Alright, straight off, I'm not an artist or art curator. I'm an enthusiast and I did NO RESEARCH whatsoever on the curator work or the P.A. work so, go easy on my ass. I'm a lazy adult and I should be finishing my other Clexa fic but here I am starting a Swan Queen multi chapter.

I have a small idea of where to go with this but, honestly, I will only carry on if I have enough people wanting me to. So if you like this first instalment and got intrigued to read more, shoot me a comment and let me know how you feel!

All mistakes are my own, English is not my native language so I'm sorry for all the bull.

xxxxx

Chapter 1

First day on a new job is always nerve wrecking. Of this much Emma Swan was sure. But she had no idea how wrecked she would be by the end of today. Oh no, she did not see that one coming.

It was supposed to be simple.

The Art gallery in town needed a curator; she graduated around a year ago and so far did not manage to find a good job in Fine Art. At points, she kind of regretted choosing such convoluted subject to study - could have stuck with something simpler such as graphic design. But no. She was not one to choose the simple path. Fine Art was it and she enjoyed every second of the four years of course. Little did she know that it would be so much of a pain in the butt to find a well paid job in this area.

Ruby kept telling her she could always be a teacher, but deep down, her best friend knew that teaching was not really an option. Fifteen years of friendship were enough to know how the blonde sees this idea. Emma was not the kind of person to stand in front of a crowded room and share knowledge with a bunch of kids. Nope, that's not for her. So the curator job was some kind of a miracle when she was starting to lose hope.

She woke up earlier than usual to get herself ready. Emma tied her blonde locks on a chic messy bun and went for a sober look. Dark trousers and a button up white shirt with a well tailored black jacket on top together with a pair of black heeled shoes composed the attire. The blonde sighed to her reflection in the mirror; that was not her. She looked longingly to the red leather jacket hanging inside her wardrobe and to the stack of cotton white vests neatly folded over her bed. She wished she could simply dress like she usually would but she knew she should try her best to cause a good first impression. The heels were particularly annoying. How could people actually walk on those all day every day she would never know.

In a strange way, Emma felt ready for this day. She was nervous, which was a natural response to new experiences, but she felt secure with her knowledge of the art market and how to run a gallery. To be honest, she knew that this would be the shortest path for her to be able to have her own exhibit one day. If her paintings survived the dust and decay that was growing upon them that is. She chuckled to herself at the thought and grabbed her black rimmed glasses to check her email.

The owner of the gallery sent an enormous email with all the details of the job and what she would be doing on her first day. She knew Mr. Robert Gold by reputation, he was one of the biggest names in the art business. The man owed half of the galleries in town and no proper artist would go by without having their work in one of his galleries. The email was long but the main points were simple. Start at 9am, have the tour to get acquainted with the gallery's abouts, meet the staff and the people who will be working under her belt. Usually, artists choose their own curators for their exhibitions but she would have to keep a close look to make sure the gallery space would be used properly. Sometimes, however, she would have to curate the exhibitions on her own because some artists would not bother hiring a private curator. And that was the case of the first exhibition she would have to take care of. After lunch, the real thing would start.

Mr. Gold set up a meeting with Ms. Regina Mills; daughter and P.A. of Cora Mills, a well known painter. They would discuss the main points of the planned exhibition of Cora's works. Best dates, how many pieces, how many rooms in the gallery and so it goes. Emma would be responsible for the organisation of the pieces, which ones would go in the same room, what kind of lighting and everything else that involves putting the exhibition together. Along with Regina Mills, Belle French would also be in the meeting. The wife of Mr. Gold was responsible for the social part of the job. She would arrange opening nights, buffets, guest lists, food and drink suppliers and more. Emma was actually relieved she would not have to take care of these bits as well. Her business was with art and art only. It was already stressful enough the fact that she would have to deal with this Regina Mills. She knew nothing about the woman and she never worked with someone so close to the artist before. The possibility of starting a little network of people within the art world was making her palms sweat. But she could do it, she knew she could. Right?

She closed her laptop with a click and gathered the rest of her belongings into a very uncomfortable side strap handbag. Emma was very fond of her rucksack but she knew better than showing up with it on her first day. The blonde look at the clock and took a deep breath. Walking out the door, she got the car keys from her bag and put a smile on her face. It was show time.

"Welcome, Ms. Swan! We are very happy to have you in our team dearie."

Mr. Gold shook her hand firmly as she held the smile on her lips. The gallery was beautiful and spacious and she could see herself walking through those rooms, finding perfect spots for specific paintings, chatting to visitors about the works being shown. All the anxiety she was feeling was quickly becoming anticipation; she couldn't wait to get started.

"Likewise, Mr. Gold. I'm really grateful for the opportunity you're giving me to work with you in one of your galleries. To be completely honest I still don't get why you hired me, with so many people out there with much more experience in the field."

"You were the best option for the job, Ms. Swan. Your lack of extensive experience to me means that you don't have habits and vices acquired in other places. Which signifies that you'll be molded to work within the parameters I find adequate in the art industry. Hopefully, you will have a bright and long future here."

"Hopefully."

Emma replied with a smile as the man showed her the way into the first room of the galley. Her expression didn't let her deny the state of awe she found herself in. With each room he showed her, she got more and more excited. Mr. Gold had a way to show the place, telling stories and tales about the exhibitions held there, the artists he met, the ordeals he had to come with. He was extremely knowledgeable and experienced, to the point that Emma felt like she could spend her whole day just listening to his stories.

"This will be your office but I tell you in advance: You won't be spending a lot of time in here. Your real work will be out there, in the gallery rooms. You will have a key for the back door so you can come and work in the office at any given time you find suitable. You won't need to clock in and out every day, Ms. Swan as I believe that freedom to come and go is a must in this line of business."

"So, I can just come here and do my planning and contact people at any time?"

"Precisely. You will also be given a mobile phone and a laptop computer, should you choose to do any work from other locations. However, if you need to do work on the gallery rooms out-of-hours, warning in advance is required so security measures can be taken. Obviously, on the days previous to an opening night, I appreciate the fact that you will be staying after hours quite often, so for these situations, you don't need to worry about warnings."

"Seems simple enough. How many people will be working directly with me?" The blonde took quick notes as Mr. Gold gave her the details. A new phone and computer. That sounds like a sweet, sweet deal.

"You will have the whole logistics team under your belt. If the artist exhibiting has their own curator, you will see to the standards and procedures of the gallery to be followed and respected. If you're curating the exhibition, you'll be managing not only the composition of the event itself, but working closely with the heads of other departments to make sure everything goes according to what was planned with the artist. Some artists come to check on everything themselves, but many others, like Cora Mills, will have their personal assistants to take care of everything."

"And this is the person I'll be working closely with from today, right?"

"Yes. Regina will be here soon and so will Belle. I suggest you go have some lunch, Ms. Swan and be back here at 1pm precisely. Ms. Mills is extremely precious with punctuality; a trait that I'm sure she got from her mother."

Emma didn't quite get the slight grin Mr. Gold held as he spoke about Regina Mills, like he knows her from other experiences. She pushed the thought to the back of her head as it didn't really matter. She was excited to meet Belle and Regina and really start working. The blonde quite enjoyed all the planning and organising and the brainstorm that came with it. She knew that Belle's work would start when her's was almost finished so it would be between her and Regina to set up the show. It has been a while since she actually interacted with anyone in a work sphere and she was both terrified and thrilled.

"That's ok, Mr. Gold. I'll see you back here in an hour and a half then." She said, shaking the man's hand. With a small nod, he turned his back on her and walked into the gallery rooms as she took the opposite direction towards the main entrance of the building.

So far, so good, said the quick text she sent to Ruby while walking to the nearest cafe. Her friend made her promise the night before that she would keep her up to date with all the events of the day.

That's great news, Em. Hope the rest of the day goes alright. The reply came a few minutes later and Emma had to put her sandwich down to send another message. Need to be back at 1pm. The artist's P.A. is a punctuality freak, it seems.

The blonde was taking another bite of the sandwich when the screen of her phone lit up again. Don't be late then! Text me when it's all over. Good luck!

She closed the messaging app and looked at the time. It was 12:45 and even though the cafe was only five minutes away from the gallery, she decided to start making the way back. Better be safe than sorry, she thought.

Two women stood with Mr. Gold on the gallery foyer when she got back. Quickly checking her phone, Emma saw that she was five minutes early but she couldn't help whe uncomfortable feeling of being the last one to arrive.

She took in the women talking to Mr. Gold. Both brunettes, one of them looked younger and had deep blue eyes, fair skin and a kind smile. She assumed her to be Belle French, due to the fact that her arm was interlaced with Mr. Gold's. The other woman must be Regina Mills, she thought. She was slightly older than Belle and herself, had hazel eyes, olive tone skin and a serious expression. Emma noticed a small scar on her top lip as the woman pursed her lips at whatever Gold and Belle were talking. She didn't seem to be very amused.

"Ms. Swan, let me introduce you to my wife, Belle French and Regina Mills. They will be the main people working with you on this first exhibition you will be curating."

"Hi." The blonde said shyly waving one hand.

Belle quickly took her hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. French."

"Call me Belle, Emma. We will be doing a lot of work together to waste time with formalities."

Belle's easy going ways made Emma relax a bit, but she still felt slightly anxious when she turned to greet Regina Mills.

"Nice to meet you as well, Regina" Emma used the cue given by Belle and offered her hand to Regina, dispensing formalities.

"Likewise, Ms. Swan. We should get to it. We have a lot of work to do."

Emma raised her eyebrows as the woman turned her back on her without shaking her hand and started walking inside the gallery. That didn't go so well, she thought. Maybe it was just a weird first impression,maybe she would be alright to work with. She took a deep breath and looked at Gold and Belle who started to follow Regina into the building. Emma shook her head to gather her bearings and followed them.

As they reached the meeting room on the back of the building, Mr. Gold stood by the door.

"I'll leave you ladies to it. Ms. Swan, make sure to send me a report of this meeting by the end of the day, please."

Emma nodded and entered the room to find Belle and Regina already sat down. Regina was messing around with some papers and Belle was checking her mobile phone. She was the first to speak.

"Well, my participation in this meeting will also be very brief. To be honest I just wanted to meet you, Emma." She said with a smile. "But this early part of the organisation has pretty much nothing to do with me. I do, however, have the ideal dates for the exhibition. From the 1st of October to the 22nd of December. Which leaves us with five months to get everything ready. Do you think this is enough time, Emma? Regina?"

"Five months is fine, dear." Regina quickly replied without leaving a split second for Emma to put a word in.

"Very well," Belle said, putting her phone back in her purse and standing up. "I need all the logistics and spacial planning ready as soon as possible so I can start to do my job and organise the opening night and, Regina, I'll need the guest list from Cora as well."

Regina scribbled something on a piece of paper and offered Belle a weak smile. The young brunette looked at Emma with an awkward expression and offered her hand.

"I'll see you around Emma, it was nice to meet you." She said before turning to the older woman. "Regina." she greeted with a nod and left the room.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me. I'm excited to start organising everything, looks like we're gonna spend a lot of time together!" Emma said excitedly with a smile, turning to face Regina. The brunette closed the folder in front of her and looked into Emma's green eyes. The blonde felt a cold shiver down the spine as the older woman removed the reading glasses from her face and took a deep breath.

"Ms. Swan." She said with a regal tone. "Let me make things perfectly clear. Gold might be willing to take chances with inexperienced people but I assure you that I am not. I am not here to teach you anything or do your job for you. I don't have the time or the patience for either of those things so, I hope you will keep up regardless of your lack of experience. Cora Mills is a renowned artist and I'm sure she doesn't want to regret the decision of having you as her curator for this exhibition."

The fact that Emma's jaw started dropping and her eyes started widening was a big surprise because the blonde didn't notice these things starting to happen and when she noticed it was already too late. Her jaw was dropped and her eyes were wide. She had no idea what had just happened or why it happened. She tried to think of a quick, snarky response but nothing came to mind.

"Well, if Mr. Gold hired me it's because he knows I'm perfectly capable of doing this job." was all she could bring herself to utter.

She watched as Regina arched the corner of her lip on a sarcastic smile and brought her eyes back to the now opened again folder.

"As I said before, Gold is taking chances. I am not. And even though I said I wouldn't be teaching you how to do your job - which I'm not, here goes a free tip: Pay attention to what people say, Ms. Swan. It will be extremely boresome if I have to repeat myself to you over and over."

Regina put her glasses on the case and stored into her handbag, standing up from the chair. She closed the folder once more and passed it onto Emma's hands. The blonde still had her jaw dropped and felt numb after this second strike.

"In this folder you will find the number of pieces that this exhibition will hold, along with prints of the paintings and brief texts with the themes and flow of the show. My card is also in there. I will be waiting for your call on Monday morning to start discussing whatever plan you come up with in this meantime."

"Plan?" Emma asked as she took the folder from Regina's hand.

"Yes, Ms. Swan. You're supposed to be the curator. So do your job and curate."

In all fairness, it was a stupid question and Emma felt like punching herself in the face for asking it. But Regina's poisoned words knocked her off the floor and she lost all the ability to formulate phrases or understand anything. She watched as the brunette left the room after nodding goodbye to the blonde. When Regina left the building, Emma felt her body burying itself on the chair.

It was supposed to be simple.