Upon waking the next morning, Regina showers and brushes her teeth about three times to get the rancid taste out of her mouth. Heading downstairs, she can hear Henry playing video games. "Henry," she says, stepping into the den. "Emma had to leave for work last night. Kathryn Nolan's missing."
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"I hope so," she replies honestly. "I have to go to a meeting, but I'll be back soon, okay? if Emma calls, tell her I'll call her back."
Emma rolls over, the sun pulls her from her sleep, and she peeks at the clock...late. "...ffffffuck." She jerks fully awake and goes about her morning quickly. She skips down the buildings stairs and out to her car. She speeds all the way to the station, grateful she is the sheriff. She pulls into her spot and heads into the building, pulling her phone out, and dials Regina's number as she heads in.
In her car a block from Gold's shop, Regina is startled to hear her phone ring. She glances at the display and smiles. "Good morning," she says warmly as she pulls over to the curb. "Did you sleep well? Or is this a professional call?"
"Good morning. I slept horribly, but thank you for asking," she says with a smile. "And both actually. Whenever you make your statement about this, please do not imply that murder is a possibility. Mary made a point, we have no proof of it yet, so it would be wiser not to spread ideas to people. Mary wouldn't have a reason to ABDUCT Kathryn." She pauses, her tone softening. "I am going to be here all day, you know." She pushes through the station door and turns on all the lights.
Regina swallows at the mention of murder. As much as she wants Snow White to suffer, someone else's death shouldn't be part of it. "No, I won't say anything about murder," she replies. "I- I hadn't even thought of that." She pinches the bridge of her nose at Emma's last statement. "I figured as much. I told Henry about Kathryn being missing, and that you would hopefully come home tonight. I hope you can..."
"I will try." She pauses for a second. "...do you want to meet for lunch somewhere?" She takes a seat at her desk as she shifts through papers, finding the proper forms for last night's accident.
"Lunch would be wonderful. I can have something at the house, so you can see Henry, too. Otherwise..." She pauses with a self-conscious laugh. "I'm not sure I can behave enough in public to keep my hands to myself," she finally admits. "But I'll do my best if you'd like to eat at Granny's or something." She glances at her watch and chews at her lower lip.
"Granny's, and I won't have long to eat. I want to stay close." She hopes not to disappoint Regina. "...consider it a test," she says and smirks. "Just give me a little bit."
"I'll take it," Regina says quickly, feeling her cheeks flush at her weakness for this woman. "Call me when you're free and I'll meet you there. And on that note, I should let you get back to work. I'll see you later, my love."
"Sounds like a plan. Love you," she says casually and ends the call. She spend the next while filling out and filing paper work and sorting though the pictures from the previous evening eager for her meeting with the mayor.
Smiling as she replaces her phone in her purse, Regina sighs happily before pulling back out onto the road. She makes her way to Gold's shop and steps inside. "We need to talk," she snarls. "This deal of yours has to stop."
Mr. Gold glances up at her, a wild gleam in his eyes. "Well now, I'm not sure what you're talking about, dearie. Unless you're talking about our 'business arrangement' from a few days ago," he says with a smirk. "But I'll have you remember that I have never broken a deal, and unless you can find something better to offer me, the deal stands. Good day, Madam Mayor."
Emma grabs her coat and badge, making her way out the door of the sheriff's office. She walks the path down to her car quickly and starts the vehicle. She pulls out her phone to call the mayor for their lunch date.
After her thoroughly unproductive meeting with Gold, Regina drove out to where Henry's old castle had been. She stands there, watching the waves crash against the shore in the distance, and wonders what to do at this point. If she can't convince Gold to break their deal, she's going to lose Emma and Henry both. And she can't just give Emma any subtle hints on how to proceed, because she's not exactly sure what the man has planned. She sighs, feeling a headache starting right behind her temples.
Emma heads to the diner and dials Regina's number as she parks her car on the curb out front. She pulls herself out and walks around the side of the building out of ear shot to speak freely to her lover.
The sound of her phone ringing pulls Regina out of her increasingly dark thoughts. Glancing down, she registers the name on the caller ID and smiles. "Hello, Sher- Emma," she says, proud that she only has to clear her throat once to get the sentence out. "Is it time for lunch?"
Emma smiles at the sound of the mayor's voice after a morning of work and leans up against the building. "Yes, ma'am, I went ahead and drove over here, I can get us a booth if you'd like." She pauses nervously. "...I miss you."
Regina feels her heart melt at Emma's words and blinks furiously. "I'm out by the water. I can be there in ten minutes." She wipes at her eyes with her free hand. "I miss you, too, my love. See you soon." She hates having to end the call, but would rather spend her time actually with Emma. She drives a little faster than is safe, but if it means more time with Emma, she'll take it.
Emma smiles as she shoves her phone into her pocket. She rounds the corner into the diner. Ruby lights up and smiles upon seeing her. "Hey lady, just you today?"
Emma freezes up a bit, "Uh-Um, no, two."
Ruby perks an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"
Emma cracks a smile. "It's not what you think it is," she lies. Ruby looks disappointed and leads Emma to a booth against the wall where she takes a seat, "Thanks Ruby." Ruby returns herself to her station up front as Emma begins tearing her napkin apart nervously.
Parking behind Emma's car, Regina sits for a moment and tries to still her racing heart. She hasn't felt this nervous about meeting someone for lunch since... Well, since Daniel. Forcing a long breath out through her nose, she gets out of her car and heads into the diner. As soon as she opens the door, her eyes scan the room and she feels the smile spreading on her face the moment she spots Emma. Ignoring everyone else in the place, she walks over and slides into the booth across from the blonde. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting long, Sheriff Swan," she says with a grin at the sight of the shredded napkin, only remembering their cover story at the last second.
Emma looks around cautiously before allowing a slight smile. "Not at all, Madam Mayor." Her voice drops. "Where were you today? I had to call your office to get some files transferred over for Kathryn's case. They told me you were out of the office, and that apparently you had given them strict orders to relay any sheriff's office requests to you about the time I took over." She pauses, allowing a larger grin. "Just to get to talk to me, I guess."
Regina feels her cheeks flush slightly as she remembers making that rule with her secretary back when she still didn't trust Emma in the slightest. "I..." She pauses and clears her throat. "I wanted to make sure you weren't doing anything untoward in my town." Another pause and she replies in a lower tone, "I had a meeting and a few errands to attend to. Did you call and I missed it?"
"Well it doesn't really matter now, I was just worried you hadn't made it to the office. I know last night was emotional for you." She smiles reassuringly. "Leaving was awful." Images of their evening flood back in to Emma's head. She lets her leg brush the mayor's in an attempt to make contact of any kind.
Smiling briefly at the contact, Regina nods. "It was... difficult, yes, and I woke up with a horrible headache, but I've soldiered through and here we are." Feeling like she might do or say something to break their rule about being in public, she glances around the diner. "How are we supposed to have lunch if there's no one to take our order?"
Ruby stumbles out of the kitchen with a tray of drinks, she dishes them out to a few patrons at the bar with a handful of flirty glances and heads towards Emma and the mayors booth.
Emma jerks her foot away. "...speaks of the devil," she mutters. Ruby pulls a pad from her apron and smacks her gum loudly with a raised eyebrow. "Are you still serving breakfast?"
"Everyday till 2, you just made it," Ruby says with a smile.
Emma smiles. "Alright then, two eggs, sunny side up, a large order of bacon, and toast."
Ruby scribbles, "And for a drink?"
"A single shot screw driver, if you would." She shrugs at Ruby's expression.
Ruby rolls her eyes over to the mayor and her voice is tinged with venom. "Madam Mayor?" She pops her gum.
Regina's eyes narrow slightly as Ruby pops her gum. "Coffee, buttered wheat toast, and one of your grandmother's Caesar salads," she says, then smirks. "And perhaps a little courtesy and attention from the wait staff." She glares at the girl's back for a long moment, then sighs. "I don't know why I let her bad attitude get to me," she finally mutters, then clears her throat. She glances at Emma shyly, wanting to tell the blonde to come home, but says, "So, how are things going with your investigation?"
"Honestly? We have nothing so far. Just what was obvious at the scene. No one had spoken to her. All we know is that she was leaving for Boston." She pauses clearly frustrated at herself. "You were friends, right? Did you hear from her at all?"
Regina shakes her head. "No, the last we'd spoken..." She pauses, frowning. "It was the day before yesterday, she told me that she was going to Boston, that she'd gotten into law school, but that David was staying behi... Oh god, this IS all my fault," she whispers, hearing Gold's cruel laugh in her head.
Emma's hand shot out to the mayor's, with a bewildered look on her face, "Regina?" Emma's voice rises higher than it probably should.
Fighting against the panic that she could have prevented everything if she hadn't been so hell-bent on ruining that little bitch's happiness, Regina grips Emma's hand tightly. "When Kathryn told me she was leaving, but that David was staying, I may have mentioned the rumors about him and Ms. Blanchard." She feels the lie of 'may have' sticking in her throat and can't swallow past it easily as she glances up at Emma. "Do you think she left because of that?"
"Well it probably didn't help, Regina." She pulls her hand away, obviously a bit irritated with the brunette. "I am guessing that's why Kathryn showed up at school and humiliated Mary Margaret, which DOES make her person of interest number one." Emma inhales deeply after her rant and she fights hard to keep her frustration and disappointment of herself pent up as her eyes sting. "Mary has been like family to me. If this all falls on her shoulders just because she has motive, I don't know what I will do." She kicks the mayor's booth seat in frustration.
Feeling the sting of rejection when Emma pulls her hand way, Regina flinches as the blonde kicks at her seat. "I'm sorry," she whispers, struggling to keep herself under control. "I don't know what I was thinking. This wasn't supposed to happen like this."
Emma's expression softens. "What happened to Kathryn wasn't your fault. Figuring it out from here is just my problem." She exhales her frustration and sighs, forcing a smile. "Let's just enjoy lunch, okay?"
Forcing herself to look far happier than she feels, Regina smiles and nods. "That would be wonderful, my love," she says, then flushes hotly at the stunned gasp. Glancing up, she sees Ruby standing there with their drinks. Without thinking, she grabs her purse and pushes past the waitress to run out of the building. "I KNEW I'd mess this up," she mutters to herself, fighting tears, and heads to her car.
Emma throws some money onto the table as she gets up. She shoots a pleading look at Ruby. "Don't say a thing." She grabs her drink and downs it, setting it on the edge of the bar, it as she follows Regina outside. "Regina, wait!" she yells, exasperated, when she steps on the sidewalk. Emma catches the mayor on her elbow from behind and pulls her around into a deep kiss.
Feeling Emma's arms around her, lips against hers, Regina wants to struggle against whatever cruel fate is tormenting her. But instead, she clings to the blonde as if her very life depends on it, pouring everything she feels for Emma into the kiss. Pulling back to catch her breath, she rests her forehead against Emma's and sniffles. "Told you we should have eaten at home," she mutters. "Told you I wouldn't be able to behave, but no, you had to say lunch at Granny's. Now what?"
"Now we wait and deal with whatever happens." She smiles. "This is a conflict of interest, but no one fired Graham for it, I suppose." She places another firm quick kiss on the mayor.
Regina snorts at Emma's comment, but takes solace in the kiss. "Sleeping with the Sheriff is one thing, sleeping with the FEMALE Sheriff is another," she says, arms tightening around Emma's shoulders. "But I don't care. I need to be honest about my life for once." She offers a watery smile and strokes Emma's hair, trying to determine how to fix this hellish situation before it gets worse, and then her stomach growls. "And I'm honestly hungry right now."
Emma nods and realizes a pang is lingering over her stomach. "You tell me what you want to do, Regina. I did already pay for our foo-" She pauses and her expression softens as she eyes her lover's weary face, "You look beautiful."
"No, I don't," Regina replies, feeling the flush heat up her cheeks. "I'm sure I look like a mess, and I'm terrified to step back into that diner, but I need to eat. We both do."
Before she can say anything more, she hears a soft cough from behind Emma. Looking up, she sees Ruby standing there with a sheepish look on her face. "I won't say anything," she says quickly, hands raised in acquiescence, then tilts her head backwards. "But I can't guarantee that anyone else whose face is plastered to the front window won't." She scratches at her arm. "But your food's ready if you still want it."
"To go please, Ruby?" she asks and the waitress nods and leaves to box everything up. She refocuses on the mayor. "Your office?" she asks, placing a kiss on Regina's forehead.
Regina nods, grateful to have this woman in her life. "Let me head over while you get the food," she says and brushes her lips across Emma's. "And maybe do a little damage control? They like you better than me anyway."
Emma nods and pulls away, "I'll be there soon." She steps back into the diner and finds the food already packed to go. She comes back out as Regina's car pulls off and gets into her own to make her way to City Hall.
