Run | Elizabeth Olsen

eight.

DECEMBER FIRST | 2016

Isabella had officially caught up on all of her editing ahead of her scheduled deadlines, closing the top of her overheating laptop just after she sent off the last file to the department head at Elle. A sense of accomplishment washed over her, taking away some of the stress that she'd slowly let accumulate within her. It was just after midnight, but the bright lights of the city told another story as faint and inaudible hollering came from the streets below, and bright windows lived to tell the tale of a wild adventure that she wasn't apart of. It brought a strange sense of connection to her lonely heart, just the simple fact of knowing that just outside of her reach, complete strangers were living their own lives separate from hers, but if they looked outside of their windows, they'd see her living room light on too. So different, but partially the same.

She hadn't heard anything from Carolina since their last conversation, and she was sure Addison didn't have a single clue about the horrendous things their middle sister had said, but she knew that her transaction had gone through, and a small piece of her heart felt connected again. Money wasn't something Isabella chose to dwell on, she was thankful and aware of her comfortable situation, but knowing that her sisters were holding onto a piece of her — even if it was a small percentage of her savings account — she felt like they were all little kids under the same roof again. So far away, but close enough.

In midnight black pajama pants and a navy blue spaghetti strap tank-top, Isabella felt like herself again. The days felt longer and the sun felt warmer on her skin even in the freezing temperatures of late fall. The pre-rolls of CBD she'd been heavily relying on had been put back in her bedside table, and with their departure from her kitchen, she felt free again. She was never going to be perfect, but that debilitating lull in her movements had subsided into passion again.

On sock covered feet, Isabella slid on the hardwood floors, emerging into the kitchen in need of some water and a snack. She'd once again foregone dinner, and her empty belly didn't approve of her commitment to work as it growled and ached with hunger pains. With half of a bagel between her teeth, Isabella pressed a glass against her refrigerator door, filling it with ice before water. As a child she hated cold water, she refused to drink it if it felt like even one ice cube had melted away inside the glass, but now she craved it and the way it made her body feel alive with endless energy. She set the glass on the countertop, opening her refrigerator and pulling out the cream cheese she hoped hadn't expired yet.

She danced around her kitchen like a high school cheerleader getting ready for a big game, content with this little moment of weightlessness before the storm came again and she spent days and hours hoping between studios and switching out lenses and hard drives. Her chestnut brown hair was pulled off her neck and up into a high bun, loose strands falling out from her sporadic movements, but she didn't care either way. With her black glasses over her eyes and her coziest set of winter pajamas on her body, she had deemed tonight the perfect night in.

She'd only just finished her half of a bagel when her phone pinged in the living room, and with little momentum, she glided back across the hardwood floors and picked it up.

E. Chase
I'm stuck in an emergency layover
in Charlotte. I'm scheduled to fly
into JFK by 4:12. Pick me up? Please?
*image attached*

Isabella laughed seeing the selfie Elizabeth had attached to her message, a very dramatic pout on her full pink lips as she sat on the floor of the first class lounge and leaned up against the wall. She looked exhausted, but Isabella figured that was a natural response after flying cross country twice in twenty-four hours.

She didn't even have to think about her response. She'd offered to pick Elizabeth up at the airport, and she wasn't going to disappoint now when her friend looked so beside herself. Isabella knew Elizabeth didn't like flying to begin with, but spending nearly half her day in an airport full of strangers and adding an emergency layover onto that roster was like someone above had it out for her.