A/N: I am SO sorry for taking so much time to publish this chapter! Life got in the way, yanno? I had exams, and also I was very busy being lazy ;) This chapter is short because I wrote it in two parts. I'll be publishing the next chapter as soon as I have this one up. The next chapter is from Regina's point of view (which I'm excited about because I love Regina) and something prettttty special happens in her life. Anyway. I'll stop rambling and let you read. Thank you to everyone who has followed and faved this story, it means more than you could ever imagine. PLEASE REVIEW!
Rated M for later chapters.
Emma fell asleep after tossing and turning in her bed for what seemed like hours. She woke up the next morning in a horrible mood, as did her children. The twins were both grumpy all morning, and Emma couldn't find it in herself to cheer them up. She left the two of them screaming and crying with a pale faced Aurora. By the time she'd reached her office, she was already feeling guilty about leaving the apartment in such an uproar, and called Aurora to apologize. She reassured the twins that she'd be home in time for dinner over the phone, which she hoped would appease them for the remainder of the day. Belle stepped into Emma's office just as Emma had seated herself behind her desk.
"How's it going?" Belle asked, her usual smile adorning her face. Emma shrugged, like a sulking child. Belle rolled her eyes and sat down. The spent the rest of the morning discussing publicity and Emma's up coming trip to Paris, where her art would be featured in the Louvre. By lunchtime, Emma was bored and ravenous. She considered going out to grab something to eat, but decided that she'd go upstairs and ask Gold's assistant, Neal, to go get her a meal. In the elevator on the way up to Gold's office, Emma stood next to three men in dark suits whom she'd never seen before. People from The Magnet, no doubt. Emma tried her best not to glare at them as the elevator made its way up to the top floor, but she was unsuccessful, and the three men seemed quite uncomfortable by the time they reached their destination. Emma knew she was being childish, but she also knew that she had to be cautious around the new additions to the company. She hated change, and The Magnet taking over StudioArt was certainly a big change. Emma's head was down, absorbed in her phone, reading a tweet that a fan had sent her, and didn't bother to look up when she entered Gold's office.
"Where's Neal?" she asked, still not looking up. "I need him to go grab me some-" Emma stopped abruptly, looking up and noticing for the first time that she and Gold were not the only ones in the room. A very harassed looking Regina Mills stood in front of Golds desk, facing Emma. Even in her surprise, Emma couldn't help but notice how good Regina looked. She dragged her eyes over Regina's body, from the six-inch heels, to the tight skirt, to the white dress shirt that showed just a little too much cleavage. Her lips were painted red, and her makeup was, as per usual, flawless. Emma felt guilty for appreciating the view, but she couldn't help it.
"Emma, dearie, hello!" Gold said cheerfully, grinning at her.
"Miss. Swan." Regina greeted, with no trace of a smile.
"Miss. Mills and I were just discussing the future of the company. You'll be happy to hear that she doesn't intend to change anything!" Gold said, still grinning. Emma mumbled something about how Regina Mills was a big change in the first place. She had nothing against the older woman; in fact, in any other situation she'd be enamored by the woman before her, but Emma wasn't interested in having this lady as her boss. She'd heard the stories, and she knew the artists that had occasionally been commissioned from StudioArt to do some art for The Magnet came back with stories of how horribly Regina Mills treated her employees. They called her the evil queen.
"What was that, Miss. Swan?" Regina asked in a sharp tone, catching Emma's mumbled sentence.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Emma said, looking right into Regina's eyes, and smiling serenely. She turned to Gold and asked about the whereabouts of his assistant. He waved her towards the break room, the smile never leaving his face. Emma shot one more glare in Regina's direction, and exited Gold's office. Regina, on the other hand, wasn't paying Emma any attention in the slightest. She seemed immersed in the work she had set out in front of her. Emma couldn't figure out why she was suddenly so averse to the brunette. Just a couple nights ago she was considering seducing the woman, and now she wanted nothing to do with her. Maybe it was because she liked to be in charge, and she couldn't be in charge if Regina was her boss. She hated the idea of Regina being able to tell her what to do. She groaned when she realized how attracted she was to the woman.
"Fuck. Of course I'm attracted to her. Of course I'm attracted to my fucking boss. Just fucking perfect." Emma muttered. When she reached the break room, she snapped at a very surprised Neal to go get her some lunch. Her revelation had put her in even more of a sour mood. By the time Neal returned with her customary lunch, a burger, root beer, and a bear claw, Emma had cooled off. She apologized to Neal for her previous behavior, and he accepted her apology graciously.
By the time she was ready to leave, Emma was exhausted, and she didn't even know why. She'd done pretty much nothing all day, except listen to Belle drone on and on about her upcoming trip to Paris. As she approached her Audi in the parking garage, she realized she forgotten her keys in her office.
"I'm just having a marvelous day, aren't I?" she groaned, re entering the elevator to go fetch her keys. When she entered the elevator for the third time, keys in hand, she was so busy rummaging around in her bag looking for her phone she failed to notice that she wasn't the only occupant of the elevator.
"Miss. Swan." Regina greeted tonelessly. Emma jumped.
"Holy shit!" she exclaimed. "Fuck Regina, you scared me."
"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from using such vulgar language around me. And, maybe if you looked where you were going, you wouldn't be so surprised all the time. This is the second time today that I've scared you." Regina stated, accompanied by a glare. Emma blinked. She hadn't expected Regina to actually say more than a few words to her.
"Yeah. Well." She mumbled, looking down at her feet. Regina gave her a curious look, but chose to remain silent. Emma's toes curled in her black leather boots, and she wanted nothing more than for the elevator ride to be over. They spent the next couple seconds in an awkward silence, and finally, the elevator stopped on the bottom floor. The women disembarked from the elevator, and Emma mentally groaned when she realized that Regina was going in the same direction as her. She spotted a black Mercedes Benz parked next to her yellow Audi on the far side of the parking garage, and immediately guessed that it was Regina's car. Of course it was Regina's car. Because this couldn't possibly get any more awkward. Emma was so busy avoiding looking at Regina, she dropped her keys. The sound bounced off the walls of the empty garage as the keys clattered to the ground. Of course this could get more awkward. Regina looked over at her, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised. Her full lips were turned upward, and she was almost smiling. Almost. Emma sighed. The two reached their vehicles in silence. Just as Emma was about to close the door of her car, Regina cleared her throat.
"Miss. Swan." She called, "Gold told me that you're not the most enthusiastic about this change, and I'd just like to say that I hope we can work well together, and I am looking forward to doing so. It was pleasant talking to you at your opening the other night." Emma looked over at Regina. She nodded, and gave the woman a tight-lipped smile. She then started her car, and proceeded to pull out of the garage.