Regina sunk back in her seat, swirling the glass of scotch that she had in her hand with her finger. She hadn't even had the chance to sit at her desk that morning before multiple agencies began ringing to cancel and rearrange meetings that Regina wasn't overly looking forward to in the first place, even though she had spent the night before panicking about them and got no sleep. She always felt like she never got a break, between being the CEO of a media company and being a single parent, she gloried the moments she got when she could sit down and have a drink alone, even if it was in her office.

She sighed and looked at the clock that hung above a painting on the wall opposite to her.

9:46pm

She groaned and finished off her scotch, placing it back down beside her before reaching for more and slowly refilling her glass, more than she should've. She opened up her laptop and approached her emails, skimming her eyes over the 40 new emails she had received in the last hour. She slowly rubbed her temples with her fingers, closing her eyes and keeping her head down. For a minute, everything was quiet, and she began to dose off before several short knocks came from across the room.

Regina's head shot up, and she adjusted her glasses that were slowly sliding off her face. She looked over to the door, where she found her assistant waiting patiently.

"Sorry to bother you, Ms Mills, but I wanted to let you know that I was heading home."

"Did you finish the paper work that was filed?" Regina spoke up, sitting herself up in her seat and staring across the room at her assistant.

She nodded, before making her way in with her arms full with paperwork that Regina had previously gave her.

"Thank you, Emma. At least you're not a complete idiot." Regina replied sharply, watching as the girl placed them down next to her.

Regina had mixed feelings about her new assistant, sure she was good at her job; she always got Regina the right coffee in the morning and she always handed her work in on time. But she was a bit cocky, which Regina didn't like. She especially hated it when Emma tried to answer back, which only made Regina seem more intimidating. She hated when people disrespected her, but she saw a lot of hope within Emma that meant she couldn't fire her. So instead, she decided to be more cocky herself. She assigned her with extra tasks, and made her life more miserable than it needed to be. But that was how Regina was, she was powerful and intimidating, which alternatively made her an amazing CEO.

Emma clenched her jaw and put on a smile, she turned her back and began walking away.

"Emma!" Regina called out, never taking her eyes off the blonde.

Emma stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Yes?"

"Please don't wear that horrendous outfit again, dear. It makes you look pale, and dirty." Regina deadpanned, looking Emma up and down. She was wearing a tank top with some old black jeans, as well as her usual red leather jacket thrown on top.

"Pale and dirty?" Emma repeated, taking a few steps closer. She knew full well she couldn't argue with her boss, but anger began to boil inside of her that she knew she couldn't control any longer if Regina continued to antagonise her.

Regina raised an eyebrow at her and simply sat back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. She still hadn't taken her eyes off the girl, but knew Emma would push back more.

"Yes. You need to buy a new wardrobe. You work for me, not some hobo on the street."

Emma wasn't exactly poor, but she wasn't rich either. Her salary was good enough that she could live off it, however she still preferred to share an apartment, to make paying rent easier.

"Maybe if the pay wasn't so shit-" Emma began to mumble before noticing that Regina had stood up, her Louboutins making her taller than she actually was, which only made her more intimidating.

She was wearing a pinstripe suit, one that fitted her perfectly. Her hair was dark, and lay just above her shoulders. Her lips were stained with dark red lipstick, a little smudged from where she was sipping at her scotch but it didn't seem to bother her. Emma hadn't really paid much attention to how her boss looked, but seeing her now made her realise why everyone was so intimidated by her. Seeing her boss now, the way she stood there with confidence only stirred up what Emma was feeling inside. She was no longer angry, however she tried her hardest to seem it.

"What were you saying, Miss Swan?" Regina replied with a tone that only sent shivers down Emma's spine. She could sense the blonde getting stiffer, a small smirk seemed to creep up on her face as she continued to stare at Emma.

"Nothing."

Regina moved elegantly from behind her desk, moving towards Emma and stopped a few inches away. She could smell perfume that lingered from the blonde in front of her, one that she knew all to0 well. She also knew that her own perfume would linger, but she didn't mind. She watched as Emma shifted a little bit, noticing that she was becoming nervous and smiled.

Emma thought she was going to be hollered at as Regina towered over her, her perfume was sickening. But she somehow liked it, the smell of vanilla and cherry, but also scotch seemed to tickle at Emma's nose.

"You can leave now." Regina said, her tone not shifting.

Emma simply nodded and rushed off, without saying another word.

Regina returned to her desk, sighing as she finished up her scotch. She leaned back against her chair and smiled slightly, somehow she enjoyed the time she got with Emma, even if the majority of the time they shouted at each other. She knew she hired the girl for a reason, Emma needed experience working in a magazine firm to build up her knowledge on reporting and writing, and Regina was all for having her work for her, until she took one look at the blonde and felt something else. Regina had never believed in love at first sight, she always denied herself any relationships that she seemed to build. She always thought that it was because of her ex husband, the father of her child who admittedly, broke her heart. But the more she thought about it, and the more men she went on dates with, she realised that she didn't want or need a man. She wanted someone else.

When Emma got home, she threw her keys into the small ornament bowl that stood on the table next to her door. She sighed and kicked her shoes off, sliding her jacket off as she did and hanging it up on the back of the door. She dragged herself into her kitchen, checking the clock as she walked past.

10:30pm

It wasn't that late, at least for Emma it wasn't. She usually spent most nights completing work that Regina set her, or binging series on Netflix. She grabbed a beer from her fridge and opened it, taking a quick swig before moving into her living room. It was small, but cosy, and by the quietness she could tell that her roommate was asleep, or out. She fell back onto her couch, placing her beer on the table in front of her and grabbing her laptop that was on the couch next to her. She quickly scanned her eyes over her emails, checking for anything that Regina may of sent her to do, or any replies from writing companies that she had sent examples of her work to. She's always wanted to be a writer, or at least a journalist so she'd send some of her ideas into other companies to get their approval, as she knew that Regina would only discard them. But so far, she wasn't having much luck.

She sighed and closed her laptop, closing her eyes to the distant sirens from the city below her.

What were you saying, Miss Swan?

Emma replayed the previous conversation she had with her boss in her head. She could smell the scotch on her breathe as she spoke to her, she could see the way her undone top buttons on her shirt revealed more than it should've. Her louboutins made the brunette taller than her, yet somehow she knew she was shorter than her without the heels, but it never made her less intimidating. The slightly smudged lipstick that Emma so desperately wanted to lean up to clear stained in her brain, but she knew it would be crossing boundaries. Everything about her boss was interesting to Emma, but everything about her also turned the blonde on, more than she cared to admit.

"Emma!" A voice called from behind her, distracting her from her thoughts. She shot open her eyes and turned around, seeing her roommate standing in the doorway.

"Hi. Another date?" Emma asked, her roommate standing in nothing more than a short body-con dress that barely covered her ass and 6 inch heels. Her roommate got around a lot, but knew never to bring any of her dates home, especially when Emma was home.

"Yeah, but he was a slob and it wasn't worth going home with him." Her roommate shrugged and flicked her heels off, placing them next to Emma's shoes.

"Makes a change." Emma smiled as she watched her overly attractive roommate join her on the couch. Her long curly red hair cascaded over her shoulders, her pale skin illuminated with the scent of cinnamon, and a slight tinge of bourbon. Emma had guessed it was the drink she'd been having on her date, however she often smelt like bourbon. Her eyes were the type of blue that people got lost in, even Emma sometimes stared too long into her eyes. Her roommate also had a british accent, that made her ten times hotter, especially in Emma's eyes.

"How was your day at work?" She asked, taking a sip of Emma's beer.

"It was fine." Emma shrugged, she didn't overly talk a lot about her job to her roommate, mainly because she never felt the need to, and because she knew she only got asked to start a conversation.

"Your boss still giving you a hard time huh? I'm sure she'll warm up to you soon." Her roommate smiled and got up off the couch, showing Emma more of her body than she wanted to see.

"Lena! I can see your ass. Put it away!" Emma frowned as her roommate's dress had risen up. She laughed and adjusted it before setting off in the direction of her own bedroom.

Emma had never mentioned who her boss was or who she even worked for, but she still gossiped about the crap Regina gave her.

Emma sighed and finished off her beer, getting up off the couch and placing the bottle in the bin. Then she headed straight into her room, grabbing her usual oversized shirt that had several stains and holes in and getting changed. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, humming to herself as she clambered into bed.

She lay there for a while, staring up at the ceiling. She hoped the next day would be better, and she hoped that her boss would be in a better mood.

She was about to doze off before she heard her phone vibrate from the bedside table. She groaned and reached her arm out, grabbing her phone and switching it on. A text from an unknown number. She furrowed her brow at the text.

Is this Emma Swan?

She quickly texted back.

Yes, this is Emma. Who are you?

Almost instantly she got a reply. And as soon as she saw who it was, her face dropped and her heart began beating faster.

It's Regina. Can you talk?

Sooo this the first chapter to Mixed Feelings, and I know that it's short but I will work on making the rest of the story longer. This is a slowburn fic, or at least it'll be as much of a slowburn as I can make it. But anyway, I hope you enjoy it and please leave any comments or suggestions. It would be greatly appreciated 3