Stepping into the bar, he allowed his eyes to adjust to the reduced light and then glanced around at the crowd. It was still early on Friday, so the bar wasn't too full yet. Approaching the bar, he saw a couple of empty stools. His eyes traveled along the bar, trying to decide which seat to take.

As his glance traveled along the people present, he noticed her. Her jeans fit quite nicely. Her hair was up in a ponytail and the polo shirt she wore looked like work apparel instead of hitting the town clothes. And then there were her boots. He didn't see women in a bar often wearing leather work boots. His mind had quickly cataloged these items as his feet moved him to the seat just to her left.

Sitting down, he could overhear the bloke to her right going on about himself. Signaling the bartender for a beer, he settled in and watched the scene to his right out of the corner of his eye.

She was breathtaking. She was also not impressed by Mr. Blowhard next to her. She was looking straight ahead, glancing at the TV above the bar or simply watching the bartender move as he filled drink orders.

Not being able to resist any longer, he turned to his right and looked over the scene. While she was still a beauty to write songs about, Mr. Blowhard was average, but full of himself. Killian could see that the suit he wore was well cut and not cheap. The tie was silk and if he wasn't mistaken, the hands were manicured. As his gaze returned to what was in front of him, he noticed that the beauty was trying to ignore Mr. Blowhard to the point that she was reading the back of the beer bottle and then slowly, carefully try to remove the label without tearing it.

Mr. Blowhard seemed to finally realize that she was not falling under his spell, so he got louder and proclaimed, "I'm an architect and I just finished designing the new building on 34th Street."

Apparently that worked to get her to pay attention to him, but Killian didn't think it was the type of attention that Mr. Blowhard was looking for. Instead of being impressed, she glared daggers at him and sneered, "Designed? Architects don't design shit! You draw pretty pictures and then expect engineers to figure out how to design and construct your project."

Not quite getting the hint, Mr. Blowhard continued on, "Oh honey, you are oversimplifying it." Killian choked on his laugh thinking that this idiot could not dig himself a deeper hole, but apparently he could! Any women here at 4:30 on a Friday, still in her work clothes which included work boots, was not one to be impressed by being called "honey."

Giving up his pretense at not eavesdropping on what was going on next to him, Killian turned to watch the end of this encounter. Because he knew the end was coming. And coming hard, even if Mr. Blowhard didn't.

The blond angel turned her body toward Mr. Blowhard to make sure he understood that what she said was clearly directed to him. "Let me be perfectly clear. I'm not interested in anyone who cannot challenge me intellectually. And since you apparently couldn't handle simple calculus or anything more substantial than statics, you don't make the cut."

Her voice had been getting loader and as more people became aware of her words, the noise in the bar fell away. Soon the only one talking was her. Looking him over from fancy shoes to his styled hair, she sneered and continued, "The most substantial thing about you is your pretty suit and I am not interested in a pretty suit. I don't want fluff, I want substance and dude you fucking don't have any. Leave me alone."

Her words must have finally sunk into Mr. Blowhard's mind since he stiffened and slowly stood up. She had already turned back to her beer, having dismissed him from her life, but he seemed to want to get in the last word, "I guess you don't know a good thing when you see it."

He turned to leave and she gave him about two steps before she replied, "Oh, I do. I also know when someone is trying to blow air up my skirt and I don't appreciate the hot air." The bar erupted into laughter and Mr. Blowhard turned bright red before he spun on his heel and just about sprinted for the door.

He took a long drag of his beer thoroughly having enjoyed the little show. After Mr. Blowhard had left the bar, the noise had picked back up to its previous volume and the bartender had dropped a fresh beer in front of the golden haired angel. She started to waive it off when the bartender told her, "That was the best rejection have seen this month. Fat ass couldn't take a hint. It's worth a beer for the entertainment value alone."

She snorted and smiled, accepting the beer with a nod back to the bartender. He watched the TV and drank his beer. She didn't want to be bothered so he would leave her alone. Or, that's what he kept telling himself. He wasn't sure he even made it 5 minutes when he gave up. He couldn't stand it anymore. "So," he slowly said still looking at the TV. "You're an engineer." He had meant it to be a question, but it came out as a statement.

He glanced at her as she rolled her eyes towards him. "I'd ask if it was that obvious, but Mr. Suit couldn't figure that out."

He laughed as he nodded, agreeing with her. "So what type of engineer?"

Her shoulders shrugged as she responded. "Civil. Geotechnical. Geological. Construction. Take your pick." When she saw him raise an eyebrow in question, she continued, "My degree is in geological engineering. My job title is civil engineer. I'm registered as a civil-geotechnical. I work in heavy construction. Choose a title. They all fit." She took a long drag on her beer and continued, "I'm also a registered geologist. Too many titles. Usually I just tell people I get paid to play with dirt."

"What made you choose that?"

"Well since humans haven't figured out how to build without being on the ground, in the ground, or with earthen materials, studying geology made sense to me." He tried to stop it, but her words caused a smirk to form on his lips. Glancing at him, her brain processed the information quickly. "No fucking way." She shook her head. "Really? So what? You build boats?"

Nodding, he tried to stifle his laughter, but mostly failed. "Aye. Killian Jones, marine engineer," he stated as he held his hand out to her. He watched as her lips quirked up into a responding smile.

Taking his hand, she replied, "Emma Swan."

I forgot to post my author's note when I got the story up yesterday. So, here it is.

First I have to say that I don't hate all architect's but it is frustrating that they get their name on something that others made happen. Also, I do not look down on people who can't/haven't passed calculus! Some of the smartest people I know can't understand even basic calculus. My slam in that area is that you need calculus to determine the loading and shear on a structure. That being said, I remember a geologist who was laughing one day. I asked her what was up and she mentioned explaining to another engineer how she was performing 2D groundwater modeling, which involves extensive calculus. The geologist mentioned the look of horror on the engineer's face when she had explained the math required for the modeling. She then asked why engineers were scared of calculus. I told her that we weren't scared of it, we just didn't necessarily like doing it.

So, please take all of this in the humor it is intended. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.