"Good morning." Prentum said, when they entered the box. It was indeed morning only Dina didn't know if it was a good one. It was race day and all the drivers, inclusive their teams were at the track and all of them had thrown things towards her, and not only words. Still she was not willing to show that it affected her, she was here to do a job, the job in question was being a back-up driver for Kezef and nothing in the world would stop her from doing just that. "Well it seems to me that the two of you are well rested, after your day off.""Rested, keep on dreaming. We have trained the whole day, to get in the right mindset." Kezef said, a bit snarky. He had protected her from the non-words that were thrown her way. And it wasn't a surprise to her, that he was in a bad mood. Which was not idle, but there was nothing she could do about it, or was there? "Training? Kezef I told you guys to relax." Prentum said with a sigh. "I told you take the day off so that the two of you could take a break." He threw his hands in the air. "You know to do normal couple stuff, go out for a walk, watch a movie, kiss each other." Dina and Kezef looked at each other, they at least kissed and so much more, but they were not going to tell Prentum that. The monteurs started to getter around them. "Alright here is the deal, we all know that this race is going to be though. Everybody and I mean everybody is out there to get you Kezef. So you need to watch yourself and the car." Kezef nodded. "I will do my best Prentum." He said, she nodded as well and took her place behind the screens. It did not take long before Prentum took place next to her."I fear the worst." He said under his breath, and she agreed with him there although she was not going to say that out loud. She looked at the screen that showed all the cars. Kezef stood behind Samael Frost's Opel Astra GSE, they already knew what he could do and what he was going to try. But that did not mean that the others would try a similar tactic a well. She put on the headset and sighed."Alright Kezef, it is time for business." She started. "You know as well as I do how these men are like, drive your own race and keep your head in the game." He did not reply, which was a good thing. "Do you copy?""Copy." He said, she looked at Prentum who nodded at her. "I love when you are talking like that. I love you and I will try to come out of these in one piece." Prentum nodded again, many would say that this was unprofessional. But there were so many risks involved, even during a normal race and she knew that better then anybody else. The lights started to light up, the audience got silent and the roars of the cars started to fill the air. Her heart was pounding in her throat, this was it. The lights went out, and the cars drove off. Her heart kept on pounding, with every turn and with every car he passed by. Nobody made a move that was not that extremely hostile, and she was beginning to hope that it stayed like this the whole race. Prentum started to hiss when Kezef got close to a wall, he was pushed there by another driver. Nothing what is abnormal, but then another driver appeared behind him and dumped into him. Her heart stopped as she watched him bouncing against the wall and back. His tire was damaged, but the car was still able to drive. Which was strange, but she did not complain. "Pit crew ready!" Prentum screamed loudly, which was not necessary they were already standing in the right position. She took off her headset and rushed towards the pitch. The Alpha Romeo slowly entered the pit lane, he stopped right for his crew. But then slowly opened the door."Prentum there is something wrong with my leg." Kezef said, and he got out of the car. But needed to be caught by one of the crew members. Prentum cursed, this was indeed bad. "That is it, retire the car." Prentum said, but she shook her head. If they did that they would lose the points they had gained during the last race. She passed by the crew and jumped in the car. "Prentum, you have hired me for this reason." She said. The new tire was already under the car and she was more them ready to drive this thing. Prentum shook his head, but Kezef signaled the crew to let her go. Which they did, she drove off. She was all the way behind everybody, but the race was far from over. She was ready to let everybody see that a woman could drive. ****Taking over the first set of drivers was easy they were so shocked to see the Alpha that they did not put up a fight. Which was a good thing, the upper ten however were not so kind to her. But that did not matter, she clutched the wheel and maneuvered the car as she had done this all her life. She was now wheel to wheel with Samael Frost, who looked at her for a brief moment and then looked at her again. In disbelieve. Still he tried to push her into the wall, but she stepped on the brakes. He hit the wall right in front of her, but she moved the car away from it."Nicely done." Kezef said over the radio. "Keep this up, sweetheart." "I will, if you shut up." She said, with a playful tone. She was driving second just behind her stepfather, who was going to fight her at every turn and would do everything in and outside the book to keep from crossing the finish line. Again she clutched the wheel, until her knuckles were white. She had studied his every move, his every tactic, it was time to put all that study time to good use. She pushed the silent button on the radio, and signaled that towards Prentum in Morse code. Something her father had done back in the day. So Prentum knew what it meant, he probably did not expect her to repeat the things her father had done. Or did he, it was not a secret that she thought that her father was the greatest driver out there. She shook slightly her head, she was about to loss focus. This was something that she could not afford to happen. She started to get closer to him, but still left some space between the cars. So she was able to avoid him if he was going to try something. But he seemed cold towards the car that was now driving next to him, still she knew that she needed to keep an eye on this man. She saw him glance towards her from the corner of her eyes. Was he planning to do something? She knew that for sure, but what? She was not going to wait until she got an answer, she looked towards the next corner which was so close to the finish line. Dina could take him here, if she was smart. Stamping her foot harder on the gas, placing the car in a higher gear. She was about to shoot past him, he looked at her car again. What was he going to do, how was he going to react. He moved his car towards her, and she again placed the feet on the gas. He missed her by a hair, or maybe even less. But she was now a head, moving through the corner and then over the finish line. Her heart stopped, she had just being in her first ever race. Not only that, she had won. She actually had won the race, never in her wildest dreams was she able to get this result. She parked her car on the victory lane, but she was not able to get out of it. Tears of disbelieve and joy streamed over her cheeks. She was not even able to get the radio off mute. The door opened, maybe it was one of her crew members to see if she was alright. But no, it was her stepfather, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the car. Throwing her on the ground, a few members of the race comimete rushed towards the scene. "Name stepfather, what the hell do you think you are doing?" One of them asked. He bowed down and reached out his hand to help her up. But she ignored it and stood up all by herself."She cheated." stepfather replied. "No, you lost fair and square." She replied, for sure, she went over the rule book in her mind and nodded. She looked at the steward. "I was allowed to take over my teammates' car, when he was unable to continue the race. As long, I drive the same car. The only thing changed was the tire." The steward nodded. "And everybody that is present also knows that I started all the way in the back. Due to the incident, so with that in mind, I even beat the odds." But stepfather stamped his foot as if he was a toddler having a tantrum. "You are a woman, and a daughter of ... 21." He snapped."Things the commity is well aware of, still I am the back-up driver of Kezef's team. So I was allowed to participate in the race." She said, again the steward nodded. "Name stepfather, just except that you lost this race." Sameal Frost said, he winked at her. "She has beaten use." But Stepfather shook his head."I will never admit that I lost from a woman." Stepfather said loudly. "Nobody should." Dina looked at Sameal how shook his head and sighed. This was supposed to be one of her happiest moments in her life, but as usual, this man was ruining it for her. "You almost got me there, mister Frost." She said, hoping that this directed the conversation. Sameal Frost shook his head. "That is a lie, I can see that you have done your homework. Were you also the one helping Kezef out during the other race?" He asked and she nodded. "Homework, she just sent spies into our boxes. Frost." Stepfather said, now the camera's off diverse screen programs were at the scene. But none of them would report on her first victory, all of them will report this. "I do not need spies, I know what is under the hood of your Aston Martin. And do you know how I know that. Because I was there when my mother, your wife, entered your box for the first time. You were throwing all the names of the compartments at her and me. So it was not that difficult to keep track of the latest modules of those parts." She said, now one of the camera's faced her. "But it is really sad, that the man that married my mother, my stepfather, is not happy or proud of me. No, instead, he is throwing false accusations at me and souring the mood." Dina now turned towards the steward. "Let's do the ceremony." But the man shook his head and just handed over the trophy. "Here you go, you did well." The man said. This all left an empty feeling in her stomach.

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