Studio 22 | Mary-Kate Olsen

Chapter Fifty-Two

July 1st 2023 - Brooklyn - Sage and Blue's Apartment

I sat on Sage's floor folding his clothes up and placing them in a case. Piece by piece all folded into neat little squares fitting perfectly next to each other. My hands shook a little but I tried to ignore the bubbling emotions as I concentrated on the task at hand. I had no time to dwell on what had happened. I have no time to even think about it. I was leaving for London tomorrow evening. I haven't packed, I haven't made all the arrangements I needed for the garments we were travelling with. I haven't even booked the car to take the team to the airport. I couldn't get wrapped up in emotions right now, so I pushed them down as far as they'd go.

"Blue!" MK called before she walked into Sage rooms tanding in the doorframe facing me. I looked up at her as the fabric slipped out of my hand and into the case falling onto the pile I had been creating. "Yeah?" "Are you taking your platform docs or your regular ones?" "I don't know." I haven't even thought about the details of my outfit. I started making a list of things I needed to take with me before all the drama started. But I never finished it. We were going from London to Paris and then back to New York so there was a lot to pack. "Why?" "I'm packing for you." "You don't have to, I'm nearly done here and then I'll go sort my things out." "It's fine, I don't mind. Save us time won't it." I nodded. "Probably my platform ones." She nodded and left me alone again to finish packing Sages things.

I took one of his hoodies off the hanger and held it against my chest pushing my face into it. I closed my eyes feeling comforted by his familiar scent wrapping around me. There's no time for this. I force myself to finish up quickly. I kept the hoodie out of the case wanting to keep it with me for the trip. I zipped the case up and wheeled it with me to the front door ready to put in the car to take to my parents house when we're on the way to MK's later this afternoon.

I tried to push Sage out my head, as hard as it was I had things to do. I had work to focus on that I had been neglecting over the past week or so. I made my way back to my room where MK was, to finish assembling my outfits. "I think I left my black silk dress at your place? Do you know if it's clean?" I wanted to wear it to the celebratory dinner. I stopped in the doorway when I noticed her holding something I had managed to keep out of her sight for months now. Not that I was hiding it from her, I just know her stance on it.

"I have a licence for it." I say before she could say anything, her eyes were glued to it as she inspected it. She didn't say anything, she just held it. I take it from her and put it back in the drawer. "I was looking for your headphone charger." She said nervous, probably over the fact I was gonna be mad that she went through my things. "I should have told you I kept it in there." I say sitting beside her. "Why do you have it?" I hold her hand. "Don't worry about it." "Sofia, it's a fucking gun!" Her nerves transferred to anger almost immediately. "It's legal." She gave me a 'seriously' look and I stopped defending myself. "You let me sleep next to that thing." "Mary-Kate, it's a gun not a rat." "A gun that can kill someone! A gun that should be kept in a case not in your nightstand and nowhere near me!" And now she was out of the initial shock she was mad. "Yes, you're right but I never used it." "Oh that makes it so much better." She stood up and started pacing around my room.

"I worked in the military. That's nothing." "It's a gun. I don't care where you worked. You work at The Row. You should have thread and fabrics in your draws." I wanted to tell her to calm down but that would just make this worse. So I let her rant at me for 20 minutes. "Why do you even have it?" She finally asked though she definitely didn't want an answer because when I opened my mouth she shot me another fierce look so I shut it again and she went on about gun safety and how much she didn't like them. The thought of having slept so close to one made her uncomfortable. "I don't feel safe." "You don't feel safe? Imagine how unsafe I felt to bring a gun home and sleep beside it every night." Her face fell and her anger washed away before being replaced by realisation.