Falling For My Boss

Chapter 7

~~~~Y/N's POV~~~~
When I get to Hailee's house, it's evident that she's not waking up yet, and since there's nothing in her schedule until a meeting with Feige later this afternoon, I do some errands. Most of which I just do by ordering things online. She gets groceries delivered and everything. It doesn't take me long to have errands caught up, so I just sit on the couch to wait. Chill days like this are going to be few and far between here soon, with Marvel training moving to daily sessions, and filming starts in less than 3 months, so I'll take advantage of it while I can. I'm still a bit tired. My anxiety was through the roof last night, so I'm sure my sleep was less restful than it could have been. I'm scrolling through Tik Tok when I fall asleep. I wake up smelling coffee.
"Hey, sleepyhead! You ready for your first inside look at Marvel?" Hailee sits next to me on the couch, and I jolt up.
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry Ms. Steinfeld, I didn't mean to-"
"You're fine, we had a late night. Usually you're a tiny bit off after one of those." She sips her coffee. It's the one I brought her, so she must have reheated it.
"Well, I ordered your groceries and scheduled some appointments for you before I fell asleep. Want a rundown?"
"Of course you did," She says sincerely. "Sure thing, give me the deets." We quickly go over the additions to her schedule. "Well, I'll just go and get dressed and whatnot for the meeting. You can go back to sleep if you need to," she says as she heads toward her room.
"No, no I'm fine," I say, but a yawn betrays me, and she laughs. "Is there anything you need before we go?" At least we seem back to normal after last night.
"Nope! Seriously, take a nap." She disappears into her bedroom just as the doorbell rings. Must be the grocery delivery. I answer the door and am greeted by none other than Florence Pugh standing next to the delivery driver, who looks starstruck.
"Oh hi! You must be y/n! Hailee told me she hired an assistant," Florence smiles and reaches to shake my hand.
"Hi, yes, that's me! She's in her room if you want to head inside and wait while I get these groceries," I say, tilting my head toward the driver, who slipped behind Florence when she greeted me. She nods and enters the house while I exit, reaching to take some of the bags from the driver. "Hey, thanks. You can leave the rest on the porch, I'll get them inside."
"I can help!" The driver almost yells it, and I can tell they're hoping for more celebrity interaction.
"Oh, that's okay. I appreciate the offer." I hope they don't push it, I hate having to put my foot down in these situations. It always feels a little sad when a delivery comes and the driver sees or hears Ms. Stienfeld inside and I have to keep people from meeting her. I don't even confirm that it's her when they ask, just in case. Her privacy is my top priority. As the driver sets the rest of the bags down they lean in conspiratorially and whisper.
"Is this Hailee Steinfeld's house?" And here is where my acting skills come in handy.
"No." I say with a little confused head tilt.
"Really? Cause that was Florence Pugh." They look disappointed.
"Oh! That was my boss's best friend. She's a Flo look alike. She does competitions and everything." My voice is calm and vaguely uninterested, which should seal the deal. Their eyes go wide.
"No way! She looks just like her!"
"Yeah, my boss talks about it all the time. Cool to finally see her in person though." I grab the rest of the groceries and turn toward the house, throwing another thanks over my shoulder before kicking the door shut behind me.
"Oh, you're good." I hear Florence say as I start unloading.
"Thanks," I feel my cheeks flushing, and I clear my throat. "Ms. Steinfeld didn't tell me you were coming."
"I didn't tell her myself." Just as she tells me that, I hear Hailee open her bedroom door down the hall.
"Hey, Y/N! I hear voices, is someone else here?" Before I can answer in the affirmative, Florence's hand clasps over my mouth, and her other hand grabs my arm. When I don't answer, Hailee comes into the kitchen to see me struggling to free myself. "Flo! What are you doing in my kitchen? And why are you man-handling my assistant?" Hailee's second question comes out less surprised than I expected.
"She was about to ruin the surprise!" Florence lets go of me and runs over to hug my boss. "Ugh! I've missed you!"
"Same. But you ruined my surprise!"
"What?" Florence and I say in unison.
"Y/N didn't know any details about the meeting because I wanted her to be surprised to see one of her favorite actresses there today! Although, I had assumed you'd be on zoom." Hailee swats Florence on the arm, and I feel my hands go clammy. I had been playing it so cool, but Florence is one of my favorite actresses, and the reminder seems to make my anxiety spike up. Or maybe it's because Ms. Steinfeld remembered that. I'm pretty sure I only mentioned it once when I first started.
"Ooh, one of your favorites, huh?" Florence looks at me and wiggles her eyebrows.
"Uh, yeah." I feel my face getting warm, and I think Hailee can tell I'm a little embarrassed, because she grabs Florence and drags her back to her room.
"Come on, let her do her job and we'll catch up while I do my makeup." Before they close the door I hear Florence stage whisper.
"She is cuter..." but the rest of whatever she says is cut off by the door and I just hear mumbling. Nonetheless, my stomach flutters. I put the rest of the groceries away and try to distract myself from the urge to eavesdrop. I've never really wanted to before, and I hate that all it took was Florence calling me cute. Before I've finished though, they come back into the kitchen.
"Y/N, what kind of yogurt do you buy for my parfaits?" Hailee asks me as Florence sits down at the island.
"Uh, just regular greek yogurt. Sometimes if they're out of regular I let them substitute it with vanilla."
"Okay. Cool." She sounds a little muffled, and when I turn from the cabinet I'm stocking, I see her digging through the fridge.
"Did you want me to make parfaits?" I ask her, lifting a brow.
"No! I'm going to make them." Her head pops up and I watch as she gets everything out and puts it on the counter.
"So, y/n. If I'm one of your favorite actresses, who are some others?" Florence asks, breaking my focus.
"Oh, well, Ms. Steinfeld of course," I reply, with a little smirk.
"Of course." Florence shakes her head at me.
"Uh, I also love Elizabeth Olsen, Angela Bassett, Taraji P. Henson, Cate Blanchett," I pause, "I could keep going, but the list would probably get way too long."
"Ah, so not a prestigious club to be in, your favorites?"
"Just because there are a lot of members doesn't make it any less prestigious," Hailee chimes in. "Y/N has some really great observational skills."
"Oh?" Florence lifts her brows.
"I went to acting school and I just like watching different techniques, I guess," I kind of brush off the compliment.
"Oh, come on, tell her something you've noticed in her performances." Hailee chides, knowing I'm deflecting.
"It's not like a thing, Boss. I'm not like a critic or anything."
"It's a thing to me." Hailee says simply, sliding parfaits to Florence and I. Florence nods and takes a bite.
"Oh, fine," I take a breath. "With Ms. Pugh, one thing I tend to fixate on is genuine humanity." I turn slightly to directly address Florence. "Uh, for example, in Black Widow, Yelena has this moment when she's trying not to cry, and she takes a steadying breath, you know? At the table at Melina's house? And it really struck me as just so human. You never like over-do emotions, or under-perform them, they just- are. And you always have this sense of reality that you bring with you on the screen that really endears the audience to your characters."
"Thank you," Florence says, looking away from me slightly. We all eat in silence for a minute before Florence clears her throat and meets my eyes. "What about Hailee?"
"Oh gosh, I don't know if I feel comfortable analyzing my boss's performances in front of her," I say, glancing at Hailee.
"No, by all means, what do you like about my acting?" She asks it casually, but her eyes tell me she's dead serious. She really wants to know what I think.
"Okay. Well, it's a little bit silly, but it's the way you do nervousness. You have this energy in every role that's just a little bit excited and anxious, and it's different in each character, but it's always there. It's a very Zillenial energy, honestly. And it makes every character so likable. Like with Kate Bishop, it's in every interaction with Clint, with Emily Dickenson, it's in every scene where she discusses publishing. Emily Junk is the epitome of that energy in Pitch Perfect 2." I stop for a second, then add, "You have a similar energy with Yelena that you have with Clint, but the added danger of her undefined morals kind of makes it sexy."
"Sexy?" Hailee blurts out at the same time Florence bursts into laughter. I feel my face turning bright red.
"We were not going for sexy," Florence says when she stops laughing.
"We were going for sisterly!" Hailee looks at me so confused.
"I don't know what to tell you. Your scene with the mac and cheese and the fight scene in the finale both feel super flirty to me."
"Do a lot of people think that or is it just you?" Florence asks me.
"Uh, a lot of people. There are literally so many edits on tik tok that people make shipping Kate and Yelena." I've dug the hole, now I guess I'll just jump in. "Also, that hug at the end of Black Widow when Natasha finds Yelena in the rubble was a little sexually charged. Every time I watch it I'm like 'Why does it feel like they were about to kiss?' and I cannot explain it." Now Hailee bursts into uncontrollable laughter.
"Okay okay, so I have an issue with sisterly affection," Florence says to Hailee.
"Just as Yelena," I add. "Could just be how queer her energy is. Ms. Steinfeld always has queer energy. Literally every single role she has ever played feels like a gay character."
"I've kissed several men on screen." Hailee says to me.
"So?" I say, grabbing the dishes. "Honestly, Boss, that's a little Biphobic."
"Or Panphobic!" Florence adds excitedly.
"Yeah!" I laugh, feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. I pull it out as Hailee is apologizing. "Our car is here, ladies." I might possibly have gotten a little too comfortable there for a second.
We all pile into the car out front, Florence pulling me into the backseat between her and Hailee when I head for the front seat. I make sure the driver has the right address, and Hailee closes the partition. God, if you would have told me a year ago that I'd be sitting in between Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld in the backseat of a car, I would have passed out. I check my work phone for any notifications, and Florence grabs it out of my hand and puts her phone number into it.
"That's her work phone, Flo," Hailee informs her.
"And?" Florence hands it back to me, and I give her a small smile as Hailee shakes her head.
"How you feeling?" Hailee asks me.
"Oh, uh, fine, Boss."
"You're not nervous to meet Feige?"
"No, it's not like I'm auditioning for him."
"Right," Florence says, really quickly.
"Right," I emphasize, furrowing my brow at both of them. Hailee is shooting daggers at Florence. "Right?" I ask, my blood pressure spiking.
"Of course you're not auditioning, y/n. You think I'd give up the world's best assistant?" Hailee nudges me.

~~~~~Hailee's POV~~~~~
Today is the day! Flo and I have been planning a little something at this meeting today, and I cannot wait to see y/n's reaction. When I get up and go out to the living room, I see y/n asleep on the couch. She looks so cute, her face scrunched into the crook of her arm. I resist the urge to take a picture of her and go heat up my coffee before I wake her up. Her embarrassment is almost cuter than her squishy sleeping face, honestly. She gives me a rundown of what she did already (before falling asleep, again: incredible assistant!) and I can't help but smile. She's literally glowing, talking about what she got done this morning. When I head into my room to get ready, I'm even more excited for the meeting later.
As I get dressed, I hear the unmistakable timbre of conversation in the kitchen, and wonder if the delivery person wormed their way inside. It's happened before, once or twice, but Y/n always gets rid of them easily. When I call for Y/n and get no response though, I get slightly worried. I head into the kitchen to see none other than Flo standing there, holding y/n hostage. Of course she'd man-handle my assistant. I am unspeakably glad she came though! I greet her and give y/n some light teasing, as she did tell me Flo is one of her favorite actresses. She is holding it together, but I can tell she's a little starstruck. Then, I drag Flo to my room before we can embarrass y/n too much. As I go to close the door, Flo excitedly whispers. "She is cuter in person! Like insanely cute! And a good actress, she pulled some moves on that delivery person." I desperately hope y/n didn't hear anything before I closed the door.
"I know, she does it all the time. Acts like she has no idea who I am when people ask her if they're seeing me. We saw a fan while I was checking out a location for a shoot, and she quite literally had them listing my roles trying to explain who I was. When I was done with my thing I went and said 'hi,' and the fan almost didn't believe me!"
"Damn."
"I know, I had to grab her to explain why she was acting like that before they were like 'oh ok!' I bought them an ice cream to make up for the confusion"
"I wish I had someone to convince paps I wasn't me."
"She's still working on that one, since some of them know this is my house."
"Ah. Sooooo, does she really not know about today's secret audition, or did you manage keep that under wraps?" She teases me.
"I can keep a secret, Flo," I roll my eyes at her.
"You can't keep your eyes from lingering on her, though, that much is obvious."
"Thank you, Florence," I sarcastically bow toward her.
"Are you excited though?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
"Very. She loves Marvel, and she hasn't acted in a long time, so I'm hoping this'll be awesome for her." I wanted to give her an opportunity to act as a thanks for being so amazing.
"It will," Flo grins at me. "Now, can we go back out there so I can assess how much she likes you back?"
"Oh stop it." I shove her.
"How could she not, Hailee?" Flo laughs, and we head back out to the kitchen.
The three of us start talking about acting, and I notice when y/n tells Flo about her observations, Flo gets a little overwhelmed by the compliment, but we use the opportunity to get y/n to tell me a little bit about what she sees in my acting, and her response makes me think that she must miss being able to do this kind of thing all the time. She sounds like she's giving a dissertation, but in the best way. Like she really knows what she's talking about and is passionate about it.