Studio 22 | Mary-Kate Olsen

Chapter Thirty-Seven

February 9th 2023 - New York City - Safe Haven community Centre

I sat on the cold metal railing waiting for Mary-Kate to come out. Normally she was already here waiting for me but today she wasn't so I waited in our spot. She'd text if she hadn't come to her meeting so I knew she was here. I kicked my legs back and forth. My Doc's made my feet feel heavy so I had to add some effort into the swinging of my legs.

I assumed she stayed back to talk to her sponsor, she's been having a hard time recently. Her father came into the offices and he wasn't happy with how a few things were being run and apparently the profit margins aren't high enough. But when I last checked the girls were doing very well for themselves with the company. I know Mary-Kate very well by now and I know she does things to please her parents... She is trying to make up for all the 'shame' she thinks she caused them. She's working herself sick right now. And that is causing her to spin out.

I've picked her up from three parties these past few weeks because she's almost given into temptation. I've stayed over most weekends with her, distracting her, keeping her focused on one thing at a time, and assuring she's getting some sleep at some point in the week. I was worried about it. Really worried about her, she was worried about herself. She told me she was scared. She didn't believe she had the strength to keep resisting as the pressure of life is pushed down on her. I assured her that me and her family are here to support her.

Rachel, her bestie, is the worst person for MK to be around right now and Ashley has been doing her best to ensure they spend as little time together alone as possible. Rachel refuses to acknowledge MK was an addict and is trying to stay sober, she's constantly enticing her to go to parties and events that she has no business being at. They're set up for celebrities to essentially get high without cameras around to ruin their credibility. If she was any type of friend to MK she would try and help her avoid those types of things. But Rachel has her own vendetta.

MK comes out 30 minutes later and I am sure my butt is frozen to the railing. "Hey," I greeted her with a smile. "Hi, sorry. I needed to talk to," She pointed over her shoulder, cutting herself off but I knew what she was talking about. "Coffee or studio?" I asked her hopping off the railing. "Coffee... we still have time," She said, glancing at her watch. I nodded and we took the short walk to our usual spot.

I got the coffee whilst she picked a table, of course she chose the most secluded booth in the place. We always had a difference of opinion when it came to which table to sit at for our Monday morning Coffee. I liked the one by the big window where the sun warms you up as it pushes through the morning fog. MK liked to be as far away from people as she possibly could get. "Bad day?" I asked her when I sat down. She nodded and took her coffee, she looked exhausted. "I'll stay at your place tonight. We can have a girls night." "You stayed on Saturday," She pointed out. "I don't have anything on tonight... I'll hang back for you to finish up your phone meeting and then we can head out together." She nodded. She was getting better at accepting my help. 

We spoke about work which is her favourite topic at the moment, everything is work related, it's causing her so much anxiety because she feels like she's doing something wrong. The reason why her dad isn't happy with the company is because of her and you can't convince her otherwise. It was sad really, seeing how much pressure she was putting on herself. The media were starting up rumours about the twins too that isn't helping her mental state. She had too much on. She needed a break otherwise she'd lose it. I was waiting for her to scream at someone at work but she hasn't yet, she just takes it out on herself. I'd prefer her to shout at me than blame herself for every wrong in the entire world.

When we finished with work we took a slow walk through the park making our way to Studio 22. I had my normal running with Chole, at least that brought MK some amusement every morning we walked in together. She still finds it funny though I was growing bored of our bit we've had going on since I started here.