A/N: Alright folks...here's my contribution to our Skins Fics Book Club One-shot challenge!
Huge shout outs to MsWitsEnd, TheAeacusProject and dammit Naomily for playing along :)
So here you go...as promised babes...good morning ;)
Disclaimer: As far as I know, this museum is a real place, I did take massive liberties with the layout, displays, and owners names and really tried to make it as real as possible...you can bet that when MsWitsEnd and I do our Eurotrip, we are definitely stopping here!
A Day At The Museum
The air seemed to be crackling, as staff moved displays, arranging and rearranging exhibits. The new installation was due in today, and the curators were overflowing with joy. This was a big addition to their collection.
The small museum was tucked away inside a shop located at 39-41 Barking Road, Upton Park and was possibly one of the coolest museums in all of the United Kingdom, even the world. Of course, some of the more austere curators of the more well known museums would bristle at that statement, but if you were to ask most teenagers and young adults, they would all agree.
It is possibly the coolest museum on the planet, and it's definitely the coolest museum in the entire universe.
Emily walked down Barking Road, content to people watch as she made her way to her destination. She could make the walk in her sleep, having made this her go to spot to spend time alone, away from her family and coworkers, having learnt that everyone else considered her a nerd. But she was fine with that assessment, knowing that she was a true Whovian, and that made her smile.
She worked at a small accounting firm, about three streets away. Mostly filing and running for the accountants, but it had been a job whilst she was at Uni that had turned into a dead end that she didn't seem to be inclined to leave.
Emily was stuck in a rut and she knew she needed something to shake up her world. She had stayed in London after graduation, not actually looking forward to living back at home with her parents, her mum having an issue with her being gay and all caused issues, so Emily lived in a cheap bedsit, and worked for people that she absolutely hated.
Her only pleasure was The Who Shop.
Emily stepped through the door and into the shop, looking around at all the merchandise, picking out a new mug and made her way up to the counter, queuing up and prepared to wait.
"And she's back."
Naomi Campbell looked up from her computer and looked out the window of the office into the store. "So what, JJ?" She looked from the girl in the queue back to JJ, her coworker and smirked.
JJ laughed. "I'm just saying, that she's been here almost every day this week, except for Tuesday, but she could've been sick." He trailed off, thinking something over in his head. "Come to think of it, she was in almost every day last week as well, except for Tuesday…it only used to be once or twice a week…,"
"JJ, c'mon, mate," Naomi stood up, and walked over to him with a sigh, "if you're so curious about her, go over there and talk to her."
The young man blushed deeply. "Oh, no…can't do that, besides, she would never like me."
Naomi sighed, hating it when her friend doubted himself. "JJ…,"
"She's gay." He stated in the matter of fact way that only JJ could, causing Naomi to stop talking.
"What? Bullshit, Jay...," she looked back out of the window, "how do you even know that?"
JJ just looked at his friend as if she had grown another head. "Seriously? And don't think I haven't noticed you looking every other time she's been in, either, Naomi."
Naomi sighed again, knowing that she had been caught. She had noticed the little redhead about four months ago, shortly after hiring in and became even more fascinated every other time she'd been in.
"Oh, it looks like she's buying a ticket!" JJ exclaimed excitedly as he watched Emily hand over her mobile and bag to the girl behind the counter but not before pulling out a camera. "I'm on tours today." He grinned at his friend and started to walk out. "Don't you wish you did tours?" He asked with a smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows.
Right at that moment, yes. Yes, she did wish she gave tours, but Naomi hated giving tours. Hated being stared at, and all the stupid questions from people taking the tour. She had begged the owners to allow her to work in the office and the store, but as she watched JJ gather up the tourists, she really wanted to be the one leading the little redhead around.
Naomi stood and watched as JJ led the group to the blue phone box set against the wall and through the intercom that she had flipped on when he left the office she heard him say, "Don't worry, folks…it is bigger on the inside. Now if you'll all follow me…,"
Emily felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, and she quickly looked around. But when all she saw was costumes and props from Doctor Who, she shook her head at her silliness and turned back to the guide. You'd think she'd be used to that feeling of being watched by now, because Emily had been getting that feeling for quite some time now.
"And here is our pride and joy at the moment," he stated as the group filed around what looked like the console of the TARDIS, "the console from the 1989 stage play, "The Ultimate Adventure". It's great, isn't it?"
Emily loved it here, looking at the costumes and the props, getting to see original scripts from the show, both old and new. It was like a Whovian heaven in here, and she would live here if she could.
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and whipped her head around, but all she caught was blonde hair ducking between exhibits. Brushing off the incident, realising it was probably just one of the staff, Emily continued to look around when her eye caught an emptiness amongst the displays.
"Excuse me?" Her husky voice sounded out, drawing everyone's attention to her.
JJ stepped forward. "Yes? Do you have a question?"
Emily nodded quickly and pointed. "What's happened here? Something is missing, but I can't remember what exactly, maybe the Dalek exhibit?"
JJ smiled at her. "Excellent eye, miss. Yes, we had one of the Daleks break, when an over enthusiastic child was in a week ago, so we've sent it out for repair. But in the mean time, and this is very exciting, we've got a new exhibit coming in. The Doctor's costume, Missy's costume and Bill Potts Cyberman costume have been added, from The Doctor Falls, series 10, episode 12. This is huge for The Who Shop."
Emily listened as he went on about the newest acquisition to their museum, and continued looking around, when she saw the 11th Doctor's Soothsayer costume swaying on its rack, as if the wind had blown through. She suddenly felt like Sally Sparrow, in the Blink episode, which was really creepy, seeing as she stood in front of an actual Weeping Angel that had been used during filming.
"Okay, folks. Please, feel free to look around, and if you have any questions I'll be here to answer them." JJ told the group and smiled as everyone scattered around the room.
This left Emily to wander from display to display and snap a few photos as she went, immersing herself into the world of Doctor Who, oblivious to the person watching her.
Naomi stood behind the TARDIS console and watched the redhead. She felt like a fucking stalker, but she just didn't have the nerve to go up to the girl. She felt pathetic, actually.
She wanted to talk to the girl. Had wanted to for about three months, after walking past the counter one day when she asked to purchase a ticket for the museum and Naomi had been struck speechless by the husky voice and the shy smile, and could only utter a quick "here you go". But here she was, twelve weeks later, still following her around as she toured the exhibits.
'I'm totally a fucking stalker!' She admonished herself, knowing she had every right to be in here at the moment as she was in charge of the new displays that were to be delivered soon, but it didn't stop the creepy feeling she was making herself feel, god knows how it made the redhead feel.
Naomi wasn't stupid, she knew it was creeping the other girl out, because when Naomi would stare at her too long, she would whip her head around and search around her.
"Naomi, the truck is here." One of the owners, a middle-aged woman named Susan, stated excitedly coming up behind her. "This is it!"
Naomi jumped and stepped out from behind the console, smiling at her boss. Susan and Brad Haverman were the co-owners of The Who Shop, and it was Susan that had hired her when Naomi needed a part-time job whilst she attended Uni. It didn't hurt that Naomi's mum's boyfriend worked as a script supervisor for the show and had basically grown up around the Doctor Who set, so when Susan found that out, she went mental.
Today's newest additions had taken Naomi ages to sort out for the Havermans and she knew that they would be eternally grateful for it. "Yes, this is it." She responded with a smile, keeping the redhead in sight as she snapped a picture of a classic Cyberman costume.
"I can not thank you or your stepdad enough for this. To get these costumes and scripts so soon after the season ending? This is huge for us, so thank you." The older woman gushed, causing Naomi to smile again. "Could you make for sure the space is completely cleared, I'm gonna go greet them and bring them round the back." Susan requested, as she made her way back out to the shop, leaving Naomi alone.
Naomi dutifully checked the area where the new display was going to be installed before looking around again for the redhead. She sighed deeply when she noticed that she was alone in the museum, JJ having ushered everyone out so that the work could be done.
"Great, Campbell! Another chance gone, you tit!" She muttered to herself as she went to the back door to let Susan in and cursed herself for being a coward.
Again.
'OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!' Emily was breathing heavily as she sat in the loo. The hot blonde was the one following her through the museum. Of course, Emily had noticed her, how could she not, when three months ago the girl took her money and gave her a ticket! Blonde hair, blue eyes, sexy as hell.
Emily had been taking pictures when she overheard the two women talking and when she turned to look, she almost dropped her camera when she saw the blonde. But why was the girl following her? What had she done to warrant any kind of babysitting?
She took a few more breaths, getting her heart rate under control, and started getting angry. How dare she! Naomi… whatever her last name is! How dare this Naomi follow her around like she was some sort of…child…that needed to be looked after! She was a paying customer, after all! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and she wasn't about to let this treatment of her go unpunished.
Emily stood up from the toilet and opened the cubicle door. At the sink she splashed a little cold water on her cheeks and checked her face in the mirror. She wanted to make sure she looked at least presentable and not like the common thief they obviously thought her to be. Once she was satisfied, Emily left the loo and headed back out into the store, spotting her target standing in front of the TARDIS.
"Excuse me?"
Naomi stopped talking and froze as soon as she heard that husky voice behind her. She had been talking with Susan and Kieran, her mum's boyfriend, when the redhead addressed her and they both meant over to peer around the blonde.
"Hello." Kieran said cheerfully, and Susan snickered at the shocked look on Naomi's face. "Can I help you, lass?"
Emily eyed up the older man, not recognising him from the store or the museum, so she shook her head. "No, thank you, but I'd like a word with your head of security here." She stated, pointing to a still frozen Naomi.
Susan looked confused as Kieran chuckled this time, knowing exactly why Naomi was acting like she was. He'd heard enough about a small redhead over the last couple months and it wasn't hard for him to put two and two together.
"Aye, of course," Kieran smiled at the girl, "come along, Susan. We'll go over the terms of the loan."
Emily watched as the older folks left before turning a glare back to the blonde. "So…,"
Naomi grimaced again, knowing that she would have to actually turn around, but fear was running rampant through her system.
"So…creeping around and spying on me is okay, but you can't stand face to face and look at me?"
Naomi sighed as she heard anger in that husky voice. She hung her head as she turned around. "I'm sorry-,"
"How dare you follow me like I'm some sort of criminal!" Emily said, vibrating with rage. "What have I ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? Don't I pay to be here? I've actually paid quite a lot to be here, thank you very much! And to have you follow me around, watching to see if I'm going to steal something?"
It took a few minutes for Naomi to register the words that were coming out as the redhead yelled at her, but when they did, her eyes widened. "You think I'm trying to catch you thieving?"
Emily scoffed at the question. "Of course, why else would you be following me around? I should report you to your boss! This is unfair treatment!" She spat out, crossing her arms in front of her. And even though she was angry, Emily couldn't help but notice how pretty the blonde was, but she pushed that thought aside and kept scowling at Naomi.
"That's not what I was doing." Naomi mumbled quietly, embarrassed now.
"Really," Emily sneered at her, channelling her sister, Katie, to a tee, "what would you call it, then? Personal attention? I don't see anyone else being following from exhibit to exhibit! Why only me?"
Naomi again mumbled something as her cheeks flushed to a nice pink colour, which caused Emily to stop and shake her head.
"What was that?" She asked, confused by the girl standing in front of her.
Naomi shuffled from foot to foot, feeling like a thirteen year-old all over again in front of her first crush. "I said, I was curious."
"Curious about what?"
"Um…well, I…," Naomi stopped stuttering and took a deep breath, knowing that she was about to make an even bigger fool of herself. "You. I was curious about you, okay?"
"Why?" Emily was more confused by the second, as she tried to figure Naomi out.
"Because you come in here on a regular basis, and you buy a ticket for the museum every time, you've seen every prop for the show and yet, you still take a tour every time!" Naomi told her, getting the nerve to just lay it all on the line. "And forgive me for saying this, but you're easily the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," Emily blushed at that, but Naomi decided to keep going, "when you're really interested in something, you really focus on it. It's like you study every stitch in the costumes, and you look at every photo on the walls. You probably know more about the show than I do, and that's a feat on its own l, if I'm being honest, because I grew up calling Steven Moffat Uncle Steve!"
Emily staggered back a couple of steps as Naomi advanced a couple of steps. "I don't…I'm not understanding. Why do you follow me?"
Naomi looked deep into brown eyes and started to lose herself, so she quickly looked around the store, before turning her attention back. "Because I've been wanting to ask you out since the first time I sold you a ticket. I'm a coward, because I would've killed to been the one leading your tours, but I was afraid. And I'm sorry, because I don't even know your name and I really, really wanna know your name."
Emily watched the blonde as she panted slightly, and felt herself reeling from this sudden turn of events. "Whoa…," she paused, wondering if Naomi felt the same as she did. "Are you saying…,"
"I've spent the last couple months hoping that you kept coming in for me, you see? I've been trying to pluck up the courage to talk to you, and I'm sorry for being stalkerish and I'll understand completely if you never sent foot in here again."
Emily watched as Naomi turned around to head into the office. 'Holy shit!' Her thoughts were rushing around her brain, as she replayed the other girl's words. She watched as Naomi almost reached the counter and knew she had to do something quick.
"Emily!" She spoke loudly, causing herself embarrassment as the other people in the store stared at her.
Naomi stopped walking and looked around. Other customers, along with Susan and Kieran, watched the two girls, and she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her at this moment. But she kept turning to look back at the girl. "What?" She asked quietly, feeling her heart start beating faster.
Emily stepped closer to her, and with a shy smile repeated herself. "My name is Emily and whilst I am a huge Doctor Who fan, lets be honest shall we?" Her shy smile morphed into a sexy grin. "I've been coming in for the last three months, spending as much of my spare time in here, just on the hope that I'd be able to talk to you again. Every time I wished it'd be you giving the tour and every time I was disappointed, but I hung around, hoping to get a glimpse of you. And I know your name because I heard JJ say it once as he was coming out to start a tour."
Naomi listened to Emily speak and her spirit started to soar. "Are you saying…,"
"Look, how about we stop being afraid and take a chance?" Emily smiled a full smile now, causing Naomi's breath to catch in her throat. "Whatdya say? Wanna be brave with me?"
Naomi felt tears prickling her eyes and she laughed as Emily(and wasn't that just the most beautiful name?) smiled at her. "So a suggested date wouldn't be shot down?" She asked, looking down at those beautiful brown eyes.
"Nope." Emily replied cheekily, shaking her head and she held her breath.
Naomi looked up and took a deep breath, quickly glancing over at Kieran before the perfect idea for a first date popped in her head. "Well then, Emily…do you fancy meeting the 13th Doctor?"
Sorry for any mistakes. Let me know what you thought of this:)
Marci
