Chapter 11

Rosalind stood beside Albert, struggling to hide her smirk as she watched Emma dancing just behind the camera before her, playing her part as Kylie as convincingly as possible. Just watching her older friend dance, a routine that it had taken her a few good days to even learn in the first place, she could see how much effort it was taking to keep up the charade that she did this everyday was amusing. Betterherthanme

Her job for this con wasn't difficult. She mostly had to be the one who got Emma on and off set as fast as possible, acting as her Personal Assistant. She played her part well, she thought, checking her 'state of the art' Blackberry as random points, and pulling away from the group as if she had just received an important call. As simple as her part was, Rosalind couldn't help but feel she was getting into the swing of things again. She'd missed this, even when she'd run her own grifts in America (her father would be so proud). The teamwork of it all, the family dynamics; the way everyone looked out for each other.

Albert clapped loudly, dragging her out of her thoughts, to signify the end of the shoot. The room instantly joined in and the music trailed off into silence. Emma straightened up instantly, offering the cast and crew a smile, just before Sean reached her side and, as her security, led her away from the set.

"Gentleman, it's a pleasure," Rosalind nodded quickly, offering them a polite smile. She turned sharply on her heels and walked off, shoes clicking, following the two towards her car. Instantly, her face broke out into a true smile. "Much better than rehearsals," she commented.

"Honestly Em, that was amazing," Sean congratulated.

Emma shot a mock glare in her direction, her face filling with relief when she finally managed to pull off those torture instruments that rich woman called shoes. "I hope that worked. I'm aching in places I didn't know I had places."

"Well, he seemed pretty enthralled to me," Rosalind teased.

Ash swept past her, holding onto the door frame of the car. She moved out of the way, shuffling towards Sean. He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Yeah, well, you know, almost there," Ash started.

"What do you mean almost?" Emma questioned.

"How's your Aussie accent?"

"What?" Both women said together.

"He wants to meet you," Ash clarified.

Emma objected, a tone of panic in her voice. "What, no, Ash, you said…"

"Um, yeah, dad, I don't think Emma's had time to prepare for a face-to-face encounter," Rosalind supported, nervously. She knew Emma could do accents. In fact, she had practised with her – why hadn't they tried Australian accents? Looking back on it, that seemed like a very obvious accent to perfect.

"I'll send Kev round. Get your kit back on," Ash told her. He jokily blew her a kiss before disappearing again, probably to convince Kevin to help them out again. Oneofthesedays,thatmanwasgoingtolosehisjobonset,anditwouldbedad'sfault, Rosalind shook her head and looked sympathetically at Emma, who sighed and began to slowly put her shoes back on again. Sean hid a smirk behind his hand.


The knock at on the trailer door, no more than a second after Kevin had showed them to the trailer, signified the start of the unexpected part of the con. The three shared a look.

Rosalind sighed. "Showtime," she exited first, in a hurry, "Make this quick. We have two hours to get the airport before her next appointment at five, Spanish time."

She didn't really pay much attention to the conversation, allowing Mickey to take over control of the situation – to be honest, the man annoyed her and she really didn't want to know anything other the acceptance of his money – but she did have to struggle for a moment to hide her impressed features at the pretty accurate Australian accent. With little to no practise, it was convincing. She caught Sean's eye over the head of his sister and felt a small smile cross her face. He returned the expression, although he didn't relax his stature of the bored bodyguard.

"That's it. You must say 'Happy Birthday', like Marilyn Monroe to J.F.K but instead of 'Mr. President' perhaps you could say…my name?"

Rosalind arched an eyebrow; Ash and Sean shared a look. Yeah, Emma had to be commended for her patience with this man. She kept her wide smile in place and just agreed to it; in fact she gave him ideas. Rosalind was still debating whether or not that was a bad idea. Mickey tried to end the conference but was stopped – apparently the man had a list of songs for 'Kylie' to sing next week. It was then she decided to step in.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait until next week to continue this conversation. We simply cannot waste anymore time here," Rosalind interjected loudly, offering the group a smile.

Ash clapped flamboyantly. "Right, if we don't get her out of those shoes, she'll have blisters the size of Ann Widicombe's arse."

"We've taken up enough of your time," Mickey smiled politely, all businesslike.

"It's good to meet you in person," Rosalind nodded towards the mark, "Our mutual friend here will deal with all the arrangements. Kylie, sweetie, you're going to have to get your butt inside that trailer."

She walked into the trailer first and Emma followed, waving goodbye to the mark. Ash and Sean came after. Instantly, Emma sat down and roughly pulled off those shoes she was beginning to despise, throwing them into the corner of the trailer. She huffed loudly and her body went limp in the chair.

"Next chance I get, I'm going to burn those shoes…" she muttered darkly.


"I've got to say Em, that was amazing," Sean complimented.

"You did very well by dear," Albert agreed.

"Especially considering you couldn't dance three days ago," Rosalind added, throwing one arm over her friend's shoulder, grinning widely.

"And he was just rich enough and obnoxious enough to make it fun," Mickey nodded.

"Yeah, but there is one thing I don't get…" Emma started.

"What's that?"

"I don't even look like Kylie," She finished.

Rosalind blinked a couple of times, surprised, before shaking her head in amusement. She released her hold on her friend and followed the others, her dad's arm wrapping around her shoulder. She smiled when she heard Emma voicing her confusion behind her as she hurried to catch up.


A/N: I apologise for the short chapter. This is more of a filler chapter before I get into the rest of the episodes. If you have any suggestions of situations you want the Hustle characters, please let me know because I'd love to know what you think and what you would want to read in this story. Now read and review!