AN: Hey guys, I know it's been a while and I can't apologize enough. I got caught up with school and life and this story just kind of left me, or I left it I suppose. Anyway if you are excited for another chapter after months and months you should thank my girlfriend that wouldn't stop dropping comments about finishing this. I can't promise it's going to be finished anytime soon, but you can expect a few more updates in the next couple weeks. I hope you enjoy this chapter!1 Let me know what you think, I swear reviews give me ideas and make me write faster.
Chapter Seven: Sands of Time
Present Day
Regina was damn near running towards her office by the time ten o'clock rolled around. She cursed herself when she saw Tina Bell waiting patiently on the bench beside her office door.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible." A lie, a blatant lie. There was no doubt that Ms. Belle knew more so than Regina just how good or bad traffic was.
"It's okay I haven't been here long." Another lie, but Regina was happy for it.
It wasn't that she hated to be late, there were days when she didn't come into the office until one or two in the afternoon, but she was always, always on time for meetings with clients. Early, if she was being honest with herself. Yet, here she was, an entire twenty minutes late to a meeting with Kat's friend from college. She hadn't planned to be, of course, there had been no emergency, no delay that was out of her control, only herself. It had been a day like she hadn't had in what seemed like years, and it wasn't even noon yet.
She had woken early in the morning when the sky was still dark enough to be considered night and she had lied in bed simply staring out her bedroom window. The city lights were far too dim with her curtains pulled, and the sounds in her apartment too quiet to drown out her thoughts. Thoughts of Emma Swan and the ridiculousness of her situation. She had dwelt on the woman for far too long and after fifteen years she felt as if it was time to move on, to feel that way again without the hindrance of an old flame deep within her chest.
When she had finally fallen back asleep the sun was already painting the sky in various shades of gray and purple and although she had sworn to wake up an hour later it hadn't happened. Her driver had called six times before she was out of the shower and another three before she was finished readying herself for the day.
"Well, no need to keep you waiting any longer, follow me and we'll go over what I have so far," she told Ms. Bell.
They walked in silence into the small office and Tina sat down while Regina began to pull out various documents and forms.
"I am really thankful for you doing this. I didn't think it would be necessary for me to get a lawyer. Killian and I were never cruel to each other during our marriage and to think that he would try to take everything that I have worked so hard for honestly amazes me." Tina said, mostly just to fill the awkward silence that was hanging in the air between them.
"Yes well, men tend to throw more tantrums in times like this than women do if you believe it," Regina joked. "But from what I've been able to find I don't think that you will have any trouble." She laid out a small stack of papers on the far side of her desk. "It seems that while Mr. Jones has had no documentable income in the six years that you were married, and the studio and apartment are in yours and Emma Nolan's name that there is no way he has any claim to those. He is however entitled to an extremely small portion of your possessions. Small things really, nothing you need to fret over, a sofa that is being rented in both of your names, and the acre of land that you purchased three years ago upstate."
"Done, that stupid land was his anyway. A way for him to drain our money and talk about his dream of being an outdoors man." Tink joked and Regina gave her a tight lipped smile.
"I've also been in contact with his lawyer and he's asking for the car that is in both of your names as well."
"He can have it, it's a hunk of junk anyway I'd rather pay for a cab."
"Well, this has been easy enough. Next week we'll meet with Mr. Jones and his attorney and get this over and done with once and for all." The lawyer smiled and stood up behind her desk.
"Thank you so much, really Ms. Mills, you've been a lifesaver." Tink stood and offered her hand to the brunette.
"No problem at all, like I said your case was easy."
As Tink turned to leave a picture caught her attention and she stood in front of it for a moment. It was Emma's work, an older piece, but she would recognize it anywhere.
Before she could comment though Ms. Mills walked up behind her. "It's a beautiful piece isn't it?"
"Yes, it it," Tink began, but once again her lawyer cut her off before she had a chance to speak of her friendship with Emma.
"I knew the photographer a long time ago," Regina said, and the look in her eye and the tone of her voice had Tink curious enough to not speak up of her own relationship.
"Really?" She asked instead.
"Yes, sort of a teenage love affair." There was a husky chuckle in the other woman's voice, but Tink could see the longing on her face. "The type that makes you understand what love really is in a way that no other relationship can."
Oh my God! Tink felt the pieces fall together, heard the metaphorical light bulb click on above her head and felt it's glow on her face as she smiled. "That's nice, do you still talk to her? I love meeting other artists around the city."
"I haven't spoken to her in over a decade, but I saw this picture a few years back and knew it was hers.' Regina smiled, it was nice to be able to speak to someone about Emma without actually speaking to them about her.
"Well, maybe one day you'll meet again." Tink smiled and wondered if Kathryn knew of this affair torn apart.
"Maybe, but I have stopped hoping that it will ever happen." There were tears in brown eyes, "anyway, I'll call to set up a time for next week and we'll get this whole thing sorted." The subject was changed and Tink knew that she would need to speak to Kat before the day was through.
Emma sat on the floor of her apartment, surrounded by photographs. She was sure that Tink was right and that this show was going to be the way to move on once and for all, but trying to determine which photos were right for a show about Regina was more difficult than she believed it would be. Nearly all of her work revolved around the woman, and not only was she afraid of losing her muse once she moved on from that, but she was having trouble determining which ones were the ones that were detrimental when showcasing Regina. She had been at it for hours, sorting through photographs that brought up memories she hadn't thought of in years. So far she only had one in the show pile and about sixty in the no pile.
She sighed in defeat. This wasn't going to work, it didn't feel right. In order for this show to be what she needed to it to be, for it to truly help her to move on it couldn't be like this. She couldn't take old pieces and throw them together just to make a quick buck, it needed to mean something. She needed the photographs to tell a story, their story, her story after Regina. They needed to present themselves like a novel that you couldn't put down. The hope and heartache had to be present in every piece, the longing had to be evident, but so did the acceptance that it was all in the past. She was going to do this right. First, she would need a model. It couldn't be Ruby, or any of her favorites really, she needed someone new, someone with raven hair and chocolate eyes that could smolder the camera into flashing on its own accord.
She got to work calling around to see if anyone had recommendations, and then she would have to meet with each girl individually until she found the one that was right. It wasn't an easy process and although she would have like to have had it done by the end of the week, she knew that it was going to be a while before this show even began to come together.
It was later that evening after she had called around and been told by her friend that he thought he knew just the girl for the job that she decided to pick up the discarded photos from her floor. The only one that had made it to the show pile felt heavy in her hands when she picked it up, but she wasn't sure if it was the picture or the memory it held…
Fifteen years before…
"Regina will you slow down, we have all night," Emma called as she tried and failed to keep up with the brunette as she made her way through the forest.
"I want to be as far away away as I can in case Daddy decides to step outside and smoke a cigar since Mother is asleep." She explained.
"Hey, we're a mile away from the vineyard, he won't see us," Emma assured as she finally caught Regina's hand in her own. "Relax, we have all night."
Regina smiled, "you're right, all night and a basket full of snacks."
Emma smiled back. It was the end of Regina's third week at the vineyard and somehow it felt like years and seconds all at the same time. As if a day passed in the same amount of time as a breath, but sometimes those breaths felt like eternity was entering your lungs and taking root.
"Did you pack your camera?" The brown eyed girl asked teasingly.
Emma huffed, "no, I am going to capture this night in my mind and not on film."
Regina grinned, "I love your pictures darling, but tonight I don't want that camera in front of your face when I decide I want to kiss you."
Emma blushed and laid the blanket she had under her arm out on the ground. It was the first night she had been able to talk Regina into sneaking out with her. They had filled every day of the last three weeks with each other, but at the end of Emma's work day when she had to be home for curfew they had said goodbye and spent all night wishing the other was there.
"So I got something for us," The blonde said as she pulled out a bottle of cheap wine that her neighbor had bought for her. "I know it's nothing like what Robin or your mom would buy you, but it's all I could get and I figured it would be cool to have for tonight." She rubbed the back of her neck, a nervous habit that Regina had come to expect any time Emma did something that seemed even the least bit risky.
"It's perfect, I've never actually had wine so it will be the best I've ever tasted." She joked in an attempt to make the girl she was all too quickly falling for crack a smile.
It worked. "Okay, good." Emma leaned back and lifted her head towards the sky that was more stars than darkness.
"My God you are beautiful," Regina whispered in amazement as the moon shone down on Emma's porcelain skin.
"Oh stop, come sit beside me, the sky is beautiful tonight."
Regina did as she was asked and sat down on the hard forest floor.
"See that group of stars there?" Emma asked, pointing up to a formation that Regina was sure she had learned about in Earth Science class as a freshman. She nodded, that's my favorite constellation, it's Cassiopeia." Emma explained.
"Oh yeah, she was like a queen right?" Regina asked.
"Yeah, she was a vain queen. She thought she was the most beautiful woman in all of history and was sure no one would ever be as beautiful as her, which obviously was wrong because like here you are. Anyway, she pissed Poseidon off pretty bad because she said she was more beautiful than his sea nymphs and he punished her by placing her in the stars, at the north pole so that she will circle the heavens on her head and cling to her throne for half a year."
"You are so smart," Regina commented, "how on earth were you still single when I showed up here?" She teased.
"My dad says I'm strong willed and my mom says I'm too picky," she chuckled, " I think I just love the stars too much."
"The stars?" The brunette asked.
""Yeah, I've always been amazed by them, and if it wasn't for the fact that I absolutely love photography I would go into astrology."
"Okay, but how does that affect your love life?"
"I look at the stars like they might fall out of the sky at any moment like this might be the last chance I ever get to look at how beautiful they are. I look at them like they have everything to teach me about life, but only a limited amount of time to teach me. They are the most beautiful thing in nature, and yet we only get to see them for a few hours. I just want someone to look at me like that, to look at me like they are afraid to lose me, but so amazed by me that they need more. I want them to look at me like I am enough like I am something worth learning about instead of just something to look at for a while then move on. And I hadn't found that." Green eyes stayed focused on the night above them, but brown ones looked at the stars reflected back in them. "You look at me like that Regina, you have since the day we met, and that thrills me and terrifies me all at once because just like the stars, we are on a time frame here that is running out by the minute and I hate to think about the day when I'm back to just being the lonely girl that only has the stars to love. I hate thinking about the day when goodbye is not just until the next day but it's you going away for good to marry that asshole with a girl name." Emma had tears in her eyes, but her pride held them there with shaky arms.
"I love you," Regina said suddenly and the shock on both of their faces was evident even in the night.
"What?" Emma asked, and whether it was because she hadn't heard the nearly whispered confession or because she was giving Regina a chance to take it back the brunette wasn't sure.
"I love you," She said again anyway. "I am so scared because I love you and I barely know you, but I do. I feel like I am holding on to a clock that is going to strike twelve and I'm going to be left holding a worn out Converse in my hand and wondering what happened to the amazing girl I wanted to spend my life getting to know."
"Well, we'll just have to make more time. We will figure out a way to handle this situation with Robin and your mom and we will be happy together because I love you too." Emma promised with such certainty that Regina felt a hope bloom in her chest that she had never known before.
They laid on the blanket in the middle of the forest, stealing kisses, and dosing to sleep for the rest of the night until they had to sneak back to their respective bed just before dawn. It would be a long day for both of them when the sun shone through their windows and woke them only hours later, but neither of them could deny that the bags beneath their eyes were more than worth it.
Present Day
Emma dropped the photo onto the coffee table, she would decide another day if it was going to be in the show or not. In that moment all she wanted was a beer and her best friend to vent to.
Unfortunately for the photographer, Tink wouldn't be home when she walked up the stairs with a box of donuts in her hand, because she and Kat had a lot to talk about in regards to their best friends.
