chapter three

"How was your date with the mayor?" Olive sat up on the couch as soon as Hattie came inside, cheeks still flushed, holding her heels instead of wearing them. She didn't need to trip on her way inside. Hattie shushed her sister with a laugh, making it to the couch before falling down beside her.

"Ollie. Ollie. It wasn't a date, okay? It was not."

Olive laughed, going back to flipping through tv channels. "We really need to work on your alcohol tolerance."

Hattie smacked Olive's arm, resting her head on her shoulder. "Did you wait up for me?"

Olive snorted, shaking her head, "No. There was a Lingo marathon on." She paused, looking down at her sister, "...it helped me kill time while I was waiting up for you."

Hattie laughed, "I knew it! The mayor has a kid, did you know? Oh, my god. Her house is gorgeous. And she had this wine...it was so expensive. That's why I'm a little drunk. Don't tell mom."

Olive laughed, tugging a blanket over them, resting her head on one of the pillows on the edge of the couch. Hattie shifted, laying on the other side, yawning and burying her face in the other pillow.

"So, dinner with the mayor." Olive said, settling on a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? marathon until she fell asleep.

Hattie groaned sleepily, nodding her head, "the mayor. And dinner. She's nice, when she's not bitching at me for reminding her that her food was ready. God." Hattie shifted a bit, "she made this amazing lasagna. Oh, god. So much better than mom's cooking. We need a maid again. We can't let her scorch another pan."

Olive laughed, "oh, did you see the pancakes she tried making the other morning? Burnt. So burnt. How does she do it?"

Hattie giggled, shaking her head, "I have no idea. It's a talent. We should probably be proud of her. Oh! Remind me to get lunch for Mayor Mills tomorrow. As a thank you. That's the nice thing to do. I should-I should do that."

Olive nodded an affirmative, "I'll try to remember to remind you to remember."

Hattie pulled some more of the blanket over herself, thinking about Regina as she fell asleep.

Olive remembered to remind Hattie about Regina's lunch. Not directly, but with a hastily written Post-It Note that she stuck on Hattie's forehead while she was sleeping. Not exactly what her sister had been planning on, but it worked.

Hattie slept until noon, and was a mess getting ready so she would be in time for Regina's lunch. Doing the nice thing wasn't what she was good at, but she had to try. Wasn't that what romance novels and movies said was the way to someone's heart? Nice things.

So much for telling Olive it wasn't a date.

Hattie was still buttoning her flannel shirt when she walked out the door, having missed a button twice while inside. The Fall weather was crisp, and leaves whipped around her as she rushed out to her car. Regina had no right making her heart pound so fast.

Hattie also hoped that having a positive relationship with the mayor would make her exempt from speeding tickets.

Parallel parking at Granny's was harder than it looked, and Hattie always gave herself a pat on the back when she managed it without hitting anything. She was beyond thankful that she remembered Regina's usual lunch order, and doubly thankful that Granny remembered Hattie's favorite coffee, and had it ready soon after she walked in. She almost burned her tongue on it, because waiting for it to cool seemed completely out of the question.

"This isn't what you usually order," Ruby said, tapping Hattie's shoulder, sitting down beside her while she waited. "Did your mom finally learn how to not burn a grilled cheese?"

Hattie laughed, downing the rest of her coffee with a shudder. "Oh, god. No. In my dreams, maybe. This isn't for me. It's for Mayor Mills."

Ruby's eyes widened, and she grinned, leaning in close, "the mayor?" She sounded incredulous, because Regina wasn't exactly someone who dated.

Hattie nodded with a little grin, toying with her empty coffee cup.

"We had dinner last night. I thought I'd return the favor." Ruby leaned back in her chair, shaking her head, "You little tramp. Going after the mayor. Do you need a shovel for your digging?"

Hattie smacked Ruby's thigh, pretending to be offended.

"It's not about her money. Spending time with her was just...nice."

Ruby sighed, glancing up when Regina's order was ready and placed on the bar in front of them. "Well, you'd better go, lover girl. Madame Mayor has her lunch soon."

Hattie slid off the barstool, giving Ruby a smile before grabbing the bag, almost tripping over herself as she rushed out.

Regina leaned back in her office chair, dropping her pen down onto the stack of papers in front of her. She couldn't stop obsessing over Hattie. Over the plan, over the kiss on the cheek she got the night before. Before she had any more time to brood, there was a knock on her office door. She expected Graham, or her secretary, so she groaned and called out "come in!"

Hattie opened the door slowly, peeking her head in before actually walking inside the room. Regina's eyes widened for a moment, and wished she hadn't answered at all. Her plan was strictly on her terms, and Hattie making any kind of move wasn't part of the itinerary.

Oh, well, she thought, she'd adjust.

"Can I help you?" Regina asked, crossing her arms, acting as disinterested as possible. Hattie's cheeks flushed pink, just like the night before. She sat Regina's lunch down on her desk,

"I brought you lunch. As a...thank you for last night."

Regina looked down at the bag, unable to help smiling when she saw that it was what she always ordered. Right down to the iced tea, with the correct amount of Sweet & Low packets.

"You remembered my order?"

Hattie nodded, "It's pretty basic. Wasn't that hard. Anyway, I wanted to do something nice."

Regina opened the bag, taking out her food, meticulously adding the sugar packets to her tea before stirring.

"Thank you, dear. Did you find my office alright?"

Hattie looked like she was preparing to lie. She licked her lips, looking around a moment before answering. "Well...define 'alright…'"

Regina laughed, remembering how awful the girl always was with directions. Meeting each other in private was always an ordeal, and Hattie was always late.

"What matters is that you found it."

Hattie smiled at that, sitting down on the edge of Regina's desk. She'd always been like that, pompous and entitled. What had attracted Regina before was annoying her now.

"I really enjoyed last night. Though, I have to ask, was it a date?" She bit her lip, looking down at Regina, and that alone pissed her off to the point of her nostrils flaring. They weren't equals, not anymore.

Regina pursed her lips, looking Hattie up and down, noticing that she'd left one too many buttons on her flannel undone. Probably on purpose.

"A date? Hm. I was under the assumption that I was just...getting to know one of my residents."

Hattie arched an eyebrow,

"Are you telling me that you invite everyone over to your place for wine and a candlelit dinner?"

Regina laughed in spite of herself, looking down at her food with a smile. "Maybe I do. Does that make you jealous, Miss Carson?"

Hattie looked like she was more than up for playing the game. She bit her lip, and Regina had to resist the urge to lean up and bite it.

"Perhaps," she began, "but I'd be less jealous if we went on a proper date tomorrow night."

A proper date. Regina smiled, thinking of how she wanted to go about it. She'd shown Hattie her home, she'd reeled her in enough to make her want more. All that was left was to take her heart and crush it.

"Drinks. Tomorrow. At The White Rabbit. Let's see how many shots you can handle."

Hattie preened, "It's a date," she said, sliding off the desk, walking out of Regina's office.