A/N So here we are again; the following chapters were my entries for the SQWeek 10th edition. Before each ficlet there is the name of the prompt that was asked to complete and the day it was supposed to be posted. I originally uploaded the ficlets on my tumblr, shadowdianne -which if you want to read a huge chunk of my work is mostly there under the tag of "prompt"- and later on on A03. However, for homesickness sake I guess, I'd also wanted to repost it here. Comments would be greatly appreciated 3
Lights, Camera, Action
Day 1, February 4th is Behind the Scene;
(In where one of them is a producer and the other just wants to act while this author fails at not writing an open ending)
Regina sighed as she stared down to the script that laid in front of her, the grey light of the settling sun creating shadows on the darkened room around her. Rubbing her temple and lighting the small lamp at her left, she read a few more lines while toying with the idea of drinking something more than the stale coffee she had been drinking all day long while trying to block as many outside-world intrusions as possible. Being as she was in a tight schedule that alone hadn't been possible.
Being a producer of a rather buoyant company tended to be like that, she said to herself finally giving up and walking towards the small cabinet at her right. Kneeling in front of the cabinet and retrieving from it a small tumbler, she poured herself a couple of sips of cider. Looking at the liquid as it sloshed against the glass walls of the tumbler she turned back towards her desk. The amount of papers that awaited for her was staggering and, not for the first time that day, she considered to simply delegate some of those to her assistant.
Just as her mother would have done. As soon as the thought entered her brain she clenched her jaw and sat behind her desk, tumbler hitting the desk's surface more forcefully than intended. Picking back the pen she had been playing with while fiddling through pages of script and proposals to not spend as much as some would have liked, she glanced at her wristwatch and nibbled her bottom lip, mentally counting backwards as she realized that she was worryingly close to be too late again.
"Thirty more minutes." She thought, trying not to think far too much on how some of her longest nights tended to start just like she was doing right then. Squaring her shoulders while pretending not to be thinking back on her mother and how she would stare down at her while snickering just loud enough for her to hear, - "And this is why you will never be as successful as I was, dear."- she quickly wrote a small message to Henry who was even faster answered with a string of emojis. Smiling to herself, she put the phone down and returned to the papers, purposely putting the script as far of herself as possible while considering giving it back to Mary Margaret and ask her what had she been thinking when she had presented it to her in the first place.
Fifteen minutes into the thirty more she had compromised with herself the door flung open letting inside the glowing lights of an almost closed for the day office. The lights were quickly blocked, however, with an incensed looking man who closed the door behind him before walking towards Regina's desk with stormy eyes the producer feigned to not see.
"Really Regina?" Killian was, as Regina had learnt far too quickly the first few years into the business, drunk as he tended to be this late in the day. His words came in a slight slur that the brunette wanted to sigh at before calling for security. One only could know what her late mother had thought when she had hired the leather-clothed man in front of her as one of their go-to directors.
Killian Jones was quite known in the industry for his drinking after all, yet Cora had thought that hiring him time and again was not only a good idea but one strong enough to last several contracts. Another mystery Regina was sure she would never get to understand from her.
Cocking one eyebrow and hiding the tumbler behind the tower of papers at her left, the brunette rose to meet Killian's stance as she circled her own table, arms crossed in front of her.
"What can I do for you?" Her voice was as cold as ice and some of it seemed to seep into Killian's brain as he gaped a few times before closing his mouth altogether, his eyes still dark but not as murderous as before.
"Another redraw? What is the matter with the last leader actress?"
It was Regina's time to throw an angry glare to the man, the taste of cider suddenly too bitter on her mouth as she swallowed. She wasn't going to do this, she thought, not today.
"I think I don't owe you any explanation, Hook." The nickname rolled out of her mouth quickly, holding enough threat for the man to narrow his eyes and mimic her stance. Which could have been impressive if it hadn't been for the way he swayed on the spot.
Great.
Rubbing the pads of her right-hand fingers together, the brunette stared at the man, waiting for him to say something but hoping that that was the last of their talk. Fortunately, Killian seemed to favor the second option as he growled once before turning towards the door, his voice carrying inside just as Regina was about to return back to her desk, ready to curse to her mother in hell or wherever the woman had finally ended up in.
"Call for a favor then your majesty, for what I've heard you aren't in a position to not make the movie."
The door's slam echoed ominous behind him, eliciting a growl from Regina herself as she glanced at her watch and realized that it was going to be that kind of night. Killian was right, she thought, battling with herself if it was the right moment to throw the pen to the wall yet or not, the company was doing good but those weren't the times to throw money away.
"Call for a favor"
Drumming her fingers on the back of her phone she mentally slapped herself, knowing already that the sleazy man was right for the second time in so many minutes; they needed someone to be the leader actress or they were doomed. And it was too late to start trying to do things through the conventional way.
Picking the phone and punching some buttons until she found the name she was looking for, she put the device on speaker while ironing invisible creases, the nervous tic almost making her sigh out of irritation before a feminine voice answered with a small "Regina?" That made the brunette bit the inside of her cheek before answering to it.
"Hello Emma."
"So, you need me."
It was the day after but the same grey light was cascading down the buildings that currently made Regina feel slightly caged as she sat in the round table at the cafeteria both her and a blonde were sitting at. She had read enough scripts to know that somewhere, someone would write this as a meet-cute.
Staring at her ex and pretending not to be too eager, she nodded before picking her coffee cup and tasting the cooling drink. Too much sugar.
"More like the company needs you, we are far too late with the film and I would need you to do at least a few script readings; see if it works out and if it does see if you can clear your schedule."
Emma stared at her with the glint Regina had learnt to read ever since their first actual meet cute in a small coffee not far enough of the one they were currently at. She was interested.
Feigning not to see the ring that had once upon a time be on the blonde's finger now glint on the woman's neck, Regina closed her hands around the cup, waiting for Emma to speak up.
"I'd have called your agent but…"
"You never liked him."
Regina almost laughed at the blonde's words, the small smile Emma also sported disappearing as they both nodded, looking away before trying to speak once again, their voices interlacing and dying in the already quite filled cafeteria.
"I just…" Regina re-started, sighing. "Schedules are already complicated. You don't need to say yes, but Killian told me that the best way to do this was calling for a favor and as much as I hate that man I know when to realize that…"
Emma's mouth had turned into a thin line at the mention of the man but was already nodding, her green eyes open and sincere in a way that made Regina's heart ache.
"Henry asked if you were going to visit." She weakly added; it was true after all; the teen had asked her about Emma but she hadn't told him that she was going to meet her that morning. The divorce had already been quite talked about and she didn't want him to get any ideas.
Ideas of them together once again. She tried her best not to think on that herself.
Sucking on her breath, Emma glanced down at her own drink before nodding forcefully, the blonde tresses almost bouncing on her shoulders before she muttered a quick "Yes, if that's okay with you." That made Regina swallow an almost painful amount of coffee.
"So… I can email you the script and the first outline of a contract by this afternoon if you want, see if we can work around your schedule."
"I'm between projects so that shouldn't be too difficult."
Regina cleared her throat finished the drink while nodding sagely, trying not to think too much on the ring she could see peeking between the open lapels of the blouse she was pretty sure that was a similar one she had owned a few years ago and that looked far too stunning on Emma right now. She failed to, obviously, not think on her own ring, hidden on her office.
"Then…" She almost offered her hand to the blonde but halted mid-movement, awkwardly trying not to point how beautiful the blonde looked. "Thank you, Emma."
The younger woman smiled shortly, also looking away and into her cup.
Idiots, both of them.
The thought still rang on Regina's ears that afternoon just as she pushed the "send" button. What was the worst thing that could happen working with your ex who you still have feelings for? She angrily asked herself, typing a message to Henry letting him know she was going to be early tonight.
Of course, she already knew the answer.
