Run | Elizabeth Olsen

seven.

NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH | 2016

New York in the dead of fall had never felt so warm to Isabella Booker. She'd visited the city in multiple occasions throughout her upbringing, and she'd always felt like the humid cold was the worst factor about the bustling city, but even the below freezing temperatures felt like a walk on a tropical island after her week in Michigan.

After a nine hour drive straight through the night with one to many health shots in between her slow water intake, and a six hour shoot at Elle headquarters with some of the most talented department heads she had ever had to privilege to work beneath, the brunette woman felt heavy on her feet, but still moved through the busy crowd as she made the journey toward Camillio's to meet Elizabeth. Still in her stiff and uncomfortable work attire, her camera bag and backpack weighed down her sleep deprived body, but she'd been anticipating this date too much to cancel last minute, so she pushed through the oncoming migraine and tremble in her fingers to see it through.

Her body was alight with all forms of sensations that were equally unnerving and tense. Her neck ached from so many hours of driving, her stomach churned from a lack of food and nutrients despite Elizabeth's daily texts reminding her to eat something, and her nerves felt like balls of fire beneath her skin as the steady increase of panic became debilitating, but through it all, Isabella kept her head high. She had been in this position so many times before and she'd always pulled through, even if her head felt like it was going to explode, the end would come eventually and then she could breathe.

When she stepped into Camillio's, the first thing Isabella noticed was a certain green eye'd Olsen waiting for her at a table in the far back corner. Her cream colored wrap coat was folded over the back of her chair, and she sipped on a hot coffee disinterestedly as she people watched, pursing her lips as she followed a middle aged man through the little cafe watching him seethe about the preparation of his latte. Isabella narrowly avoided him as she made it through the doorway, muttering beneath her breathe about rude people.

Her eye caught Elizabeth's as she made it closer to their table, a smile growing on her tired face as she pulled the baby blue beanie off of her head, and watched the blonde grin eagerly.

"Hi." She breathed out gently, her voice hoarse from so many consecutive hours of calling direction and having to project over wind machines and other voices in crowded rooms.

"Hi! I hope you don't mind, I already got a coffee. I was freezing." Elizabeth smiled bashfully, tracing the rim of the mug with her index finger.

"No, that's fine. Sorry to keep you waiting, one of the department heads kept me talking." Isabella pulled off her gloves, stretching out her fingers as she tried to bring warmth back to the pads of her digits.

"Anything good?" Elizabeth asked eagerly, taking a sip of her coffee as she watched Isabella situate herself on the chair, slowly unzipping her black puffer coat and revealing a baby pink polo.

Isabella bit down on her bottom lip, unable to stop her visible excitement from growing as she nodded her head furiously. "They want me to shoot the January cover. Michelle Williams!"

"Ellie! That's so big!" Elizabeth grinned proudly, her green eyes shining bright beneath the overhead lighting. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you." The timid girl dipped her head low, trying to hide her flustered state from the starlet across from her. Her leg bounced beneath the table, her shallow breathing not easily identifiable to the woman she shared a table with, but the small moment of celebration had brought the softest wave of peace over her tense shoulders. "The shoot today went really well. They loved my ideas which is usually hit or miss when you're on a time crunch, but Jessica pulled me aside as I was finishing up and asked if I was around next week."