Regina was having a difficult day.
Daniel was with her at work, he had come down with the flu and couldn't go to school. Her father had plans, and she didn't want to impose on him any more than she already had, and she was hardly going to ask Emma for help. And she'd realized quite quickly after moving out of her and Emma's home that most of their friends were Emma's friends, leaving Regina with very few people to turn to.
She'd considered getting Damon to stay home with Daniel, but her oldest son had missed too much school already thanks to his bad boy antics, and she was serious about him getting his grades to an acceptable standard.
She herself couldn't stay at home as she'd been off for over a week while she processed the grief of her separation, and now she was needed back to prepare for the company's upcoming merger.
So, Daniel came to work. Regina was a distinguished lawyer and partner at Gold & Sons Law Firm, the only person superior to her in the company was Mr R. Gold himself. The office building was the most modern in Storybrooke, and the nicest. Regina's office was spacious and well decorated.
She'd set her son up on her black silk couch with his Gameboy and a blanket and set about her day.
Which had gotten steadily and steadily worse.
First, her assistant, the loyal but easily distracted Ruby Redford, hadn't kept a very comprehensive journal of things Regina had missed while she was away, and she spent the entire morning sorting out and completing the work.
Lunch had been awful, she was suffering from a surprise bout of morning sickness, this continued right into the afternoon. By the time she had recovered from that she had three different meetings to attend and a pitch to deliver to a prospective marketing contractor.
And she hadn't managed to see Gold all day, he was tied up with clients, and she needed to go over her current cases with him.
But the final straw for her god-awful day came as she was readying herself to leave. Daniel was packed up to go and sitting on Ruby's desk, listening in awe as she explained werewolves to him, and Regina was just jotting down a note to drop in Mr Gold's office, when she noticed a woman approaching her office.
It was HER.
Regina's bad mood turned venomous as she laid eyes on Belle, the intern she'd only recently learnt that Emma had been fucking for a year, and had fallen out of love with Regina to fall in love with.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Regina demanded, her dark eyes flashing as Belle approached her, a sickening smile plastered across her attractive features.
"Hi Regina!" Belle's voice was ridiculously friendly, but behind her perky aesthetic her eyes were laughing with malicious triumph. "Just dropping off a list of things Emma wants back that you stole from her house."
Regina slapped the papers Belle was holding out to her to the floor savagely.
Incensed, she had to swallow hard to keep herself from letting this trollop have a taste of what Regina thought of her.
"If Ms Swan has anything to say to me, she can tell me herself." Regina retorted, grabbing her handbag from her desk and pushing past the younger girl.
"Ruby watch Daniel for five minutes please." She called back as she stalked down the hall, arriving at the ornate door labelled Gold before unceremoniously bursting through it.
"Gold, what the hell is Belle doing here? Why hasn't she been fired?" Regina demanded of her business partner and mentor as she entered his lavish office.
"Regina, do I look like a man who has time to deal with this?" Gold asked her in his strong Irish accent as he gestured at the huge stack of papers across his mahogany desk.
"Get her out of here Gold, she's committed gross misconduct, I want her gone, today." Regina was furious, her anger masking the pain stabbing her heart uncomfortably as she glared at the older man.
"See now I can't do that I'm afraid. I hired her to teach her father a lesson about business, and you know I never go back on my lessons." Gold dismissed her demands almost casually, showing very little remorse at her plight.
Regina could hardly believe her ears. "If not on a business level, as a friend, please, I'm asking you to do me a favour. You can't make me work with her."
Mr Gold's face showed a glimpse of the affection and sympathy he had for Regina and very few others as he spoke.
"Regina, you know you are my dearest friend, and if your request didn't directly conflict with my own purposes, I would grant your favour immediately. But I must deny your request, Belle will stay on until her use is fulfilled."
Regina clasped her hands together in frustration, ready to argue, before the truth dawned on her.
"You fancied her. You hired her for yourself." Regina's death glare and accusatory tone were the legendary weapons she dominated the courtroom with and anyone other than Gold would have cowered in her presence.
"Indeed." Gold admitted, shaking his head ruefully. "Unfortunately, she favours your wife, which has been inconvenient for us both."
"How dare you even compare our situations?" Regina spat, disgusted. "Your unbelievable."
She spun on her heel and stalked out of his office, her expression murderous as he called after her with a chuckle.
"See you tomorrow dearie."