Told from Emma's POV.
Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. Nothing has changed, dangnabbit.
A/N: I'm taking some liberties with Regina's personality. Bear with me. It'll be worth it ;)
The next few weeks flew by as I settled into the routine of the store. The best part of my shift was finally getting up to the front of the store and seeing Regina busy with her issue of the moment. It gave me a few seconds to just breathe the sight of her in before I started my day. It seemed we always exchanged a quick smile whenever we saw each other but for the most part, she stayed really busy. I learned from the other cashiers that she took care of five departments. The cashiers up front, the ones in Lawn and Garden, the ones in the back of the store in the lumber department, and the ones in Tool World. She was also responsible for all of the loaders in the entire store. Needless to say, this woman was organized, meticulous, and all kinds of sexy when those brown eyes became super focused on her job.
I was pretty self-sufficient when it came to my job and didn't need alot of attention. Some of my fellow cashiers had the attention span of a gnat and needed constant hand-holding to get them through their shift. Regina and I were easing into a routine of our own. We worked roughly the same schedule if you didn't count the fact that she had to work ten hour shifts compared to my eight. Managers were 50 hour a week salary employees with alternating weekends off. I was full-time so I worked a regular forty hour week with alternating weekends off.
Most days we had lunch at the same time and when we did, those 60 minutes were the highlight of my day. I tried to play it cool and I guess it was working because she was always her friendly self. I learned she was 29 and an only child until her parents decided to foster two younger girls, Tanya and Carla. Tanya was the youngest one at 18 and was in her senior year of high school. Carla was 22 and pregnant with her first child but didn't know who the father was. I put two and two together and bet money that Carla was the wild child in the family. Regina always spoke of them as her siblings and not her foster sisters. I'm not sure why but this warmth made me happy. She never made any distinction when it came to love.
Her parents, Henry Sr and Cora, seemed to be loving, involved parents who were a strong support system for all three girls. Her mom owned a florist in our community and her dad drove an 18 wheeler for the local quarry. Regina told me about being a cheerleader in high school and how her and her fiancé, Daniel, fell in love. Apparently he was the water boy for the football team Regina cheered for and while other girls were trying to hookup with the popular players, she found herself chatting with Daniel in between cheers and at half-time. She got teased when they started dating but eventually her friends saw how well he treated her and grew to accept their romance. Each time we sat and talked, I learned more and more about her past and with every new thing she shared, my appetite for learning more grew.
I found myself committing everything she said to memory. The way she spoke about her life drew me in and made me feel like I was reliving things with her. Of course I could've gotten so absorbed in her stories because she was so touchy feely. I never really liked people touching me. You know those people who are constantly touching your arm when they talk or lightly brush the small of your back when they come up behind you, well, that's how Regina was. But I'll be damned if all my opinions on 'those people' didn't fly out the window the first time her fingers brushed my knuckles. It wasn't just me she did this with although it would've been nice if I was the one and only but it still didn't stop that warm, tingly feeling I got every time I felt her touch.
Her personality was so dynamic. I think part of what made her so popular and easy to be around was how she always let people know she was interested in what they had to say and she had this ability to make the shyest person open up by casually drawing them into the conversation. She was friendly, witty, and had a sense of humor that somehow managed to crack herself up. Don't get me started on her laugh because I could recognize it from five aisles away.
I found myself looking at our schedules at the beginning of the week and figuring out the days we were going to be going to lunch at the same time. I may have been guilty of switching with a few cashiers here and there to coordinate our lunchtimes during weeks our schedules didn't sync up. I knew I enjoyed spending time with her but I also knew I was growing attached and that wasn't good business. Even though I found her so sexy it made my balls hurt, she was becoming my best friend. Having her in my life in any capacity was better than any day without her. So, I tried to push the physical attraction to the side to focus on building what she seemed to want as well: A solid foundation for an amazing friendship. I'd take it.
I learned to appreciate the time I spent with her but was constantly aware of how it looked to be so chummy with the boss. I never could stand brown-nosers and didn't want to be labeled as one but spending time with her was worth the few whispers I heard behind my back. It didn't seem to bother her and sometimes I felt she expected more out of me because she never cut me any slack. To be honest, I wouldn't have wanted her to. It helped my fellow cashiers appreciate the work I did and eventually those whispers died down. Everyone was starting to see that I earned the respect I received. I had always let my work ethic speak for itself. Who the heck needed to suck up when you gave 100% every single minute and kept your nose clean?
It came time for my 90 day review and the store manager was the one who called me into the main office. His name was Nelson and he had worked for the company for over 20 years. He was gruff and blunt but if you worked hard and proved yourself, he didn't hesitate to pat you on the back. Praise from him was a rare thing and I had been on the receiving end of it a few times in my first three months. Gotta say I was pretty proud of that fact. People who praise everyone for everything don't rank very high in my book so I tended to respect managers like Nelson who meant what they said and said what they meant. It gave merit to the words. Well, for me at least.
He could be a hard ass but I respected how he ran the store and expected things to work together. He set the bar really high for his managers but all of the awards our store had won was proof that if you laid down the law and followed through with your expectations, other people would notice. I sat down for the review and we exchanged small talk at first before the meeting started. He asked me the usual questions about how I liked the job, did I have any complaints, what would I change about how things are run, etc. He showed me the forms my boss and three other random managers had filled out for the observational part of my OJT and I was pleasantly surprised to see several remarks in reference to me being possible supervisor material as well as recommendations for cross-training leading up to one of those positions.
We talked some more about what my five year plan for working there was before he started asking me if there were any other areas in the store that I was interested in learning about. Without a moments hesitation, I told him electrical. He explained that I would need to undergo more video training as well as OJT and testing before I became certified in that department but that if I wanted, I could be transferred over to electrical effective immediately. I was somewhat surprised that I had been asked where I wanted to work instead of being assigned a position but either way, I was happy to try something new. As I signed the necessary paperwork and stood up to shake Nelson's hand, it dawned on me that Regina would no longer be my boss. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Was that going to be a good thing or a bad one?
Knocking on the office door behind the service desk, I tried to mentally figure out what I was going to say to Regina. I didn't even have time to practice the first sentence when she opened the door and motioned for me to come in. Her office was small and only contained her desk, an extra chair and counter space that had cabinets above and below it. I chose to hop up on the counter and sit as she sat back down at her desk.
She turned around to face me and asked me how the meeting with Nelson went. I started telling her about the questions he asked and how I responded. She kept grinning at me and I found myself losing my train of thought so I finally asked her what was so funny. She started shaking her head and leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. She said I had given Nelson some of the most professional sounding answers that he had ever heard in all of his years of interviewing. Especially since those answers were coming from a new hire. I didn't feel there was anything special in anything I said so I just kindof shrugged and started telling her about the cross-departmental training that had been offered to me.
Her eyebrows went up and her mouth had this cute little smirk to it. I was just about to ask her again what was so funny when she interrupted my story by leveling a pretend glare at me and asked if this was my way of telling her that she was losing me to another department. I chuckled just a bit and told her not to think of it as losing me to another department but rather see it as her training me so well as a cashier that there was nothing left for me to do other than trying my hand at something new. I don't think she could have disagreed with that statement if she tried.
I was trying to relay everything Nelson and I talked about but my eyes kept getting drawn down to her tanned legs as she slowly swiveled from side to side as she listened to me. I don't think I was as smooth as I thought I was because whenever she caught my eyes resting on an exposed piece of skin, she would grin and shake her head. After exchanging specifics about when I started in my new position and what kind of training I was going to have to complete, she described the people in the electrical department that I would be working with as well as gave me some insight into my new Department Manager, Bob. When she felt I had a pretty good grasp on what to expect, she stood up and told me she had to get back to work. I guess our talk had counted as our allotted fifteen minute break together.
I thanked her for the heads up and told her Nelson had given me the rest of the day off but that I would see her in a few days when I came back in on Monday. We were both heading out of the office door when she stopped, grabbed my elbow and gently turned me to face her . I heard her clear her throat and quietly say "Hey...Congratulations, Emma".
Out of all the praise coming my way from the Store manager and my fellow co-workers, those three words uttered from her lips meant the most to me. Regina was like Nelson in that she only offered praise to someone when she really meant it. She kindof seemed to be a bit shy in saying that to me but it was so heartfelt that I thanked her just as quietly before winking and turning to walk out of the store on cloud nine. I was a little nervous to move to a different department but none of that had to do with being presented with new challenges. I was worried our lunches together were a thing of the past and even trying to figure out how we would get to spend any time together was cause for my anxiety. But I'd figure something out. I always found a solution. I grinning as I walked to my car when I pictured those twinkling brown eyes. Yeah, I'd figure out something because I had about 5'4" of motivation to encourage me.