#asficyaps

The middle screen fades slowly into a white room, the camera focused on feet in white heels, green fabric falling down near them, the camera lifts following the slit in the dress. Over the curve of her shoulders, Athena stares straight ahead, and turns to the camera right as the song picks up again. 

Flashes of the AMR26 on track at dawn fill the screen. It cuts to close ups of a pit stop, the wheel nut locking in with a metallic click, the movement of the tires being removed and changing. The car gets put back on the ground then before tire smoke curls as the driver shoots out of the pit box. 

It cuts to Fernando’s back, the samurai tattoo on display before a crisp white shirt gets pulled over it, it cuts to him adjusting his bow tie. Then his cuffs, his hands as he ties his shoes. Fernando lifts his head.

He turns just enough for the camera to catch his profile, calm, assured, a man carved by time and victories. He looks straight ahead, mirroring Athena’s earlier stillness. 

It cuts to an Aston Martin logo on a black 2026 Vantage, before stopping in front of the Aston Martin headquarters at night. The man in a suit with a black ski mask gets out of the car. He breaks the lock of the headquarters front door and the alarm starts blaring. He runs then with a clear mission, breaking another door to an office. He opens a desk draw to a file marked “AMR26. HIGHLY CLASSIFIED” on the front. 

He runs then, back out the headquarters, jumping back into the car and speeding away, as police sirens can be heard. The frame focuses back on the man as he pulls the ski-mask off and it’s revealed to be Fernando.

It cuts back then to Athena, still in her green dress, leaning against the classic silver James Bond DB5. It zooms in on her heel tapping before the wheels stopping of Fernando in the Vantage. 

“Took you long enough” Athena says and her voice echoes in the large gala hall. 

“Are you ready to go?” Fernando asks.

“Did you get the goods?” She asks, ignoring his question.

Fernando rolls his eyes, reaching back into the Vantage to grab the file. 

“Can we go now?” He asks, walking and opening the drivers door

“Not so fast” Athena says walking towards him. He pauses and she drops the keys and they dangle from her finger by the keyring. “I’m driving,” She says, slipping into the Driver’s Seat. 

The car pulls off, and the camera follows as the car drives through the streets of late night Barcelona. Cuts of wheels, gear shifts, and feet pushing harder down on the throttle. It stops in front of the Gala’s venue, and the two of them get out. Fernando hiding the folder in his suit jacket. 

The screens fades back to black to then. It flickers alive again, Fernando and Athena standing back to back, Athena pulls a handgun out of the holster against her leg and the both look at the camera before she pulls the trigger and the screen focuses on the bullet as it gets smaller and smaller in slow-mo, diving slowly downwards till the bullet point goes black and the Aston Martin AMR26 slowly moves onto stage. 

It’s followed then by Athena and Fernando walking either side of it. Claps are heard all around as the two walk to the front of the stage, and are joined by the night's host. The hall's lights brighten slightly and the host of the evening laughs. 

The three of us take our places at the front of the stage, the AMR26 resting behind them beneath a wash of green light. From this distance, you can still see the way the paint shifts under the spotlights. New. Untouched. Untested.

The host smiles into the microphone. “Fernando, Athena. This is the first time you’re seeing the AMR26 in the flesh. What’s going through your minds right now?”

I answer first, measured, as always “Pride,” I say. “You see the work immediately. Everyone at the factory has put so much into this moment, and tonight is about them as much as us.”

Athena nods. “Anticipation,” she adds. “It’s one thing to see drawings and simulations. Seeing it here makes everything feel real.”

The host turns slightly toward the car. “You haven’t driven it yet. Does that make tonight more exciting, or more frustrating?” A ripple of laughter echoes through the hall.

“Both,” I say easily. “You want to get in immediately. But this is part of the process. The reveal is the promise.” Athena smiles faintly beside me.

The host flips his card. “Athena, this will be your first season as a full-time Aston Martin driver. What does it mean to be standing here tonight?”

She takes a breath, and I don’t miss the flicker of emotion in her eyes. “It means responsibility,” she says. “And opportunity. I’m proud to be part of a team that’s building something long-term.”

“And Fernando,” the host continues,and I force a smile “you’re entering another season with Aston Martin. What excites you most about 2026?”

“The direction,” Fernando replies. “There’s clarity here. Everyone knows where we’re going, and how we want to get there.”

The host glances between us. “You’ll be working together closely for the first time this season. How would you describe your dynamic so far?”

Athena answers first this time. “Focused,” she says. “We know that there’s a chance to prove ourselves and we’ll do everything in our power to do so”

The host smiles. “Final question. If you could describe what you hope the AMR26 will be like in one word, what would it be?”

I don’t even hesitate. “Fast.” It earns a couple of laughs. 

Athena doesn’t answer right away, instead she pauses, and then smiles “Hungry.”

Applause breaks out across the hall. And our exit music plays as we walk back off the stage. Athena takes a large breath out as we walk backstage. 

“You alright?” I ask and she nods. 

“Yea, yea, just it’s different. In the junior series you are invited, yes, but you're never on stage. It’s weird” she shrugs. It’s too casual of a gesture for the setting. Her in that dress, that looked more like it belonged on some hollywood red carpet than here. 

“Well, get used to it, kid. You're in the big leagues now. Wait till your first fanzone” I tell her and she lets out a nervous chuckle. 

“Has anyone told you how good you are at calming people's nerves?” she asks, voice dripping with sarcasticism and I laugh. 

“Let’s get to our seats before the next team starts, huh?” I ask and she nods, following me. 

The Williams team goes next, just doing the exit so they can have more time for questions. I’m sitting beside Athena, her father to her right. Jonathan and his wife, Dierdre, after him. There’s an empty seat beside me. 

A seat I had wanted to have filled, but after Melissa, I hadn’t even put myself out there, much less made a relationship I’d care to involve work with. 

As the William driver’s chat and laugh on stage, I feel a hand hold the back of my chair. I turn to see Liam crouched down between Athena and I. 

“Athena” Liam whispers and she looks at the blonde driver. 

“Liam, go back to your seat. You’re gonna get in trouble” She warns the driver, before shooting me an apologetic look. I give her a small smile looking forward again. 

“I just wanted to let you know you did good on your intro. Very cool. Very James Bond-y” He says and from the corner of my eye I see her roll her eyes. 

“Thanks Liam, it was fun. Now go back to your seat, I’m not getting in trouble because of you” She whisper shouts to him and he sighs. 

“Fine, I’m going” He says, quickly darting back to his table. 

“Sorry” She whispers, leaning in slightly to me and I nod. 

“Not a problem, he’s right though. You did good” I tell her and she smiles. 

“Thank you,” she says. I nod looking back at the stage, cringing as I watch them try to take a selfie on stage.

I lean in closer then again, “Call me old but the whole selfie on stage thing sort of confuses me”

She laughs softly. “I guess I’m old because I find it very cringy” She smiles. “It has to be product placement right? Surely their getting paid”

“Aren’t we all?” I ask and she stifles a laugh. 

“You might be, I’m a rookie, my pay check is pennies” She jokes. 

“I for a fact know that’s false, have you met your father? He once sold me a pen for a grand, and it was my own pen” I admit and she bites her lip trying to keep her laugh to herself. 

An image flashes through my mind of her in bed biting that lip because of me. 

What the fuck?

Why did I think that?

“Now imagine that being your father, he had us negotiating our punishments because we could even spell the word negotiate” She jokes and I tug my collar, slightly uncomfortable at no fault but my own. 

I chuckle looking back at the stage, shaking my head lightly. I settle back in my chair tugging at my collar again, trying to undo this stupid bow tie. 

“Would you like some help?” Athena whispers and I give her a polite smile and nod. 

I lean in and her hands work at the tie. I close my eyes, and take in her scent. She smells like something nostalgic, almost salty yet smooth. It almost reminds me of a perfect summer day in 2016. Somehow a breath of fresh air and a lost memory all at once. 

I feel the bow loosen around my neck. “There you are,” she says softly and I open my eyes. Hers connect with mine and a spark shoots through me. 

“Thanks” I say and she smiles before turning to ask her dad something. 

I shake my head, there was something off with me tonight. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

✩ STORY SYNOPSIS✩

↳ Making history in the male-dominated world of Formula One, Twenty-four year old junior series champion, Athena Jacobs Alverez signs a year long contract with Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team after an Impressive debut the year before. As the first woman to race for a formula one team since 1992, she needs to do everything in her power to keep her seat. But in the fast paced world of F1, that's proven hard. Especially when her friendship with Teammate, Fernando Alonso, turns into something more.

Fernando Alonso is no stranger to younger teammates or romantic relationships, but when Athena Crashes into his life, he starts questioning himself and all the rules he had once set for himself. Having always been critical of his friends' relationships with younger women, he hates how the blonde in green has him wrapped around her finger. He wasn't superman so why was she his kryptonite?

What could possibly go wrong with a mutually beneficial agreement with someone you deny your feelings for?