"Someone's in a good mood" Emma looked up when she heard her assistant's voice.
"What?! why do you say that?" Emma twitched nervously.
"Well because you have a very nauseating grin on your face and you haven't scolded the shit out of me for being late. What's up, Boss. Spill!"
"Nothing's up, Andy. I just slept well last night. And now that you've mentioned it, why are you late? ...Its almost 10!?" that wasn't exactly true. There hadn't been much sleep going on.
"I'm so sorry. Maddie wasn't feeling so well and I couldn't find a sitter in time." The younger woman explained.
"Oh! I didn't know. How is she feeling now?"
"Of course you didn't. I should have called...I'm sorry"
"No, its fine. You should take the day off. Go take care of her" Emma sympathised with her friend and employee.
"Are you sure? I don't wanna take advantage of your awesomeness Emma, really. She will be fine. I just have to check in every now and then"
"Yes, I'm sure. And you are not taking advantage of anything. I wouldn't be able to function if I knew Henry was sick and I wasn't there to take care of Him. I doubt you will either."
"Okay, thank you so much! I owe you!" Andy said grabbing her handbag.
"You owe me nothing. Just go take care of your sweet girl. Give her a hug for me, will you?"
"Sure will. Thanks Emma" Andy replied as she exited as Emma grabbed her phone and started typing a message to Regina.
Hey it read.
Hey, aren't you supposed to be working? You seemed to be in quite a hurry to leave this morning Regina replied
I am but a certain drop dead gorgeous brunette keeps invading my mind...very distracting. And I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk. We really need to talk. Emma wrote back
Your boss should fire you ;) And you're right, we do have a lot to talk about.
It's a good thing I'm my own boss then. How is your day going so far? I'm not distracting you from some fancy meeting with my texts, Am I?
No, no fancy meeting interruptions from you Miss Swan. I just got to the apartment. I went shopping for food and stuff after you left. I suspect I'll be spending my afternoon reading because I have nothing else to do,
Why don't you come to the office?
Really? Aren't you busy? I don't want to interrupt your day. I'll be just fine with a good book.
I'm not that busy. Andy took the day off because her daughter is sick so I'm alone here. Maybe you could bring me lunch
Okay, I'm on my way.
SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ
"That was delicious, thank you" Emma said
Regina smiled in acknowledgement as she looked at the blonde throwing away the now empty take-away boxes. Lunch had been a quiet affair between the two. Both trying to come up with the best way to start the conversation they knew was eminent.
"I..."
"Regina..." they both spoke at the same time.
"You go first" Regina said.
"Okay. First I'm sorry for leaving in such a hurry this morning. I really needed to get here. But last night was...amazing!" Emma smiled at the blush that crept on the brunette's cheeks.
"Yes it was" Regina smiled back.
After a while, Emma sighed and asked the question she dreaded the most."How long are you in town for?" when Regina didn't respond immediately, Emma continued. "Its just...this is all so new to me, Regina. This whole relationship thing is and I really want it to work. But what happens when you leave? I don't wanna confuse Henry. He's grown so attached to you and if things don't work between us...I'm just so terrified of bringing somebody into his life that could end up breaking his heart..."
She stopped when Regina's hand reached across the table for hers. When she looked up, their eyes held for a second too long and her breath came short. Regina wanted to speak but she was also afraid of breaking the spell Emma seemed to be under. So she just watched and waited.
"Its always been just us two. And then I met you," Emma went on, glancing at Regina and favouring her with a small smile. "And you are amazing and beautiful and I just feel lost..."Her eyes focused towards the door and when she spoke it was nearly a whisper, almost as if she was speaking to herself and not Regina. "God, I've fallen for you so hard and so fast sometimes I think my head will spin off my shoulders."
Regina's wide smile appeared all on its own. She had nothing to do with it.
"And my son...he has fallen for you, too. He adores you, Regina."
"I adore him," she said simply.
Emma smiled, she didn't doubt that for a second. "What worries me is that all this is too good to be true. We know so little of each other and I'm just scared..." he voice trailed off.
"Emma, I..." Regina started but the ringing of her phone interrupted whatever she was about to say.
Knowing that the call could only be coming from Storybrooke, she couldn't ignore it.
"I'm so sorry, Emma. I really have to take this" she said, standing up from her chair.
"Its okay" Emma smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
A couple of minutes later, the brunette returned, with a frantic look on her face.
"Whats wrong?" Emma asked.
"Something just came up and I have to head home immediately" Regina said.
"Home, to storybrooke?" the blonde asked. More than a month since they met and it still felt weird saying that name.
Regina nodded as she picked up her coat. "Can we continue with this when I get back?"
"Will you come back?" Emma asked, she knew she sounded petty but the thought of not seeing Regina again terrified her.
Regina smiled sadly at her and sighed, "Will you tell Henry goodbye for me?"
Emma nodded, trying her best to keep her tears at bay. Wow, that was fast! She thought to herself as the woman made her way to the door. Emma didn't look up, she couldn't bear to see her go. If only she knew how much this would hurt...
Her thoughts were however interrupted when a hand she knew all too well tilted her chin upwards and the brown eyes she loved gazed down at her. Without saying a word, Regina brought her lips down to hers. Then kissed her. Softly. Tenderly. Emma could taste salt on the other woman's lips, an indication that she too was crying. But when she opened her eyes, Regina was already halfway to the door. And when a click sounded, a sign that the door was closed, she let her tears flow freely.
SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ
"What do you think?" Snow's voice startled her from her thoughts. She had been staring at the blue bottle since sitting in Snow's living room. When Tinkerbell had called her to inform her that Belle had somehow acquired a memory portion that could help restore Emma memories, the same fear she was feeling right now had invaded her entire being. If Emma got her memories back, everything would change. What if she goes back to hating me? What if she doesn't love me back? These were some of the questions she kept asking herself the whole way here.
"Regina," Tink called.
"I don't know. It's too soon."
"I know...you want more time with her" Snow said. "But you'll have all the time in the world with her, Regina. Even with her memories back"
"How do you know that? You of all people know how things were between Emma and myself before the curse. And if she gets her memories back so fast...everything will go back to how it was. Her hating me"
"You can't know that either. About how things were between you two before the curse, that may have been a lot of things but hate isn't one of them. You don't have to always focus on the negative, Regina. You don't have to always think the worst of yourself. You are not disposable and Emma's feelings for you won't change simply because she'll get some memories back. "The younger brunette replied.
Immediately, the memories of Emma earlier that day came to mind. I've fallen for you, so hard and so fast... she smiled. Problem was, she felt like she was living in a dream. One she wasn't ready to wake up from even if she was lying to Emma. But if she didn't give her the memory portion, she would yet again be taking something very important from Emma. A family. Something she had done before when she was the evil queen. Someone Emma or her son would never Love. That wasn't who she was anymore. She wanted to be a better person. Someone Emma would have no problem loving no matter what memories she had. Someone Emma and Henry would be proud of. She wanted Emma to have a choice even if she ended up not choosing her. Thats what Love meant. Putting someone else first. So she heard her voice say : "Okay, I'll give her the portion" even if her heart was breaking as she said it.
"Okay" Snow said, not surprised at all.
"I'll be leaving in the morning so I better go get some sleep" she lied, because she knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.
I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. I've just been so confused with how I want this story to proceed. I know some of you will hate it. Let me know if you do but please be gentle about it. This is my first time writing ;). Let me know what you guys think. Thank you all for your support this whole time. Don't forget to check out my other story 'Baby When the Lights Go Out'. xoxo