Chapter 2, Part 4
In the end, I decided I would do what Linda asked. But on one condition. “I want my family to get some kind of compensation.” I told Linda frankly the following day after school. She was all ready at the house, feigning interest in Beverly’s interior design business and waiting for me to arrive. “Actors get paid and I have the feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of acting.” I pointed out. I knew that my dad never would have come up on that idea alone, or asked Linda for any sort of monetary gain, but I knew that he could use a little bit of extra money, whether he’d admit it or not. He looked surprised to hear my words.
But Linda only nodded. “I’m sure we can work something out.” She seemed to be too excited over the idea that I had actually agreed to this very bizarre idea. I could practically see the wheels in her mind turning, arranging press junkets and meet and greets with the new and improved Emilia in order to rebuild her image. I wondered what the real Emilia was going to say about all this and I doubted her words would be kind or encouraging. “I’m glad you agreed to do this Scout, this is going to be wonderful, you’ll see.” I knew she wasn’t trying to convince the both of us, because she was acting like a kid at Christmas time, like this was some of the best news that she’d gotten in a long time. “And Emilia will be so happy to finally meet you.” I gave her a doubtful look, still convinced that Emilia was very unaware of my existence. “Once she gets used to the idea, of course.” Linda agreed gracefully.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath for that.” Beverly muttered from her spot at the kitchen table and I smiled slightly. My thoughts exactly.
Linda ignored both Beverly’s words and my reaction and, more than likely, the fact that she knew what Beverly had said was the truth. “I’ll go get the extra ticket and you get packed, okay, sweetie?” Obviously she was going for maternal, but it just felt the way it did when a shop assistant called you ‘sweetie’ as she helped you, her tone patronizing.
Deciding the last thing I wanted at the moment was to be around Linda and watch her practically bounce off the walls with excitement as made arrangements for me to swoop in and save the way, I headed up the stairs to do as she suggested. As I started to take my clothes off the hangers, I wondered if I really knew what I was getting myself into and figured I didn’t really want the answer to that question. All ready, I knew I was getting in way over my head.
Chapter 2, Part 5
The closest airport to Independence is nearly an hour’s drive away but it seemed to fly by in an instant and suddenly I was standing by the security checkpoint, saying goodbye to my family. I had never been to the airport before and had never set foot on a plane, so it was a little distracting to be around all the people and activity and try to have a meaningful goodbye with the people I saw on a daily basis. I had no idea how long it would be before I saw them again and I all ready knew that I would even miss Luke and his unending amount of energy. Though I wouldn’t miss going into my room and finding that it had been snooped by my little brother.
All too soon, Linda was whisking me through the security checkpoints and I turned around to find that I could no longer see my family standing there. I couldn’t stop my eyes from pricking with tears, realizing that I was completely alone in this strange endeavor. Sure Linda might be my mother and I might be going to meet my sister for the first time, but it didn’t feel like I was going to be with family; it felt like going away to an over night camp in a completely different country.
The airport was bustling with people, leaving home or returning to someplace familiar, pulling suitcases or children behind them, running from gate to gate or trying to find something to read or eat to pass the time. Children sat cross legged in front of the huge, plate-glass windows over looking the runaways, watching the planes taxi up to the ramps. I had to admit, they looked far less nervous than I felt at the moment. I had never considered it a bad or abnormal thing that I had never been on a plane before until I saw some of these children, who looked like seasoned veterans of air travel and I couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious. Well, there’s a first time for everything, I guess.
Linda led the way through the crowds, toward the gate where our plane would soon be boarding, but she spent the majority of the time on her phone, talking with her business partners and a man named Garth, whom she spent the majority of the time talking with. Her conversation with Garth seemed far more relaxed and personal than the other conversations had been and for the first time I wondered if Linda had remarried or was seeing someone. I cast a glance at her finger, but found it wedding ring-less, though she did have a fair amount of jewelry on her other fingers.
Finally, Linda hung up with Garth and slipped her phone into her pocket. “Our personal assistant.” She explained, when she saw the intrigued expression on my face. “Now your personal assistant.” She was trying to make the idea sound enticing and I had to admit, I let my mind wander a little bit. “He’s been with Emilia and I since she was eight, he’s someone we can trust.”
I was starting to pick up on what she was getting at. “How many people are going to know about this whole thing?” I asked.
We had finally reached our gate and Linda sat down in one of the plastic blue chairs by the window, motioning for me to sit down beside her. “Only the few that I know won’t be tempted to go to the tabloids.” With all the publicity that Emilia got, I knew that the story of a long-lost twin sister, who was planning on impersonating her, would be exactly the type of story the magazines would clamor over.
“I’m still not entirely sure this whole thing is actually going to work.” I confessed giving Linda frank look. “What’s going to stop Emilia from running off to the clubs or to parties, even if I do manage to convince the press that she’s changed her ways? You can’t exactly lock her up.” If she could, she would have done it all ready.
Linda frowned and I could tell this question had been one that had been on her mind as well. “I’ll think of something. A little bit of house arrest might be good for her.”
I decided to let Linda deal with that little part of the plan; I’d do what I’d agreed to do and if Emilia still managed to screw things up, that was Linda’s problem to deal with. And I was sure that Emilia would find some way to rail against the plan that her mother was putting together.