𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 | 𝐜. 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐳

14

[ PORTIMÃO, PORTUGAL ]
APRIL 2021

LESS THAN TWO weeks later, Reina found herself prepping for the next race in Portugal.

She, Luca, and Marcello were unloading all of their equipment from the company car. Cameras, lighting equipment, computers for editing, tripods, everything. But then, Reina heard something fall and shatter.

It was her camera.

Somehow, her secure camera bag unzipped itself and her most prized possession toppled out of it. That, or...

"Marcello!" Luca gasped.

Reina's eyes widened. There was a shards of glass from her lens that broke. Her eyes travelled from her camera on the pavement to Marcello, who was holding her camera bag, halfway unzipped.

Reina didn't know what to say. She slowly bent down, trembling, to pick up her camera. For the most part, the camera seemed okay, but the lens was completely demolished.

"Did you... did you unzip my camera bag?" spat Reina at Marcello.

Marcello shrugged. "Did you see me unzip your camera bag?"

"You're holding it!" Reina exclaimed. "And now my camera lens, which I needed this weekend for OUR JOB, is broken! I... I can't afford to replace this!"

"I guess you won't be doing much, then," was all Marcello said in reply before continuing to load equipment into the car.

Luca uncomfortably glanced between the two.

"What's your problem with me?" asked Reina, shoving Marcello's shoulder. "What did I ever do to you?"

He spun around, suddenly seething. "You being here is my problem. You, a bossy, incompetent, untalented girl with no experience at the company, gets hired for head photographer when that position was supposed to be mine. You've swooped in and took this job from someone who actually deserved it!"

Reina was taken aback. "Don't be mad at me for being hired over you."

Marcello scoffed, "You think you're so great? Don't worry. We all know you slept with Carlos for the job. Unfortunately, not all of us will stoop that low."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Consider this, Marcello. Consider that you were never a real candidate for the job. And it doesn't have anything to do with your talent, or lack thereof. It's because you are your own worst enemy," Reina said in a rage-filled whisper. "You can project every insecurity you have upon me. Your laziness. Your hateful personality. Your inferiority complex. You and I both damn well know I got the job fair and square, and that I was evaluated the same as everyone else. As for Carlos, not that I need to justify batshit to you, but I am not involved with him; the only person who needs to know that, our boss Lucia, understands and backs me completely. Instead of hating everyone else for your failures, the only person you should hate is yourself."

Marcello scoffed, but Reina continued.

"You act like you have a royal flush, but your hand is nothing more than two-of-a-kind. But I know a poker face when I see one. You are hiding something. A secret."

"And what's that?" asked Marcello, putting on a facade of confidence.

"That your granddaddy, Mario De Bartoli, was a major shareholder in Ferrari and was the only reason you got this job."

Marcello froze. Looking at his shocked expression, Reina grinned.

"That's right. Despite what you think, I don't just spend all my time screwing around with men. I do my own research, and it was actually just a three-minute Google search a couple weeks ago. I know about your grandfather's investments in Ferrari back in 1982. You've always had a foot-in-the-door here, and that led you to this sense of entitlement that you deserve to be here," said Reina. "Face it. You only got the job because of your grandfather, but your delusions have led you to believe it was your talent that did so. That conceited attitude is going to leave you in the dust. No one likes you. Your photography is sub par, at best. There's no reason to keep you around. You're old news. So you can either quit tripping yourself up and stop blaming everybody else for your mistakes, or you can continue to be bitter and end your own career."

And with that speech, Reina turned on her heel and walked away.

-

a/n
tysm for 3k reads ❤️ another early chapter for you guys as a gift