remembering his favourite cake, and buying it.

"picked it up from Rafael's this morning" the small bakery was the place to go for dessert, it stayed open until late and both Anastasia and Charles would find themselves there after every night out.

She passed him a spoon and cut him a slice of the cake, she put herself a piece too.

"This reminds me of august 2007" Ana said taking a bite out of her piece of tre leches.

"Mhm your first Grand Prix win" Charles said, agreeing with her sense of nostalgia towards the dessert.

"You remember?" Ana said in disbelief that he would remember such a memory from years ago.

"How could I forget, we took my dads scotch and we both cried because we thought we would get caught" he laughed.

"and we both took one sip and put it back because it burnt our throats" Anastasia giggled at the thought of the two sneaking into his dads liquor cabinet and pouring a millilitre of drink into a glass and sharing it, thinking they were drunk.

"I miss him" Anastasia said, remembering Charles father and how much of an influence he made on her in her early days of karting, he was the one man besides her father who truly believed in her and defended her.

"He loved you" Charles told her, truth and sincerity in his voice, no one had been more excited for Anastasia's first win in 2007 then Charle's father himself. Charles could imagine how proud his father would be of her now, watching her become the first female formula one driver.

Charles looked down at his phone,

1:53am

Hours had passed as the pair sat in the kitchen over a box of tre leches and talking a great amount about their past and futures.

Charles got up from his seat and helped Ana carry the plates to the kitchen sink. She told him to leave everything but he insisted on helping her clean up. One thing about Charles that Ana loved was he was a gentleman. He had been since they were children.

Ana followed Charles to the front door of her apartment, he grabbed his coat and leaned down, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Bonne nuit" Ana said to him as he left her apartment.

goodnight

"faites de beaux rêves" he replied, turning back and smiling before walking away.

have sweet dreams