Chapter 4
Goodluck Emma
The next few weeks seemed to drag by but after what seemed like forever set designers, film crew and trailers finally began to arrive, the whole town was buzzing with excitement and Jones and Jones fishing industries weren't the only ones to see a business opportunity reveal itself to them.
As soon as Emma had told her about the upcoming production Granny had begun looking into extending her operating license to include nights,
"it's never been worth it before, well weekends aside" Granny babbled excitedly as she gently lifted down the framed poster displaying her operating hours which hung proudly on the wall behind the counter, carefully opening the back to place the shiny new poster displaying her new opening hours in front of the original before reattaching the back and rehanging it just as carefully,
"But soon they'll be filming around the clock" she nodded satisfied at her work "and all those people they'll need eat and they'll want coffee girls" she turned and grinned at them "and we'll be open twenty-four seven to serve it to them, it's a shame that I'll be losing my best waitress though" she smiled again and chucked Emma under her chin affectionally,
"Cheers then" Ruby said rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner.
A few days after the trailers were seen being pulled into town another letter landed on Emma's doorstep with an unexpected offer inside,
"They're offering me one of the trailers to live in while we're filming" Emma told Ruby between mouthfuls of cereal,
"But you already live in the town that you're filming in Em" Ruby laughed
"I know, but still it might be an idea" Emma pondered "I mean my working hours are going to be all over the place so it may be better if I've got my own space to go home to, where I won't disturb you coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and you've been talking about wanting to move in with Dorothy for a while now, maybe the two of you could use this as this as trial run, plus the trailer is free so I won't be leaving you in the lurch, I'll still be able to pay my share of the rent here, I can move back in for the months between filming and after the show is finished and I'll transfer my share of the deposit for a new place over to you so that you won't have to delay taking one if this place ends up condemned while I'm not here" Emma added thinking about the for sale that had been a permanent fixture outside the building for the last year, they both knew that the building's owner was facing financial ruin and in a desperate bid to make the sell he had lowered the asking price significantly only the month before, so it was only a matter of time now before it would either be sold and much needed works and improvements would finally be done increasing the cost of their rent with them or the building would end being condemned as unfit for human habitation and they would have to find somewhere else to live, they knew that they always had their room back with Granny to fall back on in an emergency but it wouldn't be the same, so they had decided to stay put for as long as possible making the most of the cheap rent while it lasted, by saving hard, first for the deposit and then for luxuries that they might not be able afford once their circumstances changed and forced them to make a change one way or another,
"What do you think?" Emma asked
"You had me at trial run living with Dorothy" Ruby replied bouncing over with Emma's phone waving it in her face "the more important question is why haven't you accepted the offer already"
"Dork" Emma laughed snatching the phone and quickly tapping out a text saying that she would need a trailer and hitting send.
Emma's work schedule and scripts for the first three episodes were the next thing to arrive along with a letter instructing Emma that she was not to let anybody else see the scripts under any circumstances,
"Bang goes you helping me with my lines then" Emma laughed holding the scripts just out of Ruby's reach as she pleaded and kept trying to get hold of them,
"At least let me see your work schedule, the letter doesn't say that you can't show me that" Ruby pointed out,
"okay" Emma shrugged handing it over,
"This is crazy" Ruby exclaimed eyes bugging out as they roved over the paper taking everything in, "they don't want you to sleep much do they"
"Time is money I guess" Emma replied looking at the schedule over her friend's shoulder and feeling relieved that she had accepted the trailer offer "it does look a little intense though" she acknowledged.
As D Day drew nearer the buzz around town grew bigger, Killian frequently came into Grannies talking excitedly about the latest set building going on in his biggest warehouse
"You should see it Emma" he said unable to disguise the awe in his voice "the train interior set Is the biggest yet, it stretches across the whole back wall, and the details in them, seriously Swan I swear that one of those sets makes you feel like you've just walked into one of the rooms in the B and B, If you know, it was missing a wall"
Emma's own excitement grew with every passing day, every new arrival, every new set story and every snippet of gossip that found its way to her ears, she was disappointed that she hadn't been allowed to go and see the sets herself and Killian refused to take photos for her either,
"Not a chance Swan" he'd smiled when she had asked, "I wouldn't want to ruin the affect for you, honestly it's worth the wait"
"Fine" she'd replied a little sulkily, but she hadn't brought it up again,
Having already read through the first three amazing scripts Emma already knew with certainty that she would be spending a good bit of time on that B and B set it was where Leah would be calling home when she first came to town, what she still didn't know was who her co-star was going to be, admittedly she hadn't asked again since but her curiosity was definitely spiking, she had combed over the descriptions of Isabella who didn't have any lines to begin with due to her having lost her voice many times trying to think of which actresses would best fit the role, only one kept springing to mind again and again, Emma was a fan of her work and instantly knew that she'd be perfect as Isabella, but even in the throes of her excitement Emma couldn't delude herself into believing that she would actually be the one to play the part because Regina Mills wasn't just big in the movie world she was massive, so she tried to brush to idea to one side but still the mystery of her co-star plagued her thoughts more and more as the time for filming to begin grew closer.
The morning before filming was set to begin finally arrived, Emma was up bright and early excited and ready to move into her new trailer. She took the worlds quickest shower slung her phone charger into her rucksack which already contained her laptop and other valuables both monetarily and sentimentally, grabbed a slice of toast and left a note for the still sleeping Ruby, then easing the bag onto her shoulders she paused to take one last look around the loft that had been her home for the past seven years now before pulling the door closed and heading out to her car.
With Ruby and Dorothy's help she had loaded the little yellow bug with the rest of her belongings that she was taking with her the night before so once she had slipped into the driver's seat carefully reaching over to place her trusty rucksack into the passenger's seat next to her, she was ready to go but she had one last quick stop to make along the way and so a few minutes later as previously promised she was pulling up outside Grannies and cutting out the engine of her car, she got out grabbing her rucksack to take it with her, it was small town, everybody knew Emma and her car, she doubted that anybody would actually take it, but then again they also had a steady trickle of new visitors trailing into town, half of the rooms at Grannies B and B had been hired at a discount rate for the duration of filming with the possibility of more being added at a later date and trust worthy town or not Emma wasn't about to risk leaving her most valuable worldly goods unattended in the front seat of her car and so the rucksack and Its contents would go everywhere with her until it and they were safely secured inside her new trailer.
Granny greeted her with huge hug, squeezing her tight,
"I'll still be in town you know Granny" Emma laughed
"I know you will sweetheart" Granny smiled pulling back and releasing Emma, "I'm so proud of you, now sit yourself down and wait here a second"
"But I've got to get to my trailer so I can unpack" Emma insisted
"I know, I know but surly you've got five minutes for your old Granny, haven't you?" Granny implored peering at Emma over the top of her glasses as she spoke,
"Course I do" Emma smiled sitting on a barstool at the counter and placing her rucksack on the next one, how could she possibly refuse that request, after all, none of this would have even been possible if it wasn't for Granny taking her in all those years ago.
Seconds later Granny was returning from the kitchen carrying a huge tray of Emma's favourite breakfast foods, Ruby in tow carrying a tall mug of something with whipped cream and what looked suspiciously like cinnamon on top in one hand a pale blue gift bag with a swan on the front of it in the other.
As soon as Granny placed the food tray in front her Emma's stomach began to inform her of just how insubstantial a breakfast that slice of toast had been in a very noisy fashion,
"How'd you get here so fast, you were still asleep when I left Rubes" Emma mumbled through a mouthful of pancake, washing it down with a glorious mouthful of the hot chocolate that Ruby had placed next to her,
"You mean the pillows under the blankets actually worked on you" Ruby marvelled, "that's like the oldest trick in the book Ems you really need to do better" she teased,
"We aren't teenagers anymore Rubes" Emma pointed out "we don't actually need to use those types of tricks to sneak out anymore, not that we ever did anything like that when we were teenagers of course" she quickly amended as she caught Granny narrowing her eyes at her from her position next to Ruby,
"We do if one of us wants to sneak out in the morning to surprise the other" Ruby laughed "and if you think either of us ever actually fooled her" Ruby jerked her thumb in her Granny's direction "with those shenanigans then you'd better think again girl, she might pretend that she didn't always know what was going on under her roof, but she definitely did"
"Yes, well I also knew that you were both sensible girls and together" Granny spoke up, "right less of that" Granny continued changing the subject "now tell me how's your breakfast?"
"It's the best" Emma smiled through another mouthful of food, some waffle now, Granny walked back into the kitchen returning moments later with two more breakfasts one each for her and Ruby while Ruby herself walked around the counter and turned the lock on the diner door the sign hanging on it still read closed but she wanted to be sure that they wouldn't be disturbed until they were ready, by the time she was done Emma and Granny were relocating to a booth where they could all sit and enjoying their morning meal together, they hadn't eaten together as a family like this since Christmas and It was so enjoyable that Emma thought that they should do it more often and voiced that opinion as she lay her cutlery on her empty plate a short while later,
"Yes, we should definitely make regular breakfasts together our thing" Ruby grinned, "Now are you going to open your gift or what?" she asked "the anticipation is killing me"
Laughing at Ruby's impatience Emma slowly picked up the bag and began to open it even slower,
"Cut it out and open it already" Ruby complained eliciting more laughter from Emma,
"Come now girls behave yourselves, after all you aren't teenagers anymore remember" Granny chuckled with a wink,
Emma laughed but shifted her focus from teasing Ruby to the contents of her gift bag lifting out two beautifully wrapped parcels complete with ribbons and bows, ever the perfectionist Rubes she thought as she recognised her friends handy work when she placed the gifts on the table in front of her and reached into the bag one last time removing what appeared to be a card and a small, unwrapped object that had been left rattling around in the bag,
"That ones from Jake" Ruby said as Emma lifted the little object up by its ring to take a closer look, it was truly exquisite, a perfect beautiful little swan with a golden crown resting on its head, Emma loved it and looking at It suddenly made her miss him and wish he were here too, he didn't always make it down for Christmas's now that he was married and settled in the city with a family of his own but when he did it always made Christmas's that much more magical, reaching into her pocket Emma pulled her car key out and immediately attached her new keyring to it before placing it on the table and turning her attention to her card.
In keeping with the theme, the Goodluck card too had a picture of a swan on the front of it, Emma felt tears welling in her eyes but fought hard to stop them from falling as she read the well wishes from Granny, Ruby, Dorothy, Jake, and his family inside, she placed the card on the table next to keys eyes lingering on it a little longer before turning her attention to the wrapped gifts,
"I should tell you that I chose the bag and card before I knew that Jake was sending the keyring" Ruby grumbled rolling her eyes,
"It's okay" Emma smiled picking up the first parcel the larger of the two "I love it all"
The paper fell off of the first parcel to reveal an a4 sized book beautifully bound with a leather cover that bore the words once upon a time in gold lettering, Emma opened the book to find several article cuttings, the little black card that Guy had given Emma, some of the photo's that had been taken at Emma's audition along with a few that Emma had, had no idea that Ruby had taken, one showed Emma sitting on the floor of the waiting room, eyes closed and earphones in place, it felt she thought like such a long time ago now and another showed her walking past a very disgruntled looking Victoria as she held the door to the audition room open for her and there were a couple of other small memorabilia's that Ruby had managed to squirrel away without Emma noticing a few more funny sneaky photo's including some from her celebratory night out after she found out that she had the role, all carefully sealed within the books first dozen or so pages, each painstakingly labelled, the rest of the pages remained empty except for the title page which bore the unmistakable mark of Kilian's artistry, intricate little designs all acting and Emma related surrounded words written in the same style gold lettering as the cover that spelled out
ONCE UPON A TIME A DUCKLING BECAME SWAN, NOW THAT SWAN WILL BECOME A STAR,
Emma traced over the letters swallowing thickly,
"We thought you could keep a scrap book of your acting adventure" Ruby explained though her explanation wasn't really necessary, "Killian helped" she shrugged when Emma still didn't speak, again just confirming what Emma already knew,
"It's wonderful" Emma breathed struggling to keep her emotions in check, "I love it Ruby, thank you so much" she said placing the book on the table in front of her and reaching across it to squeeze Ruby's hand,
"Again" Ruby insisted making Emma laugh and lightening the mood a little "I didn't know about Jakes little Swan gift when Killian and I were working on the book"
The final gift was quite a bit smaller than the book, but very solid and heavy, intrigued Emma let the paper fall off to reveal a Marco original she'd know his work anywhere just as easily as she knew Kilian's,
"I didn't know that they were going for swans either" Granny piped up a little sheepishly as Emma gently traced her fingers over the ornate perfectly finished swans, one on each corner of the horizontal picture frame, a smiling picture of Emma, Ruby, Jake and Granny smiled up at her from its centre and just below that engraved in the bottom section of wooden frame was a single word 'FAMILY', A family of Swans Emma thought as she glanced from one of the engraved swans in the corner of the frame to the next, four in total, her family.
She didn't even know she was crying until her tears splashed down onto the glass of the picture frame,
"Oh Emma" Granny cried too getting up and pulling Emma up out of her seat and into her arms "My beautiful Emma" she soothed stroking Emma's back, Ruby slipped out of the booth behind Granny and muscled her way in to the hug too.
The three remained embraced like that, tears silently falling from all their eyes until Emma whispered a quiet "thank-you" and the three of them finally separated, Granny collecting the dirty dishes and leaving her girls to it while she took them to the kitchen,
"So, we got a bit carried away with the swan theme huh" Ruby chuckled a little sheepishly "I guess that's what we get for all deciding to arrange separate gifts without discussing anything between us"
"It's really okay" Emma assured her "It's all so beautiful and unique, I love everything so much and none of you had do this, I'm only taking new job in town" she chuckled
"Still, I think we'll probably lay off the swans at Christmas" Ruby laughed again "And yes we did Emma, we love you and we're so proud of you, we just wanted to show you how much you mean to us and wish you luck, you'd do the same for any of us" Ruby finished confidently and knowing it was true Emma couldn't argue with that,
Just then Granny returned with three steaming coffees in hand,
They were the perfect finish to the perfect family breakfast, once their cups were empty and more hugs exchanged and promises that Emma would invite them to visit her trailer just as soon as she could, Granny had pressed a lunch parcel into Emma's hands and Emma had gathered up the rest of her things and headed back to her car switching the sign on the diner door from closed to open as she left.
It was only a five-minute drive to the playing fields where the trailers had been set up, but then everywhere in this town is only ever a five-minute drive away Emma thought fondly. A flutter of nerves mixed with excitement was playing havoc in the pit of her stomach as she approached the site and looked in awe at the long white trailers shining in the morning sun one of which was abouts to become her new home.
A throng of people most of which she recognised from town mixed with a few strangers holding expensive looking cameras were hanging around by the gate, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars Emma thought rolling her eyes then blanching a little as it suddenly occurred to her that she was about to become one of them, not one that they'll be wanting to catch a glimpse of or take pictures of though Emma reasoned taking a deep breath and gently tapping the bugs accelerator carefully navigating her way closer to the gates that she needed to gain entry through.
Feeling her mouth go dry Emma swallowed as she slowly drove through the gathering crowd and they all turned as one trying to stare in at her mouths agape as she passed them by, If they didn't all know that Emma was involved in this production before they definitely did now, Everybody knew Granny's foster daughter, and they also all knew that Emma was the proud owner of the only bright yellow bug in town and it was unique in more than ways than one, so she stuck out like sore thumb as she pootled slowly onwards getting ever closer to the locked gates ahead of her.
She had barely cleared the crowd when curtesy of her rear-view mirror she witnessed the whispering beginning, yes there was no doubt that they now knew that Emma Swan was somehow involved in the show but she and Ruby hadn't told anybody anything about her involvement since their drunken night out, nobody had approached Emma with any congratulations since then and judging by the reactions of the people that she knew in the crowd behind this was indeed news to them so now they knew she was involved, how long it would be before they knew what the exact nature of her involvement was, was anybody's guess, but one thing that Emma was sure of as she continued slowly forward was that it wasn't going to be long and that once she drove through those gates her life was going to change forever.
Sighing she pulled her attention from the gossiping crowd behind her and came to a stop a short distance from the gates, they were flagged by two security guards one on each side, and a third guard who sat in a little booth to her left and appeared to be reading a newspaper, she wound down her window as the nearest guard approached her.
"Name" he asked curtly looking down at the clip board in his hand pen already hovering over the paper attached to it as he waited for her answer,
"Emma, Emma swan" she replied
"Swan, Swan" He murmured as his hand moved down the clipboard pen still hovering just above the paper, it seemed to be taking a long time and Emma began to feel the anxiety rising in the pit of her stomach again, and her head began to spin with worrying questions, what if she wasn't even on the list? How would she sort it out? How humiliating would that be? could this still be an elaborate prank at her expense? How stupid would she feel if it was? She knew she was over thinking things, but she still couldn't stop herself from thinking about how she would never be able to trust anybody ever again if this was all a trick.
"There you are" the guard smiled his hand pausing and coming down so that the pen could make contact with the paper and Emma let out a sigh of relief as she saw the pen form a ticking motion, then the man was looking in at her again,
"I.D" he said curt tone returning
"Of course," Emma replied fumbling around in her purse, she eventually managed to alleviate the little card from its slot and passed it through her open window, the guard accepted it alternating glances between Emma and the card until he grunted and handed it back to Emma with a satisfied nod before returning his attention to his clip board and adding a second tick next to the first.
"Wait here a second" he instructed turning his back on Emma and approaching his colleague who was sitting in the booth, he returned less than a minute later with an a4 white Envelope in his hand, which on closer inspection Emma saw had her name and the number four written across its front in swirly black lettering, leaning in slightly the guard began to speak to her,
"This contains your trailer key and I.D" he handed her the envelope "you'll need to wear your I.D at all times when you're on set between filming at least until everybody is more familiar with you" he explained "you'll also need it to gain access to this base, you just scan it over there and the gates will open for you" he indicated to the small pillar sticking out the ground just ahead of her at arm's reach from her side of the car, it had a red glow emanating from the side facing in towards her,
"There's one on the other side too" the guard continued "The gates will only open either way when you scan your card, it just helps ensure that you can never forget it" he clarified "once you're inside the complex you won't need it again until you want to leave it, oh and Miss Swan this should go without saying but if you should ever lose you I.D whether you think it may be in or outside the complex to help ensure the continued protection of yourself and your co-stars within the complex you must report its loss to security as quickly as possible so that we can shut the pass down and issue you a new one as soon as possible"
"thanks" Emma smiled "and of course as you say goes without saying really" the guard nodded and was apparently satisfied because he straightened himself up and moved away from the bug allowing Emma to move forwards,
"Have a good day Miss Swan" he called as she shifted her car into gear,
"And you" Emma called back cheerily "and please call me Emma" she finished waving out the window as she moved off,
"Okay see you Miss Emma" the guard called back returning her wave with a broad grin on his face, all the professional curtness from moments before completely melting away now that his job was done.
Pausing at the scanner Emma picked up the envelope from lap ran her fingers under the seal prising it up, then began to rifle around in its depths until her hand closed around a small cold plastic card 'Bingo' she thought as she pulled it out.
The card she saw once it was in her hands was attached to a long yellow fabric strap that had 'EMMA' printed repeatedly all over it in red bold capital letters, it had a plastic clip on the back that would hold it together whenever she wore it around her neck, the card itself showed a not very flattering passport style picture of herself beside her name underneath which was her characters first name in bold capital letters and beneath all of the that a bar code stretched the entire width of the card, she reached out of the window scanning the barcode on the front of the post, hearing the beep and watching the light change from red to green when it worked, then as if any further confirmation was needed the guard she had spoken too stuck his thumb up behind her and the gates slowly began to open permitting her entry.
She tapped the wheel impatiently until the gates were open wide enough for her to fit through then she drove steadily forward noticing another two guards stationed on the other side when she passed through them, there was also a much larger temporary building than the booth, with security written across the door in white further back on her right inside the complex.
Continuing to drive slowly Emma began to read the numbers on the end of the trailers, they as it turned out were stationed in numerological order so it didn't take her long to find hers, number four the fourth on her left, she indicated turning into the space between the front side of four and the back side of number three shutting off the engine and jumping out to open the trailer door before returning to start unloading the car.
Emma was at a loss for words when she got her first glance at the interior of the trailer, sure it wasn't the hugest thing on the planet but then she hadn't expected it to be but it definitely wasn't the smallest either,
it was all open planned and had its own kitchen complete with a breakfast bar, a lounge area with a little electric fire that would glow and make it cosy when it was on, a reasonably sized T.V was fixed to wall above the fireplace not that Emma's schedule afforded her much time to watch it she thought, and the entire back end of the trailer gave way to her new bedroom, a huge king-size bed dominated this space with a bedside table on each side, furniture to store clothing was spread along one wall and on the other side between the bedroom and kitchen space stood an open door leading to the only completely closed off space in the trailer, it was this space that at that precise moment Emma desperately needed.
The bathroom was tiny and consisted of a toilet, walk in shower and a sink that were all very cramped together, but it was functional and clean, Emma had without doubt known much worse in her time.
All thing's considered Emma was thrilled with her new home, she had washed her hands after relieving herself and opened the little mirrored cabinet above it to find a small selection of toiletries and even a box of painkillers inside, further investigations of the trailer revealed that someone had also stocked her cupboards and fridge with some basic amenities, there was toilet rolls, milk, eggs, butter, bread, biscuits, cereal and coffee among other things, Emma added Grannies lunch pack to the fridge contents and began to unpack the rest of her belongings finishing by putting her new treasured scrap book inside the bedside drawer on her chosen side of the to sleep and carefully placing the beautiful picture of her family on top where she would be able to see it as she fell asleep each night.