Business Transaction
By MissFaberrySuarez
Chapter Fourteen
Don't you dare look back
Walk away
The door swung open and a boy dashed into the diner, practically tumbling sideways as his backpack beat him to it.
"She's coming!"
Ruby immediately jolted from the counter and snuck a hesitant glance at Mary Margaret, who sat on a tall chair with a book covering her face up to the nose.
Convincing the mayor would be impossible. She knew it and the teacher knew it but how could they disappoint poor little Henry?
He needed this. He needed the belief that things could be different, that there was more to life than a simple corner of Maine, that there was some heroic mission that he needed to step up to and achieve triumph.
He was a boy with the brightest imagination anyone had ever seen.
So, he ran towards the kitchen and pressed his ear against the door, waiting.
Regina was all too aware of the dark dips beneath her eyes.
Sleeping had turned into a chore. As if the continuous feeling of sickening emptiness that haunted her during the day wasn't quite enough, now it had seeped into her dreams, causing distressing nightmares where she ran and ran into endless void, always calling out for someone who never called back. She would always wake up in the middle of the night breathless and sore of how tightly her muscles tensed.
Her usual order at Granny's consisted only of two words: "Coffee, black", it had become her source of strength, she could only function once she'd had her fix to fuel her synapses.
Hands shoved deep into her jacket's pockets, knee-high boots clacking on the dry pavement, she absent-mindedly made her way to the diner. Even mid-July, she felt naked without a jacket.
She pulled the door open and headed to her usual seat.
Had she looked up, Regina would have seen Ruby nervously patting a cup dry while exchanging apprehensive looks with Mary Margaret.
But she didn't. Instead, she sunk on the chair next to her son's teacher, pulled her phone out, burned her stare through the screen and mumbled.
"Coffee, black."
"Coming right up, Miss Mills."
Ruby shot a dagger through Mary Margaret and mouthed "your turn" before turning to the coffee machine.
Even in such a wrecked state, Regina Mills intimidated her to her very core.
She cleared her throat once.
Then, twice, and nearly shrunk two sizes when the mayor ripped her stare from her phone to meet hers.
"Good morning, Madam Mayor, I-I've been meaning to talk to you about Henry…" She swallowed her lungs. "He's been showing concern for you."
As if the sun had cleared every cloud above her head, Regina's expression lightened.
"For me?"
Taking it as a good sign, the teacher's nerves calmed.
"Yes! He's been talking to me, saying that you haven't been feeling well, that you seem a little-" She hesitated. "A little- sad, maybe."
The mayor narrowed her eyes.
"He told you that?"
"I know it's none of my business. He just seemed very, very worried about you. I figured I'd let you know."
She glanced at Ruby who did not show any hurry with the coffee.
"Has he… mentioned anything else?" Regina murmured with that raspy tone of tiredness.
"Well, he did say that he wished he could find a way to help you relax." She spoke loud enough for Ruby to scurry back and place the coffee in front of the mayor.
"Relax?" The waitress leaned over the counter, channeling her perky self in order to remain gathered. "There's this really chill bar just an hour away. It opened like a week ago and rumor has it Russell Crowe hangs out there every Friday."
"Oh, yeah, that new fancy bar! I've heard of it, it's called Cygnus Reina and, supposedly serves the best-"
"May I ask exactly why you're telling me all this?" Regina cut through, pursing her lips. Those two talked way too much and she had slept far too little.
They gulped in almost unison and Ruby was the first to speak.
"I thought I heard you wanted to relax? I just happen to know a lot of places."
"And Henry, he would really appreciate it if you made an effort. He just wants you to feel better. I can babysit if you need."
Regina barely had to time to formulate an answer before Ruby pulled put a piece of paper, scribbled on it and stuck it in the mayor's face.
"Here's the address. Just in case you're up for it."
She took it and glided a glance over the words before looking back up.
"I wouldn't count on it."
Regina shot up, threw the money over the counter and strode towards the exit.
"That was awesome!" Henry burst through the kitchen door with his fists above his head, immediately hugging Ruby as he saw her.
Mary Margaret sighed. "Henry, she said she's not going."
"Trust me, she's going. I know her." His lips pulled into a bright smile. "Operation Parent Trap: phase one was a success!"
"Are you doing something later?"
Emma glanced up from the register to meet the eyes of her newly formed friendship.
"You mean at three am when my shift ends?" She chuckled. "I was thinking about getting some sleep, but why?"
"Well, if you didn't have plans I was thinking we could go out for a late night burger or a slice of pizza."
"That depends, Mind," She chewed on the inside of her cheek whilst keeping her hands busy with lose change that she was obviously no longer organizing properly. "You mean like a date?"
Mindy nodded vividly and snapped a hand to her waist as the other ran through long dark hair.
"Of course like a date. Have you looked at yourself? I've been checking out since your first day."
Emma grinned. "I've noticed."
"So? What do you say?"
What would she say?
It's not like she was attached to anyone. It's not like she even thought about dating since… well, since her.
Quitting her old job had been the first step to getting her life together. Second step would be being able to stop thinking about her during every goddamn second of every day.
She hadn't quite managed to reach that one just yet. Maybe Mindy was the solution.
Maybe going back was the solution.
Except what would she be going back to? A woman she had fallen madly in love with but didn't reciprocate the feelings?
A woman who had screwed her up by somehow clutching onto her heart, entwining through her lungs and leaching into her veins?
She breathed her in every sense of the word. She could feel her sanity slipping away with every thought, with every person that even remotely looked like her, she saw her everywhere yet seemed like only a vision that never actually happened.
It's not like she was attached to anyone.
Except she was.
And it felt like cheating.
"I don't think it would be a good idea, Mind. But I'm flattered and I appreciate the enthusiasm."
"Oh, come on, what is it? You have a girlfriend?" She stepped closer with a devilish grin adorning her lips.
Emma inwardly cringed at the proximity.
"No, but I… I just got out of a complicated situation, I don't really feel like I'm-"
"Relax, honey, I get it." Mindy took a step back and Emma breathed. "If you ever feel like you're ready you know where to find me. Bar's opening up in ten."
Emma watched as she walked away. She watched her toned legs in a tight skirt, she watched her long waves of hair sway along with her hips.
She watched an attractive twenty six year old go and all that her mind pointed out were all of the ways in how she wasn't Regina Mills.
But the bar was opening up in ten, and she only hoped for the buzzing crowd to drown out her thoughts.
How she ended up driving through Maine half an hour into mid night to get to a bar called Cygnus Reina, Regina sincerely had no idea.
Maybe it had been because of how sad her son looked when he got home from school. Maybe it had been because of how tightly he hugged her, or because of how his eyes glistened when she asked what was wrong.
Or because of the way his tiny voice trembled when he said he wanted her to be happy.
Either way, she had called Mary Margaret, gotten herself into a fitted dress and black heels, and only registered what she was doing once she pulled up at the address.
A few people stood outside puffing on cigarettes and a faint muffled beat could be heard through the walls.
Regina inhaled the warm air as she exited her Mercedes and headed inside.
It was far bigger than she had expected. The lights were dimmed low and an orange atmosphere enveloped the walls. Lines of couches filled the left side whilst the right was reserved for tables and a small dance floor crowded with tipsy couples.
She took a deep breath and held her head high.
Being there only served as a way to let go a little. Maybe to forget the blonde that seemed to follow her every step. That became rather difficult as most women in there had golden locks and pale skin.
She shook the thought.
If she wanted to think about Swan she could've done that at home. Regina was there to relax.
And what better to help than a little drink?
"Hey, lovely, can I get a Screwdriver?"
Emma's eyes shot from one costumer to the next, landing on the loudest.
"Coming right up."
It was nearly impossible to be a barista with absolutely no help in such a widespread club, and though it was absolutely exhausting, the money was more than worth it.
Besides, she had experience.
"Emma, do you need a break?" Mindy spoke from the only empty spot at the right.
"Nah, but a little help wouldn't hurt."
To the delight of the young men surrounding them, the girl jumped over the counter and they whistled as her skirt left little to imagination.
Had Mindy been straight she would've had no problem in finding guys.
"What do you need?"
"A Screwdriver, a Godmother and a Bloody Mary."
Mindy quickly arranged everything she needed while Emma continued taking orders. The space was not enough for two people, but they managed, Mind also had experience as a barista, so she would help her from time to time instead of only serving tables.
When Emma leaned closer to hear a costumer, Mindy tripped and crashed against her, spilling the Godmother all over the blonde's shirt.
"Shit, shit, I'm so sorry, Ems."
The girl reached for a cloth and pressed it against Emma's chest, patting the shirt to absorb the liquid.
"It's fine, don't worry."
Some guy cheered.
"Yeah! Girl on girl!"
Emma had to strangle every impulse to throw her fist at his jaw.
The bar was cramped and a drunken idiot slurred way too loudly for Regina's liking.
But she'd driven an hour and though she had set a limit of one drink only so she could drive back, she most definitely deserved it.
And she'd get it. Besides, she knew how to work the cleavage into getting the attention of whatever guy was mixing.
She found a sliver of empty space and Regina slithered in, leaning on the counter and ready to order a delicious Appletini.
When her eyes landed on the barista, her stomach looped.
Emma.
Her jaw dropped.
It was not only Emma, it was Emma laughing along with who ever had her hands all over her chest.
It was as if time slowed into almost stilling and Regina froze when the blonde turned her head and their eyes met, sending an electric blast into her heart as its speed shot and it pounded through her ribcage, ready to rip from her body.
She watched Emma's laugh fade and lips mouthing a hushed "Regina".
Her legs practically crumbled, and immediate tears coated her eyes as a reflex, an idiotic reflex that she wished she didn't have.
And it was in that moment that when her brain regained the ability to process that it hit her.
This had been no accident.
Ruby and Mary Margaret suddenly showing care? She should've seen it right then and there.
When her muscles decided to obey, she spun and dashed to the door, hearing her own heartbeat thumping through her ears and trying to still her too rushed breathing or she feared she'd faint.
Emma finally reacted.
"Regina!"