Chapter 11
Regina, who's in the middle of a bite, lifts her hand in a motion for Emma to wait. She chews the food slowly, as if nothing has happened, though her confused frown suggests otherwise.
"What do mean?" she finally asks, voice calm and collected.
"Well," Emma scratches the back of her neck as she tries to navigate through her thoughts, suddenly doubting herself "Why else would you request a talk?"
"I don't know" she feigns a thinking face just for a moment, then her gaze is on Emma "Maybe to tell you that Kathryn and I have seen how hard you work and we don't feel that it's necessary for us to wait four more weeks to officially hire you."
"I…" Emma stammers, surprised at the turn of events.
"Welcome to the company, Miss Swan" Regina raises her glass as a salute and takes a sip. She takes another small bite, chewing delightfully as she waits for Emma to process the information. The blonde, in turn, takes her sweet time to wrap her head around the fact that she's an official Mills' employee. When it finally sinks in, a broad smile settles on her face.
"Thank you!" she breathes out, and her smile broadens even further into a full beam accompanied with gleaming eyes. Her happy expression isn't lost on Regina, who at first, is surprised at the show of emotion from the usually reserved Emma. She then bites her lower lip, eyes jumping all over Emma's face, taking her in.
"You are very beautiful when you smile, Emma," she states, as a matter of fact, lifting the glass to her mouth "you should smile more"
She takes a sip as she waits for Emma's response. But Emma has no idea how to respond, currently channeling all of her energy to breathing properly.
Did Regina just? Oh my god, did she just call her… Beautiful?
She feels the blush conquering her throat on its way to her cheeks.
"I-"
Thank her!
Her mind screams. But out of all the possible responses she could voice out that moment, starting from thanking her all the way to shrugging it off, Emma's mind chooses to conjure the most idiotic one.
"And when I don't smile?" is blurted before she can stop it, and she immediately winces.
Regina, on the other hand, doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. Instead, she smirks and answers without batting an eyelash "Still gorgeous"
And if Emma thought she couldn't get any redder, well, that moment she's proved wrong. Not sure how to handle the compliments coming for Regina, no less, she practically flees the table.
"Excuse me"
She makes a beeline to the bathroom. When in private Emma allows herself a moment of swooning, an idiotic smile and dreamy look on her face, followed by self-reprimanding, ordering herself to calm the fuck down.
Five minutes later, she steps out of the bathroom to the sight of Regina handing a credit card to a waiter.
"Hey!" she protests as she edges towards the table.
Regina looks up innocently.
"What?"
"Come on, Regina," she sighs, shaking her head "I can't just let you pay for me."
"Of course you can, I asked you to join me"
Emma retakes her seat, hand reaching for the wallet she previously placed on the table. But Regina is not having it, apparently, as she places her hand atop Emma's.
"As I said, Miss Swan, this one is on me."
Her tone is enough to end the discussion. Well, that and the fact that Emma's focus is entirely on the warm hand covering hers.
"Fine" she mumbles, slightly overwhelmed.
Emma accompanies Regina back to the office, assuming her car, or at least her ride, will be waiting for her there.
Once they reach the building's entrance, not knowing what else to do, Emma turns to look at Regina.
"Thank you for the meal and," she pauses "the official hiring" she smiles shyly, shoulders rising to a half persecuted shrug.
"You're welcome" Regina nods, the edges of her lips edging upward.
"Okay, then…" she rocks back and forth on her heels "I guess I'll see you at work, then?" she promotes, her body already angling away from her companion.
"Where are you going?" the brunette frowns.
"Home"
"On foot?"
"Foot, bus, whichever comes first." she says, shoving her hands in the pockets of her trousers, which isn't as satisfying as doing it while wearing jeans, but still.
It seems like the wrong answer, since Regina doesn't seem very happy with it.
"Let me give you a ride home"
"I can walk home, you know…"
The brunette huffs "I know you can walk Emma, it's not a question of capability."
The blonde rolls her eyes at the over-protectiveness, entertaining the thought of how much that behavior must resemble parental worry.
"Regina, I do this every day, sometimes much later than this time. I think I can manage."
"I don't like it" she folds her hands in displease and Emma chuckles at the sight.
"Well, it isn't really for you to like or not to like." she counters, turning her back on an irritated looking Regina.
"Emma!" she calls after her.
"Goodnight, Regina" she says without turning around, hand lifting above her head as a farewell, and walks her way uptown.
"Look who's finally showed her face." Ruby calls when Emma enters the diner. "Long time no see"
"Hey, Rubs"
The two hug until Ruby is spanked with a towel by her grandma. Emma sits on her favorite bar stool and picks a discarded newspaper, knowing that Ruby will come to her when she's free.
"I never get to see you anymore"
Ruby says as she leans against the bar, next to Emma's seat.
"I know, it was crazy for a while. It's going to be better now, though," she smiles "I'm officially hired!"
"Congratulations!" Ruby beams at her, looking genuinely excited "Does it mean you'll finally stop working at Antony's? At least tone it down a little?"
"Soon," she promises "I still have to make up for the time I earned almost nothing. You know, internship and all… Once I regain some extra cash, I'll go back to doing weekends only and then you'll have a lot more of me to suffer." She jokes and winks at Ruby.
"Can't wait for that"
Emma takes a sip from her lukewarm coffee.
"So, do you work tonight?"
"I'm afraid so, Rubs."
"And tomorrow?"
"As well"
"Stop working! I don't like you anymore"
The brunette pouts in a childlike manner, provoking a chuckle out of Emma.
"Next week I'll save you a night and you get to choose what we do. How does that sound?"
Ruby feigns a look of consideration, just for the sake of it, before quickly relenting "Fine, but I choose and you don't get to argue, like, at all"
And just like that, it's Monday again, and for some reason, Emma is quick to get up that morning. Since she has the time, she opts on a quick shower and a nice breakfast, which she hasn't had since, well, ever.
When she arrives at the office, Mary Margaret is already in work mode. She glances, as casually as possible, towards Regina's office to find that the brunette has arrived as well.
She puts her things down, planning on a quick coffee before actually starting to work.
She's almost out of the room when Mary Margaret calls after her.
"Can you please make one for Ms. Mills too?"
"Sure." she says, disappearing from sight "And hello to you too."
She knocks on the glass door with her elbow.
"Come in"
"Good morning" Emma greets as she places the coffee on Regina's desk.
"Good morning" Regina returns before taking a sip out of the mug. She closes her eyes, welcoming the caffeine to her system. "Thanks for the coffee"
"Sure"
Regina's focus is now solely on her.
"I see you made it back home in one piece." she states dolly as she tries to keep her smile at bay.
Emma spreads her arms "Well, I'm here, aren't I?" she says cheekily and then drops her arms.
They go silent for a few awkward moments.
"So," Regina finally speaks up, filling the uncomfortable void "How was your weekend?"
"Good, I guess."
"Did you do anything special?"
"No, not really. You?"
Regina nibbles on her lower lip, and right before she is about to respond, the phone rings.
"Mills" she answers, her voice professional, cold almost, and it amazes Emma how different her tone is when she's speaking to her.
"Yes, I understand" she hums, scribbling a few notes on a piece of paper "And she said?" she promotes, going into an additional set of nodding and humming, as her delicate hand ghosts over the paper.
While waiting for her to finish the call, Emma catches a glimpse of her reflection in one of the windows.
Does her hair look that bad?
She grimaces at what she sees. Looks like the weather is warming up and with the change of seasons comes the infamous humidity. She looks like a lion. No rubber band too, she points out bitterly, hands searching her pockets for a savior.
She comes out short, pouting, until her eyes land on the pencils-stand on Regina's desk. She mules the idea just for a moment.
She picks one pencil, waving it in front of Regina in question. Upon the brunette's nod of approval, Emma bends over, gathers her blonde mane into a messy bun and sticks the pencil through it until it shows no signs of moving.
Only when done, Emma notices Regina, who's watching her closely, eyes skipping from her hair to hair face, down her body and up again. The predatory look makes Emma's knees wobbly. She can be painfully dense sometimes, but even she can guess the meaning of that look. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Emma finds that she can't tear her gaze away from Regina's. So she stands there, cheeks slightly tainted, as Regina multitasks her way out of the conversation.
"I understand," she says curtly, her attention divided between the person on the other line and the person in front of her "No, I agree. We will definitely have a look. Yes. Thank you."
She places the phone back in its case and leans back in her chair, a finger tracing her lower lip.
"What am I going to do with you, Emma?" she asks, her face thoughtful and Emma's brain short-circuits at the sight.
"S-sorry?"
"I think I have it under control and then you come" she points at her "and pick up your hair like this" motioning circles with her hands, she closes her eyes and takes a breath. When she opens them they're glazed with desire "and I can see your neck. Do you know what it makes me want to do?"
Keep it together
"W-what?"
That was not together Swan.
"I want to molest that smooth creamy skin of yours until you don't have a single spot left untouched."
She says, voice a little rougher and that does things to Emma, things she only feels when deep in pleasure and close to climax. Now, how did Regina manage to get her to that stage just by talking?
She closes her eyes and lets out an airy Regina.
And it is so charged with desire that it rattles the both of them.
Regina shakes her head "Please don't say my name like that, Emma, or else I won't be able to stop myself"
The promise, or threat, she's still not sure, makes her head dizzy. Still, she manages to come back with "You started it"
She grimaces at the, honestly, absolutely childlike response. She's about to mumble a sorry when Regina starts laughing. Soon enough, Emma joins her.
Then, Regina is her serious charming self again.
"Emma, would do you join me for coffee after work today?"
She asks, and the way her velvety voice caresses her name leaves Emma no choice but to agree. Unfortunately, she has work that day.
"I'd love to, but I can't today, I have to wo-" she swallows the end of the sentence when she realizes what she was about to admit to her boss, or more accurately, to one of her bosses. Instead, she goes with "I'm busy"
"How about tomorrow, then?"
Emma nods enthusiastically, too enthusiastically if she may, and Regina's face lights up "Good"
"But" Emma adds with her serious face on "you let me pay this time" she points her finger at a smugly smiling Regina.
"Maybe" the brunette smirks "And you will let me give you a ride home"
Now it is Emma's turn to sport a coy look as she responds with "Maybe."
That night, despite it being well after midnight, Emma is standing in front of the closet contemplating on what her outfit for tomorrow should be. Reducing the number of meals she used to indulge herself with at the restaurant has helped her lose some of the already almost non-existent fat around her stomach. Her walks to and from work seem to be doing their part as well, leaving her with a pretty toned physique.
She picks a tighter pair of pants this time, charcoal gray, recently purchased on a great sale in the Village. She matches it with a pretty low cut navy blue shirt, creating a casual, but overall extremely flattering look.
She even goes as far as wearing the only set of lingerie she owns, lacy, red, and very unlike her usual self.
Emma's not even counting on Regina to see this, it's just knowing that she has it on will help her maintain a smidgen of confidence when she is around the goddess in the flesh, Regina Mills. Honestly, Emma has no idea why Regina finds her remotely interesting, but she isn't about to complain.
Regina is beautiful, smart, elegant, resourceful and rich and Emma is, well, Emma. She desperately wants to believe that her attraction to the brunette goes both ways. But even if not, just being in her presence will suffice.
Emma has no idea how to define herself when it comes to her preferences; But one thing she does know, is that she wants, desires and is attracted to Regina Mills. It's set in stone, so much that it doesn't even matter that she is a woman. Regina is so intriguing and appealing to her, that it's not scary anymore, and that's terrifying. Despite her obvious inexperience, in general, but especially with women, she is willing to take the risk.
And that's why Emma puts on her only set of sexy lingerie. Maybe some miracle will occur and she'll manage to seduce Regina with the mounds created by this push-up bra. Maybe, just maybe, Regina will like her back. And for that unlikely, but still somehow existent outcome, she has to try.
