"I'm quite alright, thank you Tania." This low, throaty voice responds and Emma stops her writing. Still staring at the page in front of her she listens to the exchange of words when this woman asks for the usual and Tania responds with an 'absolutely, coming right away.
Growing up with music in every single bone of body these are the things she pays attention to. A voice this deep for a woman is quite unique and she can't help but wonder whether this person sings. She also can stop her prejudiced brain from connecting that voice with a large, manly woman.
She glances up and almost chokes on air when she spots her companion. Her eyebrows shot to her hairline at the sight of an extremely feminine woman. Not fat, not manly. This woman is gorgeous with dark raven hair, tanned skin and a second-skin power suit.
The first thing that comes to mind is how the hell does someone fly in slacks and a button-up shirt?
This woman pays Emma no mind as she places a laptop on the table and opens it. Emma stares with no shame as this woman start typing with beautifully manicured hands. Emma can't help but frown at her nails, they're short. Who would willfully manicure their hands but chop all the length off? Unless she is… Nah, there is no way.
Tania comes back with a glass of red wine in hand.
"There you go" she hands it over to the woman who smiles tightly at her.
"Thank you Tania"
And there it is again, even seeing that low voice coming out of this petite woman doesn't stop Emma from questioning how is it possible.
Staring apparently for too long Tania looks at her.
"Can I get you anything Miss Swan?"
Emma winces inwardly, waiting for the inevitable reaction of people responding to her name and status. But this woman doesn't even spare her a glance, she simply keeps typing furiously while sipping red wine from the glass.
Surprised, Emma looks up at Tania "I'll have what she is having"
Tania's brows furrow at that, she looks at the bottle of beer Emma is currently nursing but says nothing and merely nods.
Emma leans back in her chair and fiddles with the edges of her notebook.
She glances at the woman one more time before clearing her throat.
"So," she drawls "where are you going?"
It takes the woman a second to realize Emma is talking to her and when she catches it she raises her eyebrow and answers without detaching her eyes from the screen.
"New York" she says simply and Emma thinks she can spot a little amusement in her voice. She is mocking her.
Emma groans inwardly at her own stupidity, of course she is going to New York, this is a flight to New York. What a game you got there Swan.
"What were you doing in London?" she asks after a moment of silence.
This woman doesn't answer immediately but frowns at something she reads in her computer.
"Business" she answers eventually, right before Emma gives up completely.
Since this woman hasn't spared her a glance Emma indulges herself with a thorough look-over. She starts with her heels and her eyes travel all to way up from her tightly clad thighs to the clad chest. She looks up at the prominent clavicle, the delicate diamond necklace and ends with the profile of what can only be described as a one of a Greek goddess.
Her eyes pop all over her facial features; from the plump lips to the perfect nose and brown eyes.
"You should be more discreet dear," she suddenly says and it makes Emma jump "women don't like to be ogled."
"Sorry" Emma clears her throat and immediately looks down at her lap.
What is wrong with her? She is usually so confident around women. But this woman, this woman has this authoritative aura about her and the fact the she couldn't care less about Emma makes it so refreshing, refreshing to the point that Emma doesn't know what to do.
"There you go Miss Swan" Tania places a glass of red wine in front of Emma, who nods her thanks.
Deep in thought on what to do next, to give up or to try harder, she mindlessly sips from the glass in her hand. Forgetting this is wine and not beer, she coughs at the large gulp of bitter liquid that goes down her throat. You don't chug wine, dumbass.
She hears a noise, resembling to a snort coming from her left side. She turns to see that the woman's mouth has quirked up to a small smirk.
"What so funny?" she asks defensively while downing the unwanted taste with the remaining beer in her bottle, thinking nothing of mixing types of alcohol and what it does to her stomach.
"Nothing" she woman feigns innocence.
Emma returns to her phone.
Sooner than later Tania approaches her, announcing they're about to take off. Emma shuts her phone down, not before texting Mary Margaret that she will be unavailable from now on.
The woman seems to hear that too and she closes her lap-top and shoves it in her handbag.
She stares ahead and Emma is at awe of how indifferent this woman is to her presence.
Having nothing else to do, she fishes out the script she needs to learn for her next week's audition. This is supposed to be a movie about a girl getting over social anxiety by finally coming to terms with her past trauma and depression. When Emma first pitched the idea to her manager, the first thing he said was that Emma doesn't do those types of films and when she asked why he said that she isn't that type of actress. That insinuation infuriated Emma to no end. Saying that she is not that type of actress meant that he thought she couldn't act. Acting in a large budget blockbuster action hit is basically being attractive and accepting money for tying her name to that film. She wanted this role firstly because she truly loved the story but also since she wanted to prove to all of those judgmental trolls put there that she can act and not just pose and 'hit' people and run away like she did in the other movie.
Filled with a new wave of determination she starts reading the script. She scribbles down notes, sentences she seems to have trouble remembering, emotions and actions that she wants to portray in certain lines and key words.
She doesn't pay attention to the fact that for the first time since she boarded the plane, the brunette goddess is examining her.
She bites her lips in concentration, mouthing the words to herself and then closing her eyes, trying to imagine the situation more clearly and vividly.
That's when the pilot announces that they would be taking off. He asks politely from people to buckle up, close any cellular or internet based devices and close the table in front of them. Since Emma is in first class the whole table thing is done for her, Tania quickly grabs the beer and the glass of wine and closes the table.
Emma lets out a deep breath and stares ahead. Her leg starts to jiggle nervously and her hands clasp tightly to the handles until her knuckles turn white.
The plane starts moving and Emma's breath get slightly shallower.
"Are you alright?" she hears the woman ask but she is too far in her state of stress to actually pay her mind to it.
"Mmm" she makes a non-committal noise and prays that the alcohol will soon kick in.
"Miss Swan?" she tries again and Emma's head whips to her left.
"You know my name?" she asks and her voice wavers. Mainly from her fear of flights but also since it's the first time they lock eyes. The brunette smirks in return and Emma is shamelessly staring; she is even more beautiful face to face than from her side.
"I have ears you know" is all she says and only then Emma recalls the amount of times Tania has called her name.
The plane speeds up and Emma can feel her stomach flip, she feels the blood drain from her face and she closes her eyes. Their conversation is long forgotten as Emma emotionally crawls into herself. If the woman said something else after that, well Emma would never know.
She opens her eyes when she hears the sound signaling it's safe to unbuckle.
Now, she regrets the multiple drinks she had as she rushes to the bathroom. Of course, with her luck, it's occupied and Emma looks around in desperation, trying to hold the content of her stomach in.
Another first class stewardess approaches her. She places her hand softly on Emma's shoulder and says quietly.
"The Business class bathrooms are empty if you'd like…"
Emma nods and quickly makes her way through the Business section. Quickly spotting the green color on the door she sighs in relief and enters the stall. She crouches next to the toilet and empties her stomach.
She leans against the wall, breathing in and out. After a minute or two she feels slightly better. She washes her face and stares at her reflection. Deciding she couldn't care less about her hair, she scoops it up into a messy bun and shoves the end of it in that mess. Having curly hair might have its flaws, but at least you don't need a rubber band.
She opens the door to face a teenage girl.
"It's free" Emma says and the girl looks up. Her face changes from indifferent to shocked in a matter of seconds and Emma feels her stomach drop.
Please don't let her be a fan, please don't let her be a fan.
But who is she kidding? All the kids from ages 10 to 20 are her fans and as Emma has predicted the girl sucks in a breath and her mouth turns into an 'O' shape.
"I am such a huge fan" she says breathily and her eyes are so round with awe Emma is sure they're going to pop out.
"Thank you" Emma says uncomfortably and quickly moves back to her section. She can feel the girl following her but she makes it to First class safe and sound and the girl is stopped by one of the male flight attendants. He explains calmly that she cannot come in. Emma takes her seat, her posture still rigid as she listens to the conversation without looking back.
The girl lets out a wail as she says repeatedly that it's only for a minute and that she's Emma's biggest fan.
Emma holds her breath and prays to anyone up there who would take it to give this man strength. In the end she gives up and Emma slouches down in relief. She has no doubt soon it would be known all over the plane.
She lifts her hand, signaling one of the attendants while biting her lip.
Tania arrives a second after.
"Yes Miss Swan?" she leans forward when Emma says quietly
"Look, I would really appreciate if you won't let fans into this section."
"Of course" she immediately promises.
"No you don't understand," Emma tries again "those are kids and teens we're talking about, they're resourceful. Please keep an eye on the."
"We will, don't worry"
"Good, thank you" Emma nods and she's gone in a heartbeat.
Emma sinks into her chair, after placing three mint gums in her mouth. She sighs at the relieving freshness of the mint.
"May I ask what your name is?"
Emma's eyes pop open.
"You don't know?" she asks incredulously.
"How would I? You're only called by your last name." The woman says simply and if she was not the dignified lady that Emma assumes she is, that would be the moment for her to shrug.
"Yeah but I'm kind of well known…" Emma says carefully and the brunette rolls her eyes at that.
"I figured" she gestures with her head towards Tania and a smaller girl with red curls who was trying to make her way into the section while waving erratically at Emma.
Emma scratches the back of her neck at the sight. God, she hates that part of the job.
"And you still don't know?"
The woman doesn't look even slightly ashamed when she eventually admits.
"I'm afraid not."
Emma chuckles "Wow" she shakes her head.
"What?" the brunette says harshly, probably assuming Emma is laughing at her but truth is that she is just shocked. Emma doesn't remember the last time someone didn't recognized her.
"No it's just- I'm very well known" is what she goes with and the brunette seems to mule over that fact.
"And you're offended? That I don't know you?" she furrows her brows and Emma has to admit it's very uncharacteristic to what she has seen from her so far, but it's bordering adorable.
"Oh no, of course not. It's very refreshing to me, that's all."
The woman purses her lips into a thin line.
"That famous huh?"
"Unfortunately" she says while taking a menu from Tania and nodding her thanks.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't like this whole famous thing" she shrugs while scanning the menu. It takes her three second to decide what she's going with, so she turns to look at the brunette.
"So why are you doing this?" the woman places the menu on the table, more interested in Emma's answer than what food she'll choose.
"For the art part"
"And why not do something else?" she inquires and Emma smiles sadly.
"I can't"
"Why not?"
"It's a part of me"
The brunette opens her mouth to respond but she closes it when Tania, blissfully unaware barges into their conversation.
"Hey ladies, what can I get you?"
"I'd have the Steak and potatoes please" Emma says politely and the brunette nods.
"The same"
Tania scribbles it all down.
"Excellent, anything to drink?"
"No thank you" Regina responds and Emma follows with a request for a glass of water.
Tania wanders away and they both remain silent, each returning to her own tasks.
Minutes later the food is set in front of them.
"Emma" the blonde says out of the blue and the brunette turns to look at her quizzically.
"Pardon?"
"My name is Emma" her lips quirk up and she hands out her hand.
The brunette takes it, her face warming up a little.
"Regina"
To be continued…