A/N: This is my LoveFromOQ 2019 gift for the lovely and highly talented artist ankareeda.
Every chapter is inspired by a picture of one of her facourite artist (instagram: pascalcampionart). Due to the copyright issue I will not post the pictures with the chapters, however I will include a link to each chapter, so you guys can check it out.
I will post a chapter every day from now and I hope you enjoy it.

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Chances

14th February 2010

This is really, really not how she'd imagined her Valentine's Day going when she'd woken up this morning. If everything had gone according to plan she would be enjoying a sweet dessert of crème catalán with strawberries, on top of her delicious risotto and half the bottle of white wine she would have had. If everything had gone according to plan she would have been accompanied home and she'd be stripped down right to the red lacy thong and the matching lightly lined bra, kissing her date senseless. If everything had gone according to plan, she would be sitting here on a bench at the edge of Battery Park, looking at the coast line of New Jersey by herself.

But things had not gone according to plan because her oh-so-great date for the night, Graham Hunt had accidentally mixed up and booked two dates tonight. At the same time, in the same restaurant. And frankly, after all the awkwardness between her and the blonde - Emily? Ember? No, Emma? - and his blunt suggestion of a threesome, she'd made a run for it, risotto, wine and dessert forgotten. The worst part was not how her date had gone down the drain - she'd liked him but they'd been something casual, nothing serious. It was the fact how despite everything she'd hoped things would be different with him.

Scowling, Regina looked at every couple who passed her, peacefully strolling through the park, most likely after a very romantic dinner, wishing she could wipe their love-sick, yearning looks off their faces. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, followed by a colorful bouquet of flowers hitting the bottom of the nearest trashcan with a hollow colnk.

"Now that looks like thirty bucks wasted," Regina commented dryly, catching the attention of the stranger who was just about to rush further down the path. He stopped, taken aback by her sassy comment and for a moment she wondered if he'd tell her to mind her own damn business. Instead, he surprised her, by flashing a very dimpled, very sexy grin at her.

"Thirty-nine, actually. Could've been worse - she could have waited until after I paid for dinner before she told me she is gay and has a secret girlfriend."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. Ever want to crush a guy's ego, tell him how being together has made you realize you're just not into men."

Regina couldn't hide a smirk as she quietly took him in. Dark blue suit, patterned tie. His face was covered by blonde scruff, eyes blue as the ocean. He was good looking, really good looking and she couldn't imagine how weird it must have been for him to be turned down in that manner.

"Hey, it could be worse."

"Worse?" He wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"She could've invited you to join a threesome with the secret girlfriend. At least that's what my date did."

"Ouch. What an asshole." The stranger gestured at the side of the bank right next to her, silently asking permission to sit and Regina simply shrugged, not caring what he did. They sat in silence for a while, both staring at the passing strangers and the ships on the Hudson river which slowly passed by. It was a comfortable silence, only broken through mild sarcastic comments here and there as well as mild mockery of the couples strolling down the walkway.

She was surprised at his kind of humor, the easiness, the way he made her laugh. They'd both had had a really shitty Valentine's Day experience but for some reason, she didn't mind sitting here with him, not when almost an hour had flown by without her realizing. It was only when her stomach growled and she hung her head down mortified, that she remembered not having eaten.

The man looked up at her, eyes filled with laughter. "There's a hotdog stand about five minutes down there. What do you say? My treat?"

"Hotdogs?" Regina asked thinking how this was not exactly what she'd been looking forward to all day. But then today hadn't turned out the way she'd expected in any way, so… "Count me in. But I want to split."

"Come on, I spent $39 on flowers and they grace the trash can now. I think I can swallow two dollars for a hotdog." He held out his hand and against all odds, she grabbed it, letting him pull her up. It was crazy to think how comfortable she felt with him, strolling down the pathway, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. People could have mistaken them for a couple.

The hotdogs were amazing, the best ones she's ever had. Perhaps it was the fact they'd gotten the two last ones, or perhaps the way her stranger had professionally covered them with ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions. They beat the risotto hands down.

At some point during the evening he had put his jacket around her shoulders because it was February and it'd gotten rather chilly. He'd insisted. Her pathetic little satin bolero had not done anything against the cold, but then when she'd left her home earlier this evening, she'd not expected to be sitting on a bench in Battery Park with a stranger, eating hotdogs under the dim light of a lamp, laughing and just feeling… fantastic. He, whose name she couldn't remember - or had they even exchanged names at all? - made her forget about Graham, about her ruined date, about the fact it was Valentine's Day.

"I have a proposal for you."

Regina looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "I don't take home strangers on the first date."

"Nothing like that," he chuckled and frankly, she hadn't expected him to go down this direction anyway. He just wasn't the… type.

"Then I'm all ears."

"How about," he mused, stepping a little closer into her personal space and for a mere moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Sweet and slowly. One kiss and he'd break it, clear his throat and step back like the gentleman he was. "If we don't have a date on Valentine's Day next year, we meet up again. Here, on this bench."

No kiss. Damn it. "It's a crazy idea. I like it. A year can be a long time though."

"I know. Could be interesting though… So. You in, Milady?"

Regina contemplated his proposal for a moment before she grinned. A lot could happen in a year and who knew where or with whom she was going to be. By next year he would have all forgotten about her. So who was she to care?

"I'm in. Next year, same spot. If we don't have a date."

She tilted her head, pressing a quick kiss against the corner of his mouth. He looked back at her stunned, his hand caressing her cheek and her neck so carefully as if a true touch might break her.

"I should really go now."

"Let me get you a cab at least I don't think I want you strolling around this park all by yourself at this hour."

Regina agreed and together, he walked her up to Bowling Green Station, hollering a cab and seeing her safely put inside.

"Thank you for the surprisingly lovely evening. I… My name is Robin, by the way." A pair of dimples flashed charmingly against him.

"Regina. It was nice meeting you, Robin." She grinned back before pulling the cab door close. It was only when she made it through her apartment door and looked into the full length mirror in the hall way that she realized she was still wearing his jacket.