Original Work: You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home, Chapter 2, Part 7

thefinalgirl (62)in #writing • 8 years ago

Chapter 2, Part 7

Linda was still on the phone when I gratefully dropped back into my seat. She didn’t seem happy and I wondered if she, too, was finally learning the news of Emilia’s little encounter with Michaela last night. I was sure that interest in Emilia was both jumping through the roof and declining at the same time; who wouldn’t want to follow the story of this starlet about to combust? Who wouldn’t want to see what she did next? But at the same time, parents didn’t want their children thinking the proper retaliation for the theft of a friend or Barbie was the destruction of something they would have to pay for. I was sure that footage of Emilia doing the damage was all over the Internet, thanks to TMZ and the other eager photographers, making it all too easy to imitate.

Shortly after I returned, Linda hung up with Garth, a frown stretched tightly across her face. “That girl…” She mumbled, looking like she was in the mood to snap her phone in half. It might keep the bad news at bay for a while.

It seemed as though Linda wasn’t going to fill me in on her conversation with Garth (lest I change my mind, I was sure) so I decided to prompt her into it. If I was going to actually do this thing, though I was starting to think I was a suicidal idiot, I wasn’t going to be kept out of the loop. “I saw Emilia on TV.” I remarked, not bothering to go for casual.

Shaking her head, Linda sighed. “I’m sorry Scout, she’s out of control.” Maybe she was about to call the whole thing off. Doubtful. “We’re going to have to get you out there right away, issuing apologies, kissing ass.” Yep, that was me: the meek, mild, people-pleasing ass-kisser.

And do you know what I considered the really sad thing? Emilia was never going to appreciate what I was doing, not even if she became everyone’s favorite person for all of eternity. And Linda just thought I was another member of the PR team, albeit a valuable one, who’s only duty was to clean up her daughter’s image.

Suddenly, there didn’t seem to be one pro to even out this impossibly long con list. I got to my feet. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” I told Linda frankly. “I just…I can’t.” I shrugged. “I’m sorry.” Michaela would probably murder me the second we crossed paths, so I considered my words the ‘flight’ part of the survival instinct.

I heard Linda start to protest as I turned away, heading out of the gate and back toward the hallway once more. I was sure I could find my way back to the main gate, where I’d be able to call my dad and tell him I’d changed my mind, though I hoped he’d come get me without asking too many questions or trying to work a life-lesson moment into this whole thing.

But I didn’t get very far before Linda was following me, taking my elbow and pulling me off to the side of the hallway, into a little niche that led to a service entrance. “Scout, please, just hear me out.” Linda pleaded and given the tone in her voice I probably would have listened, even if she hadn’t practically been pinning me against the wall. Though I had the feeling I was about to be talked back into impersonating Mr. Hyde, I turned my face toward Linda to show her I was listening.

Sighing, Linda relaxed her grip slightly, as though she realized she had been doing a little overboard. “I know I haven’t been a very good mother to you, Scout, and I don’t really have any excuse for leaving your father and only taking one of you. But you’ve had a good life with Mitch and I can’t kick myself too much when I see how you turned out, versus the way Emilia is acting.” She did have a point there, but it didn’t seem like the right time to interrupt. “I’ve always thought about what it would be like when we finally saw each other again and I never imagined it would be like this.” Linda admitted and I wondered what type of reunion she had seen in her mind. “I didn’t want to first time we saw each other to be under anything but joyful circumstances; I never imagined I’d be coming to you to ask for help, but that’s just the way life works.

“I know this probably isn’t the best idea I could have come with, I know that anything past this point is sort of like closing the door after the horse is out, but this is the only idea I’ve got.” Linda continued, her voice business-like but somehow more personal than before, like we were talking on even terms and not as potential business-partners. “And I know that you probably feel like I’m throwing you to the lions and pulling Emilia out of the pit and hell, who knows, maybe that is what I’m doing but I think there’s a part of you that likes that idea.” She let the statement hang between us, as though waiting for me to agree with her. I didn’t say anything and I averted my eyes. “It’s never been sink or swim for you and now it is and it’s a helluva lot more exciting than where you’re from. Believe me, I know, I lived there.” Again, I know she was expecting me to say anything so I purposefully kept silent, even though there was a tiny part of my brain that was listening.

“And I know that Emilia has quite the mess to clean up, but I honestly believe you’re the only person who can even make a dent in it.” Linda tucked my hair behind my shoulder, a motherly gesture. “It won’t be all bad, I promise.” She offered me a faint smile. “But I understand if Emilia’s…recent activities have scared you off. I almost don’t want to go back myself. If you change your mind, I won’t stop you but I hope that you don’t.” She didn’t explain why that was, as though she was leaving it for me to make up my own mind. Because she wanted to catch up on some lost mother-daughter time? Or because she needed me to bail out Emilia’s sinking ship? I hoped it was a little bit of both, instead of just one.

Linda kissed me on the cheek, smiling softly before turning and leaving me alone, standing in the little side hallway. Great. What was I supposed to do after that little speech, walk away? Obviously I could have, no one was stopping me, but my feet didn’t seem to be working at the moment. I thought about what Linda had said, about the excitement of leaving Independence and being forced to sink or swim. It was true, that Independence was hardly the type of place that made you test whether you were a swimmer or a drowner and now I wondered which I was. Would I be able to survive in the real world…not that Hollywood was the real world by any means but I wondered what it would be like to be on my own, to turn a corner and find a stranger in front of me instead of someone who knew every little detail about my life. Not to mention the excitement of living in Emilia’s shoes, however painful they might be to fill. Hadn’t I just been worried I was too boring? I knew that most people in my position wouldn’t have been thinking this long about living the life of a pop-super star and I felt a little stupid for continuing to stand in this little hallway when it was obvious what my choice would be.

Sighing, I turned and headed back toward the gate. If I wasn’t cut out to play Emilia, then it would become apparent pretty quickly and Linda would have to come up with another plan. The least I could do was give it a shot. And I did have to admit, I was a little curious to see what it would be like to be someone else. This was how the Prince and the Pauper got into trouble.

“Oh boy.” I muttered as I came into view of the gate, where Linda was sitting with her back to me, a nervous expression on her face. Over the intercom, they called our flight number and instructed the passengers to begin bordering. “I’m probably going to regret this…” But I went over to Linda anyway.

Hopefully, my words would prove to be nothing more than the mutters of a worry-wart. But I doubted it.