Emma picked up two coffees on her way into the office. She'd been Regina's PA for a month now and they still hadn't spoken of the trial period and when it was due to end. The coffees were part of her morning routine and Ruby walked over with her from the B&B in the mornings to help open up the diner her grandmother ran. She was so sweet, they had become fast friends when she found out Emma was from the city, always asking her questions and talking about how she wanted to go.
Emma knocked on Regina's door before entering. She had tried arriving first at the office, but Regina had told her not to worry, she liked to get in really early for the peace and quiet. As long as Emma brought the coffee in before 9am she was happy.
"Just put it on the desk, thank you. I have a meeting in half an hour and might not be back this afternoon. There's outgoing mail in the tray and I need you to collect some files from the archive rooms."
Emma nodded; taking out the small notepad she had learnt to carry with her at all times. She made notes and Regina gave her the instructions for the day and glanced longingly at the coffee on the desk. It was no use trying to drink it until Regina had finished because she would just miss something important.
"Make sure you check everything is locked up when you leave. If you have any questions leave me a message on my cell phone and I'll get back to you."
"Sure."
Regina waved her back out and Emma grabbed at her coffee. Somehow she missed it and knocked the drink over Regina's desk, spilling it everywhere.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Emma said grabbing at the tissue box on the desk and pulling out handfuls of tissues to try and mop up the coffee.
"It's fine." Regina said, putting a hand out to stop Emma from further messing up the papers. "It was an accident. Why don't you take the empty cups and I'll sort out the desk."
"But your meeting…"
"I'm allowed to be late once. I am the mayor." Regina lifted the coffee stained tissues and threw them in the bin.
Thank goodness she had already packed the documents for the meeting and kept her desk in order.
"I'll go and make you another coffee." Emma offered.
"No. Thank you. I'll get something at the meeting."
Emma went out to her desk, cursing her clumsiness. When Regina finally left for her meeting, Emma pretended to be busy on the telephone and didn't turn around. She knew Regina wouldn't think it rude, but she still felt so embarrassed.
That afternoon, when the meeting was finished, Regina looked at her watch and realised she still had time to get back to the office and drop off her notes. If she did that she could forget about them over the weekend. If she took them home she would only read through them again and consider typing them up. She just couldn't get used to having a PA there to do such things for her. If it hadn't been for that clerk discovering the extra money in the city funds for an assistant… well, it had happened and she had agreed to advertise the position. It had only taken how long, for someone to actually apply?
Reinga pushed open the doors to the outer office and walked past Emma's empty desk. She slipped into her office and closed the door to give herself some privacy. There were a few messages stuck to her computer monitor on post-it notes. They had run out of the official telephone message pads and were waiting for the new stationery order to be delivered. She browsed the messages, not bothering to remove them. There was nothing requiring her urgent attention so she just put her notes in the out tray on her desk and walked back to the door. Before she could open it she heard a burs to of music coming from a cell phone. She realised it had to be Emma's, the ring tone was certainly unique. Emma picked it up and began speaking in hushed tones. Regina wanted to remind her that she wasn't supposed to take personal calls while at work, except in an emergency or during her breaks, but she heard her name mentioned. Curiosity got the better of her and she started to listen to the conversation.
"No, I don't think I'll be here long. Regina must think I'm an absolute idiot. This morning I spilt a hot drink over her desk. Yesterday I jammed the photocopier and smoke started to come out. She had to come over and switch it off so it didn't catch fire. It got so hot I couldn't remove the paper until it cooled down, and if she hadn't been there to warn me I would have tried and probably burnt my fingers. I don't know what I'm doing here…. Yes I know you think I'm meant to be here, that's it's good experience... She doesn't really need me here, she's so organised she could run the whole town single-handedly. A PA is supposed to have exams and things and what have I got?….That's sweet but… I really should get back to work now… I'll call you if I need a lift home."
There was an even longer pause, but Regina knew Emma hadn't hung up yet.
"What sort of a question is that? No August, I will not answer… Why? Because… look I'm not getting flustered because she's so hot. Well yes of course I think she is, I'm not blind. What do you want me to say?" Emma laughed. "I know I don't have to worry about mixed signals, Regina isn't that kind of boss. She'd never tolerate relationships with a member of staff, I think there was a memo about inter-office romances in the induction pack, so you see I'm not running away from her. I'd be quitting before she could want to fire me. That sort of thing looks bad on a résumé, you know. Seriously, I have to go. I have a ton of work to get through before tomorrow. Call me later… okay, bye."
Satisfied that Emma had hung up, Regina walked back to her chair to sit down. It had been a very interesting conversation. She waited until she heard Emma leave her desk to make another cup of coffee before sneaking back out.
