WinterWitch: Control

Chapter 13

Wanda POV

"Shit..." I muttered, shutting my eyes and leaning my head against the wall. I wasn't ready for this. I really wasn't. I knew I would force myself to do it anyway, but I was struggling to think straight. Half the research from last night had gone out of my head and I was still distracted by thoughts of waking with James this morning.

"Maximoff, get it together." Natasha was really starting to piss me off. I wanted to slap her.

"Easy for you to say," I snapped back.

"No, it's not. I did this exact same thing three years ago, so shut up and get your act together."

I turned around to give her a piece of my mind but she was already walking away from my dressing room. She slammed the door behind her. I sighed and turned to the huge mirror, trying to let the anger towards her diffuse a little. "Get it together," I whispered to myself, repeating Natasha's words.

A member of staff quickly popped their head in. "Five minutes until you're on. I'll wait outside for you, Miss Maximoff." I barely saw the man's face who had told me the information before they had disappeared.

I stood up and brushed off my dress. I didn't know what I was brushing off, but it felt like something that needed to be done. I was wearing a smart black dress and my hair had been professionally positioned in a tight ponytail. I hated it because it hurt my head and it didn't look like me. My hair was usually styled in a messy bun.

However, Natasha had clearly stated that I needed to make a good impression. I tried not to fiddle with the mic on my dress as I scratched an itch on my neck. I heard a knock at the door and took that as my queue to leave. I nearly fell over my heels as I reached the door handle, but managed to recover. Let's hope that doesn't happen on stage.

The man standing outside escorted me from my room to the stage door. I could hear the muttering of the audience, the camera members talking amongst each other and the presenter shuffling her papers together at her desk. I could also feel the excited energy in the room. It relieved me that nobody was currently scared.

"Everhart will ask you a few questions," the man explained. I read his badge - Derek. "And then the audience will be allowed to ask a few questions."

"What will she ask me?"

"Just this and that, some stuff about your childhood."

"ONE MINUTE TILL SHOWTIME!" I heard someone shout from beyond the stage door, obviously the producer or director.

"One piece of advice I will give you is that you need to be prepared," he said at the same time as texting someone on his phone. He only looked up for the last sentence. "No question is off limits with this woman."

"Great," I muttered back, but he was too interested in his phone. I noticed the countdown on the wall which was now at 20 seconds.

"It's going to be fine," Natasha said from behind me. I spun around, forgetting that she was even meant to come on stage with me. She would be assessing the questions asked and guiding me if I said something wrong or if a question wasn't appropriate.

I nodded and turned back to the door. "Maximoff, you'll be on first to be followed by Romanoff."

The countdown reached zero and the 'ON AIR' sign lit up red. I breathed out and calmed the red energy inside me. We did not need an incident right now. "And I would like to welcome to you our guests today - Wanda Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff." Derek opened the door for us to walk through.

"Camera on door," he said into the mic, whatever that meant. "Go!" He ordered, looking at me like I was stupid. I hadn't been given many directions so I didn't think I was being stupid.