Chapter Ten

The restaurant was packed to capacity.

It was a local dive, selling more ambiance than post-worthy food. The Grey House attracted the afternoon work crowd because of their quick service, and because no one batted an eye when you ordered a drink before five pm. The pub had been a favorite of Emma's since she attended the School of Social Work at Colombia. She and Graham used to meet for lunch every Monday, too. They'd split an app, shoot the shit over a beer or two, and then return to their day.

That was before Emma had taken on Regina's case. Since then, the roommates had decided upon using caution while out in public together.

But on this Monday afternoon, Emma made an exception. She threw caution to the wayside and invited Graham to lunch. When he'd refused to answer her calls yesterday, after her morning with Regina, and then when he failed to come home before Emma went to sleep that night, she'd given Graham an ultimatum.

"You're meeting me at Grey House, eleven thirty, no ifs, ands, or buts."

So, it didn't come as a surprise to Emma when Graham showed up.

He found her sitting in a corner booth by the windows. Emma's green eyes were cast low, signaling that she had something she needed to say.

By the time Graham slid into the bench in front of her, Emma had already convinced herself of two things. The first being, that Regina was, with certainty, not interested in her. After an evening of stress and strain, and an endless sickness that prevented her from eating anything that wasn't liquid, Emma knew that much to be true.

The flirtatious undertone, that Regina was always so quick to use on her, was a mere means for harnessing control over their situation. The woman couldn't cope with the fact that Emma was in charge. Regina needed to know, that at the end of the day, it was her who wrote the rules. That was who she was; a rule builder.

And in order to maintain that level of authority, Regina used the one piece of personal information she knew that she could confidently use against Emma; her sexuality. By making Emma vulnerable, Regina had the leg up.

What was she hiding? It had to be something. Otherwise, why would Regina be going through all of this trouble to feign an interest in her? What was she trying to distract Emma from?

Regina had to know that manipulating Emma would make it impossible for her to give a bad testimony against her in court. It had Emma considering what other lengths Regina would go to, in order to make certain that this trial went her way.

Were the fantasy books with Henry a stage-play? What about their shared stories?

No, Emma had concluded. That would be too far for even someone like Regina to push.

The second, and last thing that Emma had decided, was that she hated Graham; loathed him entirely, really. If she could have worn her glare any harder, Emma would have.

"Your face is going to get stuck like that." Graham teased.

Emma's expression didn't falter. "Yeah, and yours is going to get kicked in, and you will still be uglier than me."

Graham took a sip of the beer waiting in front of him as he rolled his eyes. "Someone is feeling more hostile than usual."

He picked up the menu, but Emma was quick to snatch it away. "Don't bother." She lectured. "I already ordered."

"Okay..." Graham sung. "Looks like we're having one of those lunches."

"Cut the crap," Emma continued. "I brought you here because I want your full attention. Don't think I haven't noticed how hard to get ahold of you have been lately."

Graham's eyes rose to her tentatively. He ran a hand through his curly hair, and sighed. "Things at work have begun to speed up." He began. "I'm afraid Human Resources is going to try and take Regina down before her trial."

"They can't do that." Emma shook her head. "The court hasn't convicted her of anything, yet."

Graham shrugged. "They're working on a technicality. Their hope is that they can move forward with the termination hearing using the MDD witnesses. In their minds, insinuation is cause enough to push this through to the board, and if Regina is charged, it'll only move their process along faster."

Emma hummed dejectedly as she sipped her beer. "Does Regina know that all of this is going on?"

"Of course she does, everyone knows!" The man expressed. "The whole damn reception crew is bursting with gossip."

"And does anyone have any idea who is orchestrating all this? I mean, terminating the founder of a multi-million dollar company; that has to be an inside job, right?"

Graham shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine is. There are dozens of hands on ownership now. It could be internal. It could be external. It could even be a mix of both; a client or competitor. Whoever it is, though, they are smart. They're smarter than Regina would give them credit for."

"But you think she knows who is behind this?"

"She has to, don't you think?" Graham leaned back into the booth with his foot drawn over his knee. "It's all too much a coincidence, if you ask me. That's why I needed someone I could trust on the inside." He winked. "There are over a dozen witnesses in this trial. The whole top floor department was there, for Christ's sake. You can't tell me that you don't smell collusion. Something like this goes down and then, just like that," Graham snapped. "Regina's on the chopping block of her own company?" He shook his head. "Just doesn't make any sense."

They were silent for a time as they sipped their beer and lunch was served in front of them. It wasn't until Emma pushed the rice around her plate, refusing to eat, that Graham spoke up again.

"Out with it." He commanded. "Tell me, why am I here?"

"You know why you're here." Emma dropped her fork and lowered her eyes. "It's for the same reason's you just ranted about- I have to get out of this one, Graham. I'm too close to it. My license and my future are at stake here. I am risking everything for you!"

"Emma, please," Graham leaned forward and placed his hand over hers. "You can't. Think about it. I know I did a terrible thing by getting you involved in this, but you can't give up now."

Emma growled. "Graham-"

"Listen," He inturupped. "Just, get us to the pre-trial. If you can put in a good word for Regina with the judge, you'll slow HR down. If you can get the state to lower her charges, the office board will lose their footing."

"I'm not a lawyer!" Emma defended. "I can't sway the judge in his decision!"

"The judge doesn't care about Regina." Graham's voice dropped below a whisper. "And neither will the jury. They care about Henry. They are concerned with his well being. The rest can be overlooked as a work dispute."

"Graham, it's not that simple! These charges against her are heavy-"

"Think about me, Emma, please! If they fire Regina, they'll terminated everyone who was loyal to her. I could lose my job! No one would ever take a chance on me again; a thirty year old man with an extensive criminal record! Regina, she was the one who gave a chance to succeed, and the opportunity to move forward in the company. I make good money there, real money! I can't go back to the way things were before."

Emma sighed. She was all too familiar with Graham's life story. It was similar enough to her own.

They were raised in the foster system simultaneously, and more than once, in the same home. While Emma also got into some trouble, she had kept her head low. She skated by, got good grades, and made a life for herself. Graham, however, had not been as successful.

He'd gone from taking bounties without a license, stealing cars, and selling drugs, to being a full-fledged business man. And it was Regina who had made that possible. As she did with turning failed businesses around, she also rebuilt struggling people.

She just wouldn't advertise that second bit.

It did make Emma wonder, however, how would Regina respond to knowing that Graham had arranged all this; and to save his own skin, no less.

"I'll stick with it," Graham's complexion brightened, but Emma held up her hand. "For now. After the pre-trial, I can't make any promises. If I can hand this off to another caseworker, I will. And, I'm not doing this for you." Emma added harshly. "I'm doing this for me, and because if this goes South, I'll be holding all of this over your head for life, as your angry, unwilling, permanent roommate."

Graham's eyes lowered and he nodded in reply.

They worked quickly through the rest of their meals after that. Talking had taken up most of their time, and now they were running lunch into the rest of their work day. Once the bill had been paid, and their drinks finished, Graham and Emma headed towards the door.

Graham reached out for the handle, but Emma stopped him short. Her fingers tightened on his sleeve, and Graham turned to her.

"What is it?" He asked.

Emma's mouth opened, but her words stuck fast.

Emma wanted to tell Graham that she was scared. She wanted to tell him about Regina's confusing behavior towards her, and she wanted to tell him about the mixed feelings she was experiencing because of it.

"Never mind," Emma stated instead. She dropped her hold on Graham's arm.

"If you're sure..."

He turned around to open the door just as a heavily clothed woman barreled inside from the cold. Graham held the door for both women, and slid out behind Emma. The duo said their quick goodbyes. They shared a hug, and then parted ways, both ready to finish off the rest of their work day.

But back inside the restaurant, a woman was lowering her red hood. She watched from the window as Graham and Emma embraced. They separated and left from view, but the woman inside was still shocked in place.

"What the..." Ruby drawled. Her eyes lowered and her stomach began to churn.

This could not be what it looked like.

Could it?