I owe this chapter to evil-isnt-born . tumblr . com (again) because she's just too amazing, and helped me with the edit of this story. So if you wanna thank her for being an amazing beta, go for it.
I decided to continue this story if it gets a good response, the first chapter sure did, let's see what happens with this one.
Hope you enjoy it!
Emma entered the coffee house, knowing the moment she stepped inside, which table she would be sitting attoday: the only table near the way, she could keep Henry distracted, asking him to point out every yellow car he saw passing by, and at the same time be able to spot her friends before they entered the shop. Already, she was mentally preparing herself for a long evening of love sick glances between her two best friends.
It's not that she didn't like them - she loved both of them with her whole heart, but sometimes they didn't seem to realize that their public displays of affection could be a bit too much for anyone not participating. Though she supposed that the way they openly showed their love for the people they cared about was one of the things that made her like them in the first place.
She had needed a place to live after she got pregnant with Henry, and Mary Margaret had opened the doors of her home and her heart, letting Emma stay there for free until she could afford to pay rent. Even now, she worked as Henry's nanny every day while Emma was at work. No matter how much Mary Margaret insisted that Emma owed her nothing, that this is what friends are for, Emma still feels like she does. So if she has to stare at the displays of affection between her friend and her fiancé, she will. But that doesn't mean she enjoys the show.
Thanks to Mary Margaret and David, Emma learnt what having a family that would always be there for you feels like. She learnt that running away isn't always the answer, and she would do everything she could to show them the same love and support they gave her.
Now that she had a job, she thought that it was time to start paying some of Mary Margaret's kindness back, which was why she decided to spend part of her first salary inviting the lovesick couple in question to their favourite coffee house. Later,she planned to spend some of the money spoiling Henry.
She secured Henry into a high chair next to her, and as soon as she sat down herself, the voice of a tall raven haired woman with red highlights and a mischievous smile interrupted her thoughts.
"Are you ready to order?" She asked. Emma nodded in response. "What would you and the little fella like?"
"Two hot cocoas with whipped cream and cinnamon, please."
"Coming right up." The woman gave her another smile and walked away with a spring in her step that made it look like she was skipping. It reminded Emma of fairy-tales where the little girls always skipped through the forest towards danger.
'Towards danger indeed' Emma thought as she saw her waitress approaching a woman who was easily recognizable.
The brunette from the shop was sitting with her back towards Emma, three tables away. "Regina" she barely whispered, liking the way she had to roll her tongue to pronounce the 'R'. Her name meant 'Queen' in Latin and wasvery befitting of the woman, who held the posture of a monarch. Emma had to admit she found that out when she googled the woman in hopes of finding out something -anything- abouther. Yet the meaning of her name was not the only thing Emma had found out about Regina Mills: she also discovered that Reginawas CEO of a company Emma had never heard about.
As she stared at the woman, wondering what type of coffee the brunette was ordering, she didn't realize that Mary Margaret and David had arrived. Mary Margaret took Emma's silence as a sign of attention - though in reality the blonde was distracted by the woman three tables away from her, who still hadn't turned around and probably wasn't even aware of Emma's presence at the café - and filled her up with family gossips and other small storiesas David played with Henry.
"…and he's a real sunshine. I'm sure you'll find him adorable" this pulled Emma completely away from her thoughts.
"Wait, what?"
Mary Margaret smiled at her with sympathy "Emma, Henry is already three years old. I'm sure we can take care of him while you're out. We always have fun together when you are at work, so it won't be a problem."
Emma's confusion only seemed to increase. "Why would I go out?" The guilty smile on her friend's face suddenly made her understand what was happening "Oh! No. I'm not going out in a date with any of your weird friends ever again. Last time the guy didn't stop talking about fairy-tales and I ended up paying for dinner!"
"Well in his defence, he's a writer. And this time it's not one of my friends, Emma, it's David's. Did I mention he has a boat?"
"You are not convincing me this time, Mary Margaret. I'm not going out on a date with anyone."
Mary Margaret tookEmma's hands in her own. "You do realize we just want you to be happy?"
Emma knew that this was important for her friend, so sheheld back the comment that she didn't need a date to be happy. "I am happy. I've got Henry, and I've got you two." Emma could tell that Mary Margaret was holding back the rest of her argument, and she was grateful thather petit friend didn't insist on the date.
Instead, Mary Margaret started a new round of gossip, and Emma's mind drifted back to the woman who's back was still facing her. Regina had stopped coming to the shop since the last time when they flirted - well, Regina flirted. Emma mostly stared, dumbfounded, and babbled. She hadn't been very eloquent, andnow, she wondered if that was the reason Regina stopped her daily visits to the store. Maybe Regina regretted flirting with her.
Emma's stare must have been too obvious since Mary Margaret suddenly stopped talking to ask, "What are you staring at?"
Before Emma had a chance to answer, she saw Regina stand up, probably headed towards the cashier.
"I was thinking I should pay for our drinks, and maybe we could take Henry to the park?"
"Emma there's no need to pay for OUR drinks." David said.
"No, please, I insist. Just distract Henry while I go pay. Believe me when I say you don't want him to start crying."
Before either of them had a chance to answer, Emma headed over to stand in line behind the brunette. She was wearing a tank top, and peeking out from underneath were what Emma recognized as the straps of the black set Regina got last time they saw each other.
Emma stepped closer to Regina and leaned over her shoulder. "I hope you know I'm going to hold you to your promise" Regina looked startled for a second until she recognized the face of the blonde.
"You'll find out I'm a woman of my word." She said, smirking at Emma's comment.
"You didn't come back to the shop…"
"I had my reasons." Regina retorted.
"Will you?"
Regina rolled her eyes at that. "You'll need to be more specific with your questions if you expect an answer, dear"
"Will you come back to the shop?" Emma asked eagerly.
"No. But we could meet somewhere else."
The customer in front of them finished paying, and without another word Regina stepped up to the cash, setting her bill and leaving the café quickly. Emma just watched her, expecting the brunette to turn around and finish the conversation. Emma felt her hopes crush as she watched the door shut behind the woman, realizing that they didn't have a meeting place, thinking that this was the last she would hear of the woman and that their 'somewhere else' really meant 'nowhere'.
Yet as soon as she finished paying and walked towards her own table, an idea came to her, and she realized she knew exactly where to find the brunette.