Pushing Buttons

Regina opened the door to Granny's Diner to get a coffee. It was a morning routine she did since she became Mayor. Every morning she went to the diner, drank a coffee and waited until Miss Lucas filled one of the other costumers in with the newest gossip. That way she always knew the newest rumors and sometimes it made her work a little bit easier.

This morning was like any other morning, the doorbell rang when she entered, the smell of coffee and pancakes was in the air and the usual costumers sat in their places.

Except this one.

For a second she paused at the door. A woman with long blonde hair and a red leather jacket was sitting at the bar. She knew everyone in this town, she had learned all the names and their relationships to one another after she had become mayor. But Regina didn't recognize her. Regina made her way to the bar and sat next to the woman. It wasn't unusual that some hikers or tourists came to town, but it was rare and Regina didn't like it, it always felt like an intruder invaded her town. New persons were always unpredictable and she liked to know and plan everything.

"Good morning Miss Lucas. Coffee please" she said while putting on her mayoral smile. It didn't take a minute until she had a cup of hot coffee in front of her.

"You should try the pancakes, they are delicious" the blonde woman next to her said.

"Beg me Pardon?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The pancakes" the blonde said while pointing to her own, half-eaten plate "they are really good. You should try them."

Instead of deepening the breakfast conversation, Regina sipped at her coffee and switched topic. "So what are you doing in town? I'm sure I've never seen you before."

"Does that mean you haven't seen such a beautiful girl like me before?" the blonde said with a self-satisfied grin.

Regina was perplexed for a second. This woman wasn't just an intruder. She was an arrogant intruder. "I'm sure I didn't mention the word beautiful" Regina answered a bit colder than she intended, but somehow this woman had pushed a button.

"You didn't have to. Your eyes were giving you away" the blonde said, pushing away her now empty plate and put some dollars on the counter. "You were checking me out when you walked in. I don't blame you. I'm hot" she said and winked at Regina before she left for the door. That self-satisfied and confident grin never leaving her face. "See you around Coffee-Girl" she called over her shoulder when she exited the diner.

Regina was speechless. Nobody, nobody was talking to her like that.

That day wasn't like any other day. Regina couldn't focus on work. Her thoughts always went back to the unpleasant encounter she had had this morning. She was embarrassed with herself that the blonde had caught her off-guard. She wasn't used to someone talk to her like that. She was respected in this town - and maybe a tiny little bit feared - she was the mayor, an authority, everybody replied friendly to her and well-mannered. But of course tourists weren't that way. She was glad, that these intruders only stayed a few days in her peaceful and quite little down. She probably wouldn't see that blonde again.

The next morning Regina was pleased that there was no sign of the blonde in Granny's Diner. She enjoyed her morning routine, drank her coffee and walked to work afterwards. When she arrived at work, everything went on as usual, no interruptions or unplanned events. That was until the sheriff called.

"Sheriff Graham. What can I do for you?" she asked politely.

"Uhm…well... Mr. Bosco informed me that…well…someone wanted a…uhm…" Sheriff Graham hesitated. It was never good to be the carrier of bad news, especially when the recipient was the Mayor. He knew the Mayor wouldn't be pleased that someone disturbed her peaceful town. "…she asked for an illegal employment" he finally managed to say.

"She?" Regina didn't need an answer, she immediately knew who 'she' was.

"Mr. Bosco said it was a blonde young lady. He told her he needed to think about it and that she should come over the next day. This is today. He is meeting her in an hour. I just called you, to inform you before some rumors spread. I will go over there and handle this. I will tell her that there are no illegal employments here in Storybrooke."

"No need Sheriff. I will do that myself. I need to talk to Mr. Bosco anyway." That was a lie. She didn't need to talk to Mr. Bosco, but there was no way she would let the blonde shake up her town.

"Should I come with…"

"If I need your help, I will call you. Good day Sheriff Graham" she stated before hanging up. If the blonde was looking for a job, it meant that she intended to stay and there was no way Regina would let that arrogant intruder stay in her town.

An hour later she parked her Benz at the lumber mill. She wrinkled her nose when she saw, that the blonde was already talking to Mr. Bosco. She left her car and joined the pair.

"Good morning Mr. Bosco" she said with her polite politician smile. She didn't look at the blonde or greeted her.

"Mornin'" he responded short.

"Isn't this a nice day to work" she said while looking to one of the halls behind Mr. Bosco. He immediately got the hint. "Yes it is. If you excuse me Ladies, I just remembered I have an urgent business call to make." With these words he left the two women alone.

"Did you just scare him off?" the blonde asked astonished.

Regina ignored that. "Enjoying the few days here in town? You should go hiking while you're still in town. The woods are nice at this time of the year, but be careful don't get lost on your way." Regina said in a cold demeanor.

But her sharp comment only placed a smirk on the blondes face. "You missed me" she stated proudly.

"Excuse me?" Normally when she threatened someone they didn't start flirting with her. Even if she didn't threat someone they didn't flirt with her. Nobody flirted with the Mayor of this town. This person in front of her clearly didn't know who she was dealing with.

"I said you missed me. Don't try to deny it, you drove all the way up here to see me again" the blonde said with a self-satisfied smile on her face. Regina stepped in the blondes personal space, but the other woman didn't back down, instead the blonde grew even taller.

"You should be really careful with whom you're messing with." Regina said in a low and threatening voice.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Who am I messing with?" she asked innocently. They were only inches apart, but the blonde hold Regina's gaze and refused to back down. This was new for Regina. She felt challenged. In this town everything went according to Regina's will, but this woman didn't act like Regina wanted her to.

"You should leave this town." Regina continued her threat.

"But I wasn't hiking yet" the blonde responded with a smirk.

Somehow this woman knew how to push Regina's buttons and it left her uneasy. "Be careful. You have no idea what I'm capable of." Regina countered sharp.

"Don't hurt yourself in the process" the blonde still smiled but finally backed down and made her way to her car. If you could even call that thing a car. Before the blonde got in her car, she turned around one last time. "I hope I see you soon, Kitten." Regina's blood boiled, a rush of anger washed over her as she watched the car driving away.

Kitten?! KITTEN?! She wasn't some small docile cat, she was a damn cougar!

The following day her rage was still there. Her secretary avoided eye contact, the phone didn't ring once and the meetings she attended were rather quick over. When lunch time arrived she didn't eat anything, she wasn't hungry. Her mind always drifted off to the blonde. This woman had a strange effect on her like nobody else ever had.

She sat at her desk, but stood up and walked to the window to look at her favorite apple tree, she instructed to be placed there. It always calmed her to watch the tree in the changing seasons. Her eyes grew wide as she saw that her beloved tree wasn't alone. Regina rushed down the stairs and across the lawn to her apple tree.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The blonde startled and turned around. She stared confused to Regina. "Eating an apple" she said, clearly unknowing what she had done wrong.

"This is public property!" Regina stated.

"So?"

"You damaged public property!" Anger was rising in her voice.

"I just picked an apple and ate it" the blonde defended herself still holding a half-eaten apple in her hand. "The tree doesn't seem broken because of it."

"You overstayed your welcome in this town. You should leave immediately!" Regina's voice was dangerous.

"But I'm a citizen now" the blonde said with a smile and took a bite from her apple.

"What?"

"Yeah, I just filled the papers. Guess that means I will see you even more from now on." The grin on the blonde's face made Regina even angrier. This person was pushing her buttons and it seemed she still didn't know who she was up against.

"I gotta go now, see ya pencil-skirt-lady" the blonde turned around and walked jauntily away.

Regina was too stunned to respond to the woman. The actions of the blonde always caught her off-guard and it threw her off balance. She watched her beloved tree which was missing an apple now. Until now there had been no person who just picked an apple from that tree.

Nobody touched her tree. NOBODY!

Regina turned on her heels rushing to one of her employees who were in charge of citizen matters. "There was a blonde here not long ago, she was filling out a form, I need it. Now!" she demanded in an unfriendly manner. The guy winced, gathered some papers and searched for the right one.

"Today if possible!"

He startled and all the papers fell to the floor, he mumbled his sorry, fell on his knees and picked the papers up.

"H-h-here" he stuttered and handed her a paper. She took the paper from his shaky hands and made her way back to her office. She sat down at her desk, starring at the paper in her hand.

Emma Swan.

So that was the name of the intruder who hadn't left her mind since her arrival in Storybrooke.

When Regina came home that day, she prepared dinner for her father and son like every evening. Henry senior helped her in the kitchen, while Henry junior was in his room. She was standing at the counter, chopping the tomatoes way too harsh and telling her father what had happened during her lunch break.

"Seems to me you found your soulmate" Henry senior said at some point. Regina's movement halted abruptly, she jerked her head up and looked open-mouthed to her father. For a minute she just stared at him.

"…soul…" she shook her head in disbelief. "You did hear what I just told you, did you?"

"I did" he said with a smile on his lips.

"Did you miss the part where I told you that she is an unwanted nuisance or the part that she behaves like a peasant?"

"I heard that" he said with a slight chuckle.

Regina stared at her father. What he was saying didn't make any sense. She thought of reasons why he came up with such an idea. Did someone hit him on the head? Did he fall down the stairs? Did he take some sort of drug? Was he abducted by Aliens?

His voice brought her back from her inner thoughts. "The last few days you did nothing else then talk about that girl" her father explained.

"Complaining Daddy, I was complaining about her, about her inappropriate behavior. I'm not quite sure what the definition of soulmate is, but I'm sure it doesn't say: A person is your soulmate when you complain about him/her" she concluded.

"You usually don't talk about people you meet, but you never stopped talking about her. I got the feeling, that she is someone special" he further explained to her.

"That doesn't make her my soulmate!" Regina countered.

But Henry senior had already left the kitchen to set up the dinner table. Still, she could hear him mumble. "We will see about that."