The day of the Museum Opening finally came, after what seemed like forever. Emma would have happily slept in but was woken by her phone ringing. She crawled out of bed and plucked the plastic annoyance off the kitchen wall. She didn't even have to say hello for Mary to start screaming.
"Oh my gosh! It's today! Emma! Holy crap!" Emma held the receiver away from her ear, groaning. She didn't want to deal with all this at the moment. She looked at the clock on her wall.
"Mary, it's seven. The Museum doesn't opening in another five hours." She whispered, still not quiet awake.
"Yes but if we want a good place we need to get there earlier!" Mary said as if it was the simplest thing to do. Emma swayed where she was standing, eyes drooping.
"I don't think that will be a problem." She muttered, wiping her eyes. Mary giggled.
"Right! You have a date! Well, that won't be a problem for me. I have one to!" she said.
"That's wonderful Mary." Emma said, sitting down. A beeping came from her phone and she saw that she had another call. "Hold on Mary." She said. She pressed another button and said, "Hello," in the most 'awake' voice she could.
"Ah, Emma, you're awake." Herman's voice said. Emma held the receiver away from her, horror on her face. Herman expected an answer, she knew it. But she had spent the past five days trying not to the think about the decision she had to make. Gulping, Emma brought the phone back to her ear.
"Hello Herman." She said.
"Do you have an answer for me?" he asked. Emma bit her lip. She thought about everything Herman had said, and Roxanne. She would be safe and this shouldn't take up that much time. Not to mention she would be helping the city by helping Metroman, wouldn't she? She scraped her nails against the plastic and exhaled.
"Yes," she said to Herman. That was enough to make Herman sound a lot happier.
"Wonderful! I'll be at your house with a few troops to get you ready."
"Troops?" Emma repeated, thinking about the FBI and SWAT teams. But before she could demand what he meant, Herman had hung up. She let out a frustrated breath.
"I'm going to need to call you back Mary." She said and hung up the phone. Emma walked back to her bed and flopped down on the covers and was asleep before she could wonder when Herman was going to get there.
What seemed like seconds later, the door bell rang. Emma jumped up and ran to the door, still half asleep. She yanked open the door to find Herman in his usual suit and sunglasses. He looked Emma up and down. Emma suddenly realized that she was in a tank top and sweat pants.
"Good morning Miss Ember." Herman said. "I take it that you are ready to go?" he asked. Emma blinked.
"Well, I need to get dressed,"
"No need for that," Herman said, waving a hand. "We will take care of that."
"We?" Emma said, put Herman had her by the arm and was leading her down the stairs, closing her apartment door for her.
"I have everyone that you will need down in the van." He said.
"Uh, alright." Emma said, following Herman down to the lobby and out to the street. Herman released her and opened the van which was dark.
"Come on." He said impatiently. Emma was starring at the van, confused look on her face. "We need to get you ready." He said, tapping his dress shoed foot. Emma hesitantly climbed into the van and Herman closed the door behind her. It was extremely dark inside and Emma had both of her hands extended, trying to find her way to where she thought a seat might be. Suddenly, the van was filled with light. Emma was surprised to find that it was a lot bigger inside than it looked outside.
Everything was painted black and there were three people sitting in cushioned seats in front of her. One was a woman with red lips and wavy brown hair. She held a make-up kit in her lap. She kept on inspecting Emma's face, lips pursed.
The other two were men. One with black spiky hair and an Asian look about him. The other was bald with icy blue eyes.
"Meet the three people who will make you presentable." Herman's voice said. Emma looked up and saw a small speaker that was probably operated from the front of the car. "Just let them work their magic and you'll be ready of the Opening." Emma opened her mouth, wondering how they were going to do this in the back of a van, but the bald man was already swooping down on her.
Everything was a blur as she saw flashes of blue silk and black ribbon. Before her was a beautiful electric blue dress with black lining. It was small and only went down to Emma middle thigh with thick straps on the shoulders. The three figures pulled a sheet across the van so Emma was separated from them so she could change. There is nothing harder than trying to get a dress on in the back on the van. But Emma managed to do it with record timing. She felt restricted in the dress but there was very little time for comment.
She was seated and the woman came down on her face with brushes and cream colored liquids. At the same time the other man was pulling on her hair. It was then that Emma realized that the van was driving. She was nervous that the makeup artist would let slip with the lip stick and Emma would walk out looking like the Joker. No one talked but Emma felt like there should be some sort of club music playing as if the run way was waiting for her. Suddenly the van stopped. She felt a few minor adjustments to her hair and a mirror was placed in front of her face.
Emma blinked. She looked amazing. Her makeup was light but with silver eyes shadow that made her blue eyes look steely. The hair artist had curled her hair to perfection and had let it down. Emma was so used to having her hair at least half way up she was caught off guard that she could look like this. The woman added some sapphire earrings and a ring of black pearls across her neck. She was given some black high heels and the van door opened.
The light of day seemed to burn Emma's eyes for a moment then she saw Herman standing at the van door. He blinked as Emma immerged.
"You look…" he trailed off then cleared his throat. Emma gave him a shy smile and turned back to the masterminds in the van.
"Thank you." She said. The artists looked taken-a-back. It was as if they had never been thanked before. Emma walked with Herman and she saw the huge crowd surrounding the Museum.
"Well, I will leave you to it." Herman said. Emma rounded on him, catching his arm.
"What? You're leaving me here? Alone?" she asked, panicking. What was she supposed to do? Herman laughed.
"Emma, it really isn't that complicated. Just go up to Metroman when you see him." He said. But to Emma that really didn't seem that easy. There were the crowds and the cameras that would all be focused on her, but Herman was already in the van. "Good luck Emma." He said. Emma opened her mouth but the van and Herman where already driving off.
She stomped her foot in frustration which sent her wobbling. She had never worn heels before. She turned around in a 360, trying to get her bearings. The crowd was cheering and calling for Metroman. Emma made her way through the crowd, pulling the rim of her dress down, feeling exposed. She then saw someone she knew.
Roxanne was standing in front of a camera, talking into a microphone. Emma made her way to her, moving at a very slow pace as not to fall over. Roxanne spotted her and finished signing off.
"Emma! You look wonderful!" she said, rushing forward. They hugged.
"Thank you." Emma said, swaying. Roxanne laughed.
"You'll get used to the shoes." She said. Emma smiled. She then saw a fat red head standing behind Roxanne holding the camera. He was scrutinizing Emma, making her feel uncomfortable. Roxanne noticed where Emma was looking and turned to see the man.
"Oh! This is my camera man, Hal." She said. Emma smiled.
"Hello." Emma said, waving shyly. Hal smiled back, apparently lost for words. Roxanne cleared her throat, catching Emma's attention.
"Well, I need to go get ready for the main event! I'll see you soon!" she said. Emma waved, not happy about being left alone again. Roxanne and Hal made there way away, Emma turned, trying to find something to do. But right as she turned she saw something very strange. A window, sitting in the middle of the air. Emma blinked. She walked forward and leaned forward.
It was like a portal to another dimension or something. Emma was wondering if she was hallucinating from lack of sleep when she suddenly found something being sprayed in her face. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe and she fainted, feeling herself being pulled into the small window, everything going black.