When Elizabeth arrived the very next day her hair was scraped up into a messy bun and her face was bare of makeup. She didn't look any less pretty, however.
Joe watched her walk in, oddly enough she arrived after him, as she sat down in front of him.
She caught his stare and being the kind of person Elsie was, felt the need to explain why she looked so awful this morning.
"I over slept and missed the bus." The explanation was brief and mumbled but it seemed to do the trick. It wasn't like they had a boss to report to everyday. The studio that hired them wasn't very present for the writing of the screenplay.
Joe nodded slowly, trying to play it off. He didn't want to apologise for yesterday's fiasco but he knew that he should. He absolutely should, his parents raised him better then that. Except, what came out of his mouth was far far different.
"You take the bus? You can't drive?"
Elsie squinted her eyes and shook her head at his unchanged attitude towards her. He spoke like he was judging her. He was looking down on her and just being an all around arse.
"No, this is London and I can't afford it."
"You really do need this job, huh?" Joe scoffed.
"Starting to wonder if it's worth the hassle but yeah, I do." Elsie mutters and gets on with work.
Through all of their back and forth, Elizabeth's phone kept springing to life with texts. Joe seemed to have learned his lesson and didn't say a work.
Logan:
What time will you be home?
Logan:
Eli?
Logan:
Can you finish early again?
Logan:
I know you're ignoring me.
Logan:
Answer me.
Joe could see just a few of the many messages Elizabeth was being peppered with. It was crazy to him how someone could be so controlling. He sounded threatening which worried Joe a little. Would he hurt her? Had he done it before?
"God, if my girlfriend texted me like that, we would be done." Joe's comment only dawned on him once he'd said it in that snarky tone.
"Your girlfriend deserves a medal of bravery and honour for putting up with you." Elsie quipped, a bright sarcastic smile on her face.
"I meant it hypothetically. I don't have a girlf-"
"Oh so you said it to be cruel." She cut him off with the accusation. It took Joe a minute to think of a reply because he'd never been called cruel before. It was a horrid word. But there was no other way to describe his treatment of Elsie.
"Just tryin' to make conversation." Joe put his hands up in mock surrender.
"What makes you think I'd want to have a conversation with you? What part of your brain thought I would want that? You've been nothing but awful to me since I met you. I thought you'd be intimidating because of your career and professionalism but it's not that at all, you're just really bloody rude. You can't even treat a coworker with civility."
Joe had literally nothing to say to that. It was true. Offensive to hear, of course. He wasn't rude. He was just vexed that she'd stolen his job from him under his nose.
"Okay. Okay. I'll swallow my pride and we'll put this whole thing behind us for the sake of the job. I won't hate you. I just won't particularly like you. And when this whole thing is done, we never have to speak to each other again. Got it?"
"That not difficult for me, Joe. You need to ask yourself if that's a possibility."
She didn't look at him. His olive branch had been snapped in half, to Joe.
"Whatever."
