Zelena looked up at Regina's outburst. The redhead seemed to grapple for excuses: "It kept making noises. I thought it was virus."

Regina's eyes rolled so far back in her skull she feared they might just stay here. "You thought it was virus? Seriously? Is that the best you could come up with?" she huffed as she crossed the kitchen floor and snatched the laptop.

"I'm sorry. But I've been worried about you, okay?"

"And that gives you permission to snoop?" Regina asked plainly. She was irritated that Zelena chose the concerned older sister angle.

"No, of course not. I shouldn't have…"

"No, you shouldn't," Regina said, happily agreeing to that.

A moment of silence followed that statement, and Regina took the opportunity to wave her hand and send the laptop upstairs.

She felt tempted to groan. She hadn't planned on anyone finding out about this, and certainly not like this.

"So, who is she?" Zelena asked with some caution. Maybe she was afraid that Regina would explode.

"Is that any of your business?" Regina snapped. She was only just beginning to realize her budding feelings for Laura. Sharing those feelings with anyone besides Laura wasn't what she had in mind. She was not ready to be questioned.

But never the less, she instantly felt guilty for snapping at Zelena, and she tried to make up for that by muttering: "You already know that. Her name is Laura. She was the one I was chatting to that evening at the Charmings."

"And you like her," Zelena stated plainly.

Regina settled for a nod.

Zelena smiled a little. "So that's what been happening with you. You've met someone."

"I haven't exactly met her," Regina dully corrected her sister.

"Well, you are, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Going to meet her," Zelena clarified like Regina was dense.

"I don't know," Regina said.

"What? But you have to," Zelena insisted. "She likes you!"

Regina rolled her eyes again. "Would you mind your own business?"

Zelena seemed to have a snarky response ready, but sobered up and said instead: "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snooped, okay?"

"No, you really shouldn't," Regina agreed. "I would prefer to have announced it myself. When there was something to announce, that is."

"And isn't there?" Zelena asked with a little smile. "I mean to me, it seems pretty…"

"And I don't recall asking for your opinion," Regina reminded her. "I'm not ready to announce anything, okay? So I would appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself."

"Sure thing. I'll keep your secret."

"She's not a secret," Regina said and winced at the word. "I'm just not ready to tell anyone. I'm still… getting to know her."

"And quite well it would seem," Zelena dryly pointed out and smirked a little.

"Nobody asked you to look through a private chat."

"Be glad it was me and not Snow White."

"The less of two evils." If Snow White had accidentally seen that fairly private chat… That would have been terrible.

Zelena suddenly grinned at Regina. "You've met a girl."

"Don't act as if I'm dating her." Regina said dryly.

"How long have you chatted with her?"

"Three months."

"She's pretty," Zelena said plainly.

So, she saw a photo too. Great. Just great.

"I'm aware," Regina said strained.

Zelena's smile widened.

"Will you kindly get out of my hair?" Regina said exasperated. "We're just chatting. That's all."

"I really hope you don't actually believe that yourself," Zelena huffed. "Because if that's the case, you're delusional."

"I'm too old for her," Regina muttered and automatically reverted back to her old apology for not pursuing anything.

"And how old is she?" Zelena inquired.

"Twenty-eight."

"Ohh, quite the catch."

"Zelena!"

"Sorry. Jokes aside," Zelena said and suffocated her amusement. "You do know of the age gap between Emma and Hook, right?"

"Please don't compare me to Killian Jones."

"And I think there's a pretty big age gap between our friendly neighborhood Dark One and Belle."

"Your point being?"

"That you're not that old."

Regina snorted against her will and her voice dripped with sarcasm when she said: "Why thank you, Zelena. Now I feel so much better."

"I don't see the problem," Zelena stubbornly continued.

"That's because you're forgetting about the fairytale-aspect, dear." Regina said tiredly. "I happen to be the former Evil Queen, where as Laura is…"

"Normal."

"Exactly. I can't very well tell her the truth about myself, can I?" Regina said somewhat bitterly. God, how she wished Zelena hadn't snooped around. I should have been smart enough to close that damned laptop.

Zelena looked like she had a myriad of "clever" arguments ready, but the universe was kind enough to spare Regina and let her phone ring.

Or maybe this was only water on Zelena's mill. Regina was beginning to think that the universe perhaps was a bit out for her tonight as she found the phone in her pocket. Of course, it was Laura calling her. Of course, it was.

Great. Perfect.

"Hello." Regina said as she took the call.

"Hey there," came Laura's voice in the other end, and for a moment Regina completely forgot how annoyed she was. Laura's voice was sweet as honey.

"How has your day been?" Regina asked and struggled to talk about the stuff they normally talked about. Which was a bit troublesome because Zelena was still standing right there.

"Pretty good," Laura said. "Are you okay? You sound a little off."

"I'm fine, just fine," Regina assured.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm good."

"Okay. What are you doing then?"

"Oh, I was just having a glass of wine," Regina answered truthfully.

"That sounds nice," Laura said in the other end. "Is it bad that I kind of wished I was there?"

Regina chuckled lightly at that.

Zelena, who had been tilting her head like a curious dog suddenly grinned. "Is that Laura?" she smirked.

Regina glared at her and mouthed "shut up", and to the charming woman in the other end of the phone: "Laura, can you hang on two seconds?"

"Of course. But only because it's you," came the reply.

Regina quickly put the phone down and said: "Zelena dear, I hate to throw you out of my house, but…"

"Tell the pretty one I said hello," Zelena chuckled as she grabbed the book, gathered her things and proceeded to walk into the hall.

"I'm not gonna tell her that," Regina muttered as her sister left the mansion, still cackling. It somehow reminded Regina of the time when she still saw Zelena as the Wicked Witch and nothing more.

She groaned quietly as she picked up the phone again: "Sorry about that, dear."

"No problem," Laura chuckled. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine. I trust you're well, too?"

"I'm fine," Laura said. "I've just…"

"What?" Regina encouraged gently.

"I've missed hearing your voice," Laura said. "Silly, right?"

"I've missed hearing your voice too," Regina admitted. This was truly a night for admittance.

Laura grinned a little in the other end. "Win-win."

"Indeed." Regina replied, she was laughing too. She seemed to do that a lot when she was talking to Laura. It annoyed her that Zelena had snooped around, it wasn't exactly the way Regina had wanted her to find out. She had preferred to announce it herself.

Announce what, exactly?

"Have you finished up in the store for today?" Regina asked to distract herself.

"Yeah, I wrapped things up five minutes ago."

"I think you're working too much, dear."

Laura chuckled. "I was just about to check tomorrows delivery, but you could try to distract me instead…"

Regina chuckled too as they talked about everything and nothing. It would appear that she was doing a fine job in distracting Laura.

As they talked, Regina went upstairs. It was getting rather late, and she put the phone on speaker as she got ready for bed.

"What are you doing?" Laura asked as their conversation hit a natural pause.

"I'm just getting ready for bed," Regina said truthfully as she unzipped her dress.

There was silence in the other end for a while. Then Laura said: "I'm not sure whether I want to know more, or don't want to know anything at all."

"Laura…" Regina chuckled and rolled her eyes even though Laura couldn't see it.

"I'm serious," Laura assured. "I'm definitely not interested in knowing how much or how little you're wearing right now."

"Careful, dear. Otherwise I might just tell you."

"And obviously, that would be awful."

"Obviously."

They both laughed again. Regina knew that what they were doing were a huge cliché, but who cared? It was a long time since anyone had flirted this sweetly with her.

"Shouldn't you be resting, too?" Regina asked as she slipped a nightgown over her head.

"Are you ordering me to go to bed?" Laura chuckled.

"Possibly."

"Maybe I should. I have lots of deliveries tomorrow.

"Get some rest then. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight, Regina.

"Goodnight, Laura."

They ended the call and Regina smiled. For some reason she was feeling particularly wicked tonight. Whether it was the wine or Laura was unclear, but she either way ended up snapping a picture of herself in the nightgown and sending it to Laura. Then she plugged the phone into the charger for the night and switched it off completely. It was gonna be fun, seeing Laura's response to her little "gift" tomorrow.

Regina woke up at 7:00 sharp, bright and early. And she didn't bother with having breakfast or getting dressed before she waved her hand and made the laptop appear. She balanced said laptop on her knees, grabbed her reading glasses from the bedside drawer and opened the chat site. There were several messages in her inbox.

[Regina logged in]

Laura: Are you trying to kill me?

Laura: Like actually kill me?

Laura: If you were aiming to send me into cardiac arrest, you succeeded.

Laura: And if you were aiming for trying to turn me on, you succeeded too.

Laura: Is that an appropriate thing to write?

Laura: Nah, screw it, I don't care. You were the one who sent that photo. I'm holding you personally responsible for whatever crap I'm typing.

Regina: I'm glad I could make your night. You're probably at work right now, so I wish you a good day. I'm looking forward to our chat later.

[Regina has logged out]

Regina was one big grin when she finally got out of bed. Ridiculous. She hadn't even spoken to Laura today, and here she was, grinning like an idiot.

Why didn't Zelena tell me what a bad idea this is?

Regina sighed as she padded downstairs and made breakfast. As the coffee brewed, she considered things. Had it been a bad idea to send that picture to Laura? Too hasty?

She had to figure out her feelings, that much was certain. She had to determine whether this was just harmless flirting online and over the phone, or this chemistry potentially could lead to something.

Lead to something. Regina scoffed as she blew on the hot coffee. Hold your horses, you moron. You are overthinking. You barely know her. You haven't even met her.

"Blong."

Regina snapped out of her thoughts and fished her phone out of the depths of the bathrobe pocket. Someone was messaging her on the chat site, and Regina briefly wondered whether it was another rude person she had to show the virtual door.

[Regina has logged in]

Regina spluttered a little and put the coffee cup down. Otherwise she might just spill it. It wasn't someone rude messaging her, it was Laura. And Laura had sent her a picture.

And not just any old picture. It was a picture of herself wearing a very low-cut shirt. It could almost have been a bra.

My god. I'm glad Zelena didn't see that.

Regina: Congratulations.

Laura: Did I win something? :P

Regina: You just succeeded in making me choke on my coffee.

Laura: Ha! Now that IS a victory!

Laura: I take it you like the shirt, ms. Mills?

Regina: I do. But you know you didn't have to send me that picture, right? I wasn't trying to put pressure on you or anything.

Laura: I know that, beautiful. I send you that picture because I wanted too. Not for any other reasons.

Beautiful. Regina's mouth curved up in a smile.

Regina: You've made my morning.

Regina: You seem to do that a lot lately.

Laura: I think I fancy you. Just a bit.

Regina: Is that really so?

Laura: Yeah. But just a little.

Regina: Well, as long as it's just a little, it's all good.

Laura: :P

To Be Continued…