Chapter 1: Searching
Wind blowing her hair out of her face, Regina Mills drove down the highway with her friend, Melanie, to a Latin restaurant called Marmalade. It was a gorgeous day; not too hot or too cold. The sunset was pretty and she was happy to able to have a girls night. It was the first one in two weeks.
"So you know we definitely have to talk, right?" Regina told her friend. Melanie had a look on her face like she was trying to figure out if her friend was going to grill her about something or just talk about their day.
"Why do I have this feeling like you're going to give me the third degree." She said with a slight laugh.
"Not necessarily the third degree, but we haven't had a girl night in forever, and I need to get my mind off of stuff." Regina gave Melanie a look.
"Giving me 20 questions will take your mind off of things."
"Maybe." Regina smirked. She turned into the parking lot of the restaurant, pulled into a space and turned off her car. Both women got out of the car and walked in.
"Hello ladies, welcome to Marmalade, how many?" A red headed woman asked as she walked up to them.
"Only two." Regina told the young woman. They were lead to a booth near the windows. Regina and Melanie sat down.
"Your server will be right with you." She smiled and then left after she gave them two menus.
"I don't think I've ever been here before. It's nice inside." Melanie stated.
"This was the first restaurant I've been to when I first moved here. It's my favorite place, actually." Regina said looking at her menu.
"By which way, how long has it been since you've moved here?"
"Wow, to think about it, it's been almost a year." Regina said. "I can't believe how fast time has flown by."
"And all this time, you haven't found anyone? Did you tell me that you went through a bad break up?" Melanie asked.
"Yeah. I definitely don't want to go through that again." She said shaking her head. Just then, their waiter came to their table.
"Hello, my name is Tiffany, I will be your waitress for tonight. What drinks would you like to start off with?" Tiffany said with a smile.
"I'd like a Long Island." Regina told her. Melanie ordered the same.
" Are you ready to order the food?" Tiffany asked. Both women nodded their heads.
"I'd like the Foie Gras." Regina put in her order and handed the waitress her menu.
"I would like to have the Paella." Melanie said as she, too, had handed in her menu. Tiffany thanked them and went to put in the orders.
"So as you were saying..." Melanie resumed.
" Not much to tell. She broke my heart, cheated on me twice and then went to live with the first girl she cheated on me with. It's kind of self explanatory." Regina said with a laugh even though it did hurt her to even think about it.
"Though I've only known you for almost a year, I can tell when it hurts you, so we can drop it." Melanie said squeezing Regina's hand.
"It's okay."
"But I'm not going to let go the fact that we need to hook you up!" Melanie switched her whole demeanor. Regina shook her head, laughing.
"Hell no. I think I'm doing just fine."
"Mhm. We'll see about that." Melanie smirked.
"Everyone runs away from me at one point or another, Melanie. I blame my mother." Regina laughed.
"Regina, you are very stunning, smart, and one hell of a lawyer. Don't doubt yourself. You'll find someone." Melanie reassured her.
"I'll believe it when it happens. But let's talk about you." Regina said as their food arrived. "When are you and Chad going to take that next step? You guys are perfect for each other. By the way, I better be invited to the wedding."
"Hey, no one said there was going to be a wedding." Melanie laughed. "But since you asked, we are talking about it. Hopefully he proposes before I die. I do want to be married during this lifetime. And what the hell, Regina, of course you'll be in the wedding...as my bridesmaid." Melanie smiled. Regina returned it. She was surprised and flattered. She didn't think her friend would have her in her wedding party.
"Thank you, Melanie. It really means a lot."
"Of course. You're one of my closest friends." Melanie said picking up her drink. "Let's make a mini toast." She said. Regina picked up her drink.
"Let's make this to finding love this year and that you get your happy ending." Melanie finished out the toast.
"Cheers to that." Regina and Melanie clicked their drinks and took a sip.
Emma's Apartment
Emma Swan walked into her apartment, and found her son, Henry, in the living room playing on his X-Box.
"Hey, kid. Sorry that I'm late. I'm making it up though. I brought your favorite." Emma smiled. Henry paused his game.
"Pizza?" He asked excitedly, like any 10 year old would.
"Oh yeah. If you want to help by turning on the oven, I'll put up the rest of this food." Emma said. Henry got up, and started to pre-heat the oven.
"Mom, I have a field trip next week and I have to get your signature for my permission slip." He said.
"Okay, get it out." Emma said putting up the last of her groceries. She took out a pen and signed it. "Where are you guys going?" She asked.
"To Orlando. It will be for three days and two nights."
"That'll be fun. Let me know how much money you will need, okay?" She asked. He nodded.
"Okay, let's put this pizza in. There." Emma said. She turned on the timer and looked towards the game that was on the big flat screen. "Which game are you playing?" She asked.
"Modern Warfare."
"Mind if your old mom plays with you?" Emma joked. Henry smiled.
"If you can keep up." He laughed.
"Already talking trash. Okay." She smiled and took a seat on the couch and grabbed another game controller.
"Get ready, because I'm about to get a record breaking amount of kills." She gave him a look. Henry rolled his eyes and put the game on 2 player mode.
Next morning
Emma's Apartment
"Henry! Hurry up. You're only going to have time for cereal." Emma called out to her son. Henry rushed downstairs and grabbed Captain Crunch, pouring it into his bowl before grabbing the milk.
"Quickly eat because we have less than 10 minutes to get out of here." She said as she grabbed her badge, gun and jacket.
"I wish I could go to work with you. It's so cool that you catch the bad guys." Henry said.
"It's not all fun and games, kid. Maybe one day, I'll let you go to work with me when I'm on desk duty. I don't want anything to happen to my favorite son." She said, placing a finger under his chin.
" Your only son, mind you." He said smiling.
"And a smart one too, I'm finding out." She smirked. "Okay, are you ready?"
"Yes." Henry said putting his dish in the sink and grabbing his book bag. They both walked out the apartment.
After Emma watched Henry get on the school bus, she drove straight to work.
"Morning, Swan." Her partner, Killian Jones, said as he gave her a cup of coffee with his right hand. His left hand was amputated, and he never told Emma the real reason. She smiled and placed her jacket on the back of her chair.
"Thanks, Killian." She said. "What do we have planned today?"
"No problem. You have patrolling duty. Stern and I have a patch for DV." He was leaning on her desk.
"Okay, I guess I might as well get going." Emma grabbed the keys to the patrol car.
Regina had just left her house in a rush, as she was running late to work. Turning on her car, she drove out her driveway. She had an important meeting to get to. The speed limit for the highway was 60mph but once she got on there, she was easily going almost 80. She could not be late.
Regina was about 10 minutes away from her job when she saw blue lights flash in her rearview mirror.
"Fuck." Regina mumbled as she pulled over on the side. She began to get her license and registration out. She saw the officer get out of their car. Rolling down her window, the officer approached her.
"Good morning. May I see your license and registration please?" The blonde woman asked. Regina noticed she was very beautiful. She handed over her things. "Do you know why I pulled you over?" The woman asked.
"I know I was speeding. I'm sorry Officer..." Regina paused not knowing the officer's last name.
"Swan." The younger woman told her.
"Officer Swan, I'm sorry. I know I went over the limit, but I am late for work. I'm just 10 minutes away." Regina explained. Emma looked at the documents in her hand. She walked away and came back within two minutes.
"Okay look, I'm going to give you a warning just because you look like this will not help your day. I don't do this often or even ever. So consider this as a blessing."
"Thank you so much." Regina put her hands together in relief. Emma gave her license and registration back.
"You have a good day, ma'am. Go the speed limit this time and I hope to not see you anymore under this kind of circumstance." She told Regina.
"You too, thank you." Regina said. Emma walked away and went back to her car. Regina turned her car back on and got back on the highway and, this time, went the speed limit.