The past three days have been brutal for Alessandra in terms of workload and pressure, but she was handling it well. No one could tell that she was stressing out over the performance of her team's car and that of the rivals. She spent every minute of every session on the pit wall with her colleagues, analysing every piece of data appearing on the screen, seeing the improvements that have been made from last year, and taking note of what needs improvement. The car had good pace, which Alessandra was pleased about, but the Red Bull was faster, with the Mercedes close behind the two, and she took note of every single thing, ready to talk with the team in Maranello about how the car can be improved before the first race.
When she wasn't on the pit wall, she was in her office, having endless video calls with all the departments within the team, telling them what her and the team in Bahrain gathered from the data, and explained to them what elements of the car needed improvement. She and the team knew that even though testing was supposed to give the teams an indication of where they and the competition are in terms of performance, Bahrain wasn't the ideal track to confirm that. They knew that things would change throughout the season, but right now they had to work with what they had, wanting to start off the season with a good race, even though she and the rest of the team knew that the Bull's pace was much better than that of the Ferrari, but the season's long, and the championship isn't won in the first race.
Alessandra let out a loud sigh of relief when she closed her macbook after finishing the last meeting of the day on Saturday evening, three hours after the last testing session was done. She was ready to go back to her hotel and sleep, but then she remembered that she had the team principal dinner, which made her let out a groan. She looked at her watch, seeing that she had two hours until she needed to be at the restaurant, quickly collecting her stuff and made her way out of the office, locking it and said bye to the team members she passed by as she got out of the motor home. She jogged down the paddock, unlocking her car and threw her bag in the passenger seat when she got in, bringing the engine to life and drove out of the parking lot.
The sound of her ringtone blasted through the sound system of her car, pressing the screen next to the steering wheel to answer the call after she saw the name of the caller. "What's up, Charles?"
"Hey!" He beamed, making her chuckle at his enthusiasm, "I wanted to ask if you wanna join us for a quick pre drinking before the din- Wait, where are you? I can hear your car."
"I'm heading to the hotel now," she answered, "I'll let you know if I can make it. I'm having only one shot though, I can't go to my first team principal dinner drunk!"
"Did you leave the circuit now?!" He screeched, the high pichness of his voice stinging her ears, "Ale, we have been done for almost three hours and you've left now?!"
"I had meetings with the team back in Maranello," she shrugged, "trust me, I wish I left when you guys did so I could get a nap in before the dinner. But I needed to sort some stuff out for next week!"
"Ale, we appreciate how much you're doing to make sure we can compete for the championship," he sighed, "but please don't over do it. The first race starts next week, we have 23 races. I know you very well and if you keep working like this, you're gonna burn yourself out early in the season."
"I know, I know," she muttered, turning a right corner into the hotel area, "I'll try not to over do it, but there are so many factors that need to be considered. I have to prove to everyone that I am worthy of being Team Principal and can lead you guys to the top!"
"I promise you, you have nothing to prove," Charles said, "are you at the hotel?"
"Yup, just pulling up now," she answered, killing the engine in front of the main door. She grabbed her bag and got out of the car, phone against her ear as she handed the key to the Valet before entering the building, "I'll see you in a bit. And again, just one shot for me. I'll leave the rest of the drinking for the club!"
"That's my girl!" He exclaimed, making her smile widely, "I'll see you soon!"
Alessandra made her way up to her room, her mouth drooling when she saw her neatly made bed, desperate to just get under the sheets and never leave, but she knew she had to start getting ready for tonight. She opened the wardrobe, analysing the clothing options she had, taking out a black satin slip dress which landed right under her knee, with a small slight on her right thigh. She placed it on the bed, grabbing a pair of black heels and put them under the dress.
She jumped in the shower, washing the day off her and her hair. Dressed in the hotel robe, she stood in front of the mirror in her room, drying her hair and touched up a few curls, applying a bit of make up so she wouldn't look as dead as she felt after the long day. She checked the time, seeing that she needed to be at Charles's in less than 10 minutes, so she slid into her dress and heels, feeling more confident in the attire, especially after she glanced at the backless detail of the dress through the mirror. She slid on a blazer, wanting to look formal during the dinner but then let the playful side of the dress out when they went clubbing, putting a pair of sneakers for her to change in, in her bag and left her room.
She went in front of the door of the room next to hers, knocking a few times. Charles opened the door, a wide smile on his face as he let her in, a smile appearing on her face when she saw her friends in the room, including Pierre Gasly, who were throwing whistles, hoots and complements. She went and pulled every person in the room in a hug.
"Oh damn, Ale!" The Frenchman exclaimed when she took off her blazer, eyeing her bare back as she grabbed one of the shots Charles poured out, "you are not here to play around!" She chuckled, stepping towards him as they exchange quick kisses on the cheeks before sitting down next to him on Charles's bed.
"She better play around a bit tonight," Mick said, "because she's been working too hard, and it's only testing!"
"Did you tell him that I left the track hours after you guys?!" She asked, her head turning towards the Monegasque, who had a sheepish grin on his face.
"Yes!" Mick, Carlos and Max replied, making her roll her eyes at them. "C'mon Ale, tonight's not about work, we're gonna have fun!"
"You say that as if we're not heading to a work dinner, Max," she snapped back with a chuckle, "now come on, let's down this shot and get going!" The boys in the room let out a cheer in agreement, all grabbing a shot in their hands and got in a circle. They clinked the small glasses together in cheers before throwing the liquid back in their throats, simultaneously letting out a groan and made a face in disgust.
"The hell is this?!" Carlos exclaimed between coughs.
"That was disgusting," Alessandra muttered, placing her glass next to the other empty ones.
"It was whiskey," Charles shrugged, making the others groan louder.
The group piled out of the Monegasque's room and made their way out of the hotel. Alessandra and Max was handed their car keys by the valet, being the designated drivers for the night, which will most probably change for the Dutch, knowing how drunk he gets. Pierre got in the car with Max, whilst the Ferrari drivers got in the back of her Portofino after Mick calling shotgun and slid in the passenger seat with a triumph smirk on his face after the other two complained. "You two are acting like we're going on a 3 hour car ride," Alessandra said as she started the car, "it's literally only 20 minutes away, you will survive."
"You know I hate being in the back seat," Charles muttered, whilst Alessandra chuckled as she watched him cross his arms over his chest and pout like a child from the rearview mirror.
"What can I say?" She asked as she drove away from the hotel, "call shotgun faster next time."
Twenty minutes filled with endless chatter and some groaning about the backseat later, Alessandra parked her car in the small parking lot, watching Max park his Honda next to her as she got out of the car, the whole group meeting in front of the vehicles.
"Have you seen the picture circling round social media?" Pierre asked, putting his phone between them, "people are going crazy over it, even shipping you two!" Alessandra looked at his phone, letting out a groan when she saw that it was a picture of Toto having his hand over her mouth and held her against him from the shoulders. It was probably taken by one of the journalists that was settling in before the press conference started.
"Ale?" Charles asked when he squeezed between the two and saw the picture, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "I need context for that because what the fuck?!"
"I had asked Toto if him and Christian kissed and made up, Christian joined in the conversation only hearing the kiss and made up, not knowing the context so he asked who were we referring to," she started as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant, putting on her blazer, "and when I was about to tell Christian that it was about him and Toto, the man went psycho and dragged me away whilst covering my mouth, as if I was about to let out his biggest secret." The boys bursted out laughing, which made her roll her eyes before swatting her hand on Max's arm.
"Hope you guys brought your oxygen masks," Max said, "because the tension's about to suffocate us as soon as we enter!"
"I will kill you in your sleep," she muttered in the midst of the snickering as she entered the restaurant.
Toto sat down on on one of the few places left around the big table set up, sat down next to Fred whilst his drivers joined the other drivers at the end of the table. He exchanged hellos with everyone, his eyes roaming around, realising that there was one team principal missing. She was not here yet. He smirked to himself, thinking of ways he was going to let her know that she was late.
His head shot up when he heard the sound of heels clicking against the tiles with every step she took, his mouth open, ready to poke fun at her tardiness, but no words came out when his eyes landed on her. His breathe hitched in his throat as he shamelessly scanned her, the way her legs looked tall in the heels, the bare skin of her thigh from the slit, the corset element of the dress expressing her hourglass figure. The swell of her breasts were teasing out of the neckline, the curls framing her face perfectly. She looked absolutely stunning.
"I apologies for my tardiness," she said as she joined the table, "having these five with me is like handling a childcare." The table erupted in chuckles as the group sat down, Alessandra sliding in her seat next to the Austrian, who cleared his throat to stop himself from thinking about how she looked, Mick sitting on the other side of her.
"Alessandra!" Lewis beamed, making him and the Italian turn their heads towards him, "you look beautiful!"
"Thank you Lewis," she gushed, "you look quite handsome yourself! Valentino?"
"Of course," he smiled, "Versace?"
"You know your stuff," she said, sending him a wink, which Toto caught and rolled his eyes at, "sucks we had to miss Milan fashion week!"
"Yeah," he nodded, "will you attend Paris fashion week?"
"If it doesn't clash with anything," she shrugged, "might head there, yeah!"
"Alessandra," Toto said, leaning his head close to her ear so only she could hear, "I would appreciate it if you didn't flirt with my driver."
She let out a chuckle as she turned her head, not realising how close his face was until their foreheads almost touched, her blue eyes looking into his, "since when is talking to someone else flirting?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "you and I are talking. Does that mean we're flirting?"
"You know it's different," he replied, his voice low.
"No, it isn't," she scoffed, "if you think talking to someone of the opposite sex is flirting, then you really need to rethink your logic."
The waiter came and took everyone's order, which Alessandra was grateful for as she didn't want to continue the conversation with Toto, she didn't want to engage into his idiotic logic and let him act like he had a stick up his ass.
The restaurant was rented for themselves for the evening, so when the drinks were served, everyone was standing up and walking around the table, quickly forming into different groups and engaging with different conversations. Alessandra was on the terrace with Mick, Lance, Esteban and Charles, who were (jokingly) arguing about why football is better than basketball.
"Nah, soccer is stupid," Lance scoffed, "11 guys running after a ball like little children. I can only tolerate it when it's Milan playing."
"Of course you think soccer is stupid, you call it soccer, for one, and you support Milan out of all teams," Alessandra scoffed, sipping on her pornstar martini, "basketball also has guys running after a ball, hands up in the air to catch it, just like little kids."
"No sport brings so much excitement like football man," Esteban chuckled, "and you can see that during the world cup!"
"Says the man who's team lost the final," Lance shot back, "anyways, basketball is better. But the best sport is hockey!"
"Nope, it's tennis," she quickly said, "and you can't fight me on that!"
"I have to agree with her here," Charles shrugged, "tennis is great when you get into it."
"Can we all agree that Formula 1 is the best sport in the world?" Mick groaned, leaning against the wall as he sipped on his beer, "because you guys are the one acting like kids!" The others nodded, agreeing with the German who smiled in success, quickly changing the topic about how they spent the winter break.
Charles glanced at the glass door, nudging Mick when he saw the Austrian making his way to where they were as he chatted with Mike Krack. Mick quickly realised what Charles saw, glancing at the Monegasque with a knowing smirk before turning to Lance and Esteban, "hey Este, Lance," Mick said, "could you come with us inside, I need to show you something?" Lance and Esteban nodded, following Mick and Charles back inside, leaving Alessandra confused. She turned to lean against the balcony, grabbing a cigarette from her bag, placed it between her lips and lit it, taking in the beautiful view of the city.
After gaining a bit of a headache from his chat with Christian and Zak, Toto excused himself and left the table, making his way to the terrace. He was stopped by Mike halfway, giving him a very quick rundown about something Aston Martin found in the data regarding the engine. His eyes looked behind the Aston Martin team principal when he heard the balcony door open, seeing Charles, Mick, Esteban and Lance coming back inside, rushing past him as they whispered and laughed to each other like little girls. He then looked at the glass door, seeing a familiar figure on the terrace.
"If we see anything else regarding the engine we'll let you know," Mike said, "but so far so good." Toto nodded, thanking Mike, even though he barely listened to anything he said, before walking towards the balcony door. He opened it quietly, leaning against the door frame as he watched her lean on the metal bars of the balcony. The side of her face that was facing him was bare, with her hair hanging on the adjacent shoulder, and he eyed the way her jaw clenched when she placed a cigarette between her lips, the flame of the lighter illuminating her skin as she lit the stick, exhaled smoke ghosting her face.
"Do you have a thing for smoke?" Alessandra let out a low chuckle at the familiar deep voice as she shook her head, flicking the ashes off the cigarette before taking another puff, "because it's not just smoking tires you like, it seems."
"Oh I do," she replied, turning her head to look at his tall figure leaning against the door frame, "my favourite kind of smoke is that coming out of your ears when you're mad." He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Alessandra used one arm to lean on the balcony as she looked at him. He was dressed in black pants and a matching blazer, a white button up under the blazer and tucked under the pants that were held by a black leather belt, the top 3 buttons undone. The sleeves of his blazer were rolled up till his elbow, revealing prominent veins on his arms, the material around his biceps barely holding after his muscles bulged when he crossed his arms.
"Are you staying in Bahrain until the race?" He asked.
"Nope, heading back to Italy for couple of days then come back on Tuesday," she said, "are you staying?"
"I'm heading back to Monaco," he shrugged, "you live there, right?"
"I do, but I also live in Maranello so I'm bouncing back and fourth," she chuckled, sipping on the cocktail which she almost forgot about, "Monaco's become my destination for when I need a break, even though I still end up working because I don't know how to take a break!"
"It's important that you do take breaks," he said, giving her a soft smile as he took a step forward, "Monaco used to be like that for me when I still had my house in England."
"You didn't buy a new place near Brackley?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "where do you stay when you're there?"
"I end up staying at Lewis's, plus I'm not there much since we're travelling all the time and I can work remotely," he shrugged, "I was meant to look for houses last year but I didn't have the time."
"Could've done it during Winter break," she laughed, "you just forgot about it!"
"Hey!" He exclaimed, placing a hand between them, "not all of us are given houses, princess."
"And who said my house was given to me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "I searched for both of my houses and bought them. I was not given anything!" She took the last puff of her cigarette, turning it off in the ashtray on the table close by. "Are you thinking about getting a house or an apartment in England?"
"Probably a house, to have a change of scenery from my apartment in Monaco," he said, standing next to her side, leaning his back against the balcony, his head turned to the side, looking down at her. "Do you have a house or an apartment in Maranello?"
"A house," she smiled, glancing up at him, "honestly my favourite place in the world. It's a traditional house with a bit of modern features inside, wanting to keep its true features as much as I could, totally contrasting my apartment in Monaco."
"Yeah, it's exactly what I was thinking about if I look for a house," he said, "I want to find a place which is close to the factory, but at the same time away from everything. If it has a good amount of land around it would be perfect, so Jack can run around and ride his bike, and Ben and Rosie to drive their karts around." Alessandra smiled slightly at the mention of his little boy, who always made the paddock brighter whenever Toto or Susie brought him around, and his older children who rarely come to races but always had a nice chat with them when they did. She wanted to ask how they're doing, and when they're coming to races, but that was crossing a personal line, so she didn't ask anything.
Alessandra finished her drink as her and Toto stood in silence. Toto knew what she was drinking from the glass and the colour of the liquid, his mind quickly coming up with a joke about it. They glanced at each other, not knowing what to say to each other, which was a rare thing between them as they were always ready to shoot at each other. Alessandra bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to avert her eyes away from his, but it's like they were magnets, pulling her gaze towards his and not being able to pull away.
The Italian let out a quiet sigh of relief to herself when Lewis came out on the terrace, letting the two team principals know that the food's arriving. She followed Lewis inside, turning her head behind her shoulder, seeing Toto follow close behind. They sat back down right before the waiter placed the tartufo pasta in front of Alessandra, and a steak in front of Toto.
"I feel like you only eat pasta," Toto chuckled next to her, "also I saw you were drinking a pornstar martini earlier, anything you wanna share?"
"Trust me, I eat more than just pasta, especially when I'm making the food," she said, sending him a smirk, "and about my drink? In your dreams, Toto." She was surprised when she saw his cheeks turning slightly red, which she only saw for a split second before he turned his face away from her. She shook her head, diverting her attention back to her food.
After dessert and a bit more conversation over a glass of sweet liquor, drivers and team principals were slowly leaving the table, saying that they have early flights to catch, after settling the bill.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Max asked, standing up from the table. The Ferrari drivers, Mick and Pierre nodded, also standing up from the table.
"Did you find a place close by?" Alessandra asked as she also stood up, grabbing her bag that was hanging around her chair, her eyes locking with the Austrian's for a moment, who gave her a questioned look. She shrugged, giving him a sly smile before looking back at her friends.
"Yeah, there's a place close by!" He beamed, "already booked us a private booth!"
"And where are you going now, Ale?" Toto asked, making her turn around to look at him.
"Just finishing off the night with my friends," she shrugged, "I'd invite you, but you're probably already tired and just want to head back to bed. Plus, I doubt you can keep up with us." She gave his hand a small squeeze and walked away before he could say anything else, saying goodbye to the rest of the people around the table as she walked with her friends.
The Austrian's breathe hitched in his throat when he watched her take off the blazer, revealing her exposed back, the small tattoos being displayed like a work of art. Her hips swayed with every step she took, her behind forming under the satin material of her dress, his mind wondering if she was wearing anything under it. He shifted on the chair, arranging the front of his pants when he felt it tighten, letting out an annoyed growled that he let his thoughts run wild and affect him like that.
He stood up and wished the rest of the bosses and drivers a good night before he left the restaurant, catching Alessandra and the drivers stood around their cars as he made his way towards his Mercedes EQS Sedan. He heard Charles yell shotgun, which got a groan from Carlos and Mick before they got in the back of Alessandra's Ferrari Portofino, with the Monegasque then sliding in the passenger seat. Alessandra had already gotten behind the wheel, and he couldn't help but watch her start the car and drive out of the parking lot before he got in his own car. He groaned when he felt his pants get even tighter, cussing at himself for letting his mind get carried away with thoughts about Alessandra after seeing her this evening, how alluring she looked in her dress, the backless element of it making him go crazy, especially because he wished he saw it during the whole evening and not when she was leaving.
He was angry at himself that the season hasn't even started, not even a single race has passed, and she was already leaving such an effect on him. It happened before, it was inevitable because she is a stunning woman, but he never thought much about it as she was chief engineer in his rival team. But something about her being in the same level of power as him turned him on, and he knew that it would eventually effect him, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.
But he couldn't help himself as he imagined her dancing close with a guy wherever she was heading with her friends, letting herself loose. And he secretly wished that he could go there and be the one to dance with her.