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Chapter 2: 6 months earlier

"No, no, no."

"Regina listen to reason."

The brunette raised her voice an octave higher and turned to face her longtime friend an ex Daniel. "Reason, you want me to listen to reason, what reason would that be. You are my agent and as such your one and only job is to provide me with a job." Her conasending voice spit out the words with such venom that it would have made her mother proud.

"Listen," and Daniel raised a hand to silence whatever rebuttal that was coming forth from Regina's mouth next. "Your reason to leave was justified and if the circumstances were my own, I would have done the same. However, you were gone for 8 months and as you know time is of the essence when you work theatre."

Regina lowered her head and her arm hugged herself in a protective posture. If she looked up at Daniel now he would see defeat in her eyes and face. Above all she must not show weakness. Her mother's words echoed in her head as they always did in every situation that she presented with it. "Do not let them see you cry, don't give them the power over you to control the situation."

Daniel approached her with his hands in front of him, palms out. He knew what she was thinking and he know that her mother had ingrained many a lesson into her after all of years in Cora's presence. She was a stern woman, abusive Daniel would say, but despite it all she was Regina's mother after all. No matter her accomplishes she was never good enough. Regina's words, never his.

He put his hands below her bend head and slowly moved them into her hands. Regina slowly raised her head and meet his eyes. Her stoic face was in place and he know that he to approach the situation and her slowly. He lowered his voice to a non-threating one. "Look, if you do not have a job than I do not get paid. I want to help you, you know that but you have to move on from this and you will."

"You sound so certain," and Regina could tell by Daniel's face and smile that he was in fact certain and that he did have a solution.

"Theatre is not an option right now. I need to reestablish my connections and that will take time. You need a temporary solution to show others that you can do any type of work no matter how small."

"Now, when you say small?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"Have you ever heard of Emma Swan."

"No," and with a sigh the next words came out in a defeated voice, "What is the project?"

"Well, you once told me that you have always wanted to try movies." Regina's raised her eyebrow and gave Daniel her full attention.

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Regina now sat in an uncomfortable plastic red chair, script sitting in her lap as she stared ahead of her at the plastic table in front of her which held a variety of food. After a flight from New York to Boston and several reassurances from Daniel she currently waited for her turn to audition for a supporting role in a movie.

She was not allowed to read the script before showing up for her audition and the signing of a confidentially agreement amused Regina. The script was a lesbian themed movie about a stripper falling in love with the preacher daughter. It was well written and the dialogue had an edgy and humorous undertone. The thing that stood out from the script was the intimacy scene between the two main characters.

All the actresses that were currently in the room were auditioning for the role of the preachers daughter older sister. The scenes showed an astringed relationship and she could see herself in the role. As she glanced around at the other actresses in the room she thought to herself that they probably were all thinking the same thing. The chairs that were to the left and right of her were currently full and a soft mutter of voices filled the room. Several more women were standing and leaning up against the wall by the table and with the doors to the right and left it gave Regina plenty to occupy her mind with.

Her lines were simply and she learned them quickly. Her mother instilled her a good ethic and she was a fast learner. The women in the room were ushered into the door at the other side of the waiting room and the process seemed to move quickly. Soon only 6 women remained from the 20 who showed up.

Regina stood up from her seat and moved toward the door to her left the exited the waiting room. A washroom sat off to the right of the door and she entered it. She checked her appearance and washed her hands. After leaving the washroom and reentering the waiting room she glanced to a small table right off by the door by the first chair in the line of chairs. It was filled with many paperback books that had seen better days. She grabbed one and sat back down in her chair.

Although engrossed in her book she felt a presence and with a quick glance to her left she saw a woman with blonde hair sit down in the chair next to her. This slightly irritated Regina because the women had many chairs to choose from away from her. Throughout the day none of the women had engaged Regina into any casual conservations. This did not phase her in the least because she had very few friends. Kathryn, her closet confident told her many times over drinks that she presented herself as "stand offish and cold." She could rationalize this to herself and say that she had a competitive streak. The only people that she socialized with growing up were fellow actors and actresses and they were a threat to her advancement. "Friends are formed by trust dear and if they know your weaknesses than they will use them against you."

The blond next to her was silence and she felt her eyes on her. She focused on her book and tried to ignore her stare however the blond spoke to her after a few minutes. "I really love that book, in fact it is one of my favorites."

Regina turned to face her and regarded the blond properly. She had very little make-up on, high cheekbones and had a smile that could light up even the darkest day. What drew Regina's attention the most was her eyes. The bright green eyes with specks of gold bore into hers and she could not look away. She would not back down first and the blonde lowered her head breaking the stare first. Regina followed the movement and saw a smile cross the blondes features as one of her hands moved up to her head as she moved her fallen hair behind her ear.

The blonde raised her head and extended her arm, "Hi, I am Emma." Regina shook her hand and realized that this was the director of the film that she was auditioning for. Emma released her hand and turned and slouched back into her chair, extending her long Demin legs in front of her and crossing them at her ankles.

"Why this one," Regina said holding up the battered book.

Emma sat up in her chair and turned to face Regina. "The Age of Innocence, really. A story about a forbidden love, a taboo in the society in which it set. She is tainted, not pure and yet despite his upbringing and repressed nature he finds himself drawn to her. He fights the desire in himself for she is a refreshing break from the norm, a light into his true impulses. He falls in love with her not because of her past but because he sees her vulnerability. He has the same weakness in himself and because of those around him he cannot show it. They will use it against him and strip him of everything that he is supposed to hold dear."

Emma breathes in another breath and continued, "He see the injustice and hypocrisy in his world and he presents himself in the matter in which he believes others should behave. He just wants to let go of it all and discover who he really is. Despite that desire to break free he knows the consequences of his actions. His limitations supply him the very means to think and feel the way he does."

"And what about her?" Regina inquires.

Emma smiles, "She desires him because she sees in him what she once wanted for herself. She has experienced the freedom that he craves. She has felt the consequences. She sees his standing in society and his awareness of the world around him. She is drawn to him because of his innocence and it makes her feel as if she can be reborn again, as if she could be cleansed. But she knows that if she does truly love him, that she will destroy him. And she will destroy herself to that point in which she will never be able to truly forgive herself."

"You sound like Archer?"

Emma waves a dismissive hand, "Maybe I am a mixture of both but the point is this. Show me a society, any society where everyone in it can truly be themselves without any consequences. We as individuals trade away bits of ourselves the more we move toward and collective whole."

Regina was impressed but she did not let it show. However, a small smile graced her lips for a second before she could school her features completely. Emma said no more as she grabbed the book from Regina's hand and pulled the pen from behind her ear. She inscribed something on the front page and handed the book back to the brunette. She stood and started to walk away from Regina and toward the door to where the auditions were being held.

Regina opened the book and saw sloppy handwriting on the front page. She read the message contained within the book "To Regina Mills, a beacon of light in the darkened world. Emma Swan." She stared at the words, trying to process them and she realized that Emma was still walking away. She stood up from her chair and called out to Emma.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Emma turned around and looked at Regina, "You carry yourself as a queen." She gestured toward the book, "Keep it, I have others." She turned back around and walked toward the door where the auditions were being held and walked through it. Regina looked at the closed door and stared.

"Fuck this," she heard one of the other actresses say and she grabbed her friend that was standing next to her and walked out of the room. Two other women followed her and as she looked around the almost empty room. Only her and one other women remained. 'And now there were two,' she thought to herself as she sat back down in her chair.

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Post A/N: The most precious thing that we have in this world is time. I am truly humbled by anyone who takes their time to read this. Thank you.