Hey

Here is the new chapter of Once upon a time in Austenland. I hope you like this. I love the movie, yet I had to change Elizabeth Charming, Emma just isn't like how the character is portrayed. Emma would never be caught saying any of the stuff Elizabeth says in the movie. Maybe somethings she would.
Enjoy,

TempeGeller

Chapter 3: the road to Austenland

I will gladly admit that I hadn't expected I would actually head to Austenland. So I didn't know what I needed to take. I hardly knew what to expect. The letter said I didn't need any clothes. Yet I had a beautiful dress that was made by my best friend. I wondered if I needed any luggage? Or if I could fly with only my carry on. I didn't know for sure. What was I doing? Was I truly expecting to find love there? Why was I even expecting to find true love? I had read the brochure a hundred times, there were actors in the house pretending to be men from the regency. They could come from any of Jane Austen's books, even the ones that weren't finished. I thought about falling in love with mister Knightly. I thought about the romance that could be waiting for me. Was there any chance someone would actually fall in love with me in the house? I thought of the unlikely scenario that an actor might fall in love with me. It would be some epic love story, of how he shouldn't have fallen for me, yet he did. Somehow I was stupid enough to believe something like this could happen to me.
The days before I departed I didn't need to go to work. I simply spent my time reading my Jane Austen books. It was like I was there and I remembered I would be there in a few days. I thought about everything I would go through and I noticed how I started to practice my regency talk. I pretended to talk to Mister Darcy and more than once I stared at the image in the mirror. There were even times that I almost sounded insane. Yet I wasn't insane. I was going to a place where I could be part of the Jane Austen world and I was happy about it. I somehow knew I wouldn't find love, yet I wanted to be part of everything. I almost didn't care if my character didn't get a love storyline. I thought about being the Harriet of the story and noticed that I always liked Harriet and even Jane Fairfax. Sometimes I thought Emma wasn't my favourite. She was after all something I didn't know. My friend Red was kind of like Emma, She had tried to set me up with guys. These were guys that had turned out to be less perfect. Archie was a lot like mister Knightly. And I hoped to god that someday I would find my Martin. I laughed as I thought about what I just thought. I just had thought about finding someone that wasn't mastered, Darcy.
The night before I would go to London, I lay awake in my bed. I was too excited to sleep. Off course I had been in London before, I love London more than I did New York. Somehow the big Apple had grown boring to me. London was an adventure it were spaces that I hadn't discovered yet. I would always visit new libraries and look to what they did differently. I always thought libraries were kind of the same all over the world, but there were always small differences that made everything so different. I loved it all. Yet that day I knew I wouldn't simply be visiting libraries, I would be going to a fictional world. Where I needed to pretend to be a version of myself. Maybe a version that would bring reality to how my life truly was. I didn't know what they knew about me, I didn't know what my aunt had told me. It couldn't be all too good.
My aunt always said I was stupid to break up with Gaston. Yet I always believed it was the right thing to do. I bet she didn't draw the right situation. I bet she made Gaston in a nice guy. Which he isn't. He loved himself way too much and always judged me about the way I looked. I was never good enough for him, that was so tiresome that I broke up with him. It was ugly, he had said I wouldn't be able to find better than him. I closed the door in front of him. I hadn't spoken to him ever since. That breakup caused me to watch Pride and Prejudice and wish for a mister Darcy of my own. When I closed my eyes, my last thoughts were about the perfect guy I was about to meet. I noticed that there was no realism in my head. I would find someone. I had believed I wouldn't, but in a few seconds, I had changed my mind. I decided that I would be the one to change an actor's mind. I would be the one that made someone fall in love with me. After that, I would live happily ever after. Or whatever happens after the book.
When I closed my eyes, I almost thought I saw the image of a handsome man in front of me. One that would love me to no end. One with a beautiful accent to complete mine. One that looked just as handsome as Collin Firth in that Pride and Prejudice film. One that would get when I talked about classic literature. One that didn't mind taking a book in his hands and reading it to me. I realised that the image wasn't realistic. Yet I didn't care. I went to sleep with a picture of perfection that I would never get.

The next morning I woke up early. I got up, started to get ready. I made my home ready to leave for a long time. I would be there for a month. In that time Ruby would take care of everything. Yet I didn't want to cause her any trouble. After an hour I was ready to depart. My ride to the airport was there at ten. I got in and got ready to leave for a dream. I had dressed up, I knew it would be strange yet I wanted to already feel like the magic was happening. Everything after that seemed strange, I almost didn't notice what people were saying to me. I was on the plane at two. That was when I waited for liftoff. I knew when they would be departing, but it was clear that it would take longer. In the seat next to me was a woman with long blond hair. She stared at me with a strange smile. She didn't roll her eyes like other people. She seemed okay with the outfit.
"I almost wore something like it…" The girl smiled. "Let me guess, your friend made it for you."
"How do you know?"
"Emma Swan." She replied. "I'm going to the Darcy place too. Don't worry, it's written all over you. In fact, I forget to wear the outfit. I admire your guts…."
"Belle…" I added.
"Like the girl who falls in love with the beast." Emma nodded her head. "Get it. And if you're wondering, my parents called me Emma. Yet my friends always were convinced it was…"
"Let me guess…" I bit my lip. "Odette."
"To be honest I'm not like Emma." She said. "You know Emma Woodhouse. I see myself more as Jane Fairfax. I assume I will be looking for my Frank Churchill."
"You know your Austen…"
I smiled, I had met Jane Austen fans before, yet I never met people who wanted to be part of the books. Most people looked as things prolonged. People like me wanted to be part of the world, it seemed that Emma was exactly the same. She smiled at me for just a moment. I wondered if her life was as negative as Jane Fairfax her life had been. Part of me felt bad for Emma. I wanted to know everything about her, yet at the same time, I wanted to ask nothing. I didn't want to bring her any pain. Yet she kept her eyes firmly on my face.
"You know…" Emma replied. "I think this is going to be amazing."
"I agree," I replied. "I think everyone will be amazing. I think about falling in love."
"Be careful with that Belle," Emma replied. "You could get hurt with that…."
I knew what she wanted to say. The next hours we talked about Jane Austen and everything that had to do with it. I wished we would meet more people that were heading towards the world of Jane Austen. Yet there didn't seem to be anyone else on this plane.
"With my luck, I'll get a guy who's missing a hand…" Emma replied.
We laughed as I felt we could become great friends. There was something about Emma. Something that I needed a friend. She was honest with me. Like Ruby was. She loved Austen just as much as I did and we were able to have fun. That were important pointers to becoming a friend. It was a bit before ten when we landed in the morning. Emma and I got off the plane together. It wasn't clear where we needed to be. So we searched for the place they would pick us up. They had told they would wait for us at the airport. In the end, the board of Austenland was easily found. We waited for whoever would bring us to the mansion. That was when a young man arrived in a car. I had not expected a car. I had expected a horse and carriage. I didn't know why they had chosen a very old fashioned car. Yet I didn't want to ask about their choice. I was sure that we first needed to settle practical stuff. Maybe we would be brought to a building where they prepared us. After that, we would take the carriage to the main building. That was how it was going to be, I believed. There couldn't be anything else that made sense. I and Emma got in the car and my theory was proven right.
"I was told I was supposed to come in costume," I said to the driver.
"They told me the same." He smiled to me. At first glance, he seemed cute. He had brown eyes, short dark hair and a beautiful smile. Maybe he could be the type I could fall for. And there was no chance this man was an actor, but maybe I wouldn't be able to get to know him. Maybe this was his job, driving people between the airport and the practical building. She stared at the British country, I had never been outside London and right now we were driving away from it. I kissed the city goodbye and waited for a new adventure. One that had everything to do with Jane Austen. Maybe I would find love and maybe I would only have the time of her life.
"It's pretty…" Emma turned to Belle. "I've always loved England. After my parents got divorced my father and me lived in Surrey for two months. It was the best days of my life. After that, I moved in with my mother."
We stopped in front of a small house. It was too small and didn't really fit in the regency style. It was a small urban house. I stared at it as the door opened up.
I watched as the woman of the video stepped outside. She looked different in her regency dress. She was wearing a blue dress with long sleeves and a head. I stared at her. She was truly beautiful. She had long brown hair. At first, she looked at Emma, but she didn't look at me. A smile appeared on her face.
"Welcome to the Regency era." She said as she took a step closer to me. "This is just a stop before we go to the big house.I am Mrs Mills. Miss Swan, I hope your journey was endurable. You'll be Emma Charming this weekend."
"Charming, really?"
I stared at the woman in front of me, she had not acknowledged that I was here. It almost felt that I wasn't supposed to be here. Almost that I wasn't rich enough. Almost that she knew I received this when my poor aunt died. So I nodded my head a little, it was then that her eyes went to me. I gave her a smile, I levitated my hand towards her.
"Oh yes, Belle French." She said as if she didn't want me to be there. She looked at my dress. Maybe it was a bit too red for her taste. I pulled the cape closer to my body. All of the sudden I felt embarrassed. I didn't know what to say. I looked at her. What was the best thing to say? I thought about how I wanted to be called.
"I've been thinking about my pseudonym. I would like to be called miss Soo." I said. I loved Hamilton the musical, I hadn't gotten a chance to see it just yet. But I love everything about it. I stared at the woman and she looked at me like I couldn't decide my name.
"You've already been assigned a name. Miss Erstwhile." I looked at her in disappointment. Why couldn't I decide my own name? Had Emma chosen herself? I realised I didn't know. She said something to the driver, it turned that his name was Will. I looked at him, he had to prepare the carriage. I felt bad for how she talked to him, almost like he was less than he was. We followed her to a small office. There we were, waiting for more information. I wanted to hear about anything she had to tell. She sat down across of us. I stared at her.
"Complete immersion in the Regency era is the only way to appreciate Austen's England, wouldn't you say so miss Charming?"
Emma said nothing, she only looked at me. I smiled, I was happy to be here. This is what I had dreamed about my whole life, yet something felt wrong about it all. I thought about Ruby, luckily I hadn't paid for this trip myself.
"Just to avoid any confusion, I'd like you to know that we do offer several distinct experiences." She stared at me. "You have paid for the Basic Copper package, while the other ladies in the party are part of the Platinum Elite package."
I didn't understand, no one had told me there were different packages. The man at the agency had only shown me one price. No one had said something. Did my aunt know? Was she trying to teach me a lesson about my place in the world? Was she trying to say I didn't deserve a good man? I hated the idea. I wanted to deserve someone that was good for me. I was still excited about what was to happen. Yet I hated missing parts of the journey. I wanted to live everything. I didn't want to be excluded from anything and it seemed that would happen.
"Ok, I mean I'm just so excited to be here, I've dreamed about this for so long." I smiled. I had dreamed about this since I first started to read Jane Austen. I always wanted to be part of the book.
"All of my guests will experience romance with one of our actors. But I must emphasise there is to be no touching other than the necessary social graces. Not a chance. I also expect all my guests to maintain appropriate manners and conversation and to eschew all things modern. Any flagrant disobedience will result in the early termination of your stay."
"You don't have to worry about me. I know Austen's books intimately." I replied.
They brought me to a room. There were dresses everywhere. I recognised a dress that Lizzie had worn in Pride and Prejudice. I wanted to be transformed into someone from the Regency. I looked at the pictures. What kind of hair would they give me? Two people came towards me. At first, I needed to leave my clothes there, they said I would get them back after the trip. I hid my phone, I wanted to keep contact with the world. I hid my loader in a small bag I would take there. I smiled at the woman as they gave me a corset. I didn't know all woman in the Regency had a corset, yet I welcomed it. I wanted everything to be as real as possible. And I needed a corset for that. Lizzie wore it in the movie, I would wear it now. They pulled it very tightly. I almost felt like I couldn't breathe. I smiled. After that they took a brown dress, I liked it. Right then I stared in the mirror. That was when they started to doing my hear. There were two braids, my hair was pulled up. In the front of my hair, they applied some curls. When I was done I looked in the mirror. This was me. This had always been me, but for the first time, I thought I was pretty. The first time I thought of myself as someone I liked.
I stepped outside, as I saw Emma in a blood red dress. She smiled at me as she saw me.
"Looking good, Emma," I said.
"You too, Belle." She replied. "I never expected that a corset would look this good on me. It is quite different from what I was wearing an hour ago. I guess this is how it starts. What now?"
"We step in a time machine." I smiled.

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