The next day Henry wants to spend time with a friend of his that he hasn't seen since school let out. She hates that Neal doesn't have to give up any of his time with their son, and she does. She knows that Henry always wants to go see people on her time because he gets so much more time with her than his dad, but it still sucks. She lets him go though.
So, in her loneliness she finds herself texting Ruby. Hey Rubes! Could really use some girl time, if you're free for lunch.
Of course! Ruby responds almost instantly.
So that's how she found herself in a small café ordering a roast beef sandwich and telling the redhead everything she'd learned about Killian. The conversation has been punctuated by a lot of appreciative comments about how Emma has really found a prize, but then Emma mentions the sincere offer to fly her to Berlin. "OH MY GOD, Emma! Please tell me you said yes!" Ruby shrieks. It is loud enough that the other patrons are staring. Emma feels her face flush. They must think I'm telling a story about how my boyfriend proposed, she thinks.
"I didn't really respond…" she lets the sentence trail off.
"Emma?!" Ruby is flabbergasted. These two are clearly quite into one another, Emma trusts him enough to spend the night with him and start to open up to him. Ruby knows that Emma is dying to get to travel and never has had the opportunity. "What scares you about him so much? What aren't you telling me?"
"You know everything. And everything about him scares me. It's just too good to be true, right?"
Ruby rolls her eyes. "Emma, you are going to be alone for the rest of your life, unless you start giving awesome guys like this half a chance."
Back at her apartment after lunch, Emma realizes that Ruby is right. She really needs to give him a chance. So what's your favorite thing about Germany so far, Killian?
He smiles. She is trying to keep things light and easy now, he knows. But he can be okay with that. He decides he is going to show her everything that he wishes she was here to see with him. I have several favorite German things. Let me show you ;) Then he starts sending her photos: the awesome breakfast spread, the many beers offered at the bar they went to the night before, the steins, his hotel, and the view from his room of the sun coming up.
She scrolls through the photos and finds herself quite intrigued. You aren't in any of these, Jones…
He laughs. You just can't wait to see me again, can you? He teases. Then he sends her a selfie of him in laid back casual attire on the patio of a bar by the Spree.
You don't look like you're working. How much time off do you get on these business trips? She asks, both out of curiosity and jealousy. It hasn't occurred to her until now that he could be with any other women.
The jealousy is lost in context. He thinks she is trying to picture what life would be like for her if she came with him, and he likes that. I get plenty on trips like this. It's all about scoping out the terrain, so my boss actually encourages sightseeing and mingling with the locals.
She hates that her mind automatically goes to how he is spending his nights. Met any agreeable local girls yet? Her fingers fly across the keyboard before she can think to rein it in.
I haven't noticed any of the local girls, Swan. I've been rather taken with this green eyed blonde vixen from home. He likes that she is a little jealous, a little worried, but he doesn't want her to be. So he shares a screen shot of his phone proudly displaying her photo as his background.
Where is Henry? He asks knowing that she doesn't text if her son is around.
Spending the day with a friend. Why?
I'm going to Facetime you. Come see the city with me Swan.
Then her phone is ringing and she has a decision to make. But she isn't sure that she would ever be able to turn this kind of offer down. She quickly smoothes her hair in an attempt to make herself more presentable before he can see her. Then she answers.
"Guten Tag! Wie geht es lhen?" he greets her in German.
"Alright, mister. I'm not fluent, like you apparently are…"
"Good afternoon! How are you?" he replies in English with light dancing in his blue eyes.
"I'm good. Didn't realize that you spoke any other languages, Jones." She finds herself wanting to know more about him.
"I speak a few languages: English, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, and some French and Arabic."
"Wow…" She knows that she must look stupid sitting on her couch staring at him in total amazement.
He decides to drop the getting to know each other conversation and give her the tour she wanted. "We don't have a ton of time, so I thought I'd bike by a few of the major landmarks – Parliament, the Brandenburg gate, the Holocaust museum, Checkpoint Charlie and The Wall." He reached up scratching behind his neck nervously.
"That sounds amazing!" she said breathlessly.
He rewarded her with a genuine grin.
The only thing she missed about the tour was how often his camera was pointed away from him showing her the sights. By the end she realized that this was something they would absolutely have to do again. "Killian, this has been the most amazing date a girl could ever go on," she gushed.
He smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Date? Am I finally winning the elusive Emma Swan over?"
"Maybe a little," she said with a slight smile and a blush.
Having left the bike, he was now strolling into the hotel lobby to get ready for their dinner with the client. "I guess I should let you go, huh?" He wanted to keep her on the phone forever, and he was well aware that his reluctance to hang up was palpable.
She blushed even more than before, if that was even possible. "Don't get the wrong idea, Jones, but can I see your room?"
He smirks and winks. "Of course, love." He dutifully climbed the stairs, ignoring that his muscles were tense from biking all day. "We're here, Emma," he said turning the camera into the entry to his suite. He walked her through the suite pausing to grab his suit for dinner before stepping onto the balcony and letting her soak in the view.
"Wow…." she whispered, sure she hadn't ever stayed anywhere that nice.
"Yeah. It's a huge step up from military barracks," he says scratching his neck nervously again.
"Well," she swallows. "I guess I should let you go so you can get ready. Looks like dinner is going to be pretty fancy."
"It's with the client," he doesn't know why he feels the need to explain, but he does nonetheless. "Talk tomorrow?" he asks hopefully.
She nods. "Bye, Jones."
"Bye, Swan." Then she severs the connection feeling the need for a glass of wine.
15 minutes later her phone dings again. It's a picture of Killian wearing the black suit and blue dress shirt slightly unbuttoned up top with perfectly messy hair. How do I look?
Amazing. Adonis. Sex god. She knows not to overinflate his ego. You clean up well, Killian.
He smirks. He thinks that he can deal with that for now.