The Autumn air breezed through Granny's Diner as yet another customer entered the active business, it wasn't uncommon to have a full shop, in fact it was now expected, after it was the only place in the small town of Storybrooke in which a person could purchase coffee that didn't taste like a pair of old boots. Regina Mills had been working in the diner for a little over a year, she had never intended to stay as long as she had but her controlling side had quite enjoyed the tasks the place of employment gave to her, she was always being challenged by the upkeep, stock orders, and of course who could forget her fellow employees. As mucha s she told herself this her failure to make it any further always stung, after a year and a half of employment she was more than tired of the place, the customers and of course her less than charming peers. She had always been told that she could do something great, so it couldn't be more frustrating that she was stuck in an entry level job cleaning dishes and taking orders.
"Hey Gina, you gonna come have a glass or few of apple cider with me when the shift ends? You know you want to..."
The voice of the obnoxious cook shattered her concentration as she frothed the milk for a cappuccino order, "No Hood, I can say with complete confidence that I don't want to do that, just like I didn't want to do it last night, or the day before, or six months ago, or even on my first ever shift. Now if you don't mind I'd like to continue doing my job. Maybe you should try it. Oh and for the record- my name is REGINA. Call me by my name, or better yet, you could just not talk to me at all." Regina wasn't known for being nice, in fact she wasn't known for much other than her affinity for coffee and any recipe that included apples, but it was certain that no one in Storybrooke would find her comment to be anything other than normal, especially on a busy Friday night. Returning to the task at hand the brunette continued to froth, steam, and pour the orders in front of her whilst scanning the room, there were several other waitresses taking and delivering orders to the vintage booths and tables, if she had her way the upholstery would have been redone and the entire store painted a colour much more luxurious than the yellow that graced the walls now.
As she finished up the last of her orders it dawned upon her that something, or better yet someone was missing, just as she turned to the old school dial phone bolted to the wall behind her, the bell attached to the door gave a sound as she was welcomed yet again by the evening breeze, "Miss Swan, you are late." Her voice sounded stern, ever since Granny hired Miss Emma Swan three months ago Regina had cleaned up more broken glasses and just ridiculous messes than she could even count, she had no idea how such a small person could possibly cause the massive disasters that this woman did on a day to day basis. The diner was buying more cups and plates than ever and the thought of switching to plastic utensils was tempting if it meant there would be one less item to sweep up off various areas of the floor.
"Not late, I switched shifts with Ruby, that would be why she was here an hour ago and is finishing two hours earlier, whilst I am working until close." she spoke with confidence as she eased her way through diner her golden hair whipped around her face, it seemed that she was not at all shaken by the glare Regina had fixed upon her.
"Sorry Regina, I thought I told you, I just have a date with this girl..." Ruby stopped her sentence short when she realised the glare had turned on her, unlike the newest member of their small crew, Granny's granddaughter couldn't help the fact that the barista scared the pixie dust out of her. "Believe it or not Ruby, I couldn't care less about your romantic endeavors, please just focus on your work before you drop something." The older brunette struggles to spit out her words without adding and few extra to the end, something along the lines of, "as Miss Swan does constantly," or "Much like your infuriating friend," instead she turned from the red-lipped waitress and faced towards the small staff room in which Emma had entered just moments before. Taking a deep breath she pivoted on the spot yet again feeling almost dizzy from the 180° movements, it was so unlike her to become this flustered over something so trivial as a shift change but the fact that EMMA SWAN of all people was able to brush her off, much less sass her was insane.
She heard the door behind to her swing open as the younger woman entered the room yet again, this time sporting a loose ponytail and her little red apron. Unlike the rest of the waitresses whom sported white aprons that covered their body from chest to knee the newest member of the team wore a much modern interpretation that Regina had protested to upon its first appearance,
"You can't wear that." the brunette stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yes, I can, I'm wearing it right now." the feisty blonde countered mimicking the short sentence Regina had used.
"No, it doesn't match the diner, and it doesn't match the rest of our uniforms." she did't bother trying to sound civil, she was not used to being told no and didn't want to get used to it. She ahd control. She always had control.
"Look, this is what I have and this is what I'm going to wear. It does it's job, and I'm doing mine."
Her reply wasn't sharp but is certainly wasn't soft, the determination behind her statement was enough for the bossy waitress to back off, after all she had discovered long ago that she need to pick her battle carefully. Ever since her surrender the younger woman would enter the diner and switch her red leather jacket for the cherry red apron that would remain secured around her waist much to the disappointment of the more experienced woman.
Trying not to stare at the shapely figure walking around the counter in front of her Regina began to clean the expensive coffee machine she had been using for the past two hours straight, the diner was still filled with noise but the orders were beginning to slow as people finally began eating their meals. Concentrating of the milk steamer spout, Regina began to scrub when she heard the dull thud which - if she gambled, she would bet her left leg was the sound of Emma's body hitting the floor, "I'm okay, I'm good, no seriously I'm fine." the quick words were confirmation enough for the barista, she tried to refrain from smiling as she kept cleaning.
Emma limped around the counter and perched upon the bench next to the coffee machine.
"So what did you trip over this time Miss Swan?" Regina inquired still repressing a childish grin.
"Just my own foot, you know, the usual." she said with a shy smile, rare for the woman whom generally sported a high self esteem, it took less than 3 seconds for her to recover her composure and plaster a goofy smile upon her face, "but it's not the first time I've done it and I'm sure it won't be the last," she stated as she applied a small amount of pressure to her ankle ensuring she wouldn't take another tumble when she tried to walk. Satisfied the pain wouldn't take her down she walked to one of her tables and began questioning the customers, suggesting their promotional deals and desserts. Regina just shook her head slightly at the fact that she didn't even have an opportunity to reply with what was sure to have been a beautiful crafted come back, much like the quite beautiful woman who would have been receiving the comment.
"ORDER UP!" Hood's voice from the kitchen knocked the brown eyed waitress out of her dream like state as she again returned to her cleaning duties. This was so unlike her, she had no explanation for the sudden infatuation with her fellow waitress, but she knew she had no choice but to stop it. Keeping to herself for the rest of the night Regina cleaned, rung up orders, and made drinks all whilst brushing off all attempts of conversation even more than usual and avoiding the green eyes that kept trying to make contact with hers.
"thanks for coming, see you agin." her voice sounded chipper and strained as she closed the door behind the last customer, flipping their "We are open," sign to the opposite side, taking a breath she leant against the door, "Only one more hour." she thought to herself. "One more hour and then two days away from her, you just have to make it through the last hour," The matra of time left until she could leave was the only thing stopping Regina from thinking about the blonde cleaning the tables around her. She stalked over to the cash register and began counting the money and placing it in disposable bags for the open waitresses to put back in the register.
"Okay I'm leaving, are you sure you don't want to get a drink with me darlin'," the anoying voice of Robin Hood pierced her ears for the millionth time that night.
"No thank you, can you please pull down the curtains on your way out though," her voice was deadpan.
"Oookay, how about you?" the aggravating cook questioned to Emma
"No thanks, I still have a little bit of cleaning to do." she replied quickly trying her hardest not to be rude, despite the fact the cook had been trying to hit on her boss only second before.
"I can wait for you to be done? I'm sure you are worth the wait." he said, pushing the blonde that slight bit to far.
"Look I was trying to be nice but clearly you do not know how to take a hint. I don't want to go get 'drinks' with you, you cheap asshole. I don't want to and clearly neither does Regina, or Ruby - because I know you've asked her, I doubt that any other employees want to go out with you either. So please, please, stop asking. It's not cute. It's not flattering in fact it is disgusting." She hadn't intended to be so.. cruel, but there were to many similarities between Hood and the slime ball she had left behind when she stumbled upon Storybrooke, from their names, - Hood and Hook, to their less than stellar personalities, and vulgar behavior. She had left her home to escape this drama, yet here she was again in the middle of it.
Hood gave her a disgruntled look and a rushed apology before tearing the curtains shut and making his escape through the front door. Emma turned and made eye contact with the person whom had been avoiding just that all night, with the two of them being the only ones left it would be difficult to avoid each other for the remaining 50 minutes of the shift.
"Sorry I spoke on behaf of you but I was sick of seeing you so uncomfortable." The smaller woman spoke with a genuine tone that the brunette wasn't prepared for. Trying to keep her walls up Regina bagged the last of the money and placed it in the safe walking around the counter to say a quick thank you, despite the fact she was certain she could have handled Hood herself, even the "evil queen" as she had been called, knew that the action was brave.
"Thank you Miss Swan, it was unnecessary but thank you none-the-less." she praised unwilling to let her professional tone falter.
The acceptor of the thanks walked forward until she was about a meter away from the giver, "You deserve to have someone stand up from you. You shouldn't have to be on the offense all the time and it was about time someone took the defense position for you." The implications of the deceleration was tension. Pure tension surrounding the two women whom exuded power on a basis. Their breathing was heavy as their eyes explored each others, it was the most intimate situation either of them had ever been in. Regina was the first to break the contact when a little voice in her head returned reminding her that she did not need anyone in her life. She didn't mutter a word as she spun on her heel to finish her closing, whilst Emma was unable to decipher what had just happened but she followed suit and continued completing her job however this particular movement caused a chain reaction she had not seen coming.
As she spun she knocked over the last dish of glasses remaining in the diner that had not yet been cleaned, sending the glass flying across one side of the room, upon realising her mistake she quickly turned, eyes wider than they had ever been as Regina all but ran out of the kitchen.
"What in the world?!" Her alluring voice rang out as understanding washed over her face, quickly taking in what had just happened.
Emma was completely unable to move, the tension from only minutes earlier still consuming her.
"I swear to God you are the fucking clumsiest person I have ever met and I'm so fucking sick of having to clean up the dishes you break, and drinks you spill!" the passionate exclamation usually would have been a shock to both of the women as well as to anyone whom knew the uptight employee but her next action over shadowed the complaint. What felt like hours later, but was definitely only a few seconds Regina and Emma both closed the space, all shadows of a limp disappeared, as they met lips first.
That was it. They were all hands, limbs and tongues. All the tension that had been surrounding them released throughout their bodies as Regina grabbed at Emma, having the favour returned immediately by the blonde. The former shoved the smaller woman against the cold, clean table behind them never breaking contact with her lips. Their bodies all but melded together in desperation, neither of them able to form a coherent thought. As they continued to kiss with ferocity. Regina pulled away quickly, "We can't do this here." she stated breathless looking upon the the sprawled body in front of her. "No we can't," Emma agreed unable to remove her eyes from the mouth that was speaking, reaching up to grab the supple neck above her, pulling her all the way down until their lips made contact yet again. Trailing her hands down the body above her, she was met with a single moan, barely whisper, "Emma."
Emma quickly pulled herself into a sitting position, "You're right we can't do this here." she said with a smirk, rehashing their previous statements. A look of confusion took over Regina's face as Emma slid off the table in a way that ensured she would brush against the stunned brunette ever so slightly.. Sauntering over the closed door she picked up her bag she had placed on a table upon the stores closing for an easy getaway, she looked back at Regina whom had yet to move more than a couple of inches to see what Emma was doing. She wasn't sure whether to feel rejected or relieved. Now armed with her bag Emma walked with more grace than she ever had in her life towards the expressionless woman she had been plastered to not minutes before, leaving a feathery kiss upon the side of her mouth she turned towards the door again. Pulling it open the little bell above it chimed, "I love it when you call me Emma," she said with a sly smile closing the door behind her and slipping into her yellow beetle parked right outside.
Regina just stood at the table unable to make sense of what had just happened, for the first time in her life her jaw had dropped. For the first time in her life she was speechless. For the first time in her life someone else had the control.. And if she was honest... She kind of liked it. Sweeping her eyes around her surrounding she remembered the smashing of glass. With a sigh that was filled with both content and frustration she retrieved a broom and returned to clean up the mess that Emma Swan had left behind. Again.