Genevieve "Phoenix" Benali is a 22 year old film student at UCLA. When she gets the opportunity to join the crew of Infinity War, she catches the attention of one of the biggest stars on the planet.
"You got tickets to Hamilton?! And in New York?!" Phoenix practically shouted. "I would punch my sister in the face for tickets."
"Well, that's the thing... I got some personal intel from a source who told me you were a fan."
"It was Lizzie, wasn't it?"
"Maybe." He smiled. "Anyways, I wanted to know if you would go with me?"
"Go with you to New York to see Hamilton?" Phoenix repeated. "Are you asking me on a date, Chris?"
"Hmm..." He took a second to think before answering. "I am. Would that be inappropriate?"
"On the contrary, I think it'd be quite appropriate."
"I tried to ask you out before and you kinda brushed it off." Chris spoke quietly. "That night at the bar..."
"Did you? Gosh, I don't even remember." Phoenix admitted. "I would love to go out with you. Just give me a couple days to figure out the logistics."
"Allow me." He smiled. "Your schedule for next week has a couple of empty spots for 'creative writing' according to the Russo's. If you're free on Wednesday, as I am, we could fly to NYC in two hours on Downey's private jet."
"Wow um..." Phoenix trailed off as she wasn't quite sure what to say. Sure, she knew Chris had a bit of a crush on her but she would've never expected him to go to these lengths just to plan a first date for them. Matter of fact, she didn't even know how or when she had caught Chris' attention in the first place considering the fact that he didn't even seem to notice her until a little over a month ago.
"Please don't feel pressured to say yes." Chris added. "It's all up to you and I wholeheartedly respect any decision you come up with."
"Oh it's not that I don't want to go." Phoenix assured. "I'm just surprised is all."
"A good surprised?"
"Yes, actually." She nodded. "Pre first date question: How aware are you of your traumas and suppressed emotions and tell me how you are actively working to heal them before you project it on me?"
"I uhh..."
"I'm joking Chris." Phoenix said with a laugh. She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder after giving him another hug. "I'll text you later."
He smiled. "I look forward to it."
As Phoenix headed to her car, where Tom was already waiting for her, she pulled out her phone to text her sister Julie back. She had been bugging Phoenix for a couple days about some wedding details, which she hadn't had time to look into thanks to her hectic schedule. After replying to her sister, Phoenix scrolled through her twitter timeline, liking a few tweets before composing her own.
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@darthphoenix: Y'all still can't get Hamilton broadway tickets? Can't relate. See ya next week NY 3:19pm • 4/11/17 • Twitter for iPhone
@lukasabbat: @darthphoenix you're coming to NY? 🤔
@darthphoenix: @lukasabbat the person you are trying to reach is not available, please try again later 😂
"Took you long enough." Tom commented as Phoenix approached her car. Rather than sitting in her 2017 red Mini Cooper, he was leaning against the passenger door. "Did Chris finally ask you out?"
"Finally?" Phoenix repeated. "Why finally?"
"Because he's been into you since Downey's game night." He responded as if it were the most obvious thing ever. "It took him an entire month just to ask you out."
"What?"
"You're telling me you didn't notice?"
"Well I'm not saying that." Phoenix shrugged. "I just don't think he's been into me for a month. Maybe a week or two."
"Nah, it's been a month. Everyone knows it." Tom stated. He decided to leave out the fact that multiple people had asked about his and Phoenix's friendship within a week and a half time frame. He had gotten questions from Scarlett, Mackie, and Don Cheadle among others which made him wonder whether he and Phoenix could actually work in a relationship.
"Everyone?!" She questioned.
"Pretty much."
Phoenix couldn't hide the frown on her face. She didn't even think of how her constantly talking to Chris and now agreeing to go on a date with him would make her look, professionally. The opportunity to work on this movie with the Russo's was such a dream come true for her and an invaluable opportunity that no one else in her class would've even been close to achieving. She began to think of all the things people could say about her seeing Chris outside of work and how it could possibly affect her getting hired on future movies. What would people say about a crew member getting romantically involved with a cast member? Would the crew hate her? Would the cast hate her? More importantly, what would the Russo's say?
