They were summoned by Mary Margaret to the town hall early Saturday morning to discuss the fund-raising event she wanted to do for Granny. A week ago, a group of drunken men decided to vandalize the diner. Granny wanted to rip those men's heads off but luckily, Sheriff Swan and Deputy Locksley caught them with the help of security cameras and witnesses. It took Robin and Neal to stop Granny from pummeling their smug grins off when she barged into the station demanding for justice. With the culprits dealt with, Mary Margaret took it upon herself to raise money in order to restore the diner to its original condition.
"How about an auction?" Robin suggested.
Mary Margaret raised her brows and looked impressed. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!" she clapped her hands together in excitement. If she and Regina weren't friends, she would have thrown something at her already. "What do you suggest we auction off?"
"People!" Ruby gasped excitedly. "We could do a date auction!" Everyone – besides Regina – voiced their approval.
Regina scoffed and shook her head in objection. "Come on," she turned to Mary Margaret. "Please tell me you're not considering subjecting women to this kind of… spiteful and horrible –"
"Who said we're bidding on women?" Ruby interrupted her.
"Are you saying that –" Robin started before getting cut off by Ruby.
"Yes, Deputy." She smirked. "We're going to bid on the men. Well, kind of."
It turned out, Ruby already had it all planned out in her head. As usual, Mary Margaret had agreed to every single idea the young woman had. The men were tasked to prepare picnic baskets, which women – or men – will bid on and share with their preparer at an outdoor party following the auction.
Once the rest of the details of the fund-raising event were discussed, they were finally dismissed. If she knew where this meeting was going, she would have just started on all the paperwork piling up on her desk or better, she would have just stayed at home with her son.
"Madam Mayor!" Emma approached her with a smirk.
"What?" she gave the blonde a small glare.
Emma snorted and shook her head in amusement. "What's got you all grumpy this morning?"
"Besides this pointless meeting? That damn smirk on your face." She said but can't help the small smile that forms.
"Come on, Regina." Emma urged. "It's for a good cause!"
"I know," she sighed heavily. "They could have just picked a much easier way to raise the money, though. This whole date auction will end in a disaster, I'm telling you."
Emma let out a small laugh. "Well, I know who I'm bidding on." She told her as Neal gave Emma a wink when he walked past them.
"You two are insufferable." She remarked with a huff.
"You're just jealous." Emma pointed out. "And lonely."
She scoffed and gave her a pointed look. "I have Henry."
"Regina," she gave her a small, yet sympathetic smile before continuing. "You know that's not what I meant. You need to get out there and date!"
"No, thank you."
"Bid on someone!" she suggested and it took Regina a minute to realize that Emma was being serious.
"I will not be participating in this fundraiser." She told her. "I will just write a check and send it to Granny."
"You're no fun."
"I don't care. I –" They were interrupted by a high-pitched laugh coming from behind them. She turned around and saw Zelena laughing at something Robin said. Her hand was on his forearm and by the look on his face, what he said wasn't that funny. "God, that woman makes me so mad."
"Tell me about it," Emma mumbled. "Last week, she literally pushed me out of the way because she was running late for her hair appointment."
"I almost feel sorry for Robin." She said quietly, making Emma chuckle.
"He looks miserable." Emma commented. "I don't get how that man still manages to act polite and kind towards people like Zelena."
"He's not that polite." Regina countered. "Or kind. He's actually kind of an ass."
"He's only like that around you," Emma stated. "Seriously, you two make the ground shake whenever you get into those needless arguments."
"Well, it's not my fault he's an idiot."
"It's always nice to hear the Mayor talking about me." Regina was startled by Robin's voice. She hadn't realized he was beside her until now. She would never admit it but she feels butterflies in her stomach whenever he's around her and she doesn't like it one bit. He looked at her and smiled. "Can we talk?"
"I'll see you later," Emma said before walking away and leaving the two of them alone.
She waited for him to speak but he stayed silent. "Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or do you have something to say?"
"Right," he finally spoke. "I never had the chance to thank you yesterday for watching Roland at the last minute."
"Oh, it's no problem. He's a sweet boy." She told him and then added, "Unlike someone I know."
His jaw slightly dropped and place a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended. "I am extremely sweet, Madame Mayor, I'll have you know."
She grinned smugly. "Somehow, I doubt it."
He studied her for a moment before speaking. "I guess I'll just have to prove it to you."
"Yes, please do." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
He chuckled and cleared his throat. "So, are you bidding on anyone in particular?"
She scoffed and shook her head intensely. "Not a chance in hell."
"Why do I get the impression that you are very unhappy with the whole fund-raising idea?"
"That's because I'm not," she stated.
"Oh, come on Regina, you can't be serious." He gave her a playful glare.
"What? It's not my fault their ideas weren't as great as mine."
"Really?" she nodded and he huffed out a breathy chuckle. "Care to tell me your great ideas then? Perhaps we could convince Mary Margaret to change her mind about how we get the money we need to fix the diner."
She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Shit. "Well, there's…" she stammered. Why couldn't she think of anything right now? "There's…" she could tell he was holding back a laugh. "I am not obligated to tell you anything!" she snapped and walked away but not before he gave her that infuriating smirk of his that made her want to smack him.
"What was that about?" Emma asked as Regina walked by her and Mary Margaret.
"Nothing," she mumbled. "I'm going home."
"Wait," Mary Margaret stopped her. "We need some volunteers to help decorate the park on Friday."
She raised a brow. "What do you want me to do about it?"
Emma snorted while Mary Margaret let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "Will you volunteer? You could bring Henry with you, too, if you want."
"I don't think so." She shook her head.
"Regina," Emma whined. "Please?"
She knew they wouldn't stop nagging her until she gives in so she sighed and groaned. "Fine!" Emma and Mary Margaret cheered in unison. "Just for an hour."
"Of course." Mary Margaret smirked. "I'll see you soon, Regina."
"Yeah, alright." She mumbled as she turned to walk away.