Chapter 3: Heat

No one spoke a single word for an entire minute. Their eyes were locked in a silent combat.

Regina continued to glare at Emma. The gaze from the other side wasn't much pleasant either.

The blonde stood before her, naked save for a bed sheet, hair a tangled mess and with eyes covered in dark circles.

She looks horrible. Of course anyone would… after banging a hooker all night…

Regina frowned and turned away from the naked girl. She dropped her bag on the bed across Emma's and opened it. Carrying a few pieces of clothing, she walked towards the wardrobe. The green eyes remained on her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emma finally spoke up.

"What does it look like I'm doing" Regina snapped back, gesturing at the clothes in her hand, "I'm hanging my clothes in the wardrobe."

The blonde rolled her eyes, "I'm not dumb. Why?"

"I'm going to be staying in this room every Friday night from now on." Regina shrugged and continued to put away her clothes. From the corner of her eye, Regina saw Emma nearly drop her bed sheet at the news. She smirked.

Emma looked as though someone had just slapped her across the face. The expression pleased Regina very much.

She almost expected Emma to yell or have some sort of out burst. Instead, Emma wrapped the bed sheet tightly around her body then collected her clothes before heading towards the washrooms.

Minutes later Regina headed downstairs. Katherine had called a meeting.

"Someone broke into my office last night," the manager spoke as soon as Regina walked into the main hall, "I keep a few bottles of liquor in the bedside cupboard in my office. Two bottles are missing. If any of the members-

"I know who did it" Regina declared, remembering the scene upstairs, "If you'd just follow me Ms. Nolan, I'll take you to your stolen bottles"


Emma's face was priceless. Regina sighed internally watching the brat squirm as Katherine scolded her.

"…not expect this from you of all the people! I'm putting you on dump truck duties for a week. I can't believe you did something like this!"

She deserves it, Regina thought happily. The blonde looked up, apologetic. But as soon as those green eyes found her standing behind the manager, the gaze turned cold.

Regina knew this was far from over.

She couldn't careless.

She left Katherine to deal with the brat and headed towards the disaster zone she was in charge of.

The kitchen.

"All right. Listen up you people!" She announced upon entering. She waited until all the heads turned towards her then continued, "The food you've been putting out is disgusting. You don't know how to cook, you don't know what to cook and you definitely don't know how to clean up after yourselves." She gestured around the kitchen, "Just take a look. You're all losers with absolutely no skill whatsoever-

"Now hold on a minute, miss-

Regina's threatening look immediately quieted the middle aged man who had stepped forward. He slowly backed away among the crowd of cooks.

"I'm a home cook and also currently taking culinary classes in college, so I know what to do. Ms. Nolan put me in charge of this kitchen so I can show you imbeciles how to cook properly. Don't even dare try to contradict me; you know who I am and what it would mean for you. So, shall we begin?"

She took a quick walk around the kitchen. There were four stoves-two on either side of the room, two sinks, a couple wide countertops, a fridge at the far end beside the pantry door, and a huge garbage bin near the backdoor.

"You!" Regina pointed towards a scrawny guy in white apron, "Get the cleaning chemicals from the janitor's closet and start scrubbing the floor and walls. If I see one spot of anything other than paint then you're fired."

The kid was gone in a breath.

"I need a list of everything in the pantry," she spoke to the group of men and women who were now fidgeting nervously.

I love when they squirm. This is so much fun!

"Well? Do I have to pick again or will a couple of you idiots head through that door and get me a list of what I have to work with?"

Two white aprons disappeared behind the steel door.

While the list was being made, Regina ordered everyone to clean out their pots and pans.

"Whatever you cooked since morning, is useless. If I am to eat here with the rest of you the quality of food needs to improve, or I just might fire all of you and get real cooks. I can do that. I have that power."

So they all scurried away to clean up their mess.

Regina was pleased to see their obedience.

"Ms. Mills?"

Regina turned around to find the two boys who went inside the pantry. One of them handed her a small piece of paper. She took a minute to read over the messy handwriting.

"Hmm…well for lunch today… make baked potatoes, roast beef, vegetables and salad. Nothing leaves this kitchen before I taste it, yes?"

Silence.

"Answer me!"

"Yes, miss!"

"Idiots," Regina muttered under her breath as the cooks busied themselves with their duties.


"Fuck!"

"There, there sunshine, take it easy."

"The hell is this, Leroy? Urgh stinks like a muthafuckin'-

"Stop complaining and start sorting, blondie. We've got tons to do"

Emma swallowed hard and put her mask on. Leroy was the shelter's 'garbage man'. He works with the local garbage collectors, drives the dump truck and on his day off volunteers at the shelter. She would be working with him for the entire week.

Emma didn't mind Leroy. He was a nice enough guy, grumpy most of the time, but easy to get along with. He managed to find a jumpsuit that almost fit her. So now she was standing with him, both in matching beige jumpsuits, in front of the huge dumpster.

"We gotta sort through all o' that. Paper and recyclable stuff goes in the green bags, the rest of the shit stays in the black. Then we take 'em in my truck, go 'round the block collecting bags from the seniors' shelter and head off to the site. You'll like the site, it's a land of shit"

Emma actually laughed at that, then frowned as she eyed the dumpster. The smell was nauseating.

"C'mon! Let's get started. I bet the kitchen's gonna call us to empty their bin in a bit, that shit is even more disgusting…all the rotting stuff…."

Emma listened to Leroy's rambles as she sifted through banana peels and chunks from last night's dinner to pick out wrappers.

Almost an hour into the job, the two of them had most of the garbage sorted and divided into the green and black bags. Emma was about to carry a couple bags towards Leroy's truck when a guy came running towards her.

"Would you come and grab the kitchen garbage please?"

Emma nodded and followed the guy in white apron. Once through the door, he pointed towards the big bin in one corner. Emma started in that direction but stopped in her track as she heard yelling.

"You call this gravy? This slimy, brown stuff? What is wrong with you?! I tell you exactly what to do and this is what you give me?!"

The pot clanked against the counter top as the young woman set it down. The cook looked apologetic.

That bitch.

Gritting her teeth, Emma walked towards the bin.

"You," Regina had seen her, "Take this disgusting thing too and dump it" She handed the pan to Emma, and then whispered, "You're enjoying your new job I hope, you do like rolling around with filths after all."

Emma knew exactly what she meant. Something snapped inside her.

She emptied the pot full of 'gravy' on top of Regina's head.

"Oops!" She winked as the liquid dripped down the brunette's head and stained her dress.

Then she grabbed the garbage bags and walked out the doors, whistling happily.


*note: I'm already working on the next chapter. Keep those reviews coming thanks! :)