Chpater 4
ᒪ'éᑭOᑫᑌE
A year before...
Emma's loft apartment was incredibly nice. It was elegant but informal, rustic and minimalist. In a nutshell, for the taste of Regina Mills it was perfect. Regina had no idea what was the reason that impelled her to be there, but she wasn't having a bad time. She had managed to forget Roni, as if their first meeting together had not been wonderful.
The brunette went through the selection of vinyl records that the young blonde had on their shelves. Beyond that, the girl had an impressive number of books, which Regina was also curious about.
"Something that caught your attention?" Asked the blonde, as she approached the woman offering a glass of whiskey. Emma smiles at pleasure for having that amazing woman in her apartment
"Thank you!" She took the glass and she waved it lightly. Then, Regina stared at Emma. "Many things here have captivated my attention". The brunette gave the girl a lovely smile and she took a sip of her drink. "You have an impressive and admirable collection of music from my time"
Regina's first words to Emma, in which she assured her that many things she liked in that place, had made a chill run through the blonde's body.
"What do you mean?" She also took from her own glass
"What do I mean about what?" The brunette was somewhat disconnected at that time
"What do you mean by your time?" Emma gave her a half-ironic smile
"Please Emma! Come on! It's evident that I'm older than you around, I don't know ... About fifteen years?" She spoke with great ease and confidence. The difference between her and the blonde didn't affect her. That is, Regina was aware of her age and didn't hide it
Regina laughed with superiority, turning around to sit on the couch, just in front of where the vinyl records were. She took another sip of her drink and stared hard at Emma.
"You see how I'm right and you don't answer me!" She smiled again, watching her drink of whiskey while she drank it
"I was trying to understand if you're a liar or you just like to brag about looking fabulous at your age!" The girl turned around, taking a vinyl record and placing it on the turntable. The music began to sound and Emma again looked at the brunette intensely. "Because there is no way Regina that you are fifteen years older than me, or rather, that you are from 'that time'"
Regina smiled at the girl, corresponding to the malicious gesture of her. She rolled her eyes and she got up to dance the song 'Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley'; obviously, the brunette danced with the ease and original style for that song.
"And if I tell you that is one of my favorites, do you believe me?" Regina set the glass on the coffee table and she continued her dance
"Who doesn't?" She smiled at her innocently. "That song is the favorite of many girls and boys hahahaha…
"What if I tell you that I was ten years old when that song came out?" The brunette I kept dancing watching the girl fixedly
"There is no way!" She laughed innocently, while she came dancing to the older woman
"There is all the way in the world. Here where you see me, honey, I'm forty years old!" She pointed, lifting the lapels of her dress jacket.
"Wow!" Emma stopped dancing suddenly and she saw the brunette in amazement
"What? What is wrong?" She also stopped dancing, somewhat worried because the girl would dislike her confession about age. "Am I wrong and you aren't twenty-five?" The brunette was afraid that the young woman didn't want her to be in her apartment anymore because of age. "If it's something that bothers you, we can stop talking about it, or I can retire if you like". Regina instinctively started looking for her bag and coat
"Wait! It's not that Regina!" Emma reacted in time to take the brunette arm gently. "Don't! I don't want you to go. It's just that I'm really impressed with how good you look and how young you look, that I can't believe you're fifteen years older than I am. I'm really impressed! I thought that at the most you were six years older than me, but in reality you are right, you are fifteen years older than me". The girl blushed.
"It's fine Emma! Don't worry. Your words don't bother me but praise me. Also, I'm not affected by the age difference in friendships. This is fine for me if it's okay for you too". She smiled at her, taking her place again on the sofa
"For me this is perfect!" She sat down with the woman to drink whiskey. "Do you really want us to be friends?" Emma was somewhat hopeful. The approach with the brunette was taking effect
"Sure Emma!" The brunette smiled sweetly. "Why else would I be here if I didn't want to know you better?" Regina felt a little guilty when she remembered that she had been jealous of Roni because of Emma. "There is no other reason than to discover the interesting life of Miss Swan, my savior from that place"
"Which leads me to ask you... What were you doing in that place? I mean, obviously it's an exclusive place and for anyone who likes that kind of place, but for some reason I don't see you in that place". The blonde was still looking at the brunette with curiosity
"In the first place, I'm not an old woman of high society, rigid or prudish. And in the second place: I show you my identification if you show me yours, since I see that you don't stop doubting about my age". She smiled at the young woman in a sensual way. "I'm not so old as to unzip in that place"
"Done deal!" The blonde ran to find her wallet and from this she took out her identification with some fear. She sat in front of the woman. "At the count of three you put it on the table and I will grab your identification and you mine, without seeing them. Keep face down. One two Three!" Both did the same
"Ok Emma Swan! At the count of three you turn my identification and I turn on yours. It isn't worth making fun". The woman clarified
"The same thing!" Replied the young woman
"One, two, three!" The women flipped their IDs, and she stayed watching the birth dates of each one
"There is no way! There is no way!" The blonde shouted. "You have forty years old, and you will be forty-one years old. You are sixteen years older than me, Regina"
"And you aren't twenty-five, but you have twenty-four. And you... The brunette remained paralyzed, observing the date of birth
"We turn years on the same day! There is no way! Did you realize?" The girl smiled amplify, while the brunette remained somewhat disoriented.
"Yes!" She said with some hesitation. "I see!"
"And what are you going to do for your birthday? There are only eight days left..."
"Nothing!" Suddenly Regina's face transfigured. She gestured with her hand outstretched, as if she was asking the girl for her ID. "Come on!" She gave the girl her ID and she retrieved her ID
"Nothing?" She asked innocently, surprised. She saw her something exasperated suddenly. She handed her the ID but the girl could see the woman's last name. "Is something wrong Regina?"
"Nothing!" The brunette finished a sip of whiskey and she put her things in her bag. "Tomorrow I have many things to do". She stood up suddenly. "I know the exit". With that expression she indicated to the young woman that it wasn't necessary to accompany her
"But!" She was in shock. What the hell was happening? What had she done wrong for that woman to run away? "You said that you wanted to be my friend". The blonde saw the brunette standing right in front of the apartment's exit door.
"I know!" She was like that for a while, stopped in front of the door, trying to contain the urge to cry. Many things had awakened at that precise moment. She didn't feel like talking, but the poor girl wasn't to blame for her traumas. "I never celebrate my birthday, and I don't like going to birthday parties"
"Sorry, I didn't know!" She approached the woman from behind with a desire to hold her and she did so. Regina's perfume was clinging. Even though she didn't know anything about that brunette, more than her last name, her age and what she had just discovered.
Regina took one of Emma's hands, which squeezed her right shoulder and tilting her face, she kissed the hand. Then Emma came out to meet her mouth, causing the woman to turn around and steal a kiss.
For a few seconds Regina replied with some fear and modesty. That was a soft kiss, moist and tender. In that instant of heat, the image of Ruby appeared in front of Regina like an informing ghost. She didn't deserve that life.
"Sorry!" She almost shouted, shoving Emma aside and going to open the door
"No, Regina". She tried to look for that woman's gaze that looked as intense as penetrating. "It's my fault..."
"Don't!" She turned decisively. "It's not that Emma. It's just that I..." She didn't know how to say what she was going to say. "It's just that I'm already dating someone. It isn't fair for you. She and I are just beginning to have intimacy and I respect the commitments. Don't take it bad, you are beautiful Emma Swan and I like you very much, but only as a friend"
Regina gave her one last look of regret and turned around, closing the door behind her. She went down the stairs at full speed, she rode on her Mercedes and she drove to her mansion on the outskirts of the Upper East Side.
Emma was paralyzed in front of the door. Why was that woman looking for her and then rejecting her? Who would she be dating? But the most important question arose in Emma's head. Why was she so jealous about that?
Emma's night had been a total failure in the conquest of Regina Mills, but she didn't want to be discouraged. She was just dating someone else, and maybe that relationship wouldn't prosper. She decided that she would have patience and if she was going to be for her, Regina Mills would appear again on her way.
"Damn!" Emma put her hands to her mouth. "Regina Mills! From the law firm!" The blonde had barely been able to process the things that had happened, that the most important fact about the brunette had been overlooked, until that precise moment.
Emma walked to her room where she had her chest with her most precious memories. From this one she took out a blanket, a small stuffed animal and an album of photographs. She began to turn the pages of the album and some tears escaped her turquoise eyes. She stopped to run her fingers over a newspaper article that said: 'A little newborn is abandoned on the edge of the road, on the property of the famous lawyer Henry Mills.'
-xXx-
When Regina arrived home, a sea of thoughts gathered in her head. She couldn't stop thinking about the terrible night when her life changed. The image of Ruby reproduced perfectly before her eyes, only that the girl was not alive like the last time she had her between her arms.
Having shared with the blonde, she had brought back many memories to her mind, especially because of their age difference and that this was going to be sixteen years after the death of her beloved Ruby.
Emma worried her. She had felt the need to control the blonde, but this girl had been so kind and special to her, that she had managed to move. Everything with the girl was predictable, but complicated.
On the other hand, with Roni everything was different. There was no difficulty, everything was simple and to the point. That girl knew well what she wanted in life and did not hesitate to get it. Not only in her appearance did she resemble Regina; in her youthful impetus too. And there was also another component. Being with Roni was exciting to the extreme. It had that dual function of giving her peace and security, but also keeping her on the verge of nerves.
What was happening with Regina Mills? Maybe she was falling in love with her double, and that's why she was jealous of the blonde, or she was falling in love with Emma, and she was afraid that she would choose her youngest self. Quite crazy her close encounters that night. Do not get to the point of falling in love, because that could not be possible, but what was clear was that they both liked Regina very much.
The brunette decided that it was best to take a long warm bath in a tub. That would make her relax and forget. She would wake up tomorrow to work and wait for her son to return soon. That would be enough for her, to be safe in her house taking care of her son, and working in her parents' firm without pressure. That was the one she had to concentrate on.
Yes, she had had an affair with a young woman, and yes, she had kissed another blonde girl in her apartment, and yes, at two she had met them that Thursday night, but this had nothing bad. She was a free woman now and she had the right to be happy. But to be honest, for Regina Mills, the strange Roni was not just anyone, it was practically her clone, her young and avant-garde version. She could not get Roni out of her mind.
She didn't know anything about the young brunette, only that she worked in that nightclub, being one of the favorites apparently, and quite uninhibited. This girl did not seem to have roots in that place, it did not seem that many were her friends, except for the one who entered her wardrobe and spoke with her by mistake, and perhaps the doorman that night.
When she stopped spinning, she fell asleep thinking that she had had that level of intimacy with Roni, that she had been excellent and that she had made her feel at peace.
The next morning, Regina went to work at her family's law firm, with the conviction that her life should continue as it was, focused on her work and her son. Her personal life was not important to her. Or so she wanted to believe. In truth, it was hard for her to stop thinking about everything that had happened the night before. It was hard not to think about Roni or Emma. For different reasons, both caught her attention.
"Good morning, Mrs. Mills", the receptionist of the place told her.
"Good morning, Ashley", Regina replied to the girl and she made a gesture of her head as a greeting. The brunette was ready to go straight to her office.
"Ms. Mills, excuse me", the girl called her attention. A young woman is waiting for you from earlier. I warned you on the internal telephone, but you did not answer me
"That's because I just arrived, Ashley." She came back to the point. "A girl? What Girl?" She had no idea who it could be. "You know that if you talk to Elsa and that person does not have an appointment, that person does not have to go up." She kept walking towards the elevator.
"The young woman must be in the bathroom. The receptionist looked everywhere. She told me that you knew her and that she had something very important to talk to you about", she chased her boss down the hall to the elevator.
"The rules are basic Ashley, if you can not follow them, I suggest you look for another job." The elevator closed while she saw the young employee and said those words.
The brunette came to the top floor of the office building of the Mills companies. She walked to the end of the hallway where her office was located. Her secretary was sitting, talking on the phone, probably with a client or with the girl at the reception.
"Good morning Elsa!" She greeted the young woman so that she would prepare to talk with her about the pending issues of the day.
"Mrs. Mills." She seemed somewhat frightened or surprised to see her boss in front of her.
"What happened Elsa?", She instinctively stopped to watch her assistant.
"I didn't hear you coming, ." The girl hung up the phone immediately, which revealed that the call was not work.
"That is no reason to scare you." She laughed ironicly and she continued to her office. "Prepare today's business and please bring me my coffee, and Elsa ... Please call me Regina, will you? "The brunette closed the door behind her.
Suddenly, the chair on her desk began to turn and she watched in astonishment that her own face was smiling at her. She already understood Ashley and Elsa. Both spoke as if they had seen her already that morning. And that was the explanation, Roni had arrived before the offices, curiously dressed in a black coat very similar to hers.
This story will continue…