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historyrepeatsitself-phff · 7 years

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Chapter Sixty-Three

A/N: Here we are, another chapter. It’s quite big, with quite a few different things happening. Very engagement-centred, but I hope you enjoy it. If any of you don’t know who Ant and Dec are when you reach that part, please do Google them. They are the funniest and nicest guys, literally the whole of the UK loves them.

That said, I hope you enjoy. Please do let me know what you think, your feedback means a lot more to me than you probably realise 😊💖

Emmy didn’t speak to Taylor or Chris for the next week. She didn’t hear from them at all, and their silence was getting her down. She didn’t mean to upset them, but the truth was that she didn’t know who to trust anymore. And so it was best not to provoke them, not to anger or offend them even further.

However she was worried, for she hadn’t heard from any of Harry’s friends either, and she prayed that Taylor hadn’t told them what she’d done. She had a feeling they would take it a lot worse than Taylor had. Although she suspected that Skippy already knew he’d been lied to, even though Emmy had specifically asked them all not to tell anyone the names until she’d told them herself. She didn’t realise Taylor and Skippy spoke so much.

A day in Newcastle was on the cards for Emmy, where the mental health charity Mind had worked with Heads Together to set up a day full of activities in the city centre to raise awareness for mental health. She was going with William and Kate, and she was dreading seeing them both. She didn’t know whether William knew about Taylor finding out, but she expected he did. With Edward and Harry in Brazil, Claire needed someone else to discuss everything with, and ever since she’d found out that William knew all about their plan she’d taken to talking to Miguel, William’s secretary. And, in turn, Miguel told William everything.

So she wasn’t surprised when, as soon as she met William and Kate outside Kensington Palace ready to leave for the day, William pulled her into a big hug.

“How you holding up?” he asked gently, and once he’d released her Kate gave her a cuddle too.

“Um, okay,” Emmy said. “I guess you heard about Taylor?”

“Yeah,” William said, smiling sadly. “But she’ll come round. Hopefully someone will leak something and then she’ll see why you had to lie to her.”

“Let’s hope,” she said, almost dryly. She thought it was awful that she was hoping someone would betray her trust, just so that it would make the whole thing worthwhile.

“Anyway,” Kate said, smiling her dazzling smile at the two of them. “Let’s put all these problems to the back of our mind and focus on today. Heads Together! Come on, it’ll be a good day.”

Emmy managed a smile, and William gave her a reassuring wink. He’d told Kate to do whatever it took to cheer Emmy up today, and he and his wife were determined to give her a fun day, even if it was an engagement.

William and Kate actually kept the conversation going for the entire journey up to Newcastle. They showed Emmy funny pictures of George and Charlotte, they asked her what she’d done so far to prepare for her little baby and they discussed everything that they did in preparation for their little own ones. Emmy had a smile on her face by the time they arrived at the Mental Health event in Newcastle, and her smile only widened as she emerged from the car to see hundreds of people gathered around the venue, just to see them. The entry was five pounds to the general public, but so many people had been invited there specifically for the event that the actual park where all the activities were taking place was heaving. Emmy straightened up from the car, her dress fluttering lightly in the breeze, and she smiled at them all. William and Kate walked ahead, greeting the head of Heads Together and the head of Mind, and Emmy followed them, more interested in what there was to do today than in meeting officials.

She was given her designated tour guide, a girl called Ashley, and Ashley showed Emmy to one of the nearest games. Emmy had to try and create a coherent poem using the words on the screen.

“Oh no,” Emmy said. “I never was very good at poetry at school.” She made a nervous face, looking around, trying to find someone else to focus on. She saw a teenage girl stood nearby, watching. “Hey, do you think you could help me?”

The girl’s face lit up in surprise and delight, and she hurried over. “I’m not very good at poetry either, though,” she said nervously.

“Oh don’t worry, we can muddle through together then,” Emmy laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Lucy.”

“Hi Lucy, I’m Emmy,” Emmy said. “Okay, now where do we start? Does it have to rhyme?”

The lady in charge of the activity shook her head. “No, it’s a poem, it can be whatever you want it to be. The idea is to just let your mind speak. Don’t overthink it.”

Emmy had fun making a poem with Lucy – Lucy was actually very good at it, and Emmy reminded her of that at the end, before Ashley led her on to another stall. William was already stood there, hands on hips, frowning.

“I’m not very good at this,” he said to Emmy, as she joined him. The photographers and press that had been allowed into the venue were frantically snapping pictures of the two of them, eager to see the brother and sister-in-law interact together.

“What do you have to do?”

“You have to draw the first thing that comes to mind when you hear a certain word,” he said. “I overthink it. And I can’t draw.”

Emmy laughed lightly. “I feel like I’m going to have the same problems here. Can I have a go?”

“Of course,” the man running the game, Charlie, said. He picked up a pile of cards, and handed Emmy a whiteboard and pen. “Okay, I’m going to say a word and you have to draw the first thing that comes to mind. The first. Don’t think about it, like William.” He threw William a grin, and William chuckled. “Okay, you ready?”

“I’m more nervous than I should be,” she said, making William laugh. “Yep.”

“Football.”

Emmy drew a football.

“Bumblebees.”

Emmy drew a picture of Winnie the Pooh, then grinned. “That might be a strenuous link,” she said. “But I thought of honey, and then Winnie the Pooh, and I didn’t know how to draw honey.”

“Strawberries.”

Emmy hesitated, and Charlie laughed. “You’re overthinking it,” he said.

“Actually, I’m thinking about how much I want some strawberries right now,” she said, giggling. William laughed with her. “I see what you mean though, it’s so easy to think about it too much.”

“It’s a good way to let people just let out what’s in their head,” Charlie said. “And it can be quite a fun game too.”

Emmy moved on, her and William parting, and eventually Emmy found herself at the same activity as Kate. It was a sports one, and the group was just throwing a ball to each other.

“I don’t think I should join in,” Emmy said. “I’m not at my fittest right now.” She gestured to her baby bump, and everyone laughed lightly. “You can just tell me what this is about.”

She watched Kate effortlessly catching and tossing the ball back and forth, as Ashley spoke to her about how this activity helps people work as a team, while the exercise, although little, releases endorphins which improve someone’s mood.

About an hour into the day, Emmy was led over to another stall where two very familiar faces were stood. The presenters Ant and Dec were stood there, and they broke into smiles at the sight of Emmy. She felt her face getting hot – she was a huge fan of them both, she found them hilarious, but she had never met them, despite them having interviewed so many of her royal in-laws.

“Your royal highness!” Ant said, hurrying forward and bowing slightly as he shook her hand. Dec bowed also.

“This is a nice surprise,” she said shyly, as she shook Dec’s hand. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Although, I suppose I should’ve known – Newcastle.”

They laughed. “Yep, we were invited to show our faces here today,” Dec said. “Raise awareness for it, that sort of thing. We’ve been looking around, it’s pretty good.”

“It is, I’ve been having a lot of fun,” Emmy said. “Although it’s such a shame I can’t take part in any of the sports.” Her voice got slightly dry as she patted her bump.

Dec chuckled. “Now why does it sound like you’re making excuses?”

The three of them laughed together. “I’m sorry to never have met you,” she said. “Harry’s mentioned you before, of course.”

“Yeah, we’ve interviewed him a few times,” Ant said. “We work mainly with his father, with the Prince’s Trust, you know.”

“I know, Charles loves you,” she said.

“Aw, I feel like you’re being paid to say that,” Dec teased.

“No, I think he was able to put up with us by the end of us making the documentary about the trust,” Ant said. “Although it did take a while.”

Emmy laughed lightly. “Don’t worry, that’s just Charles. It took him a while to put up with me, too.”

“Meant to say, congratulations on the pregnancy,” Ant said, smiling as Dec nodded. “To you and Harry. We were delighted when we heard the news. Harry’s made it no secret that he’s excited to have children.”

“No, he made it no secret to me either,” she said. “But thank you.”

“He’s still in Brazil, isn’t he?” Dec asked. “I think I saw on the news he’s trekking through the Amazon, or something?”

“Yes, that’s right. Yeah, he’s still there,” she said, then sighed. “It’s very difficult without him here.”

“I’m sure it is,” Ant said gently. “Well, if you’re ever bored and you want to have a laugh, please don’t hesitate in calling us up. We’d love to get to know you. I feel like you and Ka- The Duchess of Cambridge are the only royals that we don’t know yet.”

“We’d like to expand our CVs,” Dec joked.

Emmy giggled lightly. “Well, as long as you don’t make a documentary out of it, I’d love to meet up with you. Maybe we should make it for when Harry’s back, though. He might get jealous that I got to spend time with you and he didn’t.”

They all laughed again.

“Oh god, it’s you two,” said a voice, and Emmy turned to see William and Kate coming towards them. William shook their hands. “They’re not boring you, are they?” he said to Emmy.

“Oh, because they’re such boring people,” she replied sarcastically.

“Don’t make a documentary out of this,” William teased lightly. Ant held up his hands innocently.

“Hey, this isn’t an interview,” he replied. “Unless you want to make it one…?” He added playfully, raising an eyebrow, and they all laughed.

“Guys, this is my wife, Kate,” William said, gently urging Kate forward.

“We were just saying to Emmy that we’ve never really met you both,” Dec said.

“I think we should meet up some time,” Emmy said, looking at Kate.

Kate’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she smiled. “Yes,” she said. “Perhaps.”

Later that day, when the three of them were in the car on their way home, Emmy was babbling about how good a day she’d had.

“And you got to meet Ant and Dec,” William said, grinning. “They’re a right laugh, they are.”

“They’re so nice,” Emmy agreed.

“I can’t believe you said you’d meet up with them though,” Kate said. “You need to be careful, Emmy. They’re members of the press after all.”

“So? They’re nice?”

“You can’t be friends with people who will try and make money out of you,” Kate said.

“They’re TV presenters, not journalists,” Emmy argued.

“All the same,” Kate replied with a shrug.

Emmy opened her mouth to retort, but she bit back her reply. Why was Kate being like this? Maybe this was why the press didn’t like her and William much, because they just didn’t trust anyone. Emmy frowned, and turned her attention out the window.

William was silent through the exchange, but now he spoke. “Kate’s right, Emmy. You just need to be careful and make sure they want to be friends with you, in case they just want to interview you.”

Emmy huffed slightly, now glaring out the window. She was famous, who else was she meant to make friends with if it wasn’t other famous people? She didn’t speak much for the rest of the journey home.

Maybe that was why Emmy was in this situation, forced to marry a man and have his child just because the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were too self-involved to allow anyone else into their lives.

Nonetheless, Emmy smiled at them both once they arrived back at Kensington, before slowly making her way round to Nottingham Cottage, both hands placed lazily on her bump.

Harry laid back in the tent and sighed, puffing air up onto his face. He couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t feel sweaty, and he pulled his t-shirt off before looking over at Luke, whom he was sharing the tent with.

“You alright?”

“Just exhausted.”

“Only…what, another twelve days to go?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Harry said, then grinned. “No one said it would be this hard.”

Luke smirked. “I thought you were meant to be a soldier.”

“Piss off,” Harry chuckled. “Actually, I’m a veteran now.”

“Same. Not by choice.” Luke looked down at his left arm, at the stump that had replaced his wrist. “Anyway, just think about how happy everyone is going to be when we get back.”

“Everyone’s going to be so proud of you,” Harry said gently, then grinned. “Especially Julie.” Julie was Luke’s wife.

“Hell, maybe I’ll get lucky for once,” Luke said dryly, then laughed. “What about Emmy? She’ll be proud of you, surely.”

“Unless she’s too hormonal to care,” Harry said, closing his eyes. “Actually, she’s probably got her charity gala any day now, so she may already have replaced me with Tom Hiddleston.”

“Loki? Shit, how you going to compete?” Luke teased.

“By being the father of her child,” Harry replied, laughing.

“You excited?”

“So excited,” he answered, smiling. “I’ve wanted children for so long, I’m so excited.”

“You know what it’s going to be yet?”

“No,” Harry said, then hesitated and added, “Okay, we do, but you can’t tell anyone, alright?”

“Of course. Although I can’t promise not to bet on the sex when the time comes,” Luke said.

“It’s a little girl.”

“Oh, sweet. Congratulations, man.”

“Thanks, Luke,” Harry said. “My little princess. I was so happy, you know.”

“I bet.”

“Time to sleep, guys!” came from outside the tent. “Got a long day ahead tomorrow!”

Harry groaned, rolling onto his side and covering his eyes with his arm. “Hopefully we’ll be able to actually get some sleep tonight.”

“Yeah, if the rain lets up,” Luke said. “Alright, night.”

“Night,” Harry said, yawning.

There was silence for a little bit, then Luke added, “Don’t worry, H. Tom Hiddleston’s got nothing on you.”

Harry chuckled in response.

There was a knock on the door. Emmy looked round instinctively, causing Hannah – who was finishing pulling her hair into an intricate updo – to tut, irritated. Claire was frowning.

“Who the hell is that?” she asked, then looked at Emmy. “You expecting someone?”

“Nope,” Emmy said, looking towards the doorway in the mirror.

“I’ll go find out,” Claire said. “Hannah, you nearly done?”

“Yeah, then you just need to get into your dress,” she said to Emmy, smiling, as Claire left them.

Emmy sighed. “I’m going to look like a balloon.”

“Oh, don’t say that-”

“I will though, look at me.”

Hannah smiled. “You look glowing.”

“Everyone always says that about pregnant women, yet I have no idea what that means,” Emmy said, pushing herself to her feet as Hannah moved away. “I wonder who’s here.”

“Better get you dressed before they come up,” Hannah said.

Emmy was stood, glaring at her enormous reflection, when Claire returned to them. “It’s Skippy,” she said. “Okay, Hannah, time for you to straighten my hair, lovely.”

Emmy frowned. “Skippy?”

“Yep.”

Her stomach dropped. Shit. She hadn’t seen Skippy since she’d told him their chosen baby names, and she hadn’t heard from him at all after her argument with Taylor. She didn’t know how he or Harry’s other friends had taken being lied to, because it was obvious that the names were just that – lies. Ploys.

“Did he say what he wants?” Emmy asked nervously.

“Just to talk to you,” Claire said. “He’s waiting down in the lounge.”

Emmy’s heart was hammering as she carefully made her way downstairs, worried about tripping in her long dress or her high heels. The carpet muffled her footsteps as she entered the lounge. Skippy was on his phone.

She took a deep breath. “Hey.”

“Shit!” he said, startled, then laughed lightly. “You crept up on me, sorry.”

“Sorry,” she said too, perching on the arm of the armchair. “Everything…okay?”

“Yeah, I didn’t realise you were going out, I would’ve come over another time,” he said apologetically.

“It’s okay, what do you need?”

He sighed. “I know you lied about the names,” he said.

Emmy gulped.

“Don’t worry, I’m not angry. We all know. To be honest, we wondered why you’d decided on baby names so early anyway. Jake gave me a bollocking when I said I’d accidentally told Taylor that we’d been told different names. He said that he and Zoe suspected from the start that they were fake names to try and figure out who the rat is.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re so smart, eh?”

She managed a nervous laugh. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, you know,” he said. “For telling Taylor.”

“Well you said it was an accident-”

“It was,” he said immediately. “You know what I’m like, I say stuff without thinking, I’m really sorry!”

She smiled. “It’s okay. But you’re…you’re not mad? For being lied to?”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “Harry’s lied to me many times to make sure I’m trustworthy, I wasn’t really surprised that I needed a retest. Especially with the leak and all that.”

“I’m glad you’re not mad,” she said. “I felt really bad.”

“Nah, don’t worry yourself,” he said, grinning.

“Taylor’s mad though,” Emmy said, in a small voice, and she avoided his gaze.

Skippy sighed. “Yeah, I know. I heard.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

“Only once since your argument,” he said. “She’s really upset, but we’re going out to dinner tonight and I’m going to try and explain to her why you did it.”

“Thanks,” Emmy said, surprised that he was basically doing her job for her. “I appreciate it. I want to talk to her but…I just don’t know where to start.”

“I know, it’s okay,” he said, then grinned. “You missing Harry at all?”

“At all? Just, you know, every second of every day,” she said, laughing. “I can’t wait for him to come home.”

“Me neither. I need someone to come and watch football with me. Jake and Guy are too busy with all their children.”

“Children? Guy?” Emmy raised an eyebrow.

“They’re busy painting the nursery and going to those pre-baby classes and all that.” Skippy rolled his eyes. “Guess you’ll have to start that soon.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, the thought of the birth stresses me out,” she said. “I just try not to think about it.”

He chuckled lightly. “Just wait for Harry to get home, I guess.”

“Exactly,” she said.

“I better be going,” he said, straightening up. “You probably need to leave soon.”

“Yeah,” she said, sighing and brushing her hair out of her eyes. “HeForShe gala.”

“Very nice,” he said. “And here I thought that dress was for spending the evening in.”

She rolled her eyes at him, getting to her feet as he did the same. “Thanks for coming to talk to me about this,” she said. “And thanks for talking to Taylor. I…really appreciate it.”

He threw her a smile. “I just don’t want you to worry about it all. Harry told me to take care of you, and I haven’t really been doing that this last week.”

“You don’t need to take care of me,” she said, laughing. “That’s just Harry being overprotective.”

“That’s also true,” Skippy agreed, as they both laughed. “I’ll let myself out. You have a good night tonight.”

“Thanks, you too,” she said, then added more loudly as he approached the front door, “Good luck with Taylor.”

“I’m gonna need it,” he called back, then she heard the door close and she sighed. So Taylor was still mad, but at least Harry’s friends weren’t. That was one less thing to worry about.

As soon as Emmy stepped from the car she was blinded by the flashes from the watching paparazzi and deafened by the shouting and cheering of the crowds who had gathered outside The Goring Hotel to see the arrival of all the celebrities attending. Of course, not everyone there was going to be famous. Emmy knew several people were going who run charities that do everything from supporting vulnerable women to campaigning for equal rights all over the world. HeForShe was an organization that promoted everything in-between, while focusing on convincing men that the word ‘feminist’ was not equal to man-hating.

Emmy smiled at the cameras and waved to the public, receiving some cries and whoops in return. Then she turned to Claire, who was attending with her, before spotting Margaret, the head of the UK branch of HeForShe. She was stood by the entrance, waiting, and she broke into a smile at the sight of Emmy.

“Your royal highness,” she said, dipping into a curtsey.

“Oh, Margaret, nice to see you again,” Emmy said, pulling the lady into a hug. “You must be very excited about tonight.”

“More stressed than excited right now,” Margaret admitted, and they shared a laugh.

“I know exactly how you feel,” Emmy said, cupping her baby bump. “You remember Claire, right?”

Claire and Margaret shook hands, and then Margaret said, “Shall we go inside?”

Emmy followed her into the beautiful hotel lobby, which was full of people mingling. “It’s so pretty here,” she breathed, looking around. “Kate was telling me about it the other day. She said it’s exquisite.”

“It truly is, we were very lucky that they wanted us to hold the gala here,” Margaret said. “Now, Emmy, there are photographers here tonight. I did ask Claire to tell you in case it was a problem-”

“Oh no, that’s fine,” Emmy said, waving a hand dismissively. “I’ll just have to put up with them. Besides, there’s people here who are far more interesting than I am. I don’t think they’ll pay much attention to me.”

“Of course,” Margaret said, not agreeing with Emmy in the slightest. She was married to Prince Harry, her wedding had been watched by billions of people all over the globe. She was by far the most famous person there tonight.

“Emmy!” said a delighted voice, just as they entered the dining hall where the gala was taking place. Emmy turned to see her friend Emma Watson approaching. Emma made an awkward face. “Sorry, I mean, your royal highness,” she said, dipping into a curtsey.

“Oh don’t be silly,” Emmy said, pulling her into a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good,” Emma said. “I’ve actually just started filming Beauty and The Beast.”

“Oh my goodness, how is it?” Emmy asked excitedly. “Do you love it? Do you get to wear pretty princess dresses?”

She laughed. “I do, actually. It is so much fun. And I get to sing all the songs as well. Anyway, we’ll catch up later, I think Margaret wants to show you around.”

Margaret, who was stood to the side watching the two young women greet each other, stepped forward and smiled. “I just need to show you round the charities that are here tonight, so that you can meet them. Introduce you to a few people.”

“Of course,” Emmy said, smiling, as they started to make their way round the room. “I’m excited to meet them.”

“Well, they’re all very excited to meet you too,” Margaret said, laughing.

People were mingling throughout the room. Some had already taken their seats at their tables, while others were greeting old friends or getting to know some of the people there. Emmy spotted the actress Carey Mulligan, the TV presenters Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton and – her heart stopped excitedly – the actor Tom Hiddleston. But Emmy kept her cool, and she forced herself to focus on the people she was meeting as Margaret introduced her to the creator of a charity which encourages girls to go into science fields.

Sarah was the lady in charge of GirlGeeks, and Emmy spoke to her animatedly. She had never thought about the science and mathematics areas as places of inequality for women, and she was intrigued by everything that Sarah had to say.

“We work closely with Stemettes,” Sarah was saying. “They’re another organisation that promotes girls getting involved with STEM. They organise a lot of events for young girls, trying to encourage them. And for some of the bigger events we partner with them and try and get even more girls to attend.”

“Wow,” Emmy said. “I’d love to come to one of these events.”

Sarah’s face lit up. “Really?! Oh, we’d love for you to come, Ma’am.”

“I’m sure we can arrange something,” Emmy said, turning to Claire and smiling. Claire rolled her eyes as her mouth tugged up at the corners.

“Good job I brought my phone, huh?’ Claire teased lightly, getting up Emmy’s schedule, and Emmy giggled sheepishly. “Let me take your details, Sarah, and I’ll be in touch to arrange a date.”

By the end of the first half hour, Emmy had been introduced to six people who run six different charities, and Claire had had to take down six different people’s contact details with the promise of organising a royal visit. By the time Margaret led Emmy over to her seat beside her, Emmy was desperate for a drink after talking so much. She’d had some truly fascinating conversations, and they’d all succeeded in taking her mind off the rest of the evening – and her first speech.

“You okay?” Claire asked, as Emmy gulped down some water.

“Yeah,” Emmy said, smiling. “Just thirsty.”

There was a starter, and then some presentations by a few charities that Emmy had already met, and after the main course even more charities spoke about what they do. By dessert, however, Emmy had lost her appetite. Her speech was approaching, and the thought was starting to make her feel sick. Oh god, she fainted when she last tried to give a speech, she hoped she wouldn’t vomit while trying to give this one.

Eventually Margaret went up on the stage to give a speech about the evening, HeForShe and thanking the amazing charities for attending that night. Then she smiled down at Emmy, and Emmy felt her heart stop.

“And now, I would like to welcome to the stage, HeForShe’s first ever royal patron, The Duchess of Clarence.”

Applause echoed throughout the room, and Emmy took a deep breath before heading up onto the stage. She felt huge up there, with her bump pushing out the lace of her dress, and she stroked it nervously, before flattening out her speech on the podium in front of her and leaning towards the microphone.

“Thank you, Margaret,” she said nervously, as she threw her a smile. “Thank you for both that welcoming introduction and for inviting me to this event. This evening has been an eye opener in so many ways for me. To most people, gender equality was obtained when women were given the vote. To others, they think the problems with sexism can be solved by simply giving women equal pay. But there is truly so much more to feminism than that. Feminism is women being allowed to say what they want and do what they want the same way a man can. Feminism is women being able to be what they want to be, whether it be a doctor, or a teacher, or a model, or a politician, without anyone telling them they can’t. Feminism is not equivalent to saying that women are better than men, because that is just as sexist as everything that feminism campaigns against. Feminism is supporting women, encouraging women, loving women and caring for them, not because they are women but because they are people. And I am honoured to patron an organisation that does this selflessly every day.

“Now, as a mother-to-be, the word feminism has a whole new meaning to me. I want my son or daughter to grow up in a world where the word isn’t needed, where gender inequality is a thing of the past and where strong, powerful women are shown in the media every day, not because they are women but because they have achieved great things. I want my daughter to be able to become whatever she puts her mind to, I want my son to expect to see women in power, not to be surprised by it. As women it is our duty not to be suppressed by people who do not believe in gender equality, and as men it is your duty to fight against those who insist on living in the past. Over half of the people on this planet are women, we are your mothers, your sisters, your doctors, your teachers. We love you and raise you and care for you and protect you. So why should we be the inferior sex? Why should we be paid less, why should we receive raised eyebrows whenever we try to do something good, something unusual, something that is usually done by a man? We shouldn’t.”

Emmy stared out over the room for a moment, then smiled and blushed, shuffling her papers and stepping away from the podium. Applause rung through the room, and she felt her heart pounding somewhere behind her uvula. She swallowed, ducking her head as the clapping went on, and she could see camera flashes capturing this moment. It was her first full public speech, and she had done it. She had finally got the first one out of the way, and she was so relieved that she had delivered it well, without a hesitation or a stutter. She twiddled her engagement ring shyly as Margaret came back onto the stage to announce that the meal was over and it was time to go around and meet people once more.

“You were amazing,” Margaret said, beaming at her once they were off the stage. Emmy held her cold hands to her burning cheeks, her eyes wide and fixed on Margaret’s face.

“You think?”

“Oh, definitely!” she said. “You spoke so well, too. I can’t believe that was your first speech!”

“I’m just glad I finished it that time,” Emmy said lightly.

“Emmy!” someone called, and she turned to see Claire hurrying over. “I’m so proud of you, you did it!”

Emmy laughed with relief, letting herself be pulled into Claire’s open arms and hugging her tightly. “I got through it.”

“You did, and you got through it well!” Claire said, ecstatic. “Oh, you were so so so good!”

Emmy was so touched by Claire’s excitement, and she wanted to just go home now, to go home and celebrate that her first speech was over. But she had people to meet.

“Emmy,” Margaret said twenty minutes later, after they’d already greeted a few other charities. “This is Tom Hiddleston, he’s an avid supporter of HeForShe, especially in Hollywood.”

Emmy’s heart, which had only just recovered from the terrifying ordeal of giving a speech, sped up again. She felt star struck, as she looked up into the actor’s face that she knew so well.

“Your royal highness,” Tom said, bowing his head slightly as she shook his hand. “It’s an honour to meet you.”

“You too,” Emmy said breathlessly. “I’m a huge fan, do call me Emmy.”

“Emmy,” Tom said, grinning. “Your speech was amazing. And can I say, congratulations on the pregnancy. I know I’m a few months late.”

“It’s okay, I’m still pregnant,” she said, shrugging and they shared a laugh. “So, Tom, how do you find the gender inequality problem in America? Is it worse than here?”

“It certainly is,” Tom said. “Especially within the film industry. Whether it comes to the pay for actresses, or the amount of women who work in the crew of films, there is a huge difference in the numbers for males and females. Often I work with this charity…”

Eventually Emmy had to move on, and she bid goodbye to Tom, who was sure he would see her at another HeForShe event at some point in the future. By the end of the evening, Emmy found herself taking a break, sipping her glass of water at her table with Claire beside her. The guests were starting to leave, and Emmy wanted to rehydrate herself before copying.

“Emmy,” Emma said, coming over and taking the seat opposite her. “Your speech was so good!”

“Aw, thanks,” Emmy said, smiling gratefully. “By the way, I love your dress! Where did you get it?!”

“It’s by Stella McCartney,” Emma said, then made a face. “Imagine if you wore it somewhere! Imagine the comparisons, oh my goodness!”

They laughed together. “We really must meet up again,” Emmy said shyly. She loved spending time with Emma, but their busy schedules rarely permitted it.

“Definitely,” Emma said. “Even if it’s just for lunch, we must.”

“I need to see you again before I have this little one,” Emmy said, rubbing her bump affectionately.

“Of course, I need to try and convince you to name it Emma,” Emma said, winking.

Emmy barked a laugh. “Emmy and Emma? Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work.”

“Give me a chance and I’ll convince you otherwise,” Emma said. “Anyway, I’m leaving now so I will see you soon.”

The girls hugged in farewell, and Claire smiled as her and Emmy watched her depart.

“It’s so good that you surround yourself with girls like her,” Claire said. “You’ve come a long way since I joined your office last year.”

Emmy smiled, tired now, and she leant her head on Claire’s shoulder. “Can we go now? I’m sleepy.”

Claire laughed lightly. “Let’s go, you just need to say goodbye to Margaret and the other HeForShe guys.”

Emmy groaned as she got to her feet. “This being a royal is really quite tedious,” she mumbled.

Claire chuckled. “Well you’re doing it very well.”

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