Chapter Four
"So, how does this work? Do we sit here and stare at each other, or do you have something more formal planned?"
It was Regina's second session with Emma Swan, and their first alone together at the ofifice. She had sat herself in the free chair directly across from Emma. Wearing a skin tight dress, Regina's sheer black leggings were crossed perfectly at the ankles. Her posture was stiff. Her chin was raised, and her lips were pursed into something complacent.
Emma chose not to acknowledge the way it made her insides feel. Regina caused her stomach to churn with a mixture of fear, and subtle allure. Emma could only imagine that this was how the woman had become such a success. Everything about Regina was alluring; from the top of her immaculately styled brown head, to the tips of her red-soled, Louboutins.
Emma responded with an answer meant, not only to rouse, but also to sway authority back in her court.
"I'm comfortable with either. If you want to sit here and stare at each other, we can do that. Though, I'm not certain that would help me come up a great court case for you."
She watched Regina's eyes lower sharply.
"Listen, why don't we talk about your job?"
Her brow pulled into a perfect arch. "What about my job, Miss Swan?"
"I don't know," Emma shrugged. "Why don't you tell me what you do? From your file, I know you own the company, but what exactly is, Mills Design & Directive?"
Regina's expression didn't falter. "You don't strike me as someone who doesn't do their homework. Something tells me you know exactly who I am, and what my company does for this community."
"Guilty," Emma's stare was strict. "But I want you tell me what it is that you do, for MDD."
"Aside from running the company?"
Emma gave her a no bullshit, commanding nod.
"Well, I am in charge of all of the more, influential customers; the Fortune 500 reconstructions, the paramounts, the multibillion dollar bankruptcies..."
"And then you, what?" Emma's hand turned to the air. "Build them back up again?"
"Precisely."
There was a slight flicker of satisfaction that sparked to life in Regina's eyes as she said it. Emma was thankful to know that at least something brought this woman joy.
"So, you're in marketing and advertising then?" Emma pressed for more.
"You could certainly say that," Regina smirked. "Though, a redesign is a bit more complex than that."
"But you like your job?"
"Of course I like my job. I am good at it."
"I didn't ask how you preformed, only if you liked it."
The woman was testing her with a wicked gleam. Emma's lips were turned up into a genuine grin, but she appeared equally as smug with her questioning. Regina did not enjoy how Emma consistently ventured to put her in her place.
"I like my job, Miss Swan. Now, may we move on?"
"Sure," Emma pushed her glasses to sit at the top of her head. "Is there anything you would prefer to talk about?"
Regina's neck crained to the side. Emma immediately felt the temperature drop.
"I'd like to talk about you."
"About me?"
Emma thrust a thumb into her chest.
Regina straightened her head and nodded.
"Talking about me is as irrelevant as staring at each other. It's not beneficial to your case." Her tone was low, at a deadpan. Emma refused to let this woman win.
"If you'd like me to be more forthcoming with information during our sessions, it would be helpful to know who I am talking too."
Regina said it in such a way that Emma wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not. It could have been another ploy to take the attention off of her. Regardless, Emma saw a door, and she knew she'd be daft not to take it.
"Okay, Miss Mills, we can do your thing." She set her clipboard on the coffee table between them. "I'll answer whatever questions you have for me, but in turn, you must answer one of my own. And none of that generalized bullshit. You give me the type of responses you know I need for this case, got it?"
Regina drew her lips tightly together. "You have a deal, Miss Swan, but I certainly hope you are not using that type of language in front of my son; are you?"
Emma's arms folded over her chest. "No, I do not. Now, tell me about Henry's adoption."
Regina gave her head a quick shake. "No, you don't get to set the standards and then asked the first question. That's not how I'll allow this to work."
"But you already did ask me a question." Emma's lips curled. "You asked if I swore in front of your son."
Regina was silent. Fooled by someone with a masters degree. She wouldn't let that happen again.
"You'll have to be more specific, about the adoption. What do you want to know?"
With her eyes glistening with humor, Emma leaned back in her chair.
"Okay, Miss. Mills," It was a tone she hadn't heard herself use with Regina before. Emma was surprised to hear it applied. "What lead you to adoption? Was it a personal preference, or did you make the decision to adopt with someone else?"
Regina shook her head. "For the sake of keeping things moving, I'll ignore the fact that you slipped a few extra questions in there."
Emma returned the woman's sly grin.
"I adopted Henry as an infant, right after my twenty-ninth birthday. His mother, Ella, she was young, and she couldn't afford to care for him on her own. She had just been accepted to UC Berkley. Her parents, whom did business at one point or another with my mother, knew I was on a waiting list to adopt. They didn't want a baby to ruin Ella's future, so Henry was signed over to me at birth."
"You wanted to adopt." Emma appeared surprised. "Why at twenty nine, as a single parent?"
"I believe you received the answer to your first question, Miss Swan, and as per the rules of your game, it's my turn."
Emma remained stiff in her seat as Regina raised a finger to her chin. A look of satisfaction swept over the woman's face, and Regina leaned forward with her elbows to her knees.
"What's your end game, Miss Swan, with your career. Surely you don't expect me to believe that you want to work here forever; dealing with parents, like me, and making the peasants-peanuts that you do."
Direct as ever, Emma thought. Though, it was becoming increasingly evident that Regina's forwardness was more or less a coping mechanism; but for what, Emma had yet to discover.
"Before I answer that, I'd like to shut down any ideas you have made about my career." Emma frowned. "I like my job, just as you do. I am good at it, and I enjoying working with families overcoming their struggles. It's hardwork, and the pay might not be what you're accustomed to, but it's rewarding, and that's what's important."
"That being said," Emma stilled, her expression grew more serious. "No, social work is not my end game. as you so put it. In fact, next February when I complete my hours and apply for my state license, my plan is to go into private practice."
Regina was pleased with that response. It was subtle, but a small smile tugged up at her lips. "That'll do, Miss Swan." Her tone stayed low.
"Now, let's get back to mine." Emma was wearing a flash of something wicked, but Regina refused to bite.
"Same question, I presume?"
Emma's only response came in the form of a single arched brow.
"You're a surprising woman, and I don't say things like that often." Emma didn't flinch, and Regina was content with her disregard. "Alright then, let's continue... My decision to adopt came after the relationship with my ex-fiance ended. He went as far as taking me to court for partial claim to my company, all thanks to the NY Civil Partnership clause. I was angry, and though I had won, I knew it would be a very long time before I would let someone into my life again. I didn't want my distrust towards new partners, to stand in the way of something I'd always wanted, and that was to be a parent."
Nodding slowly, Emma raised her gaze from the rug. "Are you going to end our game if I make a comment?"
Regina shrugged. "I suppose that depends on what you have to say."
Emma hesitated, but only briefly. "Those are the types of responses I am looking for, Regina. It's answers and insight like that, which will help me build a good case."
Regina's eyes circled to the ceiling. Her arms crossed, and her lips pursed tight over her perfect teeth.
"I am accustomed to dealing with people's assumptions. As a woman in business, and as the daughter of a well known New York City socialite, I find I am unfazed by by idle gossip."
"You don't care what people think of you?"
Regina's response was sharp. "No."
"So, you don't care what people might say if they'd learned about what you had done?"
Regina's head snapped to Emma. "What did I say about the stench of blackmail, Miss Swan?" Her eyes darkened to match her coat.
"That's not a threat, Regina. I was only asking about how you felt."
She held her pointed look. "Your time for questions is over."
"We still have twenty minutes left on the clock."
"Per your game," Regina's lips curled to the side, and her tone remained even. "Per your game, it is my turn."
Emma's hands raised in surrender. "Have at it, then."
Regina watched Emma relax back into her chair. It was infuriating to her that she couldn't get under this woman's skin. It was as if Emma had up an invisible shield, and that meant Regina was determined to break it.
Never, had someone been able to say that they didn't fear Regina Mills.
And she wasn't about to let that change now; especially with one, Miss. Emma Swan.
"What do you think of me, Miss Swan?"
Emma's brows pinched together. "Is that your question?"
"It most certainly is."
"You're not worried about what I might say?"
Regina's head tilt and her legs recrossed behind the knee. "Nice try, but I am waiting."
Silence filtered over the pair as Emma considered her thoughts. It would be easy for her to say that Regina was pretentious, or a snob eve. Emma wanted to tell her that she wished Regina would cut the shit so they could make progress in their sessions. But alas, Emma could do none of those things.
She had, at a minimum, another sixty days of seeing this woman weekly. Insulting Regina would only make her job harder, and that was something Emma could no longer afford.
"The truth?" She asked.
"I expect it."
Emma reeled in a deep breath. "Fine," She nodded forcefully. "Then here it goes. What I think about you, Regina, is this- I think you want to intimidate me. I think you live for it, and even though you've been successful at times, I'll never give you the satisfaction of knowing it. I think you want your social, and your home life, to operate as routinely and as successfully as your business. And I think that when it doesn't, you make the lives of everyone around you, unbearable."
"And lastly, I believe that, even though you've sought to make my job very difficult, I think that you like it here, and I think you know that I am on your side."
Regina didn't respond, but she didn't appear insulted either. In fact, she looked more smug than Emma had ever seen her appear before.
Finally, Regina stood.
"If there is one thing I've learned while doing business with broken people, it is how to read a situation. I can tell when someone is scared. I know when they think they have the upper hand. But most importantly, I can always tell when a person is lying."
Regina slipped her jacket gingerly over her shoulders and returned her stare.
"Their eyes, though holding your own while they talk, they look through you instead of at. They pick up a habit they believe is subtle, like tapping their pen or scratching an irritating itch. For you, Miss Swan, it's your toes. You think I cannot see them wiggling because they are hidden within your shoes, but the hem of your pants, they shake...
"And then, at the height of the lie, they always end with a compliment about themselves. They do this to drag the attention away from the fact that they haven't been telling the full truth."
She moved to stand by the door. She lifted her designer bag to her shoulder, and then Regina grinned.
"So, same time next week?" She asked.
And left before receiving a response.