Hooked

9. Apples to Hooks

"I'm here! I'm here!" A flash of blue burst through the front swinging doors of Uma's restaurant and a slender figure stumbled toward the bar, dragging behind her a briefcase which looked heavier than her own body. Her boots clicked loudly on the ground as she rushed toward the back of the restaurant. Disturbed patrons all across the room scowled and glared at her disruption, but the girl had a tunnel vision as if the people in her surroundings weren't even there.

Evie glided to a halt in front of Uma and Harry, panting in exhaustion as if she had ran all the way from the Auradon castle by foot.

"I'm here, I'm so sorry I'm late, you can't even begin to understand the hassle it is trying to leave my shop, I feel like Doug and Dizzy write down all of their questions in a journal and wait until I'm in the biggest hurry to leave to ask me all of it! God, I love them both dearly, but I truly think I may need to be locked in a room alone to work until this Ball is over otherwise I'm going to-"

"Evie," Uma held up her hand to silence her. Her forehead creased in concern, "You're ten minutes early. Everything is okay."

Evie pursed her lips, then looked around the restaurant to observe the scene she had created. Her eyes landed on the clock on the wall and her entire body sunk with a breath of relief.

"Oh," she exhaled, her frown morphed into a bashful grin. She laughed nervously, "Well then... please disregard... everything I just said. Huh." She pushed her long blue hair behind her shoulder then her eyes fluttered up to meet Harry, who had been hiding behind Uma and chewing on one of his nails in dread of what was to come.

"Harry! Hi!" Her smile brightened and she waved at him excitedly, "I'm so excited for this- you know, despite the fact that Ben apparently has no concept of how long perfection takes and two weeks is not an ideal amount of time to be expected to create a true masterpiece-" She stopped herself mid sentence and covered her mouth, "Oh no! Don't tell him I said that... All of this stress is getting to my head. I don't mean what I'm saying."

"Aye, this all looks like it may be a bit too much on your plate, Evie. I'm sure Ben will understand if we just called it a day and didn't put too much work on you-"

"Nope! Na-uh! As wonderful as one less job sounds right now, I'm not giving in on this one! I'm making you the perfect suit and you are going to wear it to the ball and blow everyone away! Now come on, let's get started on these measurements." She grabbed at her briefcase and started to the door to Uma's office. Uma shot Harry a side glance and let a laugh slip out of her throat before she gestured toward the room. Harry remained where he was, still biting his nail while he considered making a run for it. But, like Uma said, this wasn't going to kill him... Right? He could make it through a few minutes of playing dress up. He could also make it through a few hours of playing an aristocratic pirate at the ball. I mean, he had been through a lot worse.

Uma and Harry moved into the room to see Evie's briefcase already open and laid out on the floor. Fabrics of all kinds bursted out of the sides along with boxes of tools and a plethora of small accessories. Evie was rummaging through them for a quick second before she stood up with a clipboard in one hand and a tape measure in the other. She huffed in excitement, holding both items out in front of her with a smile.

"Okay Harry, take your jacket off."

"Huh," Harry shrugged and gave Evie a grin as he reached for the opening of his jacket, "Getting straight down to it then, aren't we?"

"I just need the jacket off, don't get too excited," Evie rolled her eyes as Harry tossed his jacket at the nearest chair. She then unrolled the tape measure and instructed Harry to lift his arms before she proceeded to wrap it around his chest. Uma watched the two before she leaned against her desk and squinted in skepticism.