NOTE: This is from my Swan Queen Week stories. I decided to continue this one a tiny bit.
Regina wouldn't normally bring her son Henry to work with her, but she had been left with very little choice. Her ex-husband, Stephen, had dropped Henry back off at her place just as she was preparing to leave for work. Stephen said he had an emergency meeting for work out of town that he could not miss.
It had erupted into yet another huge fight as she accused him of being unfair and his "emergency meeting" probably having more to do with his current slut of the month than his job.
He had shot back with words that stung more than she thought possible. And it wasn't because the words hurt her.
Stephen was standing there near the door trying to leave when she made her accusation.
"He's not even my kid," Stephen yelled.
Regina had taken a step back not believing that this was a man she had once loved.
"Get out," she said.
"Gladly."
She stood there for several minutes trying to process what had happened and how she had gotten to this place when Henry came around the corner. One look was all it took for her to know he had heard.
It wasn't as if Henry didn't know he was adopted. They hadn't made a secret out of it or anything, but for Stephen to say that crossed a line.
"I'm sorry," Regina said bending down in front of him. "I am sorry this situation between your dad and I has gotten like this. I will talk to him when he gets back."
"He's not my dad."
"Oh Henry. He didn't mean …"
"Yes he did. I don't want to see him anymore."
"You're upset and you have every right to be but Stephen has rights too as your parent."
"He doesn't want to be my dad," Henry protested. "You were right; he is going away with some woman for the weekend. It has nothing to do with work. I heard them talking and he said that he wished he didn't have to bother with me at all but his lawyer said if he didn't then he would have to pay more child support to you and he wasn't going to do that."
As much as her blood was boiling with anger right now she didn't want Henry to see that. Instead she embraced him.
"We will figure something out," she said. "You and me together."
"Always," he responded.
It was a little saying that had
She had to rush around after that to make arrangements – her best friend Katherine agreed to swing by and pick Henry up but it wouldn't be until later which is why she was now taking Henry into work with her.
It wasn't as if anyone was likely to say a word to her about it. After all, when you owned one of New York's hottest restaurants people didn't say much to you.
Emma walked into the restaurant in one of her most form-fitting dresses. It not only hugged her body, which was good for trapping her prey, but it was also short, which was good for her if this required more movement than she was expecting.
She had been flirting with this guy online for weeks and they were finally meeting face to face at a rather fancy restaurant. She knew he was trying to impress her with taking her to such a swank place.
Normally she wasn't much for fine dining. Frankly, while her job paid well, fine dining in New York was still out of her price range.
She wondered if she would at least get the chance to get a small bite of an appetizer.
Somehow she doubted it.
She looked around and saw the guy she was meeting.
"Brian?" she asked hesitantly as he approached her.
"Emma," he smiled.
He helped her into her seat.
"I got to say you look beautiful," he said as he took his seat.
"Thank you. You look just like your photo which I have to say is a relief. Internet dating is a scary proposition sometimes."
"Oh yes, you never know if the picture the person uploaded is really them."
"Or cut from a Victoria Secret's website," she finished.
They smiled at each other. "I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of ordering us some wine," he said showing her the bottle.
"A glass would be great."
He poured her some wine and she took a sip of it. Damn, she thought, if the wine is this good she was definitely going to be disappointed when they didn't even make it to the meal.
"So tell me about yourself," he prompted.
"I m afraid there isn't much to say. I am single, obviously, I like to go running in the morning, I enjoy a nice bubble bath. Most of my time is taken up by my job."
"What is it that you do?" he asked.
"I am a bail bondsman."
"Oh," he said. "What does that mean exactly?"
"It means when people are arrested and their loved ones for instance their wife pays the bail, but can't afford the entire amount I put up the rest of the money. The problem comes when that person jumps bail. You see it's my job to track them down and bring them back to the police. It protects my investment in the whole venture. And it's actually quite fun, especially when the criminal in question has embezzled nearly a half a million from his employer and is now on a date while his wife is at home wondering how she is going to deal with any of this."
She knew the moment she was part way through the speech that she had a runner on her hands. He tipped the table towards her and as she backed away – still getting wine splashed on her, he ran for it. He didn't go toward the front doors though, he went toward the back.
Regina decided to keep herself busy that night in the kitchen. This allowed her to keep an eye on Henry while also doing something she loved – cooking. She had worked her way up the ranks in the kitchen before becoming the head chef several years ago at another restaurant. She always knew she wanted to be a chef, much to her parents chagrin. They supported her entirely in her dream, but when your father is a U.S. Ambassador to the Untied Nations and your mother is a well-known civil rights attorney, there are certain expectations there.
She grew up never having to worry about things like money. She lived a life of privilege that afforded her the opportunity to indulge in her love of cooking.
She opened her own restaurant nearly four years ago and it was constantly booked and had been given rave reviews. Owning the restaurant didn't always allow for her to be there in the kitchen which is where she preferred to be. She usually needed to make appearances on the floor and glad hand with celebrities or other members of the well-to-do in order to keep up the good will.
Tonight though she was in no mood for such things. She wanted to get lost in a recipe to keep her mind off of what had happened with Stephen. Henry hadn't said much else on their way over here. When she had spoken to Katherine she had given her the mini-version of it. She would fill her in entirely later and she was prepared to ask Katherine for more than friend advice. Katherine was also an attorney and Regina decided to ask what could be legally done to perhaps break Stephen's adoption of Henry and give her sole custody. She didn't need Stephen's money or the child support. She only wanted Henry to be happy and if he truly didn't want to see Stephen ever again she would find some way to make that happen.
A commotion from the front made her turn in that direction in time to see a man burst through the kitchen doors. He ran into one of the servers, knocking her down and came barreling down one of the aisles – the same one where Henry sat on a stack of boxes. Her instincts took over and she ran down the aisle she was in and made it around the corner as he reached the end colliding with him. They went down in a tumble, her head hitting the floor. She was dazed a moment but felt hands on her as she was pulled up.
As her vision cleared she saw a woman in a tight pink dress in front of her, but the man she had hit had a hold of her and grabbed a knife from the nearby counter and now had it at her throat.
"Mom!" she heard Henry say from somewhere behind her. The man backed her up and was saying something to the woman in front of her. All she could think about was Henry and making sure Henry was ok.
Emma wasn't sure what to do when she ran into the kitchen only to see Brian pull some woman up and hold her hostage. She could see a kid just behind them and when he yelled "Mom" she knew the brunette hostage was the child's mother.
"Hey, let's calm down here," Emma said keeping her hands up.
"I am not going to prison," Brian said, holding onto the woman a little tighter.
"Ok, ok," Emma said. "We can handle this, just let the woman go."
"Right, and I am sure you will just let me walk out of here."
"I will. Nothing is more important to me than her life right now."
He seemed to consider it and backed up some more pulling the woman with him. They were getting closer to the kid and Emma looked in the woman's eyes and knew her concern was for the child, not herself.
"Hey kid," Emma said. "Why don't you take a wide walk behind that guy and come around over here."
Brian glanced back noticing Henry for the first time and Regina gave a concerned look to Emma, who tried to communicate with her eyes that she needed to stay calm.
"He's just a kid," Emma said to Brian. "Just let him get out of the way."
"Move kid," Brian ordered and Henry scrambled away from him. He went around to another aisle and one of the employees grabbed hold of him protectively. Emma could see relief spread across the features of the other woman.
"Alright, now let her go and you can leave. I won't follow."
He backed up again still holding on.
Once Henry was safe Regina's mind began to focus more on the situation. She was grateful for this woman for thinking to get Henry out of the way first. She got the feeling that whoever this guy was he wasn't going to make this easy.
But she was the daughter of a U.S. Ambassador and as such she had taken self-defense courses growing up. True she hadn't had the occasion to use the techniques and it had been years ago but she didn't give up without a fight.
She slammed her foot down on the guy's instep, which caused him to remove the knife from her neck long enough for her to grab his wrist. He was stronger than her and he easily pushed her aside and she went to the floor once again. She barely noticed a pair of legs leaping over her.
Emma was surprised when the woman went on the offensive but as soon as she did Emma was moving forward. She saw the woman fall in front of her and she jumped over intent on stopping Brian. He made it out the back door and began ran to across lanes of traffic. She followed him, catching up to him even as she heard the sirens approaching their location. She reached out and grabbed the back of his suit jacket and he whirled around as she did so. It was only then that she realized he still had the knife. She couldn't move in time and it sliced into her left side. She did have the wherewithal to jam her palm upwards into his nose. She heard the crunch and his swearing as she backed up a step holding her side.
"Down on the ground now," she heard someone say authoritatively. Brian dropped the knife and put his hands up. She turned to see the cops.
"Miss, are you ok?" one of the cops said seeing the blood that was quickly staining her dress.
"Yeah," she said a moment before almost falling to the ground. She heard them call for an ambulance as one of the cops brought her safely to the ground. She was still conscious when the ambulance arrived and she was loaded in. The last thing she saw before the doors closed was that brunette lady and her son.
Emma opened her eyes to the glare of the lights of a hospital room. She looked down at the IV in her arm and then she remembered why she was lying there. Well, that could have gone better she thought. She felt bad about how it all went down. She knew the risks she was taking with her job, but that was the first time she had been in a situation where others were at risk. She had read the dossier on Brian thoroughly. The guy was a sleaze and a white collar criminal so she hadn't been expecting something like that.
She should have planned it out better.
Lying there she wondered how long she would be unable to work with this knife wound. The area around it felt a little tender but otherwise ok.
A nurse came in about 15 minutes later and checked her vitals and told her a doctor would be by to explain everything to her. She asked if there was anyone they should call and Emma shook her head. She didn't have anyone in her life to bother calling.
The doctor came by nearly 40 minutes later. It wasn't as bad as it could have been and he was going to release her the next day so that at least was welcome.
She was lying in bed hours later flipping through channels on the TV when there was a knock on the doorframe and the woman from the restaurant came in with her son.
"Hi," Regina said.
"Hi," Emma smiled.
"Henry and I, this is my son Henry and I am Regina, Regina Mills, we um wanted to come check on how you were doing."
Emma turned the TV off. "Come in. I am Emma Swan."
"We heard you got stabbed," Henry said excitedly. "Did it hurt?"
"Henry," Regina said in a warning tone.
"It's ok," Emma said. "I did get stabbed and yes it hurt, but the doctors got me all stitched up and I will be out of here tomorrow."
"Cool," Henry said.
"I wanted to say thank you for what you did," Regina said.
"I should probably be apologizing to you actually. I shouldn't have let him get the upper hand like that. I'm sorry."
"Please, you don't have to apologize. You kept my son from getting hurt and that it all that matters to me."
Emma smiled as she took in this vision in front of her. Unlike in the kitchen where she was being held hostage, this woman seemed to exude a sense of authority and grace. And she was damn good looking especially in the skirt she was wearing that showed off her defined calf muscles.
"I am just glad you are both ok," Emma said. "You are ok?"
"Yes we both are," Regina said. "Just concerned about you."
"We brought you food," Henry said holding out the bag he was carrying.
"I understand you didn't actually eat the restaurant and I shudder to think about what passes as food at a hospital, even a highly regarded hospital such as this," Regina said. "I whipped you up some food."
"You are a chef?"
"I am," Regina said, seeing no reason to point out that she also owned the restaurant. She took the bag from Henry and took out the containers and placed them on the little stand. "I am sure one of the nurses can heat it up for you if you don't want to eat right now."
"Oh no, I am hungry and was dreading whatever was on tap for lunch here. But I don't want to eat in front of you while were talking."
"That's ok, we should probably get going," Regina said. "When you are feeling up to it though, I would like it if you would come to the restaurant for a meal. You can bring whoever you want. I will let the booking staff know to accommodate you whenever you want."
"It will probably be a party of one then," Emma said.
"I will be your date," Henry said.
Emma smiled at him and then looked at Regina who also had a smile on her face.
"It's a date then kid. You and me together."
"Always," Henry said instinctively.
Emma thought Regina gave him an odd look but there was still a smile on her face so Emma said. "Always kid. Always."