Higher [S.S fanfiction]

1

Excitement, fear, apprehension,
happiness and trepidation. Those are some of the feelings Emilia is having while standing in front of the Marvel Studios.

This has always been a dream of hers, standing where some of her favorite movies while growing up were made, learning from the best and getting an insight into what makes Marvel one of the biggest inspirations for little boys and girls, and even adults, who simply refuse to let go of that tiny hope that someday they too will have a super power. Adults like her, if we're being honest. But now, standing in front of that rectangular red sign, all she can feel is all of the above. What if she screws up? She is practically fresh out of college, after all, she has next to zero experince. Pull yourself together. You want this. And taking a deep breath, clutching her bag closer to her, she pushes the door forward and makes her way to the reception desk, where a round faced blond woman shoots her an apologetical glance, mouthing a small "sorry", while answering the the phone.

Emilia takes this extra time to look around the place and is instantly in complete awe. It's an ample space where the main color is white; a white ceiling, a white tiled floor with a small sitting area and white walls, except for one. The wall on the left of the reception desk is floor to ceiling covered in marvel art, from the superheroes to the villains and Emilia can't help the bubble of excitment growing in her belly.

"Hello miss, I'm sorry about the wait. How can I help you?" This stops her reverie and sending a small smile to the receptionist Emilia fishes her agenda.

"Hi, I'm the new assistant for Claire Holt, the marketing director, and I was told to be present in the 9am meeting in the conference room number 2. Could you maybe point me in the right direction?" The blond receptionist whose name tag read "Jane" got up from her chair and with a bright smile extended her hand for a handshake. "It's very nice to meet you, I'm Jane and I shall be escorting to your meeting today," she went around the reception desk, smoothing her grey knit coat, and handed Emilia a lanyard pass, which, surprisingly, already had her photo and name printed, "this is your id pass, you should carry it with you at all times around here, as sometimes fans like to come and try their luck at meeting one actor or two and this way we know you're a part of the team", she added.

Emilia smiled gratefully and put the lanyard around her neck. Jane led her through a large hallway filled with photographs, some of which her new and some older, their edges having a slightly yellow-ish tone. Seeing her curious glance, Jane explained, "they're sorted according to the evolution of the studio and its workers and casts. Stan Lee likes to come by sometimes and assort them himself". Emilia couldn't help but smile at this piece of information while adding, "It's like you guys are all a huge family". They had stopped in front of a dark grey door with a "2" inscripted in the middle. Jane turned to Emilia and patted her shoulder "The good thing about working here is precisely that. Everyone tries to be nice to each other and once you're in the inner circle I honestly don't see a possible way back," she chuckles and clutches her clipboard closer, "Go on, have a good first day, I'm sure you'll feel at home. If there is anything you need, you know where to find me.".

Emilia couldn't feel more grateful for the kind blond woman's help. She always felt like first impressions were to be taken seriously and the last think she wanted was a bad one from her dream job. Offering Jane what Emilia hoped was a grateful smile, she took a deep breath before opening the, slightly heavier than it looked, grey door. As she already imagined, the conference room was a large one, with a black slick table in the middle, surrounded by five chairs on each side and one on the head of the table. There were already four people in the room, all of which turned their heads torwards the door as it opened. Emilia identified all of them imediatly as Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson and the Russo Brothers, the former offering a kind smile and getting up from where he was sitting on the table, waving Emilia over, who, frankly, didn't know what she was more worried about: falling face first on the floor in front of her future coworkers, or fangirling in their faces. Breathe.

"Hello", Scarlett was the first to speak, following Chris' example and getting up, offering a kind smile, "You must be the new member of the marketing team these two won't shut up about" she added, motioning to Joe and Anthony Russo, who both wore a proud smile behind her.

Emilia settled her bag and coat on a vacant chair and smiled, extending her hand, "Hi, that would be me, yes. I'm Emilia". Chris was the first to shake her hand, the rest following after. "Emilia?", the former asked, "Not Emily?", he concluded. Emilia let out a laugh. The most common question she'd gotten since moving to America.

"No, not Emily. I'm portuguese." Chris let out a surprised expression and nodded his head with a soft smile.

"Well, Emilia, welcome to the fam, the rest of the crew should be here shortly", Joe Russo offered with a kind smile. Wait, rest of the crew? Chris and Scarlett are here, does that mean... "Hum, sorry to ask but the rest of the crew? As in?" Emilia fiddled with her left hand's golden ring.

"Well, we're expecting Claire, whom you already know, and Sebastian. I think no one else is coming today...", Anthony glanced at Scarlett for confirmation, who nodded affirmatively, "Yeah, that's all. The rest of the cast is still on vacations.", he concluded, with a roll of his eyes and a laugh.

"Oh, Sebastian, as in Sebastian Stan?", Emilia asked hopefully. Chris Evans let out a heartfelt laugh, tipping his head back, "You're a Seb girl? Gosh, he's not gon' stop bragging about this." Chris said, everyone in the room agreeing with him. Emilia blushed and looked at her feet, fiddling with her ring once again, "No, not exactly," she awkwardly smiled, "We - ". Scarlett interrupted Emilia, slapping Chris on the arm, the latter faking hurt, "Seriously Chris, stop embarrassing the poor girl. Emilia, trust me, we've all been there at some point", she winked, making Emilia blush even more. Lucky for her, the conversation was dropped when the door opened, revealing Claire.

Claire Holt was a gorgeous redheaded woman, who sported what Emilia thought was the kindest smile she had ever seen since her mother's. They had met previously, as Claire had been the one to interview Emilia for the job. She had won considerable points in Emilia's consideration, since from the beggining she had been nothing but honest about the job, warning Emilia about the early mornings, occasional late nights and the stress it came with being a part of an enterprise as wide as Marvel Studios, yet also always assuring Emilia that for whatever she would need, Claire would be there to guide her.

"Is Sebastian late again?", she looked around the room. Hanging her jacket on the rack behind the door, she quickly went over to Emilia, offering her a kind smile and a one-armed hug, to the former's surprise, who quickly responded to the gesture, "Hello, darling, you were early, that's good! I hope these ones didn't give you much grief", she smiled at Scarlett and Chris, who had started protesting, "So, Jeremy isn't coming today", said Claire while rummaging through her bag. Scarlett let out a snort, elbowing Chris, "Hear that, C, Jeremy isn't coming today", she repeated, with a teasing smile, making Chris let out another laugh. He sure laughs a lot. Claire attempted to glare at the duo but ended up just shaking her head and sitting down next to Joe, who watched the scene with an amused smile.

"See, Emilia," started Chris while sitting next to Claire, "Claire and Jeremy are close. Very, very close", he finished, dodging Claire's hand that was certainly intended to hit his arm. "We're just friends," she protested, huffing a breath, "but that doesn't matter now. Where is Sebastian, after all? I swear that kid will be late to his own marriage-" once again the conversation was interrupted by the door and this time it revealed Sebastian Stan himself, with his leather jacket half off and a smile on his face.

"Claire come on doll, it's not wrong to be fashionably late for your own wedding", he said, dropping a wink and leving his jacket beside Claire's on the coat rack. When he finally turned to sit at the table his blue eyes scanned everyone in the room, suddently stopping on a pair of familiar hazel ones. It couldn't be.

"Emmie?"

Emilia suddently felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart was beating louder than ever, it was all she could hear and she was sure everyone in the room could hear it too. She was suddently 17 years old all over again, telling the love of her life she would be leaving the country the next day.

A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first attempt at writting a fanfiction and it's one thing I've always wanted to do. English is not my first language so bear with me. Thanks so much for reading and if you liked it leave a comment or a vote, please. :)