56 Excruciatingly Awakward

"Mother!" Emma exclaimed as she hugged her mother in the tightest hug.

"I missed you, dear," Chloe said as she greeted her only daughter.

Emma separated from her mother, greeting Lily's parents with a hug as well.

Lily did the same, that was, until the topic of boyfriends was brought up.

"So, Em, I've heard you've gotten a boyfriend," Mrs Carmichael said as she smiled warmly at her daughter.

Chloe spoke for her ex-colleague, "I can't wait to meet him, what's your boyfriend like Em?"

Mr Carmichael added, "He's treating you right, isn't he?"

Lily answered for her best friend, saving Emma from embarrassment.

"Yes, she has. And her boyfriend treats her amazingly, that is, from what Emma's told me," Lily replied.

"And yes, you'll be meeting him tomorrow," Emma reminded.

Chloe smirked.

"My daughter's taken and has a boyfriend now. She's met her Prince Charming, who's a real prince," she said, accepting that her daughter had a man in her life.

The happy reunion was interrupted when the royal seamstress, Ms Nox came to shut it down.

"Ms Grey! You're here! We need to do some final tweaks for your outfit tomorrow and make sure everything can't be anything but perfection," she said as she pulled Emma through the door and to the palace closet.

Lily gasped.

"I haven't picked out what to wear for tomorrow's ball! I have to go!" She yelled as she ran, following Ms Nox and Emma.

"Kids. They grow up so fast," Chloe muttered under her breath as she entered the palace doors, Mr and Mrs Carmichael in tow.

Meanwhile, with Ms Nox and the soon-to-be royal Emma at the palace closet.

"Ms Nox, I don't think this is necessary. We already did the fittings a few months ago, do we really have to do this again?" Emma asked as she watched the seamstress take her body measurements.

Ms Nox looked up.

"Yes, we do. Ms Grey, this is of utmost importance. We cannot have any snafus before the ball itself. It'll be all over the news if you have a wardrobe malfunction," she said as she continued.

Emma's boredom, and overall terrible mood was lifted when Lily walked in.

"Hey Em," Lily greeted as she headed to the countless ball gowns, desperately looking for something to wear for tomorrow's ball which was held in honor of her best friend.

Emma sighed in relief as she was freed from the grasp of the very measuring tools Ms Nox used to trim and sew the fabric by adjusting it to her very measurements, and back in her previous attire.

"Lil! What are you doing here?" Emma asked, relieved she was free from torture.

"I have nothing to wear for a fancy ball, so I'm looking for something to wear. Mind helping me? Your style is impeccable, and what more of an honour would it be if the person who this ball is for picked out my attire?" Lily reasoned all too innocently.

"You got me, so, what do we have here?" Emma said as she ever-so-carefully sifted through the priceless dresses stored in the palace closet.

As she lessened her options, she finally narrowed down all her choices to one gorgeous ball gown.

At sight of the gown, Lily gasped.

"That is PERFECT," she said, jumping up and down excitedly.

Her happiness was cut short when voices were heard outside.

"Who's that?" Emma asked.

Lily walked to the threshold, trying to find out who it was that was right outside.

As soon as she found out who it was, she whipped around.

"IT'S PRINCE MICHAEL!" She whisper-yelled.

Since he wasn't allowed to know that Emma was a royal, her identity should be kept a secret until the ball began.

They searched the room frantically before Emma quickly wore a white intricate mask that covered the top half of her face, excluding her two ocean-blue eyes.

It wasn't too long before Prince Michael came walking in the closet, probably looking for someone, if not something to wear. As soon as he saw the masked Emma and Lily, it was then it began.

"Good evening, ladies," Michael greeted.

Knowing Emma, Lily stepped up to answer.

"Evening, your highness," Lily greeted in return before swiftly curtsying.

"And what are you two ladies doing here?" Prince Michael asked.

"I've never seen the two of you in the palace before," he continued saying.

Lily and Emma exchanged a look.

Lily spoke up.

"That's because we're here for tomorrow's ball," she explained.

Michael raised his brow.

"Oh. You're here for that. Although, I was asking who you two were," he said.

"Right. I'm Lily Spencer, lady-in-waiting of soon-to-be Countess Kennedy of Zenovia," she announced.

With her introduction, Prince Michael quickly turned to the masked Emma.

"You must be the soon-to-be Countess. It's very nice to meet you," he said politely.

Emma smiled, trying to act calm.

"Nice to meet you too, your royal highness," she said.

Prince Michael furrowed his brows.

"I'm sorry, but have I heard your voice from somewhere?" He asked.

At those words, Emma almost fainted. She had been caught. The only thing she could do was pretend to be someone else or act oblivious.

Between the two options, she chose the latter.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about, your highness," Emma lied.

Michael hid his expression of confusion.

"Well, I must've confused you with someone else. I'll go and visit the closet later. You two ladies have fun," he said with a dazzling smile before he left.

As soon as he left, Lily snorted in laughter.

"Well that was awkward," she said in between laughs.

Emma took off her mask, revealing her beautiful features.

"Awkward isn't the only way to describe our meeting. It was excruciatingly awkward, to say the least," Emma said as she tried her very best to calm the racing beats in her head that were the beats of her fast-beating heart.