𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

23- 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵

"Deep breaths, Enzo, calm down-" Estela started but was cut off almost immediately.

"Calm down, how the fuck am I meant to calm down when I'm doing a press conference in front of hundreds of reporters in a suit that has been made by a bunch of-" Enzo began, pacing furiously backstage as he ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"Here, have this- you need to calm down" Natalia told him, cutting him off and passing him an unusually large flask.

"Yeah, listen to Talia-" Estela spoke but cut herself off when she turned to see Natalia.

"Fuck that, never listen to Talia" Estela told him, rolling her eyes as she prized the flask from Enzo's hands.

"Hey, alcohol helps everything- I'm only trying to help" Natalia scoffed, turning to look at Estela who had a disappointed and annoyed look plastered on her face.

"You're up in 2, Enzo" A woman told him, walking away almost as soon as she walked up whilst talking to someone through her earpiece. From the looks of her clipboard, she was the event manager.

"What the fuck am I meant to do?" Enzo huffed, still pacing anxiously until Natalia forcibly stopped him, grabbing him by the arms.

"Stop, just stop- you need to look confident to feel confident and this pacing is not helping you" Natalia told him.

"Mama hasn't even shown her face yet, I can't do this without her-" Enzo started but Estela cut him off with a tut.

"Stop bringing yourself down, Enzo. You ran this business when mama was in a coma and you stopped it from going to shit. She couldn't do that, but you did. And you don't need her now, either."

"What she said" Natalia spoke afterwards, taking a generous swig from the flask.

"Don't worry about it, Enz, you'll be fine" Estela spoke, straightening his tie as the event manager exhaustedly walked over again.

"You better be right, I've got a whole collaboration deal riding on this" Enzo sighed, his breathing now slowing down to a normal rate.

"Who with?" Natalia asked, raising her eyebrows but Estela and Enzo just looked at her with deadly unimpressed expressions.

"Oookay, tough audience" Natalia spoke, eyebrows raised as she took another swig from the flask. It seemed to be her best friend at the moment.

"It's confidential, Nat, thought you'd know that" Enzo told her and Natalia just shrugged.

"Never listened to any rules. If something's confidential, it won't be when you tell me" Natalia spoke whilst Estela forced her to shove the flask back into her pocket.

"There's important people here, Talia- we don't want anyone thinking we have an alcoholic in the family."

"Killjoy" Natalia muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Enzo Maldonado, we're ready for you now" The same woman from earlier told him, now more relaxed as she waited to guide Enzo towards the stage.

"You know the rules: no politics, nothing personal and-" Natalia started before Enzo cut her off.

"And no paparazzi mugshots, got it, Nat" Enzo told her, taking one more deep breath before walking away.

"We don't need you trending on Twitter again, be careful!" Natalia shouted after him.

"Talia, you really do nothing to help people's nerves, do you?" Estela mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"My pep talks are the best to exist" Natalia defended herself but Estela just quirked her eyebrow, an expression on her face that showed she knew Natalia was lying.