Sequestered - Chapter 2
Regina paces in her hotel room wearing the same damn terry cloth robe. . .and only the robe. It's been three days and her clothing still hasn't arrived. She isn't exactly surprised, of course; the fact that FedEx is having difficulty locating the pick up location in Storybrooke makes sense, but she sincerely hopes they find it soon. She has become rather desperate for new clothes and a proper nightgown. Regina exhales loudly at that last thought. She is irritated that she will be, once again, going commando to bed. Every night she's had to sleep in the nude, and it's giving her the strangest nightmares. In her dream, there is a fire in the hotel in the middle of the night, and of course, she's still naked. Her rescue always comes in the form of the tattooed blonde neighbor draping a blanket around her nude form. Just thinking of the dream now causes a warm and oddly comforting feeling to fill her chest, and Regina shakes her head to force the thoughts away.
She needs a distraction. Her eyes rest on her dead cell phone and she groans outwardly in frustration, truly feeling like she can't catch a break. The jurors are allowed to make all the calls they want on a special line in a room down the hall, but it's also monitored and recorded. She hates being watched, and she also refuses to ask the blonde girl for her charger again. So instead, she sulks.
An hour or so later a knock at the door wakes Regina out of an accidental nap born of pure boredom. She hesitates and considers changing into her suit, but it's still hanging damp in the bathroom.
"Who is it?" she asks, hating that there is no peephole in the door.
"Emma," the voice says simply. Regina rolls her eyes and considers walking away and leaving the blonde standing in the hallway. "I have something for you," Emma adds when the door doesn't open after a minute. Regina scowls but decides to open the door, hoping that maybe her delivery had been left in the wrong room.
"What?" Regina asks as she opens the door, her voice flat and her expression blank but for a hint of annoyance. Emma smiles in return, her green eyes shiny with happiness.
"I brought a movie," the blonde says, expecting Regina to move out of the way and let her in. Regina raises her perfectly sculpted eyebrow in response, conveying her skepticism. "It's fun," Emma reassures her, wiggling the tape in her hands as if displaying how fun it will be.
"Thank you, Ms. Swan, but I am not interested." Regina offers a fake smile, attempting to be polite.
"It's Emma," the blonde corrects. "And I think you'll like it. I mean what the hell else are you doing?" Emma shrugs, giving her neighbor a lopsided smile.
"I have plenty to do, Ms. Swan," Regina says dismissively, maintaining formality in her address. Emma giggles softly and pokes her head in the door. The room looks practically unoccupied. Regina shifts her weight to block her view.
"Well, this movie is pretty funny." Emma says again, holding up the DVD. "They have other ones, but everything else is kind of lame."
"Who are 'they'?" Regina asks before she can stop herself. The brunette won't admit it of course, but this conversation is the most interesting thing to happen to her in days.
"The babysitters with guns at each end of the hall," Emma jokes, referring to the armed guards posted on their floor. The blonde honestly feels like the sentries are there more to keep the jurors in than any threats out. "I hate being trapped in here. Although they did have a pretty good poker game going the other night. But being locked up between four walls from nine at night onward is brutal." Emma says, trying to make conversation. The brunette remains icily indifferent, and Emma isn't even sure the woman is paying attention to her.
"Yes, well. It is our civic duty after all," the mayor says noncommittally. Every day, after court, she has simply locked herself in her room. She emerges again in the morning when it's time to be shuttled to the courthouse again. During the day, she is all business. Even during lunch or breaks, she doesn't interact with the other jurors. Regina just wants to get this over with so she can return home to her son and her life. She feels a pang of sadness and homesickness, but shakes it off.
"Yeah," Emma acknowledges, disappointment creeping into her face. The brunette is obviously trying to cut the conversation short. "Well goodnight, then. It's almost nine, after all. . .don't want to be caught breaking the rules or anything," Emma smirks and offers a devious little wink.
"Good night," Regina smiles, the expression less false than it had been previously. She waits until Emma is at her own door before she shuts herself back into her suite.
Regina stays at the door for a moment before pulling it open again to say something else, but by then Emma has disappeared. She shrugs and looks down at herself remembering her clothing, or lack thereof. She laughs nervously, not believing she just carried on an entire conversation while being totally naked under her robe.
Emma stands in the middle of her room. She hadn't gone over Regina's to give her a movie, but had gotten derailed when the mayor had opened the door in just her robe, all naked and hot as fuck.
The fact that Regina had been wearing the same suit for days hadn't been lost on Emma. She didn't understand why the brunette didn't have someone just bring her stuff to the hotel. A mayor should at least have an assistant, right? Emma quickly decides to go back and give Regina what she had intended to give her.
Regina stands in the kitchen area of her suite, picking at the fruit salad that came with her room service order. Her white robe is hanging loosely around her body, when Emma materializes in front of her.
"Shit!" Regina screams as a piece of cantaloupe goes flying off her fork, landing with a wet smack against the wall. "What are you doing here?! How did you get in?!" Regina demands. The brunette suddenly notices Emma's eyes on her chest, and tightens the belt around her waist.
"It was open," Emma says with a sly smile. Regina glances at the front door where she confirms the top lock is still securely in place. Brown eyes dart back to the blonde invader.
"I doubt that very much," Regina responds tersely, hardly amused by the woman who insists on magically appearing in her room without invitation or warning.
"So, I came to bring you something," Emma reminds the brunette, not dropping her sideways smile. The blonde glances down at where she had seen the beginning of the brunette's tanned cleavage, but the garment has been wrapped so tightly around Regina's body now that Emma is sure the woman is close to choking.
"Miss Swan, I am not interested in your movie. I believe we went over this. Perhaps you have some sort of disorder? A special condition?" Regina is thoroughly incensed, her heart thumping hard against her chest, her muscles tense.
"Cute," Emma says simply, not at all bothered by the brunette's tirade. The blonde actually giggles, quickly imagining Regina literally blowing her top like a cartoon character. Emma plucks a grape out of Regina's fruit bowl and jumps onto the small kitchenette counter.
"Oh please, make yourself at home. Can I serve you plate?" Regina is outraged at the girl's behavior. She obviously has no manners whatsoever. Regina's eyes pass over toned arms. Emma leans her weight forward on her hands, balancing herself forward as she grips the edge of the counter under her thighs. The action makes the bonde's triceps flex and Regina can't stop watching them move.
"No thanks," Emma says happily, ignoring the brunette's sarcasm. "So I brought you this." Emma pulls a small package wrapped in a plastic bag out of her back pocket and hands it to the purple-faced brunette.
"What is it?" she asks before reaching out to take the gift.
"You'll just have to wait and see when you open it." Emma smiles and suddenly Regina feels the blood rush to her feet. She swallows hard, completely unsure of what to say or whether she should open it in front of Emma or wait until later. The sudden shaking in her fingers makes the decision for her and Regina sets the small package down on the counter behind her.
"Thank you," Regina says genuinely, her voice husky from having yelled moments earlier.
"Don't mention it. Plus, you don't even know what it is yet." Emma blushes and it causes Regina's face to brighten as well. "Oh and this too," Emma remembers, pulling another object from her pocket, "but this is just for you to borrow. Ok? Till your stuff gets here. I'm sure your boyfriend or someone thought of packing yours, but in the meantime I think you must be pretty bored in here by yourself." Emma's face turns red in earnest this time as she hands Regina a little red pouch and jumps off the counter.
"I don't know what to say," Regina says, faltering slightly. "Thank you," she smiles, awkwardly this time.
"Well that's something to say," Emma responds quickly, smiling as she walks toward the adjoining door to her room.
"How do you know I'm waiting for my things?" Regina asks, following Emma to the door. Regina's noticed that she doesn't really want the other woman to leave. Emma turns back to the brunette when she reaches the door, her hand gripping the handle. Regina hadn't been expecting this and almost bumps into Emma's chest. She inhales the blonde's perfume. It's not exactly feminine or masculine. It's somewhere in the middle and it smells amazing.
"A woman with perfect eyebrows and flawless hair like yours owns more than one outfit," Emma smiles, letting her gaze drop down a few inches to Regina's lips. They are so close that Emma could close the gap with one tiny drop of her chin. Regina's heart is about to leap out of her chest. She can't really process the moment, or at least she doesn't believe she can. They stay there for what seems like hours. A strange little noise stirs in Regina's throat when Emma licks her lips and seems to lean in slightly. Regina tilts her head back a little, exposing her long inviting neck. Emma clears her throat, breaking the moment, a bit overwhelmed herself. "I'm sorry the judge wouldn't let you off jury duty. The guy is a real douche bag. I heard that he forced a juror in another case to stay on even after a heart attack. I mean I'm sure it was really minor, but still he's a piece of work." Pink lips offer a small smile.
They both take a quiet moment to collect themselves. "Yes. . . well, nothing to be done I suppose. That is terrible though," Regina says awkwardly, almost fumbling with the words. She feels shaken to her core. Literally. "Who told you?" she adds, curiosity getting the best of her yet again.
"Oh a little birdie," Emma responds, her smile nothing short of wicked.
"Hmm," Regina responds, watching Emma cross the threshold into her own room. "I bet that birdie had red hair and fake tits," Regina grumbles under her breath.
"What's that?" Emma asks, already in her room.
"Nothing. Good night." Regina feels an odd rush of pleasure at closing the door on Emma's face. She also makes a mental note to check the door at night. Obviously the cleaning people have been leaving it unlocked. So unprofessional.
Regina's eyes sweep over her room, landing on the two packages on the counter. She opens the one wrapped in plastic first, the one she is allowed to keep. Regina almost does a dance around the room when she sees what it is. "Thank God!" she exclaims, wasting no time in plugging her phone into the brand new charger.
She returns to the kitchen area and regards the red pouch more cautiously. She hopes it isn't drugs. You never know with all those tattoos, she thinks to herself.
A slow smile works its way across Regina's unpainted lips as she discovers the contents of the mysterious pouch. She pulls out the small, well worn MP3 player and earbuds, and turns it on to find it's literally brimming with all kinds of music. Regina's mind goes to ten different thoughts at once. Is this Emma's iPod? Did she load it with a little bit of everything just for me? How did she get the phone charger? Regina doesn't know how to react, no idea how to respond to kindness truth be told. A little voice tells her that Emma probably wants something in return, but the rest of Regina knows that's not true. She walks toward the adjoining door, but stops short of knocking. She feels rather unlike herself right now and is afraid of saying something stupid or weird. Instead Regina finds a bit of paper and simply writes "Thank you" before slipping it under the door into Emma's room.
Following the note, Regina practically floats to her bed as she pops the earbuds in and hits play on the first song on a playlist entitled "Bedtime." She sleeps through the night for the first time since arriving here.
Emma smiles when she picks up the scrap of paper with Regina's handwriting on it. She feels like a lion tamer when it comes to the mysterious and brooding brunette next door. In most of their interactions Emma has been doing her best not to scare her off. She is very pleased by tonight's progress. Her smile persists even as Emma drifts off to sleep, images of the beautiful brunette accompanying her into her dreams.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you like! ;) Thank you to the phenom RileyGirl1 for your superb Beta skills :)