What If... Emilia Clarke Never Became Famous?

In 2011, at the age of 23, relative unknown Emilia Clarke immediately rose to fame and celebrity when she was cast in HBO's smash shit show Game of Thrones. Prior to this, she'd only had a couple of minor roles and was essentially an unknown. But a less known fact is that she was in fact the second actress cast, after the actress used in the pilot was recast. But with the vagaries and fickleness of Hollywood, what would have happened if she hadn't been cast? After all, beautiful aspiring actresses are ten a penny in Hollywood, so without that one big break... What if?

Emilia rushed into the restaurant's break room, hanging her coat up on the rack, keenly aware she was late for work, but only by a couple of minutes, so hopefully she'd be able to get away with it. Besides, far from achieving her dreams, she was 24 years old and a waitress. Why would she be all that motivated? Even if the tips here were OK. One of her co-workers, Kim, had also appeared in the small, stinking break room, grabbing something quickly out of her bag.

"Cutting it close, Em," Kim said dispassionately, touching up her lipstick, before tossing it back into her bag. "Dinner rush is about to start. You're on Section C."

Emilia bit back a sarcastic remark, inhaling and turning, getting ready to head out to make minimum wage. God, why had she even come out here to audition? Now she was just broke and living off of tips. "Yeah, sorry, I had an audition..."

Kim shook her head, making to leave. "Well, hopefully you get this one," she said, sounding very insincere. "Oh, by the way, you might want to touch up your roots." Emilia's hand instinctively went to her head. Like her counterpart in another reality, she'd bleached her hair blonde, noticing it got her more tips, trying not to think too hard about if that felt degrading or not. Ignoring her bitchy co-worker, she **** a big Hollywood smile onto her lips, heading out onto the restaurant floor, adjusting her top so it didn't show too much cleavage, hiking up her bright orange shorts just a little bit.

Every time her relatives asked how America was, she had to lie. No way would she admit to working in a Hooters.

The restaurant was fairly quiet at the moment, but she knew in no time the rush would start. Another tedious night in this dead-end job, being ogled. But until she got a proper acting job, well, what were her options?

She inwardly groaned as she passed the sleazy, balding manager, Monty, on her way out to the tables. "Hey, English. Glad you decided to show up. We've just sat a table in your section."

"No problem, Monty," Emilia said, keeping her fake smile plastered on her face, feeling him eyeing her arse as she passed him.