By the time Emma had finished her unpacking, taken another quick shower and settled in it was lunch time and she was hungry again her huge breakfast feeling like it was a long time ago so she pulled her packed lunch from the fridge and tucked into the sandwiches that Granny had made her, flicking through the tv channels as she nibbled on bread that had been baked freshly by Granny early that morning, she passed a little time by like that until the activity of the morning suddenly caught up with her and her eyes begun to droop, deciding that she would take a quick nap Emma switched the tv off, discarded the rubbish from her lunch into the bin and left her empty lunch box in the sink then padded into her new bedroom where she slipped between the sheets and sighed at how comfortable the bed ones, her last conscious thought before darkness claimed her had been what a shame it was that her schedule wasn't going to allow her to spend just a little more time snuggled up in this bed.
It was already dark when a loud knocking on the door stirred a bleary-eyed Emma from her slumber, Emma immediately stumbled out of bed calling out to the knocker as she desperately tried to gain her bearings and figure out where she was,
"Alright I'm coming" she called out as she fumbled for a light switch, memories that hadn't plagued her for many years, of waking up in the same confused state in a new foster or group home crashing over her anew only adding to her confusion and adding a small dose of fear along with it.
Finally light flooded the trailer, Emma blinked twice as she adjusted to its brightness and let out a sigh of relief as heart still racing she finally realised exactly where she was, she should have known better than to fall asleep in a strange place without leaving a lamp on or setting an alarm, but then she reasoned she had fallen asleep not long after lunch and she hadn't expected to sleep more than an hour even without an alarm but apparently she had been a lot more tired than she had realised.
She made it to the door and pulled it open just as the person on the other side knocked again, taking the young woman who stood there by surprise,
"Can I help you?" Emma asked when the woman continued to stare without speaking
"Oh yes sorry" the other woman flustered "I came to let you know the canteen is open for the evening meal, if you're hungry I can show you over there if you want me to"
"Sure" Emma grinned realising that she was indeed hungry again and also seeing it as an opportunity to do some reconnaissance for Granny and Ruby "Just give me a sec" Emma called as she retreated back into the trailer, to nip into the bathroom for some quick relief and to tidy her hair, then she quickly swapped out her comfy loungers for a pair of jeans, shrugged her jacket on and grabbed her key and phone, looking at its screen as she made her way to the door she realised that she had received several texts asking how she was getting on and there were two missed calls from Ruby so she typed out a speedy reply reassuring Ruby that everything was fine and promising to call her back for a proper catch up after dinner before stepping out of the trailer and dropping the phone into her pocket so that she could free her hands up to lock her door behind her.
The cafeteria it turned out was only a short walk away so Emma knowing that she would have no trouble finding her way back to her trailer when she was done thanked her guide and said goodbye at the entrance, inside she joined a short queue to the canteen where trays of lasagne, chips, spaghetti, bolognaise and meatballs in sauce were displayed alongside their vegetarian counterparts with rows of garlic bread and pizza slices separating them, there were also jacket potatoes alongside tiny packets of butter and bowls that contained various fillings, a salad cart and a selection of sandwiches' on brown and white bread.
Emma had to admit that it looked and smelled delicious as she helped herself to a generous sized portion of lasagne and chips adding a couple of slices of pizza and garlic bread around the edge of the plate and stopping at the salad cart, noting with a small smile that the bread on the sandwiches was from a standard sliced loaf, not freshly baked like Grannies was every morning, then she turned to find an empty table which wasn't a difficult feat as it seemed that not many people were here yet.
The food she thought as she worked her way through it was enjoyable enough, she had certainly had worse in her time but still It wasn't a patch on Grannies which would make Granny's day when Emma told her.
She looked around the sparsely populated room as she ate spotting a couple of vaguely familiar faces that she couldn't quite place but none that were big or that Emma felt were even remotely right for Isabella, so still her co-star remained a mystery.
The main course was followed by a modest sized slice of chocolate cake which Emma tucked into eagerly, the food might not have been as good as Granny, but it was tasty and left her feeling satisfied when she was finished and ready to leave.
On the way out she spotted a pile of menus and grabbed one thinking that it would be a good addition to her scrapbook and much to her excitement she discovered that it also showed the cafeteria's opening hours, Granny she thought was going to be very happy to discover that her main competitor the cafeteria on the complex that the actors stayed on which served them food free of charge was only open for a couple of hours twice a day, to serve morning and evening meals, breakfast was continental every day and the evening meals like tonight offered set menu's, a hot main in meat and vegetarian options, salad cart, jackets and sandwiches, Granny would be the only one open all day and the only one open during the night which would be handy for when people were filming in the town, plus Granny's food tasted better and she offered a better selection every day.
Not quite ready to return to her own trailer yet Emma decided to have a little explore of the complex that was her current home, so far, she hadn't seen that far beyond the entrance, her trailer was such a low number and the diner wasn't more than a two minute walk away, as she walked she realised that nearly everything communal was at her end of the complex, first the security cabin which was next to another similar sized structure that had help desks inside, which were manned twenty- four seven, and had a break room for staff which doubled as a shelter from the cold when they weren't needed, at the back of it, if any of the complexes inhabitants needed anything at any time of day or night they only need pop to the help shack.
The next building was dining hall, having already been there Emma passed the outdoor seating area without a second glance, the final communal building which was currently locked was for hair, make up and costumes, after that it was just trailers lined on both sides of her as she continued her walk, many were dark and silent either their occupants were either asleep or hadn't arrived yet, but a few here and there were lit up and in a several she even saw the outlines of their occupants moving about inside and when she walked passed the final trailers she saw that a large empty green space had been enclosed in the fence that surrounded the complex, it was well lit and Emma's heart soared as she saw that the fence stretched beyond the boundary of the forest so that they effectively had a small wood inside their complex, a little slice of one of Emma's favourite places in the world to escape.
Someone had dotted some benches sporadically around the green area some with tables and others without, Emma could easily and very happily visualise bringing some of her meals up here when she had the opportunity to do so.
Walking across the green Emma slipped into the familiar shadows of the trees walking through them until the fence prevented her from progressing any further, then she continued walking along the fence looking for a particular path on the other side, there it was she thought when she found it fond memories of her time spent exploring the forest that lay beyond filtering to the forefront of her mind.
Not far from where she stood Emma saw two parts of the fence chained to one another, memories of being a teen running from the law in the city suddenly flashed in her mind giving her inspiration, reaching out she pushed on the fence and sure enough it moved enough to make a small gap and before she could talk herself out of it Emma had squeezed herself through it and was soon standing on the other side but it was far too dark to go venturing any further she had just wanted to know if she could get out that way and now that she knew she could she squeezed herself back In returning the fence to its former position,
as much as she knew that she probably tell security about this unintended access point she also knew from years of experience that the chances of anyone accessing that point from the outside given the area of the forest that it went into was next to zero, in fact she wondered if that might not be why this particular area had been picked to back the complex onto so as she walked away shivering against the cold that was setting it, deciding that this was as good a time as ever to return to her trailer and go over the following days itinerary while she caught up with Ruby, Emma didn't feel bad about her decision to keep quiet about her newly discovered secret exit.
"Hey Rubes" Emma greeted a short while later as she sat crossed legged on her bed glancing over her itinerary,
"Well, it's about time Ems" Ruby replied, "so tell me what's it like?" she asked eagerly,
"It's really nice" Emma laughed "but the food isn't a patch on Grannies and the onsite cafeteria is only open for a couple of hours twice day, here I'll send you a pic of the menu" Emma said placing the menu on the bed flipping her phone to camera immediately sending the pic she took to Ruby before returning it to the call screen,
"Excellent" Ruby spoke, and Emma could hear the beam radiating from her "Grannies going to be over the moon" she laughed,
"She sure will" Emma joined the laughter then started to tell Ruby more about her new trailer, sending more pictures and laughing harder as Ruby oohed and ahhed from the other end of the line.
She sat like that for a while talking and laughing with Ruby and she could easily have sat and talked for longer, but Emma knew that she had a very early start tomorrow and it was going to be a very long day, much longer than her shifts at Grannies so it was with a little reluctance that she finally declared that she needed to get herself to bed they said their goodbyes and Emma hung up.
So early was her start that Emma decided to lay everything out ready that night, her script for what would be the third episode joined her Id and key on the table, though she had the first three scripts which according to instructions on itinerary was to help her get to know her character better ahead of filming for reasons unknown to Emma they were starting to film the third episode first.
Then with her clothes folded neatly on a chair, a fresh towel hanging on the back of the bathroom door and her phone plugged in on charge alarm set Emma slipped between the sheets and snuggled into their depths enjoying the feeling of their warmth enveloping her.
It was still pitch black out when her phone started beeping at her just as Emma had known it would be at four thirty in the morning, but unlike the first time she had woken in this new place alone in the dark the gentle glow of the lamp that she had left on next to her bed immediately showed her where she was and so there was no panic or disturbing flashbacks as she stretched and rolled over to silence the alarm, she was just stepping into the bathroom when the unfamiliar sounds of a second much louder alarm suddenly rang through the trailer startling her,
"Shit" she cussed as she whacked her toe on the bathrooms doorframe when she stumbled back towards the bed and hit the off button on the alarm that she had found in her room the day before and forgotten that she had set to go off five minutes after her phones alarm just in case her own alarm didn't go off,
She let out a sigh of relief as silence fell once more, the noise that alarm made was truly awful and though Emma knew she would always set it to go off a few minutes after her phone as a backup should her phone alarm ever fail she also knew that she would endeavour to remember that she had set it in future so that when It wasn't needed she could switch the damn thing off before it sounded, wincing a little as her toe throbbed she made her way back to the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead.
Showered and dressed with her damp curls hanging loosely over her shoulders Emma left the trailer just after five and headed over to check out the breakfast spread, just as the menu had suggested there was nothing hot on offer, it was all very continental and clearly nothing was freshly baked that morning and just like the with the meal the evening before they were expected to help themselves,
As she approached the food and picked up a plate Emma's nerves began to grow and suddenly nothing looked appetizing anymore but she knew she had to eat something or she would end up making herself ill, so she cast the plate aside picking up a bowl instead and moving on to the selection of cereal where she poured cornflakes into her bowl added some fruit and milk, filled a glass with orange juice and settled herself at a nearby table to eat.
It wasn't an enjoyable meal, every mouthful proved difficult to swallow as she thought about what the day ahead of her held, she knew that she was heading over to the warehouses next to docks from here and she was super excited to finally see sets that were being built in there, but she still didn't know who her co-star was or how she was going to preform, how humiliating would it be if Emma messed up and got sacked on her first day, maybe she'd even end up serving her replacement and her co-star for less than a day at Grannies, the thought that it could go that drastically wrong made Emma feel sick, part of her wanted to run back to Grannies right this second, put on her apron and forget that any of this ever happened, but she knew that she could never do that, she was in this thing now and she would give it her all, plus Leah was just like her right? So how could she get it wrong? It was with a little relief that Emma placed her spoon into her empty bowl a few minutes later and found that the feeling of nausea had eased a little.
Breakfast finished and a few pictures of the spread sent over to Ruby, Emma ditched her dirty dishes with the others and left the dining hall heading back to her trailer where she rattled the door handle a couple of times then satisfied that it was locked and no longer able to delay the next step any further she climbed into her bug and headed for the gates remembering to stop and scan her pass to open them as she approached.
The drive over was quick and uneventful, to quick Emma thought as a fresh wave of nausea washed over her and she rested her forehead on her steering wheel taking deep steadying breaths as she worked up the courage to get out of the car, she jumped when her phone pinged announcing the arrival of a message from Ruby,
Goodluck today Em x
She read, quickly tapping back her gratitude, and switching her phone onto silent mode to avoid any embarrassing situations arising during filming later because she very much doubted that Ruby was going to contain herself all day, she was bound to send more messages and maybe even call.
After a quick glance at her ID the security on the entrance to the warehouse that her itinerary instructed her to go to that morning permitted her entry, she wrinkled her nose as the overpowering smell of fish assaulted her nostrils the second she stepped into the warehouse, Nothing new there then she thought as the security guard began to direct her towards the dressing room which was the first place she had to present herself, but his words were barely registering because as she walked into the main body of the warehouse her eyes had fallen onto what was new.