Chap 25
Regina woke up when she saw the sun beating through the hotel bedroom window and she turned over in the bed. She hummed, smiling for a new fresh morning. Her eyes blinked open and she sat up, yawning. She cleared her throat and looked over at the other side of the bed, realizing that Zelena wasn't there. "Zelena?" She called out, wondering if she was in the bathroom. She turned and saw that the bathroom door was wide open with no one in there and she swung her legs over the side of the bed, wondering where she might've gone.
She slowly stood up, stretching and walking into the bathroom, turning on the sink. She checked to make sure it was the right temperature before cupping her hands, dipping them in, and wetting her face. She did this almost every morning, believing that it helped wake her up some more. Once she dried her face, she looked up in the mirror and jumped, letting out a small yelp.
"Mother, you scared me."
"Your sister went out for a minute."
"Okay, did she say where she was going?" Regina walked out of the bathroom passed her mother and she sat down on the bed.
"No. She didn't."
Regina nodded and she sighed looking away from Cora standing by the bathroom still. She saw in the corner of her eye that she did not take her eyes off of her. She looked back and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just, work is definitely getting the better of me lately. All these late business meetings and we're getting nowhere."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Regina didn't know what to say or how to console her mother. "How long ago did Lena leave?" She couldn't think of the right thing to say in this situation, so she just kept the conversation going by asking more about Zelena's disappearance this morning.
"Can't remember." Cora started for the door.
"Mama?" Regina called after her.
"Yes, darling?"
Her youngest daughter hesitated and looked down at her own hands for just a second before looking back up to her. "I love you." She didn't even know where that came from, but she knew that she meant it, especially when Cora gave her the weak smile before turning and walking out of the bedroom. She sighed when she left and stood up, walking over to the closet to look for something else to wear, even though she knew she never wanted to take Mal's dress off. But she knew that eventually she'd have to give it back to her.
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"Maleficent?!" Zelena knocked on the top floor penthouse door. "Maleficent?" She waited a bit before knocking again. "Mal! It's Zelena. I need to talk to you." She knocked one more time.
Finally, the door opened, revealing Mal with her eyes half open and her hair disheveled. "Hey, what is it?" She said, her voice hoarse from still being half asleep.
"Can I come in?" Lena wondered and Mal nodded slightly, moving to the side to let her walk passed her. She leisurely closed the door and followed Zelena into the family room. "May I?" The redhead pointed to one of the couches asking if she could take a seat.
The older woman gestured toward the sofa, telling her it was okay and took a seat herself, hoping she wouldn't fall back to sleep. "What's going on?" She wondered, yawning.
"How much do you really love my sister?"
Mal woke up a bit more, recognizing this as one of those big sister talks where she's being all protective of her sibling and she needs to be impressed to let this go any further. "Very much."
"How much?" Zelena sort of wanted details. "So much that you would do anything to make sure you were never separated?"
"I love her even more than that." She paused, thinking of the past few days and realizing she'd be the empty, lonely prostitute if she had never met Regina. "I love her so much that I would give my life to save her." Zelena smiled, not expecting more to come. "I love her so much that I would feel dead if we ever were separated...I just had a hard time sleeping, thinking about the fact that you could be leaving soon and I wasn't holding her in my arms last night." She said that last part more to herself, not intending for Zelena to hear it, but it just popped out.
"I know a way to make it impossible for anyone to ever split you two up."
"What?"
"But you've got to be willing to do something a bit crazy and impulsive. Would you?"
"Yes. I'd do anything. What'd you have in mind?"
Zelena's face lit up and she began to tell Mal her plan.
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While she waited for her sister's return, Regina got bored in the hotel room after breakfast while her dad did some paperwork and she just sat there listening to her mother rant on the phone to one of her rich friends about one of their other "friends." So the twenty year old headed down to the hotel lobby for a while, just to take a walk and get her mind off of things.
Just as she got off the elevator, she turned a corner, bumping into David and almost falling to the floor, but he instinctively put his hands out, grabbing her to keep her on her feet. "Oh! I'm sorry. Are you okay?" He asked immediately.
"I'm alright. Are you okay?" He nodded and finally let go of her. "I'm sorry. My mind's on a hundred different things right now."
"Don't worry about it. So is mine." He admitted. "What are you roaming about down here for?"
"Had to get away from my mother. You?"
"Had to get away from my father." They both laughed.
"Sooo...How's your brother?" Regina asked with a bit of disdain in her voice, remembering how much of pig James was.
"Well, James is James. He's always doing well." He rolled his eyes, resenting his twin. "How's your sister? Uh, Zelena, right?"
"Zelena's good. I was actually going to see if I could find her. She's the one who left me all alone up there."
"Oh. I'm sorry." David chuckled. "Well, I'll let you get back to...roaming." He said awkwardly.
"And you too." She replied in the same tone.
They tried to walk around each other, but they both stepped to the same side, then again, and again. So, he stepped aside charmingly and she awkwardly giggled, walking by him and slowly looking back once she was about a couple feet away. He turned and looked back at her also and they both weakly smiled at each other before going their separate ways.
She sighed and walked over to the main counter, where Ruby was flirting with a man she's known for years, the man who delivered her and Maleficent room service the other night. "Hey Ruby, Peter. Have you two seen the blonde woman staying with Mr. Gold anywhere?"
"I'm sorry, we haven't." The slender clerk replied, playing with Peter's fingers in her own.
"What about my sister?"
"I haven't." Peter answered while smiling at Ruby.
"I have actually." Ruby remembered. "When I was hanging out with Mary Margaret this morning, Zelena was there."
"In the shop?" Regina asked for clarification.
"Mhm." The taller woman smiled brightly and resumed her flirtatious attitude with the dark haired man.
"Thank you." Regina turned to head towards the boutique when she stopped herself and she turned to smile at the two. "Does Granny know about the two of you?"
Ruby instantly straightened her posture and Peter did the same. "No." The woman said, clearing her throat. "Please don't tell her. She doesn't care that I'm her granddaughter, she'll still fire me."
"And I really need this job to pay for school." Peter added.
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed. Just don't let anyone else catch you." Regina winked and left while the other two let out a sigh of relief and decided to return to working to stay on Granny's good side.
"Hey, Mary Margaret."
"Oh, hey Regina." The girl with the pixie cut sighed.
"Bad day?" Regina could always tell when she was depressed.
"It hasn't been too bad."
"Then why the long face?"
Mary Margaret tilted her head to the side as she sadly looked passed Regina's right shoulder. Regina turned to follow her gaze and saw a lovely couple, about in their mid thirties, holding hands and smiling. Regina looked down at the floor before turning back around to look at the poor young woman around her age. "I'm gonna die alone."
"Mary Margaret, don't say that."
"I am. I've never had that with anybody."
"Oh, I'm sure there was one person." Regina tried to cheer her up.
"I thought there was once. But eventually he told me that he just wanted to be friends." She looked down and quietly said, "That's what all the guys say."
Feeling a sudden sense of deja vu, Regina remembered where she'd heard something like that before. Her eyes lit up and she touched Miss Blanchard's hand on the counter in between them. "I'll be right back." She said before padding her hand and running out of the shop.
"Regina, slow down." Ruby said as the younger girl ran towards the front desk.
"Sorry, I can't right now."
"If you get hurt it's your fault!" The taller woman yelled at her as she booked it passed her. "She better not sue me or the hotel for it." She whispered to herself when she looked away from Regina.
"Hey!" The twenty year old stopped once she found who she was looking for.
"Hey. Whoa! I didn't know you were a runner." The tall sandy haired man joked as he watched her try to catch her breath.
"I'm not." She panted.
"Then why were you running?" He wondered. "In the hotel?" He added, laughing.
"I wanted to catch you before you got on the elevator."
"Oh. Well, I wasn't even going on the elevator, so you can calm down now." He put his hands on her shoulders as if that would help her catch her breath faster.
Her breathing finally slowed down a bit and she said, "You should come with me."
"Okay. Where are we going?"
"Just, come on." She grabbed his hand and started to lead him toward the hotel shop. "Mary Margaret…" She said, finally able to breathe normally again. "...This is David. David, Mary Margaret."
"Hello." He smiled, shaking her hand and she blushed.
"Hi." She responded shyly.
"I think you two should get to know each other." Regina grinned and she reveled in the looks they gave each other. "Hey, did you see my sister in here earlier? Ruby said you did."
"Yeah, she came in." Mary Margaret said, still looking at David.
"Do you know where I can find her?"
"No. She didn't say where she was going."
Regina sighed. "Ugh! Thanks."
"No problem."
Regina turned to leave and she was proud of herself for introducing them, but she decided to go upstairs to see Maleficent.