Chapter 3
To be or not to be?
Over the next few days, Ruby's extra excited pestering aside life was pretty normal for Emma, she passed her time between her regular nightshifts behind the B and B help desk and day shifts waitressing in the diner,
The anxious anticipation of waiting for a decision growing greater with each passing day that brought with it nothing but silence. By the middle of the second week after reading an article online she had resigned herself to the fact that she hadn't gotten the role and they just hadn't bothered to let her know.
She had been enjoying a rare day off work and had been sitting in front of her open laptop, holding a mug of hot chocolate in one hand taking tentative sips of the sweet piping hot liquid, while she scrolled through her social media with the other.
She had to back track to the article that had caught her interest as she had scrolled by, it was the first time that she had seen anything about the show posted anywhere but the headline left her with little doubt of what it was about,
HOT NEW SERIES WORDS UNSPOKEN SET TO START FILMING IN STORYBROOKE MAINE IN THREE MONTHS the headline read,
Emma clicked it eagerly and began to read it's content, she was a little disappointed but not a whole lot surprised when the article didn't contain much more than she already knew and was about to cross it off again, thinking that it would at least be nice to be able to tell Ruby the title of the show if nothing else when a second bold headline within the article caught her eye and sent her heart plummeting into her stomach.
Tears of bitter disappointment pricked in the corners of Emma's eyes and a painful lump rapidly formed in her throat as she read
CASTING DIRECTOR JASMINE ALI CONFIRMS THAT THE LEADING LADIES HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN CAST BUT REMAINS SILENT ABOUT THEIR IDENTITIES.
Below the headline was a smiling picture of the woman who had made up part of the trio who had interviewed Emma, tears of disappointment now freely falling from her eyes Emma slammed her laptop closed, poured what was left of her hot chocolate down the sink then grabbing her things she retreated to her bedroom where she curled up and let the sobs wrack through her body cursing herself for ever being so stupid as to dare to hope.
When she woke up a few hours later the promised text was flashing on her phone, feeling like it was salt being rubbed into the wound Emma deleted It immediately and tried to forget about it.
The Email that followed was deleted just as quickly without ever having been opened, she didn't need to see the words in black and white to know that she been rejected now she just had to figure out how she was going to cope when filming began in town and she wasn't a part of it the way she had dared herself to begin to hope that she would be, instead she might, if she was lucky get to serve some of the people working on the show their dinner in the diner.
She had planned to throw the letter in the bin unopened as soon as that arrived too but unfortunately Ruby had gotten to it first when it had landed with a weighty thud on the doorstep, she had been eating her lunch while Emma was just waking up, upstairs after a night shift in the B and B.
"Emma!" Ruby squealed racing into her room waving the thick envelope baring the companies golden star emblem "It's arrived, and you didn't even tell me you got the text" Ruby scolded good humouredly
"Don't get too excited" Emma sighed despondently, rolling away from her friend to hide the tears she could feel forming "I didn't get the part"
"What do you mean? how do you know?" Ruby asked sounding perplexed "the letters only just arrived"
"Yeah, but I got the text and the Email, and I saw an article, trust me it's not good news Rubes, at least not for me, just chuck in the bin with the rest of the rubbish" Emma begged
But Ruby not having any of it had already ripped the letter open and hadn't replied, curiosity getting the better of her Emma discretely dried her eyes and rolled over to face Ruby who was sitting on the edge of the bed mouth slightly agape seemingly unable to speak,
"See I told you" Emma said misreading Ruby's silence "Don't worry Rubes, it was a long shot anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm okay" Emma lied trying to convince herself that, that was true as much as Ruby,
"You didn't read that Email did you" Ruby whispered
"What? No, I guess I just didn't see the point, I already knew that I didn't get the part by then, I saw it in the article" Emma shrugged
"You really should have opened that Email Emma" Ruby said wide eyes moving from the letter to Emma,
"What? Why? What are you babbling on about Ruby" Emma demanding irritability at the cryptic nature of Ruby's words evident as her friend continued to stare at her as though she was seeing here for the first time,
"Because if you had, you'd have known that you're going to be a god damn star" Ruby suddenly squealed throwing the letter in the air in her excitement and making Emma jump out of her skin,
"You, you mean I got it" Emma asked picking up the letter and staring at it stunned the letters swimming in front of her not seeming to connect properly and spell words that she could read,
"Yes" Ruby cheered punching her fist into the air "Just like I said you would, we need to celebrate, I'm taking you down the rabbit hole tonight, no arguments" Ruby warned
Emma merely nodded and continued to stare the letter dumbfounded as the letters finally appeared to be forming words that she could make sense of,
"We would like to offer you the role of Leah in our new series Words Unspoken"
Well, the article got that right then Emma thought a warm glow spreading throughout her body only to be quickly replaced by cold dread when she read the date that they wanted confirmation by,
"Shit, Rubes, what's the time?" Emma asked her panicked tone enough to cut Ruby off midsentence,
"Umm, hang on a sec" she replied reaching into her pocket for her phone "One thirty" she read off the screen "Why what's wrong?" she asked
"That wanted my confirmation by twelve o'clock today" Emma turned the letter to show Ruby devastation renewed,
"So, call them now" Ruby instructed adamantly
"It's too late Rubes" Emma lay back defeated "they'll have reassigned the role already"
"and so what if they have" Ruby replied tapping the number into her phone and pressing the device into Emma's hands "Just call them, what do you actually have to lose Emma, what's the worse that will happen if you hit that call button, so you're an hour and half late calling, but you only just opened the letter Emma, I mean yes you ignored the Email like the complete moron that you are, but the deadline was only an hour and half ago, even in the slightest chance that they have recast your role in the last ninety minutes it'll be because they think you've decided that you don't want it, but you're their first choice Ems, they scouted you, they booked you in for an audition especially and they've chosen you for the role, you're the one they want, now you hit that call button Emma Swan or so help me god I'm going to do it for you and then when you're rich and famous all thanks to yours truly I'll be expecting the royalties" Ruby laughed
She was right of course, Emma was being ridiculous,
"Thanks Rubes, what would I do without you" Emma smiled as she did as she was told and hit the call button,
"Miss Swan" a very happy voice greeted her once she had been put through to the correct department, "We are so pleased to hear from you, we were starting to worry that we might have to recast your role, usually we find that we get a much quicker response from new talent, it's the well-established big names that usually keep us hanging on, like you co-star" Jasmine Ali chuckled
"You mean you haven't recast my role yet?" Emma asked hopefully
"We're good but not that good" Jasmine laughed again "No we haven't, you're our first choice and the roles yours if you want it, now please say yes"
"Yes, Yes, yes" Emma chanted her previous warm glow rapidly returning, "and please call me Emma" she added as an afterthought
"I'll take that as a yes then" Jasmine chuckled "you'll find all the information you need for now in the letter and Email, I also sent you some copies of you photos, I'll have the contracts drawn up and be in touch next couple of weeks for you to sign them and once that's done I can get things like the first script and eventually your first months itinerary to you, how does that sound? Any questions?"
"That sounds amazing and just one" Emma replied as something else that Jasmine had mentioned finally sinking in, "you mentioned that my co-star is a big name"
"That, she is" Jasmine replied
"So, who is she?" Emma pressed eagerly
"Ah" Jasmine dashed Emma's hopes of finding out that second with that single word but nothing could dampen Emma's mood, "I was worried that might be where that was headed" Jasmine sighed regretfully "I'm really sorry but I can't tell you yet, we need confirmation and contracts signed before we are allowed to announce her, but I know that she's keen to play Isabella and perfect for the role so I'm really hopeful that we'll have that confirmation soon, her agent is just checking for scheduling conflicts and then he'll have a lawyer look over the contracts before our other star signs them, I'd advise you do the same when you get your contract Emma, everything is legit of course but it's big thing signing up for a series, a massive commitment, you'll be contracted for three years for this, so it's always advisable to have lawyer check over the paper work before you sign"
"Thanks Miss Ali, I'll keep that in mind" Emma replied,
"It's Mrs" Jasmine corrected, "but you can call me Jasmine, you actually met my husband Aled during your audition, he was sitting next to me, and Neal was on the end, we were all very impressed by you"
"Thanks, Jasmine" Emma replied "for everything"
"You're the one that made it happen Emma" Jasmin replied "Anyway I'm really sorry but if there are no more questions then I really must dash, I have a meeting in ten minutes"
"I think I'm good for a now" Emma assured her, Jasmine told her to message if she thought of anything later then they said goodbye and Emma hung up buzzing with excitement as to what was to come and curiosity over who her mysterious famous co-star was.
For once Emma had conceded easily and not argued with Ruby she was buzzing with excited energy and dancing down The Rabbit Hole seemed like the perfect way to disperse some of it which is why later that evening she was standing in front of the mirror wearing her best jeans paired with a very sparkly red top, light make up enhanced her facial features and she was teasing her hair which hung loose around her shoulders into perfect curls,
"Another shot Emma" Ruby laughed handing her a tiny glass of bright green liquid whilst wiggling her hips to her favourite track wicked which was blaring from the stereo in the lounge area, Emma had no idea how the disc even played still with the number of times that Ruby had played it since purchasing the album. Dorothy who had arrived around half an hour earlier donning a plaid shirt and Jeans followed behind holding her own drink in hand, Ruby was sporting a black skirt so small that Emma feared it might give Granny a stroke if she ever saw Ruby wearing it and she had matched it with black top that showed off her perfectly flat midriff and black thigh high boots, the streaks in her hair and her short red jacket providing the only splashes of colour.
Accepting the shot Emma waited for Ruby to count down from three and then they all slammed them back together, Emma grimacing as she swallowed,
"Time to go" Ruby smiled collecting up the empty shot glasses and discarding them into the kitchen sink on her way to the front door, Dorothy making it slightly ahead of the others had already opened it to let them all out.
Storybrooke wasn't a big town and they lived plenty close enough to The Rabbit Hole to walk there even with Ruby wearing her ridiculously high heeled boots, Emma had no clue how her friend could actually walk in them, but she knew that she sure as hell wouldn't be able to herself.
"I need to dance" Emma announced as soon as they entered club leaving Ruby and Dorothy to head to the bar while she found herself a fairly secluded spot on the dancefloor, the small amount of courage that the shots they had knocked back before they had left had instilled in her still coursing through her veins, as she felt the pump of the music's base vibrating through her and began to move her body in time to the music, she had danced to four tracks before her energy had dissipated enough for her to notice the heat radiating from her skin and the thirst that had suddenly taken a hold of her.
Out of breath she sidled up to the bar and ordered a beer,
"Woah Swan, slow down" a voice with a swagger to it that could only belong to one person sounded in her ear as a bottle of beer landed on top of the bar next to pint that she had just taken three big gulps from and the owner of the voice made himself comfortable on the bar stool next to hers glanced in the bartenders direction then satisfied that she wasn't looking his way discreetly slipped his hand into his jacket pulling it back out to reveal a small silver flask which he took a deep swig from before returning it to his pocket,
"I don't know why you don't just buy your drinks here Killian" Emma laughed
"I do" Killian protested pointedly picking up his bottle of beer and waving it at Emma, Emma just rose an eyebrow in response,
"Well maybe if they actually sold decent rum in here" he grumbled and Emma laughed again,
"What it's true" Killian defended, "the only rum they ever have here is that coconutty flavoured stuff that Ruby likes to mix with her cola" Killian shuddered "I want to taste the rum love, anyway I hear a congratulations is order" he declared smoothly changing the subject,
"They told you then" Emma smiled taking another deep swig of refreshingly cold beer and inclining her head towards Ruby and Dorothy who were currently canoodling in a booth across from the bar,
"Yup" Killian replied "Seems like we might even end up seeing more of each other" he grinned waggling his eyebrows suggestively,
"Cut it out Jones" Emma laughed shoving his arm playfully in retaliation, knowing full well that Kilian's behaviour was nothing more than a bit of harmless banter, "and how do you figure that out anyway" she asked frowning slightly wondering what she had missed,
"That show of yours, they signed a contract with me and my old man" Killian explained "they want to use some of our warehouses down by the docks, I think they want to build some of the internal sets or something in there" he shrugged nonchalantly,
"They do know that it permanently stinks of fish in there, right?" Emma asked screwing up her face up at the memories of her first ever proper summer job in Storybrooke, she was fifteen and still too young to work in the diner, so she had spent her holidays that year working alongside Killian cleaning and gutting the fish that his father and his crew mates reeled in. It was gross and at one point she had thought that she'd never wash away the smell of fish, but it had paid well enough.
"I suppose so" Killian laughed again "But I don't think they really care Emma, they just want somewhere sheltered to set up, I mean it's not like the viewers will be able to smell it is it" he chuckled,
"No but I will" Emma groaned, "At least tell me that you and your dad are getting a good wage out of this arrangement" she looked at him expectantly,
"Oh yes" Killian smiled raising his beer to her "that we are" he brought the beer to his lips draining what was left in it in one, before returning the empty bottle to its spot on the bar and ordering another, Emma returned his smile pleased that she wasn't the only one that was going to benefit from this production when it eventually arrived in town.
The rest of the night passed in a haze of alcohol, dancing, and countless pats on the back from the numerous people to whom Ruby announced Emma's immanent stardom until in a moment of drunken madness Ruby climbed onto the bar and started to dance atop it,
"Leroy" the bar maid Esmerelda called to the bouncer from her position polishing a glass behind the bar as Ruby continued to dance wobbling precariously on her heels "we've got live one here, would you see her out please"
"Sure, thing sister" Leroy replied reaching up to help Ruby down "Hey watch where you're sticking them heels" he grumbled as Ruby suddenly all but fell off the bar landing in Leroy's outstretched arms,
"Sorry handsome" Ruby giggled playfully and straightened herself up,
"Cut that out and get yourself home before I call your Granny" Leroy threatened escorting her out of the club, Emma and Dorothy stumbling out of the door after her.
Walking home in her huge heels proved to be far more difficult a feat for Ruby than walking to the club when relatively sober had been and after her third stumble Dorothy scooped her up bridal style and carried her the rest of her way home, head limp against Dorothy's chest Ruby fell asleep before they made it made It back to the loft.
Once Emma had let them in Dorothy gently deposited Ruby into her bed slipping in beside her while Emma placed a glass of water and a couple of pain killers on Ruby's bedside table ready for her sore head in the morning, bid Dorothy good night and excused herself to her own room where she lay and read through her letter three more times before falling to sleep with a smile on her face.