4 – Please Don't Leave Me I Am Helpless
Friday could not come soon enough for Regina. Luckily her car had finally been fixed, so she didn't need Emma to drive - that conversation she didn't need! Looking in the mirror for the 100th time she fiddled with her hair and pulled down her top a little, although both made next to no difference. She was wearing a red vest with a black lace vertical strip up the back, skinny black jeans and black ankle boots. The vest wasn't low cut because she was looking after a child but it was form fitting. She pulled on her black coat and made her way out the house. Her mother was at a meeting so she locked the door behind her, not bothering to leave a note saying where she was going. It's not like anyone would care.
The house was in a quiet little side street on the outskirts of town. It was quite big with a long wide drive but Regina parked in the road outside, not wanting to impose. She took a deep breath and made her way up drive and knocked on the door. When Mr Locksley opened it, she took a moment to appreciate how good he looked in his white shirt and 2 piece black suit.
"Hello Miss Mills" he said, unnecessarily formally.
"Hi sir" she replied, smiling trying to put him at ease.
They stood in silence for a few moments, until he looked down and Regina saw a little head poking out from around his legs.
"Hello there" she said, kneeling down so she was at his level.
The boy had big brown eyes, a mop of floppy dark curls and his little arms clung to his dads legs furiously.
"My name's Regina" she said, softly, "What's yours?"
"Roland" the boy said, shyly.
Regina stretched out her hand to the boy and smiled warmly. Slowly, Roland stretched out his hand and shook hers.
"Sorry, come in" said Mr Locksley, trying to stop his mind wandering at the sight of her on her knees in front of him. Roland ran off down the corridor as Mr Locksley held the door for her and followed her to the kitchen. The house seemed to be nicely furnished with lots of light woods and greens, it felt homely despite its considerable size. Glancing around they seemed to be the only ones there. Maybe there was no wife, she tried not to get her hopes up before she was sure.
"Okay, so there's alphabet spaghetti in the cupboard for his dinner which he has around 5.30, then if you read him a story he should be ready for bed" said Mr Locksley, ticking each thing off on his fingers.
"Regina?" asked Roland, materialising next to her. "Would you like to see my room?"
"I would love to" Regina grinned, glancing up to check with Robin. He nodded encouraging as Roland held out his hand and she let him lead her down the corridor. His room was small but cosy with the walls covered with dinosaurs.
"Do you like dinosaurs?" she asked, gazing around.
"I love dinosaurs! Do you like them?"
"I do, my favourite is the triceratops" she said, smiling.
"That's my favourite too!" gasped Roland, grinning from ear to ear.
She saw he had the same adorable dimples as his father and her heart melted.
"Right, I've got to run" Mr Locksley said from the doorway, pulling her out of her dream.
He scooped Roland up into his arms and kissed him on the forehead. Regina couldn't help but smile.
"So, I'm always at the other end of the phone if you need anything. And thank you Regina, you're a lifesaver. You don't mind if I call you Regina do you?" he suddenly looked worried.
"No of course not, it is my name! And don't worry, Roland will be well taken care of Mr Locksley" she said, smiling.
"We're not at school, you can call me Robin. If you're comfortable!"
"Okay Robin" she smiled.
"Anyway, be good for Regina and I'll see you tomorrow" he ruffled Roland's hair one more time and headed out.
Regina and Roland sat in the kitchen both tucking into the alphabet spaghetti.
"Hey I got a word!" Roland grinned, pointing at KING that was written in his bowl.
"Nice! I got it's friend!" Regina said, spinning hers round to show QUEEN.
"Now all I need is Knight, that's what Daddy calls me, I'm the knight" Roland said, furrowing his brow as he looked for letters.
"Do you slay dragons and save princesses from evil witches?" asked Regina, unable to keep from smiling at his adorableness.
"I'm the bestest knight in the realm"
"Does that make your daddy King?"
"Yeah he's king of the castle! And you can be the princess, I'll save you from evil witches and dragons!" Roland said, bouncing excitedly.
"Okay, you can save me after you've finished your dinner" Regina said, raising an eyebrow.
After another half hour of play, Regina was sat on the floor next to Roland's bed reading a few pages of his favourite book, Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs. Roland was listening captivated, giggling every time Regina put on a silly voice for each of the characters. Eventually, his eyelids began to droop and Regina shut the book.
"Bed time I think Roland" she said, smiling.
"Okay, night night Princess Regina" he said, pulling the covers up to his chin and snuggling in.
"Goodnight Sir Roland" she smiled, kissing his forehead.
Standing outside Roland's room she weighed up her options; she wanted to look round but would that be imposing? But really, it would be best to check if he was married. She made up her mind and went to look around. An office, a bathroom both nicely furnished but a few tell tale dinosaur toys showing a young child lived there. She took a deep breath as she came to the last door. All her dreams could be crushed with what was behind this door. She pushed open the door and glanced inside. The room was simply furnished, a wardrobe, chest of draws and a king sized bed with forest green sheets. Looking around she saw no signs a woman lived there, no jewellery or lingering smell of perfume and opening the wardrobe she only saw mans clothes. She couldn't help but smile a little. No wife. Not that she had a chance with him anyway! But now her prospects looked slightly better.
It was 10.45 and Regina was lying on the sofa, a mug of tea in her hand and headphones on listening to Hamilton. She didn't hear the door open but she put down the tea and headphones when she saw Robin stagger in.
"Robin?" she sat forward, concerned as he held onto the table for support.
"Regina, hi, how's Roland?" he said, trying to pretend he could walk in a straight line.
"He's fine, here sit down" she said, taking his arm and leading him to the sofa.
He sat down heavily and Regina moved towards the kitchen when he grabbed her arm, "No don't leave" he said his eyes wide.
Regina's heart leapt, "I'm going to make you some coffee, I'll be back in a second"
She left for the kitchen keeping her cool, despite her heart unhelpfully somersaulting.
"Must have been one hell of a staff meeting!" she said, eyebrow raised as she handed him a big mug of black coffee.
"A few of the guys were going out, and I wanted to get to know them" he said, smiling wryly.
"Lets see if you remember anyone tomorrow!"
In the silence, her headphones playing My Shot echoed out loudly.
"Oh I know this one!" he said, starting to move his arms nearly in rhythm, "Imma get a scholarship to kings college, I probably shouldn't brag but dang I amaze and astonish!"
He started to rap, completely out of time and slurring his words together. She couldn't help but giggle at how cute he was.
"Shhhh" she hissed, leaning closer to him as she placed a finger on her lips, "Roland's upstairs"
Suddenly he stopped and she realised how close they were, her finger fell from her lips and she stared deep into his eyes. God damn those eyes, she thought about how easy it would be to lean forward and kiss him.
"I should probably go" she said slowly, wanting nothing more than the exact opposite.
The last thing she wanted was to take advantage of him and make him uncomfortable.
"No" his hands found her waist holding her in place, "Please don't leave me I'm helpless" he tried to sing.
Her heartbeat stopped, his touch sent shivers up her spine and she wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt.
"Robin" she said, gently removing his hands, "If I stayed I'd just be taking advantage and I can't do that to you"
"Regina" he said, sounding heartbroken, "Please stay"
"I can't" Regina said, although she honestly couldn't remember why, "I'll see you later Robin"
And with that she gathered up her things and walked out the door without looking back. As soon as she got in the car she groaned loudly and pulled her legs into her chest. God, he was begging her to stay and she left. She was an idiot. She glanced back at the door but put the keys in the ignition and drove off.
Robin heard the engine and the car slowly going down the road. God what the hell was he doing? He raked a hand through his hair and collapsed back onto the sofa.