"Hey there, what can I getcha?" Emma asks when she sees the anxious brunette approach the bar and pull herself onto one of the barstools. She hands a bottle of beer to a man that is standing just to the left of the woman, and turns to her flashing her the most friendly smile that she can muster. It has been a slow night and her tip jar is reflective of that because it only has just a few singles sitting at the bottom of it.
Regina wets her lips and takes a deep breath in to calm her nerves. "Hi. I'll have a vodka martini, extra dirty, with an extra olive." She finally says as she tries to hide the weariness in her voice. "Or, maybe something stronger? No, actually, a martini is fine. A vodka martini is fine." She mentally berates herself for the indecisiveness but she can still hear her own blood pumping into her ears and she really needs something, anything, to make that stop.
The smile does not leave Emma's face but she does raise an eyebrow in amusement . "Sure, you have a preference on the vodka, Miss?"
"Anything top shelf will do." Regina says dismissively.
Emma nods and walks over to pull a bottle of vodka off of her shelf. She mixes the drink and once it is shaken and poured, she puts the glass on a coaster and slides it towards the brunette.
"Thank you." Regina says as she pulls out her phone to check her messages.
Normally, Emma would just go about her business, but after a moment of studying the woman, she is able to take in all of her beautiful features. And because she just cannot help making a fool of herself in front beautiful women, she decides to try to talk to her. "I'm pretty good with faces and I've never seen you in here before." Good job, Swan. That doesn't sound creepy at all. She thinks to herself. Real smooth.
Regina can hear the bartender and eventually looks up at her when she does not hear anyone answering her question. She turns to look behind herself and then to the sides, but sees no one in the immediate vicinity. "Are you speaking to me?" She asks finally.
Emma chuckles nervously. "Yeah, sorry. Probably should have waited until you were looking at me."
Regina just frowns, still completely frazzled with everything that has happened earlier in the evening. "Oh, well. I've never been in here before. That would be why you've never seen me." She answers before looking down at her phone again.
Emma rubs the back of her neck. Well, that bombed. "Alright, well, my name is Emma. Just let me know if there is anything else I can help you with." She does not wait for a reply before walking away to the other end of the bar.
Regina takes another drink of her martini and when her phone rings, she nearly drops her glass. She answers it right away. "Hey Mare." She sighs. "No, I couldn't go through with it. I saw her at the door and I snuck out of the back."
"What? Regina? I thought that you said you liked her. You were all over her at the club." Marian says with a chuckle.
"I know, I know. I think that I was just really drunk. And she was just very hot." Regina says as she recalls their girls' night out a few nights ago when they all went salsa dancing at a lesbian bar. Marian introduced her to the owner who spent the entire evening talking to her. After a few drinks, Regina ended up an the dance floor with the woman, where an innocent dance lesson turned into something much more sensual. Thinking about it again is giving her chills. Regina has never really had feelings like this for another woman. In fact, she is as straight as they come. Or so she has always believed. But, after that one evening with Carmen, she was not so sure anymore. That night, as they were leaving, Carmen asked her out on a dinner date which Regina quickly agreed to. But, tonight, as she was sitting in the restaurant waiting for her date to begin, she lost her nerve and left as soon as the woman arrived at the restaurant. "But, I just can't. It's not me. And I feel so terrible about it."
"Alright, alright. Calm down. Just call her really quick and tell her that you couldn't make it because something came up." Marian says.
"I can't do that. She will just want to reschedule." Regina says as she runs her hand through her hair, her frustration building up once again.
Marian chuckles. "So, this is the better plan? To just pretend like you never met her, that you two didn't almost have sex on the dance floor, and you'll just never see her again? Regina, I actually love going to that place. I won't be able to go back there if you break this woman's heart!"
Regina rolls her eyes. "This is just a huge joke to you, isn't it?" She asks.
"No, it's not. But Honey, you need to get laid! Who cares if it's a man or a woman that you're attracted to presently. You even said it yourself, she is hot…" Marian says.
"I am not sexually attracted to women!" Regina says in a harsh whisper hoping that no one around her can hear the conversation that she is having with her best friend.
"Oh my god, Regina. You are totally attracted to women and you've probably been bi for as long as I've known you. You just need to loosen up a bit. And I have to go-the baby is crying bloody murder. Call. Her. Back. I mean it." Mare adds sternly before hanging up the phone.
Regina sighs and finishes her drink putting the glass back down on the bar. She looks up to see Emma leaning on the back counter, looking at her. "How long have you been standing there?" She asks, her tone harsh.
"All night, actually. It's kinda my job to be back here." Emma says with a cheeky grin. "But don't worry, I didn't hear much, if that's what you're worried about. Also, I've heard much worse from back here."
"It's rude to listen in on someone else's conversations." Regina says, even more harshly than before.
"Wow, okay. It's also rude to be mean to someone you don't even know for no apparent reason. I wasn't purposely listening to you. You weren't exactly trying to keep your voice down." Emma says defensively, regretting it almost immediately. There goes my tip for this tab.
Regina frowns at this but has no response. Then she closes her eyes and takes another slow, deep breath. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm evidently having a terrible night and it's ruining my mood. And I'm taking it out on you."
Emma's expression softens at the woman's admission. "That's okay. Like I said, I've heard worse in here. You want another?" Emma says as she nods towards Regina's empty glass. "It'll be on me."
Regina smiles gratefully. "Yes, I will take another but please, put it on my tab. I should be buying you a drink for the way that I've treated you."
Emma returns the smile and makes the drink. Then she replaces the old glass with a newly filled one. "Do you want to talk about it? You know, they say that bartenders make the best therapists."
Regina laughs before grabbing her glass and taking a sip of her martini. She considers just brushing the woman off but before she has time to change her mind, she replies. "I stood someone up tonight."
"Oh? Sucks to be that guy." Emma says.
"Why do you assume that it was a man that I stood up?" Regina asks mostly just because she is very curious to hear the bartender's answer.
Emma squints at the woman. "Uh… I don't know. I mean, I guess that it seems like a lot safer choice than assuming that it was a woman. I didn't say it to be offensive..."
Regina nods but does not reply.
"So...why did you stand this person up?" Emma asks hesitantly.
"I just lost my nerve, I think." Regina answers with a sad smile.
Emma hums. "If you ask me, I think that your date probably had more to be nervous about than you do. I mean, you're…" She hesitates for a moment without looking at the brunette, but continues. "Absolutely gorgeous. If you were my date, I would probably be tongue-tied and googly-eyed all night long."
Regina blushes at the compliment. "Thank you, but I just… I don't know what I was thinking."
Emma chuckles. "Well, I'm sticking with my original thought. It really sucks for that guy… or gal…" She adds with a wink, just in case since the brunette brought it up a bit earlier. "Because if I were expecting to be on a date with you, and you didn't show up, man, would I be heartbroken."
Regina rolls her eyes but smiles genuinely at Emma. "Is this all just bartender talk? Or therapist talk?" She asks.
Emma laughs. "It's actually mostly Emma talk."
Regina laughs as well and while Emma walks away to help another patron of the bar, she really studies the blonde woman for the first time. She is very pretty. She has long blonde hair, with an athletic build and beautiful hazel-green eyes. When she smiles, she looks very relaxed and natural. She catches Regina watching her as she is filling a glass with beer and winks at her again. This makes Regina's stomach flip so she takes another drink of her martini to suppress the sudden butterflies.
Emma walks back over to her. "So, you going to call this date of yours or what? I can assure you that they are having a night a lot worse than yours."
Regina thinks about it for a moment. "Yes, I should call. But I will probably just tell her that we should just be friends."
"Ouch." Emma says as she makes a pained expression. "That line is the worst! And I can't even tell you how many times women have used that one on me. It never gets easier to hear it, either." She chuckles as she shakes her head.
Regina laughs when she hears Emma's inadvertent admission of her sexuality and she bites down on her lower lip to hide her sudden excitement. "I know. It's very terrible of me, isn't it?" She asks genuinely as a frown forms on her face.
Emma shrugs. "It is what it is. You can't force something you don't feel, ya know? I mean, props to her for even getting you to agree to a date in the first place. You'll have to tell me who she is so I can shake her hand. And this is all still Emma talk, by the way. I don't even know your name, but even if I did, I wouldn't ever be able to work up the courage to ask you out."
Regina raises her brow at Emma as a playful smile forms on her lips. "Do you flatter all of the girls that sit at your bar this way?"
Emma shakes her head vehemently. "Oh god, no." Then she is smiling again. "Only the really beautiful ones that I'd like to ask out."
Regina laughs as she shakes her head. Then she looks at Emma again who is still smiling at her but a bit more shyly than before. "It's Regina."
"Pardon?" Emma says with a confused look on her face.
"My name is Regina. And you really should work up that courage to ask me out before I finish this martini." Regina says as she takes another drink but not taking her eyes away of Emma's.
Emma is stunned but acts quickly before she does actually lose her nerve, and when Regina agrees, she jokingly makes her promise that she will not chicken out on their date, too. Then they spend a bit more of the evening chatting and getting to know each other a little better and Emma feels like a million bucks by the time Regina closes out her tab.
When Regina finally leaves the bar, she feels like she is floating. Whatever she was feeling with Carmen that night at the salsa club was very high-energy and sexually enticing, but with Emma, she is utterly smitten. She realizes that she cannot stop smiling and that is also when it dawns on her that Marian has been right all along. As she walks to her car, she calls Carmen to apologize and tells her that they should remain friends. The conversation goes about as well as Regina expects and immediately after ending the call with the lesbian bar owner, she sends Marian a text message.
"Mare, I think that you're right. I'm definitely bisexual."