It has been noted to me that NYC subways are 24/7 but this story wouldn't have worked so well if that was the case so we'll just ignore that...
Day One: Meet Cute AU. Enjoy!
Emma was exhausted. She'd spent the entire day following some low life around the East Village and all she could think was how warm and comfy her bed was going to be. She was supposed to have finished at least three hours ago, but her boss had chosen seven o'clock as the perfect time for a briefing of the weeks cases and all Emma could do was nod and smile. As the last subway of the night pulled up, Emma stepped on and found a seat about halfway down the car. The doors were closing when a brunette woman sprinted across the platform and slipped inside. Straightening her coat and flattening her hair, the woman glanced down the car at Emma before taking a seat at the opposite end. Emma smirked, stupid stuck up cow she thought fleetingly before turning back to the news app on her phone.
Regina was running late. The story of my life she thought wryly to herself as she tried to get comfy on the hard plastic subway seat. Her meeting had run over and a pile up on Bleecker street meant her bus had been stuck for nearly two hours. She had had to sprint the last few blocks in order to get the last train and now she was out of breath and flustered and she was sure that blonde down the other end of the car was smirking at her.
As the train entered a tunnel, a strange creaking sound echoed around the outside of the car. Both women looked up from their mobiles, glancing at each other before returning to watch the black walls of the tunnel flash past. Soon, the train slowed until it jolted to a stop. The tannoy crackled before a female voice sounded throughout the car.
"Unfortunately we have had an electrical fault further up the line and this train will be stopped here until it has been fixed. We are hoping to get this problem fixed within the hour. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you." The tannoy crackled again before going quiet.
Emma groaned, this was not what she needed at all. The perfect ending to what had already been a pretty shit day. She scrolled down her contacts until she found 'Neal' and pressed to call him. The dialling tone didn't even sound before an automated message told her she didn't have any signal. Huffing she ended the call and shoved the phone back into her jacket pocket. Neal was just going to have to wait.
At the other end of the car, Regina was frantically trying to contact somebody as well. Her phone was also telling her she didn't have enough signal to make the call. She felt a frustrated tear grow in the corner of her eye and although the rational part told her Henry was perfectly safe with the babysitter, the irrational part of her was currently panicking. She could feel her throat go dry and her vision blur as more tears formed, threatening to fall. Suddenly a person entered her eye line and crouched in front of her.
"Take deep breaths. Breath in and count to three then breathe out through your nose, c'mon I'll count with you." Regina nodded and breathed in as the stranger counted to three and then breathed out slowly. She could feel her heart slowing and her mind calming. Wiping the unshed tears away, she smiled up at the blonde. "Would you like some water? It sounded like we could be here for some time." Regina nodded again and accepted the bottle, gulping down as much as she could politely take. The blonde sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulder soothingly until she felt herself returning to normal. Giving the water back, Regina introduced herself.
"I'm Regina." The blonde smiled and held her hand out.
"Emma." Regina took the hand and smiled back. "Are you feeling better now?" Regina nodded and leaned back against the hard plastic seat.
"I'm sorry about all that, I need to get through to my babysitter and my stupid phone keeps telling me I have no signal."
"I can't call home either. Couldn't have happened on a worse day as well." Regina hummed in approval. Emma kept her arm around Regina's shoulder, rubbing it slowly. "I saw you running for the train, you don't seem like the type of person to run for a train." Regina chuckled, "What gives?" Regina wasn't used to speaking to strangers, which sounded pretty stuck up she thought but then again, she never really found herself in a situation where talking to strangers was necessary. Emma didn't feel like a stranger though. When she had first glanced over at the blonde, Regina had assumed the young woman was a student or some other welfare hogging low life but now the woman was sat next to her, Regina could see she had been completely wrong and chastised herself. Emma's smile was open and welcoming, with no hint of malice or judgement. Regina felt safe, which was a strange way to describe the feeling she thought, but she couldn't think how else to describe it.
"There was a crash or something on Bleecker and my bus got held up for hours. What about you?"
"Oh y'know I was supposed to finish at 7 but my boss decided to drag us all in for a meeting." Emma sighed, "He thinks we're all lonely workaholics like him, no sense of normal work hours." Regina smiled sympathetically, she had had a few bosses like that and it had taken her a few years to break away from them and finally be her own boss.
"Where do you work?" The brunette asked.
"I'm in bail bonds. Spent the day chasing some sleezeball around the East Village so naturally I then wanted to spend two hours in a briefing meeting." Regina hummed in agreement "What about you?"
"I'm the head editor at a small time publishers on East 72nd. It's not much but I've loved books for as long as I can remember and when I was in college I knew a few students trying to publish their work but all the big names would never take them seriously so I decided to start up my own company and concentrate on publishing students and more alternative stories." Regina blushed, "I'm sorry you didn't need to know all of that, I tend to go on a bit when I'm nervous." Emma smiled,
"Why're you nervous?" Regina blushed further. But stayed silent. Before Emma could dig further, however, her phone buzzed from her coat pocket. "Hey Neal. Yeah I'm fine but my subway's stuck in a tunnel somewhere and they said we could be here for at least an hour...no I'll be fine, you go to bed and I'll try not to wake you." Emma laughed at something said down the phone before hanging up. Regina looked down the opposite end of the car, reading the adverts so as to appear as though she wasn't eavesdropping. She turned as Emma spoke. "Hey my phone has a little signal here, do you wanna call your babysitter?" Regina began to protest but was stopped by the blonde. "Seriously, I don't want you panicking again." Regina gratefully accepted the phone and dialled in her home number. Emma turned slightly and preoccupied herself with the health service advert across the way from their seats.
"Hello Lucy it's Regina. Did Henry get to bed okay?" A pause. "Good, listen I'm going to be later than I expected, the subway broke down and I'm stuck in a tunnel somewhere after 49th. I'll pay you double for the extra hours and I'll call you again as soon as I get off the train. Help yourself to anything in the fridge." Another pause. "Okay, thanks Lucy. See you soon." Regina hung up and passed the phone back to Emma, rousing the blonde from her thoughts. Emma shoved it back into her pocket before turning and sitting cross legged in front of Regina.
"So, Henry huh?" Regina looked confused for a moment and then frowned at the intrusive question.
"I wouldn't have thought that was any of your business." Emma laughed,
"Probably not but what else is there to talk about? And it's not like you'll ever see me again. From the fact you needed to call a babysitter I'm guessing he's younger than ten, well behaved cos he's in bed by nine and if he's half as cute as his mom then I'm sure he's got all the ladies chasing after him." Emma's grin widened as Regina ducked her head and a pink tint coloured her cheeks.
"Yes I suppose he is rather cute, in a chubby cheeks and dimples sort of way. He's seven and of course he is in bed by nine o'clock, he knows not to play up for the babysitter." Regina paused. She was curious as to who Neal was, I mean a boyfriend obviously, but if Emma could ask intrusive questions then so could she right? "How long have you been with Neal?" Emma's eyes bugged out and she laughed.
"Wow you're really going personal aren't you, I was just curious about your kid." Regina felt her cheeks heat from the blush as she stuttered,
"I...I'm so sorry I didn't mean to be so intrusive, I just- you asked about Henry and-" she stood to move away down the car but Emma's hand in her arm pulled her back into her seat.
"I was joking, I couldn't ask something about you and not expect something back. Neal's my flatmate, we aren't dating or anything. I'm actually gay so he's not even my type." Emma chuckled as Regina went redder than she thought possible.
"Oh god, I'm so so sorry. I've really put my foot in it haven't I."
"Don't be silly, that's what I love about talking to strangers. You find out loads of cool stuff about them and they tell you 'cause they know they'll never see you again."
"I don't really talk to strangers, I have no need to."
"Well maybe after this you'll be more inclined to. Who knows who you might meet?" Regina smiled in agreement and a silence settled between them.
Emma broke it, staring ahead as she tried to make out the brickwork on the tunnel wall.
"I had a kid once." Regina turned to watch her profile. "I had him in prison though so I wasn't allowed to keep him. When I got out I asked around and they said he'd gone to a good home, some young professional with money and stuff. I wish I had been able to see him but the prison kinda forced me into a closed adoption." Emma shrugged and turned to face Regina, who's eyes were watering. "One day I hope he'll try and find me, so I can explain to him what happened. The woman who got him has probably made me out to be a monster, I just want to set the record straight." Regina nodded and stroked Emma's arm. Emma coughed, "Wow that got depressing. Tell me about Henry? He must be in school by now?" Regina nodded and proceeded to tell Emma about the summer concert Henry had been practicing for.
About 40 minutes later a metal clang sounded and the train began moving forwards again. The tannoy crackled,
"Apologies for the delay to this service caused by an electrical fault further up the line. This has now been fixed and we are on our way, the next stop will be Garrison Avenue." Both women sighed in relief. Despite the company, both had found the wait tedious and were ready to collapse into bed. A couple of stops later, Regina gathered her bag and stood to exit the train. At the last minute, she turned to Emma and handed her a small business card. Smiling shyly down at the blonde she said,
"Call me." The subway pulled to a stop and she rushed out of the car before Emma could answer.
Emma looked down at the card and read,
'Regina Mills BA Hons
Editor-in-Chief
Sunrise Publishing
36 East 72nd Street
672097
New York City
NY
518-967-6774
'
Turning the card over she found a hastily scribbled mobile number. Emma watched as the Brooklyn suburbs flashed past outside the train windows and considered what to do. She smiled widely, this didn't really need any consideration, if she was completely honest with herself. She had been sold the moment she realised the brunette was freaking out over her son, and the constant blushing definitely helped.
Pulling her phone out she carefully typed in the number. The phone rang twice before the other end picked up and a smooth Brooklyn voice spoke,
"I thought you'd never call."