It was only day two and Joe hadn't say so much as a word to Elizabeth. They worked separately, in silence. He would arrive after her and he always left before her. She didn't know what Joe thought he was trying to prove with this.
Elsie heard her phone ring and Joe glanced over in time to see the name 'Logan' pop up.
"Hello," Elsie basically whispered. "I'm at work. Yeah I know. I will. Okay. No. No, sorry. No sorry, Logan. Yes I promise. Yes. I love you too. Okay. I will. Bye." Through her clipped replies and quiet tone, Joe found it easy to tell she didn't want to be talking to whoever Logan was.
Elizabeth hung up with a sigh and caught the staring American.
"What?"
"What?" He repeated, with more venom in his voice than before.
"What are you staring at me for?"
"I'm not. You're just sitting in my eye-line, don't flatter yourself." Work continued and there was little movement and no noise around the room.
Elsie's phone kept going off until she earned a glare from Joe and put it on silent. Even then, the screen kept lighting up which annoyed his as much as the noise apparently.
"Are you employed at a call centre or what?"
"If the only thing you're going to say to is rude or snappy, you can keep it to yourself." Elizabeth bit back, but keeping her eyes on the computer in front of her.
"Oh I'm sorry, does your mom need to know what time you'll be home for dinner?"
Elizabeth didn't give his sarcasm an answer. She lost her mother almost two years ago now, it wasn't as sensitive a subject as it had been a little while back, but she certainly wasn't going to tell him any of it.
"My private life is called that for a reason. I'm sure you'd have a few complaints if I started asking similar questions about yours."
"Is it Logan?" Joe ignored her completely valid point. Unsure if it was to get under her skin or to figure out what was so urgent.
"Enough."
"Ouch, is that a soft spot?"
"It's nothing to do with you. What are you acting like this?" Elsie did not raise her voice at him, choosing to ignore his behaviour for the sake of the job.
"Well excuse me for trying to take an interest." His sarcasm was not the most irritating thing, it was that cruel smirk plastered on his face.
Elsie was beginning to think that the only words he would ever say to her would be rude or insulting. That was going to make her job harder, as she wasn't good at ignoring comments made directly at her. And Joe seemed to have increasingly horrible ones to make.
"Just-" She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "-just don't talk to me, if I bother you so much."
"Or how about I do what I like." He copied her actions, mockingly.
"You're childish." She shook her head.
"You're childish."
"Could you just-"
"Could you just-" Joe copied every word she said down to the frustrated noises and sighs.
To avoid him Elsie decided to just not speak, she went back to typing away. She had her earphones plugged in to her phone as she listened to music. Her playlists were carefully curated for any event and she'd made this one for her time in the office.
When Elsie looked up from the computer, Joe was staring at her.
"What now?" She asked, pulling an earphone from her ear and frowning.
"Nothing." He mumbled and looked down.
And so more time passed. The two writers knew that they'd have to speak to each other eventually as they were here writing the script together and so far hadn't spoken about the film at all. After the rudeness of Joe, Elizabeth decided that she would not be the one to begin to conversations. She didn't care how long she had to wait.
Nearly two hours passed.
"Hey, can you just let me write what I want? You can email me any ideas or whatever." Joe asked all of a sudden.
Elsie was taken aback.
"What? No." She frowned, looking over at him.
"Okay well, I'm gonna go ahead and do what I like and as I said; emails are open." He started typing and it infuriated her.
Elsie stood up and regained his attention. This was a step too far for her it seemed.
"No, this is as much my job as it is yours. You aren't my boss or superior, so can you stop acting like you're better than me?" Elizabeth was losing her temper.
Joe stood too, pacing away from the table and verbally sparring with her.
"You haven't done anything since you got here except take calls and texts from your obsessive boyfriend." Joe was a little more riled up now too.
"He's just worried about me. I struggle a bit with new environments and pe-"
"Look, I don't care who you are. I don't want to be your friend. This was my movie first and I don't give a damn about you. Got it?"
"Got it." She gave in.
Elizabeth froze for a couple of seconds before grabbing her coat and standing up ready to go.
"Ha! See what I mean? There's at least 2 more hours till the building gets locked up and you're already running off!" He scoffs and berates her as she gathers her things.
"I need to get out of this damn room."
"Yeah, like I thought. Are you going to head home to mommy and daddy now?"
"Shut up about my mum..." Elsie whispers in a venomous tone that she wasn't sure Joe could hear. She didn't care if he did or not, until he continued to taunt her.
"Oh I'm sorry? What was that?"
"Shut up about my mum!" She turned around to look him dead in the eyes. She didn't yell but her voice was firm.
And Joe knew that look. The look of a child who had lost a parent. The glossy eyes that don't spill the tears that feel empty due to the amount that came before them. He didn't say a word. What could he say to her? He couldn't do much but watch her storm out into the darkening streets of London.
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