When Emma reached her destination she was surprised to see that no one was in the conference room. It was 7:45 and usually the people holding the meeting would be present before the presenter. "And I thought I was gonna be late" she chuckled to herself.
She shrugged and sat her briefcase down on the long black wooded conference table and took her laptop out to begin setting up her presentation. This wasn't a first for her and she knew what to do. Once she had her presentation set up on the projector she then proceeded to take out her foldable charts and her stand from her briefcase and set them up. Emma was fully prepared for this meeting. She had been waiting for two months to pitch her idea to these wealthy middle aged men. Or maybe men and a woman Emma thought back to Sydney's earlier comment. She smiled to herself as she set up the last of what she needed to present. "Today is the day my dream becomes reality" she said through her grin.
By the time she was done setting up it was 7:55. Emma sat and waited for everyone to enter. Shortly after she sat some men entered in box cut black suits. About 5 of them and they all looked similar, salt and pepper hair, kind of pudgy, practiced grins as they shook her hand and said their good mornings. Business pawns Emma thought to herself.
She didn't see Mr. Mills just yet though as she scanned the room. As if sensing what she was thinking about, a man who introduced himself as Jack Jensen said " Mr. Mills wont be joining us today. I don't know if you received the news but he retired a month ago and his heir has since taken over Miss Swan. They will be joining us." A slightly disappointed Emma said "alright then no problem." She was looking forward to meeting Mr. Mills. He was known for his warm personality and good sense of humor. He was supposedly different from the stone cold investors she met with previously. Every time she practiced her presentation she incorporated well placed jokes she knew would win him over but now she didn't know what kind of person to expect. "Don't worry Miss Swan, she shall arrive shortly.", said. "Yes don't worry Miss Swan, I am here now" a raspy voice came from the doorway. Emma turned at the sound and took in the sight before her. There stood a olive skinned petite woman with perfectly coiffed chocolate brown hair that fell just to her shoulders . She wore a crimson red blouse that matched the crimson red of her lipstick. She wore black high waisted dress slacks and a matching blazer. She looks like the the first female president, Emma thought to herself.
Emma heard the clicking of the womans black 4 inch manolos, that she only recognized because of Ruby, as the woman approached her and extended a perfectly manicured hand "Regina Mills" the woman said. "Emma Swan, Nice to meet you Mrs. Mills" Emma replied. "Ms. Mills" the olive woman corrected, "likewise Miss Swan." Emma retracted her hand from the woman who stood only a few inches shorter than her in her heels and found herself staring into hazelnut brown eyes as the woman sized her up. Ms. Mills turned to walk to her seat at the head of the table, once seated she looked up to Emma and said "Do start Miss Swan, I read your proposal and I am very interested in learning how funding a night club is going to benefit Mills Incorporated." Emma took a well needed breath and started "Alright then I first..." before she could finish Ms. Mills said "and please don't leave out the part where a nightclub is going to change a culture. I have read that line over and over from your proposal and am finding it hard to imagine." Emma laughed nervously at the perfectly postured woman at the end of the table. But her laughter dwindled as she saw a perfectly arched eyebrow raise at her. This is gonna be a long meeting Emma thought to herself. "Alright then lets talk about Knights, the life changing night club..."
Regina sighed as Emma brought her presentation to a close. It was a sigh of relief because it was the first out of the 5 since since her fathers retirement that she had seen that made any sense. The womans presentation was well prepared, her numbers were accurate, she already had a location scouted, and the woman wasn't a bundle of nerves the entire time. She even had a couple of jokes incorporated through her display of works. Although those jokes were mostly corny, they were better than the man she met with last week who had a stone cold face the entire time or the woman the week before that who sweated so hard through her blouse she made Regina want to go home and take a shower. Regina's lips turned up in disgust thinking profusely sweating woman.
Emma had a certain confidence to her that Regina admired. Regina chuckled inaudibly as the blonde who was the source of her thoughts looked directly at her and said with a cheeky grin that the brunette was on the end of not for the first time during the blondes presentation "and that is how Knights will change the culture of Nightclubs." It was an obvious rebuttal from her snarky comment she made towards the woman earlier and she liked that the blonde wasn't afraid to dish back out what she received. Shed need that in a business full of sexist men. As the small groups applaud to the presenter died down Regina stood and said "Miss Swan that was a very informative presentation. I am quite interested in discussing the matters of your presentation further with you. I will be contacting you soon." she smiled tightly. Emma looked at her and said "Thank you for your time and consideration Ms. Mills", she looked at the men surrounding Regina and said "thank you all." The man said their good byes to Regina and the blonde and began to shuffle out of the conference room.
Regina sat and gathered her belongings. She would need to print a copy of the womans proposal for her personal file so she made note to stop in the supply room to pick up some toner on her way back to her office. She was sure her dim assistant Sydney would forget the request she made this morning for it and she didn't want to sit and wait for him to come up with some excuse as to why he forgot. she shook her head trying to remember why he was even her assistant in the first place. Then she thought about the ass kissing he did to her father before his departure and remembered why. The look on his face when he thought he was being let go was priceless.
She was shaken from her thoughts as she heard a loud thud. She looked over and saw the blonde was bent over fidgeting with her laptop that now laid on the floor. The blonde knew how to wear a skirt the brunette thought to herself as she absentmindedly checked the bent over woman out. From what she heard of the younger woman prior to meeting her she assumed she was a complete tomboy. She expected slacks and a collar shirt from her. She wasn't expecting the primped woman who stood before her for an hour or so talking so passionately. The woman was beautiful to say the least. She had her hair in a neat braid across the front that fell to perfectly waved curls in the back. Her golden blonde hair complimented her piercing emerald eyes and pasty white skin. She didn't wear much makeup aside from the light eye-shadow and pink lip-gloss she had on her thin lips. Her navy blazer and matching skirt fit her well. Regina was impressed, to her their was nothing worse than a beautiful woman who didn't know how to dress. While green was not Regina's color she admitted to herself that the green blouse also complimented the blondes eyes.
She took herself from her thoughts and said "would you like some help further damaging your computer dear, or do you have it all settled?'' "I have it settled now" the blonde leaned back upright laughing lightly. Regina made her way around to the front of the room and decided to help the blonde by dismantling her foldable spread sheets and stand. Once done she handed them to the blonde. This was the closest she had been to the woman all meeting and she smelled faintly of vanilla and cinnamon. "Thank you" the blonde smiled and said. "No problem dear. Enjoy the rest of your day Miss Swan." "You too Ms. Mills" the blonde replied. Regina began to exit the room then turned back once she reached the door and said "Talk to you soon." "I hope so" the blonde replied.
She couldn't fathom why but the thought of talking to the blonde further made her stomach flip. At the time she blamed it on her failure to eat breakfast but later figured it out to be so much more than hunger.
With that she made her way to the supply room and then proceeded to the personal elevator that led her office. She couldn't help the smirk on her face as she watched the blonde fly past her in an attempt to catch the next elevator door over before it closed. She walked into her office on the next floor , closed the door that covered the elevator behind her and walked over to her desk and sat. She placed the toner down, opened the folder she was carrying and pulled out the cover sheet. "Emma Swan, the savior of NewYorks Nightlife."