Author's Notes: Just to be clear, I do not condone cheating in any way or form. This fic was born after a week of zero inspiration to write and I'm pretty certain there will be four parts to this one...
The moments that were spent together was always quick, always rushed, always a stolen second or two where they devoured one another. Hearts racing wildly as the minutes ticked on by, fingers slicking over molten heat, lips and tongues clashed together in a frenzy of kisses that never seemed to last long enough.
"Regina," Emma panted as her back slammed up against the small stall in the public bathroom of the bar. "God, Regina, don't stop."
Emma's head thumped up against the stall wall loudly as Regina plunged two fingers deep inside of her, her thrusts jerky and restrained in the tight confines of her black skinny jeans. Regina's lips were trailing over her neck, the dark red lipstick she'd been wearing long since worn off during the frantic kissing that had started the moment they entered the bathroom together a handful of minutes before.
Emma grasped at Regina's shoulders tightly before threading her fingers through her hair and pulling her away from her neck and back to her lips. Regina moaned low in her throat as she sank her fingers deeply inside of Emma, drawing out a quick orgasm that Emma had been craving all day.
Regina Mills was like a drug to her, never able to get enough even when they were pressed for time. Like most of their encounters, when she tried to return the favour, Regina swatted her hands away from the hem of her skirt and shook her head no.
"We've already been in here for nearly ten minutes," Regina said, exiting the stall as Emma buttoned up her jeans. She picked up her purse where she'd left it on the sink while Emma unlocked the bathroom door. "Run along, dear. I'll be out in a minute."
"Can't I get one more kiss?" Emma asked quietly and Regina shook her head no as she pulled out a tube of lipstick from her purse. "Fine."
Emma turned on the tap in the sink and washed her hands quickly before carefully using her wet fingers to not only remove some of Regina's lipstick from her lips and her neck, but also to tame her wild hair as to not make the other suspicious of what had just transpired between the two of them in the bathroom stall.
Emma walked out of the bathroom, leaving Regina to fix her makeup and hair alone. She walked down the hallway and out into the diner, her usual swagger in every step she took, but not overly obvious as she was careful to keep her and Regina's affair a secret.
It had been going on for years, their affair, even since before Regina had gotten married. They always tried to put an end to things, but one or the other would always come running back, wanting and needing more. The guilt was there, of course for both of them, because Regina was cheating on her loving, doting husband and Emma was doing the same to her fiancé Neal as well.
It wasn't her fault that she craved the passion she only ever had with Regina. It wasn't her fault or even Regina's that a relationship between them had never worked out, but the sex had always been beyond phenomenal. They worked better as friends, and lovers, but beyond that, it never could work out. Emma had fallen in love with Regina years ago, but Regina never reciprocated those feelings.
"I love you, Emma, but I'm not in love with you."
Those words had hurt, but Emma knew then that she should've known to expect that from Regina Mills. She was engaged to be married to her high school sweetheart at the time and that had hurt Emma too when Regina told her that Daniel had proposed to her on their ninth anniversary. But the day after the engagement, Regina had come to her and confessed that while she wasn't in love with her, she didn't want to lose what they had together even if it was wrong on every level.
Why did something so wrong have to feel so right? After every encounter they had, Emma always felt so conflicted and guilty, and she was unsure if Regina ever felt the same because their affair was never spoken about, as their stolen moments together were never wasted on such trivial things such as talking. It hadn't been just a short while the affair had been happening, it had been ongoing since their senior year in high school and they had only gone no less than a week without finding a moment or two to be together.
Closets, bathrooms—public and otherwise—the backseat of both of their cars, and more recently the dressing room when Regina had went with Emma and her mother to her final dress fitting the day before. Any place they could hide behind for up to ten minutes at a time, they found their way there one way or another. They had only ever had an entire weekend to themselves and that had been shortly after Regina and Daniel had gotten married and Daniel had gone to New York City to finalize some legal work on his recently deceased parents' estate.
It was the only time they'd ever been together in bed and they never left Regina's bed unless they absolutely had to. It had been an amazing weekend and they'd nearly been caught when Daniel had come home a whole six hours earlier than Regina had expected. It was after that close call that they had tried to tone their affair down, but less than a week later, Regina was dragging her into the bathroom at the Rabbit Hole and fucked her hard and fast in the stall before she had pushed Emma down to her knees, hiked up her skirt, and Emma had licked her into oblivion until two very inebriated women came into the bathroom and nearly caught them.
"Regina still in there?" Daniel asked as soon as Emma sat back down at the table next to Neal. Upon Emma's curt nod, Daniel laughed. "Women and their makeup, am I right?"
"I wouldn't know. Em rocks the natural look," Neal chuckled and he raised his bottle of beer to Daniel's in a toast. "Are you all right, babe?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Emma said quickly. "It's a bit warm in here, isn't it?" She asked as she fanned herself, knowing she was still sporting the blush in her cheeks after her quick orgasm mere minutes before. "Or is it just me?"
"Do you want to go outside and get some air?"
"No, but I could use another drink," she smiled sweetly at her fiancé as she reached for her empty wine glass. "One more before we go home?"
"Sure. Should I get Regina another glass?" He asked, his question directed at Daniel.
"Yeah," Daniel replied with a subtle nod before glancing back at the direction of the back hallway. "One more and we'll call it a night."
Emma just smiled when Neal dropped a light kiss to her temple before heading over to the bar and leaving her alone at the table with Daniel. She didn't mind Daniel, he was a good man and she had known him as long as Regina did. The four of them were all friends, they had been since freshman year in high school, and while she wouldn't necessarily hang out with Daniel without Regina or Neal around, she didn't mind spending time with him even if it made her feel even more guilty about her affair with his wife.
"Are you excited?"
"Hmm?" Emma asked distractedly before turning to look at him. "What was that?"
"Are you excited? Next weekend?" Daniel asked, leaning towards her a little. "The wedding?"
"Oh, yes. Of course I am!" Emma said, plastering the fake smile over her lips that had become far too easy in the last eleven or so odd years since their affair had started.
"I hope you don't mind, but I've planned a bachelor party for Neal on Thursday night. Don't worry, Regina already made me promise that there would be no strippers involved."
"Oh, I see."
"It's just a bunch of us guys getting together, the wedding party mostly."
"That should be fun," Emma replied, her fake smile still fully in place. "I wouldn't mind if there were strippers involved. I mean it is a bachelor party after all."
"Regina minds," Daniel chuckled.
"Regina minds what?" Regina asked as she sat down in the chair next to her husband. "What are you two talking about?"
"Neal's bachelor party."
Regina scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "I asked for one condition to be taken into consideration and that is—"
"No strippers," Daniel smiled and he draped an arm over her shoulders. "Honey, don't worry. Neal doesn't want them either. Besides, why would we want strippers when we have such beautiful women to go home to at night, hmm?"
"You said the bachelor party is on Thursday? We're not getting married until Saturday," Emma said and Regina rubbed pointedly at the left side of her neck and glared at her. "What?"
"You have something on your neck," she muttered through clenched teeth and Emma wiped at the left side of her neck, faintly feeling the lipstick she had missed while she'd still been in the bathroom. "I believe Thursday is a good choice. I am sure you wouldn't want your soon-to-be husband hung-over on your wedding day."
"Definitely not," Emma said under her breath, still wiping at her neck until Regina shook her head and she dropped her hand to her lap. "So, Regina," she said with a smile that was anything but fake. "Are you throwing me a bachelorette party?"
"I thought you very specifically told me that you did not want one?"
Emma shrugged as Neal came back to the table with two glasses of red wine and two beers precariously balanced on a small tray. "I mean it'd be fun, right?"
Emma knew as well as Regina did that the reason Regina, as her maid of honour, was not going to throw her a bachelorette party was for the simple fact that they would have at least six hours alone together two nights before she walked down the aisle to marry Neal Cassidy.
"What are we talking about?"
"Bachelor party," Daniel chuckled. "And the lack of strippers, and also Emma's bachelorette party that she apparently doesn't want."
"Why not, Em?" Neal asked after he placed her wine glass in front of her. "Don't you want to have fun and let loose for one night?"
"As opposed to what we do every Saturday night together?" Emma asked him and he laughed before kissing her temple as he had before he'd left the table. "Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me. Party or no party. We're still getting married."
"You should have one," Neal said. "At the house. Same night as mine. Invite all the girls in the wedding party and the rest of your friends. I could crash at Dan's place that night," he said, looking over to Daniel for affirmation that it'd be all right. Upon Daniel's nod, Neal smiled wide. "So? Why don't you have one too, Em?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, careful to keep her gaze on Regina too long, but she was conflicted because she could sense something beneath the intense brown eyes that were locked with her own. "Maybe. It's up to Regina, after all, as my maid of honour. I just have to show up, right?"
Emma watched Regina as she took three large sips of her wine before placing the glass down on the table in front of her. She was tense and whenever Regina was tense, it was never a good thing. Tense meant they went a few days without sneaking off together for a moment or two alone. Tense meant that Regina ignored her texts and her calls. Tense meant that Daniel came over to the house to retreat to the garage that Neal had converted into the "Man Cave" where they spent hours drinking and watching sports.
"If you must know," Regina said, pausing to take another sip of her wine, "Emma and I will be spending the next week going over the last little details of the wedding and making sure that all is in order before next Saturday. We can't always be the groom and obliged just to show up on time and preferably sober."
"Ditto," Neal laughed and he toasted Daniel's raised bottle of beer and took a swig.
The next half an hour went by quickly, but Emma's mind was everywhere else but her wedding that was quickly approaching. While she and Neal had been together for over five years, engaged for three, she was still weary about marrying him. Like Daniel, Neal was a good man, and he definitely didn't deserve marrying someone who was having an affair that had lasted the last eleven years of their lives. The guilt came in waves, over and over again until she finished her glass of wine and the four of them got up to leave, Daniel and Neal covering their tab while Regina walked out of the bar with her arm linked with Emma's, neither moving apart even when they had stepped outside together into the cool night air.
"Do you want one?" Regina asked quietly, pulling Emma's attention to her. "A bachelorette party? Do you want one, Emma?"
"No," she said softly. "I just want to spend the night with you."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Emma—"
"If you're going to tell me it is the last time we're going to be together, I don't want to hear that. Not tonight."
"Emma—"
"Regina, please. Don't."
Regina sighed heavily as she unlinked their arms. Emma frowned and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering at the chill in the air and wishing she'd worn her jacket that night. She could feel her stomach twisting in knots and she could hardly bear to look at Regina as they waited outside for Daniel and Neal.
"It's wrong," Regina whispered. "It is. It's so wrong, but I can't stop."
Emma swallowed thickly as she tilted her head back and stared up at the stars in the sky. She wasn't going to allow herself to cry, not in front of Regina, and definitely not until Neal had fallen asleep in their bed later on that night.
"In a different life, Emma, it wouldn't be this way."
"What way would it be like then, Regina? Huh?" Emma snapped and she choked back her tears and quickly turned away as a few of them managed to fall. "You and I would never work out, Regina. You made that very clear a long time ago."
"I know. I'm sorry, Emma."
"So am I."
"Why?" Emma asked, her emotions getting to the better of her and she could blame part of it on the wine she'd drank that evening. "Why are you sorry, Regina?"
"You're my best friend, Emma," she whispered so quietly that Emma was sure she had imagined her saying those words. "I love you, I do, but maybe not the way you would like me to. For that, I am sorry."
"Don't."
"Emma—"
"Don't do this, Regina," she snapped and she took a step back from her when Regina reached out. "Just…just go home with your husband. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Regina reeled back and nodded after a moment. "Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Lunch at Granny's with our mother's as we planned? To finalize the menu?"
Neal and Daniel chose that moment to come stumbling out of the Rabbit Hole together, laughing and jabbing at each other with inside jokes neither of them would ever get nor understand.
"Tomorrow at eleven," Emma said tightly. "We're already cutting it close on the menu as it is. Neal cannot decide whether he wants steak or chicken."
"Chicken," Neal chuckled as he slung an arm over Emma's shoulders. "Who doesn't like chicken?"
"Not me," Daniel replied and he was afforded with an eye roll from his wife. Emma had to cast her eyes away as he leaned in to kiss Regina and she turned to Neal, poking him roughly in the side.
"Maybe we should call a cab," she said quietly. "None of us are sober enough to drive right now."
"Already on it," Neal replied. "Should be here in a few minutes. After all, Storybrooke only has two cab drivers and it is Saturday night."
"Right."
"We're going to walk," Daniel announced just a minute later. "Get home safe you two, you hear?"
"Of course," Neal laughed. "You too!"
Emma just watched Regina as she was led down the street by her husband, neither looking back as they walked arm in arm and turned down the first corner and disappeared completely. Emma turned to Neal then with a frown. They didn't need a cab as their house was only three blocks away, but the moment she saw the glazed look in his eyes, she knew there was no way she was walking home with him in the state he was currently in.
She put Neal to bed once they were home and she retreated to the kitchen for a small glass of wine before she too went to sleep. Sleeping in the same bed as the man she was engaged to marry had become harder and harder. It had gotten to the point where she found any and every excuse to sleep on the couch rather in bed next to him.
Some nights she even fell asleep to the sound of Regina's voice, her phone cradled to her ear, but that night was not one of them when she tried to call her in those few minutes between putting Neal to bed and making up the couch in the living room for herself.
In a different life…they'd be going to bed together. In a different life, everything would work out between them and they'd not only share a life with one another, they'd be making one. Together. In a different life, they'd be impossibly be in love with one another and not married to men who deserved more than what they both had to offer. They'd actually be happy.
In a different life…
A life Emma had only wished for since their affair had started so long ago.
[X]
Regina tapped the end of her pen against the daily planner she had open on her desk impatiently. Monday mornings in the office were always the worst and they were one of the days that she dreaded most out of the entire week. This particular week was different than others and it did nothing but remind her of the week before her own wedding years before.
Beside her day planner sat the divorce papers, papers she had been reluctant to sign for weeks. Kathryn Midas, close friend and her attorney, had called her a half an hour before asking to send the papers over to her office, signed and completed, so she could file them and serve Daniel with his own copy before the day was over.
She had been putting it off since the day she asked Kathryn to draw the papers up for her. She had been putting it off and was running out of time because Emma's wedding was coming up faster than ever before and if she didn't make a move now, she had no idea how much longer it'd be before she could.
Once upon a time, she had been head over heels in love with Daniel and he was everything she had ever dreamt of in a husband. He was kind, patient, loving, and even in times of distress, he stood strong and at her side without fail. He didn't deserve a wife that had spent the last eleven years in another relationship, an affair that had gone on for so long that Regina couldn't even seen past the lines of right and wrong anymore. Once upon a time, she had believed Daniel to be her true love, but she knew now that she had been wrong all along.
Daniel wasn't her true love. Emma Swan was and always had been, she'd just been too quick to deny it, and now she was teetering on the edge of their "relationship" and the fact that it could very much be over after Emma said, "I do" to Neal Cassidy.
When it had started, they were still young and still discovering themselves. Regina wasn't ready to come out of the proverbial closet at the time and she wasn't sure if she was even ready now, eleven years later.
There was one thing she'd been lying about to herself—and to Emma—for years and that was the fact that she denied being in love with her best friend. She knew from the very first time they kissed that she was in love with Emma Swan, but she had always been so quick to deny. Denial was a route that had seemed so much easier for so long, but she was tired of the lies and she was tired of faking happiness with Daniel when all she wanted was to find her happy ending with Emma.
Regina inhaled sharply and signed her name on the last paper, staring at Daniel's name next to her own. How had it come to this? She had been happy, albeit briefly, during her marriage to Daniel, but it had been over a year since she let him touch her, kiss her, and even hold her as they slept in the same bed. How had she not seen how unhappy she was all those years? Did Daniel see it too or did he not even notice at all?
"Mayor Mills?" Her assistant said as he knocked on her open office door. "Ms. Midas sent over James to pick up a package?"
"Right, of course," Regina nodded, quickly gathering up the papers and placing them back in the envelope. "Thank you, Everett."
"Can I get you anything, ma'am?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you."
He nodded and took the envelope from her, leaving her office door open on his way out. She had done her part, she signed the papers and now all that was left was for Daniel to sign them as well.
Divorce was an ugly word and not something she ever thought she'd go through. When word reached her mother, she knew she was in for a very long lecture on not trying hard enough to save her marriage. How could she save her marriage when she was in love with Emma Swan?
A sinking feeling flooded through her entire body. Emma was getting married in six days. Emma believed that she wasn't in love with her and that's why she was getting married in six days. Emma seemed content with their affair, never pushing her for more, never questioning whether or not they were doing something wrong. How could something be so wrong when it felt so right?
Regina stood up from her desk and walked over to the conference table. While she hadn't been in office long, elected after she spent the better part of a year filling in for her father while he recovered from a massive heart attack he'd had the previous summer, the office was comfortable and because she shared the same tastes as her father, she hadn't had to make many changes to the décor.
Her eyes fell on to the papers that lined the table on the far end, papers and fabric samples and pictures, all of them for Emma's wedding she'd helped her plan. She scoffed as she picked up a picture of the dress Emma had found in one of the bridal magazines shortly after Neal had proposed and she could just picture Emma in the very same dress, only it wasn't Neal she was walking down the aisle to marry, it was her.
She gathered up all the paper and piled it neatly. Emma was supposed to meet her there at the office before they met up with their mother's at the diner to finalize the menu for the wedding. If she was honest with herself, she was dreading that meeting, dreading it not only because it meant making the last decision for the upcoming nuptials, but also because it would be impossible for the two of them to slip away to find a moment alone with both of their mother's there. They had tried it before and nearly gotten caught.
There had been many incidents over the years where they had nearly been caught, but they had always been so very careful. Daniel nearly caught them several times when Emma and Neal had been over at the house for dinner and she and Emma had stayed behind in the kitchen to clean up. If it hadn't been for the island and the fact that he was more focused on getting a few beers out of the refrigerator, he would've caught Emma with her hand up Regina's skirt, her fingers buried inside of her to the hilt as she reached the beginnings of her climax.
Regina felt a chill rush through her body, a delicious one that sparked her into a state of arousal. She paced through her office, stopping only to glance at the watch on her wrist every couple of minutes. Her mind went back and forth between Emma, the wedding, Daniel, divorce, lunch at the diner and the handful of meetings she had that afternoon.
"Hey," Emma said as she leaned against the open office door. "You busy, Madam Mayor?"
Regina smiled as she motioned for her to enter. "Close the door behind you, Deputy Swan," she said loud enough for her otherwise oblivious assistant to hear her. "Lock it," she said lowly and Emma immediately complied.
"I know I'm early," she said as they met halfway. "Graham let me take the day off."
"That was certainly nice of him."
"Yeah," Emma shrugged and she placed her hands into the back pockets of her impossibly tight jeans. "Seriously though, are you busy right now?"
"Do I look busy to you?"
"No?"
Her office had been strictly off limits when it came to indulging in a stolen moment together, but her morning had been stressful and she hadn't seen Emma since Saturday night at the bar. She languidly draped her arms over Emma's shoulders with a teasing smile dancing over her lips.
"Regina?"
"Hmm?"
"I thought—"
She cut Emma off with a kiss, one that was soft and sweet. She relaxed when she felt Emma's hands come to rest on her hips and she kissed her deeper, wanting nothing more than to tell her how much she truly wanted her, all of her, all to herself. She wanted to tell Emma that she had signed the divorce papers, but she couldn't, not yet, not until Daniel signed them too. She wanted to beg Emma to call off the wedding. She wanted to ask Emma to be hers. But she couldn't. Not yet.
"I thought you said your office is off limits?" Emma murmured against her lips and Regina just smiled, kissing her once more before stepping out of their embrace.
"It is," she said, smoothing her hands over her plum coloured blouse.
"Right, of course," Emma said with a shake of her head. "Do you have a copy of the menu we went over a few weeks ago?"
"Yes, it's in that pile somewhere," she said as she waved over towards the conference table. She walked over to the table with Emma following close behind and she gasped as Emma's hands fell to her hips and pulled her body against her own. "Emma."
"Why wouldn't you let me touch you the other night?" Emma whispered into her ear as her hands glided down her thighs, stopping when her fingertips reached the hem of her skirt. "Regina?"
"We—we were pressed for time."
"We're always pressed for time," she replied. "Remember when we made a point in making more time together, Regina?"
"Yes."
"I know you said that we can't do this here," Emma continued, her fingers easing her skirt up her legs slowly. "But can't we bend the rules a little bit? We don't have to meet our mother's for another…hour," she said just as her right hand slipped between Regina's thighs and teased over her skin of her inner thighs before cupping her over her silk panties.
"Emma…"
"Do you realize that it's been almost a month since I last tasted you?"
Regina knees buckled as Emma slipped her fingers under her panties and teased them along her slit. She widened her stance and leaned back against Emma, her eyes sliding shut as Emma circled a finger over her clit. Her heart was racing, her clit throbbing, and she ached for more.
"Emma," Regina groaned quietly. "Don't tease me."
"Hmm?" Emma moaned into her ear, her lips brushing over her skin just as she deftly slipped a single finger inside of her. "One more?"
"Yes."
Regina moaned quietly and her hips rolled as Emma slipped a second finger inside of her. Emma nipped at her ear before trailing her lips down her neck slowly, each kiss lingering longer than the last. When her knees buckled a second time, Emma slipped her fingers out from inside her and slicked them over her several times before bringing her hand up to her lips. Regina trembled as she turned slightly and watched as Emma licked her fingers clean.
"Fuck," Emma groaned. "Are you sure we can't…have a little fun, Regina? The door is locked and your assistant always listens to music while he works. He won't hear us, he won't know."
"Emma…"
"You may be saying no, but I know what you really want, Regina," Emma grinned and she turned Regina around and lifted her up onto the conference table.
"Emma, not here. I have council meetings at this table!"
"You also have a cleaning lady who comes in and cleans every inch of this office every night after you go home."
"That is not what I was implying," Regina replied coldly and she tried to get off the table, but Emma held her firm and stepped between her legs. "Emma—"
Her heels clattered to the floor the moment Emma's lips were on hers and practically devouring her whole. She couldn't protest any longer, not when she wanted this stolen moment with Emma so badly she no longer cared they were in her office and that her assistant was just on the other side of the door at his desk. They were kissing hungrily and Regina lifted herself up when she felt Emma's fingers tug at her silk panties and they broke apart from their kiss, both gasping as Emma removed her panties.
The table was cool against her skin, but Regina didn't have a moment to complain before Emma dropped to her knees and spread Regina's legs by smoothing her hands up her inner thighs slowly. Regina leaned back on her elbows and moaned low in her chest at the feel of Emma's lips kissing up along her inner thighs, alternating between each one until she placed the softest of kisses over her cunt and her tongue dipped out to tease over her clit.
Regina threw her head back and bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle the moan that still slipped out. After a few teasing swipes of her tongue, Emma fixed her mouth over her cunt fully, drawing out another moan past her lips. She was certainly glad it had been too warm to wear nylons because she was certain Emma would've ripped them off of her anyway.
With every moan that fell past Emma's lips, it reverberated through her entire body, bringing her closer to the edge each time. She gripped at the edge of the table and arched her back as Emma sucked over her clit hard. She resisted the urge to bury her hands into Emma's hair, an impossible feat since she had her long blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. With just a few more swipes of Emma's tongue over her clit, a small but powerful orgasm flooded through her body and she clamped her right hand over her mouth to quiet the moans she just couldn't seem to hold back.
"Mmm," Emma groaned quietly, licking over her lazily for a moment before rising from the floor. She cupped her pussy lightly and helped her sit back up, their lips meeting in a deep, hungry kiss.
And one that they both pulled back from in a panic when someone tried to open the locked door. Regina pushed Emma away hard and hopped off the table. She smoothed out her skirt, not bothering to ask Emma for the panties she knew were residing in her back pocket. She put on her heels just as four hard knocks sounded on the door.
"Regina?" Her mother called out and her eyes went wide at the sound of her voice on the other side of the door. "Regina, open the door, dear."
"What is your mother doing here?" Emma hissed as she wiped at her lips and chin. "Regina?"
"I have no idea! Stall her," she said quietly and she quickly rushed across the office to the small bathroom on the other side, grabbing her purse off her desk as she passed it. She just barely managed to shut the door when Emma opened the office door to let her mother in.
"Cora, hey," Emma said as she greeted Regina's mother. "I though you were going to meet us at the diner?"
"Your mother called me," Cora replied. "She has misplaced her copy of the menu and since neither of you have been answering your phones, I decided to stop by."
Regina groaned quietly. She had requested earlier for her assistant to hold her calls for the morning, not wanting to get caught up in a phone conversation when she had plans to leave the office just before eleven. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. It had been left on silent since she'd left that morning. Two missed calls from Emma's mother and two from her own.
With a shake of her head, she turned to the mirror just above the small sink. Her lipstick was a mess and she used a Kleenex to wipe at the edges of her mouth before reapplying her red lipstick carefully.
"What have you two been up to that neither of you could answer your phones?"
Regina inhaled sharply as she placed the tube of lipstick back into her purse and waited by the door to hear what Emma had to say. She clutched her purse to her chest and held her breath.
"We were just going over some last minute details for the wedding," Emma replied, sounding calm and collected even though Regina knew she was anything but. "We got a little distracted."
"I see."
Regina let out a sigh of relief before exiting the small bathroom. "Hello, Mother. I thought we were going to meet at the diner at eleven?" She said as calmly as she could manage.
"Mary Margaret misplaced the menu we'll be going over today. We both tried to call and neither of you could be bothered to answer your phones and your pimply-faced, useless assistant informed me that you were not taking calls this morning. Seeing as I was already on my way to the diner, I thought I'd stop by."
Regina walked over to the table and went through the papers she'd piled up before Emma had arrived. She found the menu near the bottom and handed it over to her mother who was watching her with a careful eye.
Cora just huffed before turning on her heels and heading for the door. Emma was about to follow when Regina grabbed on to her arm. She could see the panic in Emma's eyes she had no doubt mirrored her own and she just shook her head and plucked her panties out of Emma's back pocket.
"And that is why my office is off limits, Emma," she said through gritted teeth and stuff her panties into her purse before heading out after her mother. "We nearly got caught, Emma!"
"Shit, I'm sorry, Regina," Emma frowned a moment later after she jogged to catch up to her. "Hey," she stopped Regina just as they reached the stairs. "I am sorry."
Regina was on edge and when she was sure her mother was already out of the building, she turned to Emma with a frown. "This needs to stop."
"What?"
"This…affair, Emma. It needs to stop."
"Why?"
"Because," she said, careful to keep her voice low as she stepped closer to her and felt her heart lodge itself in her throat. "You are getting married in six days."
"I—I thought you said before that it wouldn't matter? That we would still find a way to be together, Regina?"
"I know what I said."
Regina didn't stay there for another second, quickly descending the stairs with Emma hot on her heels. She knew Emma well enough to know she wanted nothing more than to discuss things further with her and likely do what she did best and change her mind. Yet, Regina was not in the mood, not after nearly getting caught in post-coital bliss. All it took was one look back at Emma and a quick aversion of her eyes to avoid falling for her adorable pout that always, without fail, made her cave in completely.
As much as she wanted to be with Emma, to continue their affair, to have it become something else—something more, she just wasn't sure how much more she could take or just how much longer it would be before someone caught them in the act.
And if that were to ever happen, it could end disastrously for both of them. If their affair was to come to an end, it would be on her terms and not because they'd been caught.
Yet, just thinking about ending things with Emma made her heart feel heavy with dread. She loved Emma, she loved what they had together, and she wasn't quite ready to give that up yet even if that made her a completely selfish person with questionable morals.
Was it the guilt? Was it almost being caught? Was it her impending divorce and knowing that she could've had a chance if only Emma wasn't getting married in less that six whole days? She wasn't sure, but she was sure of one thing: she had to figure things out and she had to figure things out soon…
