It had been a long day, but a good one. Any day she got to see the gossip column's editor getting shot down by Gregson was a good day. The – very public – debate of the day had been who was more qualified to cover the Toronto Film Festival: the arts department or the gossip department. It was a no-brainer in Elsie's mind, but Violet Crawley had still insisted it was important to get all the "celebrity coverage" of the event. The old bat probably just wanted a free trip to Canada.

Obviously that didn't fly with Gregson – they may not be needing budget cuts anymore, but it wasn't like they were throwing money out the window. In any case, she would miss Beryl, who was now getting ready to go home and start packing, grumbling all the way. Her friend put up a nice front, but Elsie knew she secretly loved film festivals, mostly because it was socially acceptable to boo at the end of a screening.

It was half past midnight and she had ran out of excuses to stay at work. Saying goodbye to Beryl, she got up and left the newsroom, surprised to see Charles' desk empty – he usually liked to work late.

Ever since their outing – she refused to call it a date – a couple of weeks ago, she'd been thinking more and more about him. She shouldn't be, she reasoned. She may be done with Joe, but it was too soon to even think about starting anything with anyone. And this was assuming he would want to start something with her. Which, judging by the way he was snuggling up to that woman in the lobby earlier in the day, he didn't.

She was stunned as she got out the elevator to grab lunch and saw him with his arm around the stranger's shoulders. She was lovely, Elsie remarked sadly. A bit older than herself, probably, but with a pretty smile and an elegance about her that had Elsie feeling jealous. She hid behind one of the lobby's pillars before Charles and his woman could see her – she couldn't stomach an introduction. It wasn't until they walked out of the building and crossed the street that she started breathing again.

The look on Charles' face haunted her on her way home. He looked happy and relaxed, and the way he looked at the woman, as if he had never seen anything so beautiful before... It would be an exaggeration to say it broke her heart, but, as she walked, feeling the cold air on her face, she couldn't think of any other way to put it.

X

"Tell me everything"

"There isn't a lot to tell, actually"

"Oh, come on, there must be something"

"I saw Bradley Cooper"

"You didn't! How's he like?"

"Handsome"

"You don't say. Tell me more"

"There's nothing to say. Some skinny girls, some gorgeous men, but since I'm married I can't do anything about it, a lot of press, a lot of good movies..."

"Oh, I see. You're upset because you didn't get to boo anything yet"

"Not one tiny little thing! Not one little short movie worthy of booing! Why in the name of the Lord did I come here for?

"To do your job, maybe?"

"Any idiot with half a brain could write about a good movie!"

Elsie laughed. After the horrible day she'd had, talking with Beryl was the one she could count on to lift her spirits.

X

It had been four days since Elsie saw Charles with the woman in the lobby and she had been avoiding him ever since. It hadn't been hard - with the amount of work she had been having lately, she was able to successfully avoid even herself.

But as she grabbed a cup of coffee in the newsroom's shared kitchen, she allowed herself a moment to get lost in thought. She had gone back to therapy - a move even she didn't see coming after that disastrous first attempt with young Dr. Hobbes that made her all but run out the door. But Dr. Stone was a bit older, and, more importantly, a woman, so Elsie felt more confident that she could understand her.

She had tried meditation, but found she was terrible at it. Instead, she'd started to take walks in the park near the newsroom during her lunch breaks, instead of eating chinese takeout in front of the computer. So now, everyday, she had one hour completely to herself, with no phone and no distractions. She started looking forward to that moment, when she could be alone and think and simply let herself feel. It was her own kind of medidation, in a way.

She hadn't joined the gym yet, as she told herself she would, but let's be honest, that was probably too much to hope for.

She was doing much better, she thought, smiling to herself.

"Good news?"

She froze. Damn it. She had been so good at avoiding him.

"Nothing too interesting", she turned to him and smiled tightly.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for days now. You seem to vanish into thin air everytime I try to talk to you"

"The election is in two weeks, Mr. Carson. I haven't had the time to breathe"

He frowned at her dismissive tone and her chest tightened. She didn't need to be so harsh. He had done nothing wrong and, if she was honest with herself (which she made a point to never be), she missed him.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that", he continued. "I've been meaning to ask you to lunch. There's someone I want you to meet"

Even before he had gotten the words out, she knew she was going to meet the beautiful woman from the lobby. Part of her wanted absolutely nothing to do with his new relationship, but another part of her, much smaller, was proud he seemed to want her approval.

"Of course. Tomorrow?"

"I was hoping today, actually. I'm flying to Nashville tomorrow"

"Oh?"

"Yes. We haven't talked in a while" he smiled sadly "The American Economic Association is holding a series of meetings to discuss the country's economic scenarios post-election. You know, what's going to happen after Trump wins"

Any other day, his comment would have gotten a rise out of her and they would spend the next fifteen minutes bickering like an old married couple. Instead, she just told him she would meet him in the lobby in an hour so that they could go to their favorite restaurant, the one they've spent many late nights in grabbing coffee and dessert after a long day of work.

She had a feeling their days bickering like an old couple were soon coming to an end.

X

"My God, man, I've never seen you so agitated!" she said as they walked down the street towards the restaurant.

"I just want to make sure she's there" he answered, not looking up from his phone "And, of course, I want you to like each other"

She smiled, although he wasn't paying attention to her. In that moment, she felt it was all going to be okay - she could focus on how important it was to him that she liked his girlfriend, how this was proof he valued her opinion and friendship highly and that this meant she had a special place in his life.

Yes, she could do that. She wasn't a teenager about to throw a fit because the guy she likes doesn't like her back.

They had barely set foot in the restaurant before she spotted The Woman From The Lobby, who was waiting for them with a warm smile. Elsie liked her already. She seemed a good match for Charles.

"What took you so long?" the woman asked when they reached her.

"I am three minutes late", Charles answered.

"Yes, you can imagine how worried I was" she smiled, turning to Elsie "He's never been late to anything in his life"

"Oh, don't I know it", Elsie smiled back.

"You two can't turn on me before I introduce you", Charles said, putting an arm around Elsie "Elsie, this is Isobel. Isobel, this is, finally, Elsie".

X

Isobel, Elsie laughed to herself, of course. Like something out of a bad romance movie, she'd been worked out over a woman who turned out to be related to the man she was interested in. She should have seen it coming, honestly.

As they sat down, Elsie was only half-listening to the sibling's banter. Instead, she couldn't stop thinking about the way Charles had put his arm around her and said "finally" as he introduced her to his sister.