A/N: I apologize for the delay, but I'm finally starting to catch up on everything from when I was super sick. I should hopefully be back on schedule now. Enjoy :)
15. Emma: Day 65
"This is so weird, Ruby," Emma comments as she takes a swig from the water bottle her exhibition-issued PA gave her. "I'm so not cut out for this."
"You're fine, Emma," Ruby reassures her, munching on something crunchy that Emma can hear through the phone speaker. "The fans love you."
"I know, but this is just so strange. All these people milling about for a few seconds of a glimpse of someone they idolize. It's such a different world than what I'm used to."
She's in a random small ballroom behind the larger grand ballroom, which is currently housing thousands of fans who are listening to some random actor talk about some random role he was in. Emma knows he's a big deal, but she honestly hasn't been paying any attention to the rest of the guests, as she's just trying to make it out alive.
Neal and his father had arranged for her to appear at the Fan Expo Convention in San Diego, a multi-fan convention bringing together figures from across the entertainment and sports industries. She had been scheduled to sign autographs, take photos with fans, and appear in a 30 minute panel to answer fan questions. She had survived the panel, relieved that most of the questions centered around her soccer playing career and what her plans are now that she's retired from the sport. While a few questions about her relationship with Regina popped up, nothing was overly intrusive or nerve-wracking, which made her feel a little more at ease. It seems their co-habitation stunt the week before had been successful, and no one had said anything more about the possibility of their relationship being all for show to help Cora's campaign.
But, they know they still need to be vigilant.
"Have you seen Regina yet?" Ruby asks her, bringing Emma out of her daze.
"What? Oh, no. Not yet," she answers. "But soon, I hope."
She can't tell Ruby what she's really thinking, because Ruby can't know the truth about their relationship. But if she could, she would tell her that she finds it odd that Gold and Neal went to such great lengths to get Regina booked at the same convention Emma had been scheduled to attend, yet her schedule is so tightly packed that she doesn't have time to go find her "girlfriend". But, she supposes, maybe this is more for exposure. After all, they are both hoping to get a career boost from this whole thing, so maybe not everything has to be selling themselves as a couple. Individual promotion is good, too, Emma reasons.
"Well, I have to head to a workout," Ruby says. "Have fun, and let me know how the rest of the day goes!"
"I will. Thanks, Rubes," Emma says, hanging up with a sigh.
"Emma? Your autograph session starts in 10," a random staff member tells her.
"Got it," she says, pushing herself off the couch and bracing herself for whatever comes next.
*.*.*
Emma smiles at the preteen girl in a Team USA jersey across the table as she slides the autographed photo back to her. "I hope I can be as half as good as you one day," the girl says as she picks up the photograph as though it's precious porcelain that may break.
"Just keep at it and you will be," Emma says, hoping that she sounds motivating. She's not used to this. Normally if she meets someone who has followed her career, it's a quick "hello" and then another six months before anyone really recognizes her when she's out and about. But today, it's person after person of artificial pleasantries and she's not sure likes having to feel "on" nonstop. She knows she should be grateful for the opportunity to be in this position, and she is. It's just really, really strange and will take some getting used to.
She stiffens in her seat when she feels someone grab her from behind, hands covering her eyes. "Guess who?" is the husky whisper in her ear, and she immediately sighs in relief.
"Hey, babe!" Emma says, immediately slipping into character, knowing that there's a line of people watching her — well, watching them.
"Take five," Regina says to the assigned staff PA who is sitting next to Emma at the table and helping organize the line of incoming autograph materials. "I've got it from here."
The staff woman looks to Emma for confirmation, and the blonde nods her consent. "Take a break, Tilly," Emma says, watching as the young woman vacates the seat and Regina slides effortlessly into it.
She doesn't even have time to process it as Regina quickly bends forward to quickly place a chaste kiss on Emma's lips. "Hey," she smiles as she sits back in the chair she stole from an unsuspecting convention staffer.
"Hey," Emma says again in response, then turning her attention back to her queue when she hears the clearing of a throat from the annoyed parent waiting at the front of the line for her to sign her kid's jersey. "Right," she says. "Next, please."
"Check this one out," Regina whispers a few minutes later as she slides the next picture toward Emma to be signed.
"Whoa," Emma says quietly, looking at the photograph, and then back up to the teen in front of her.
"I'm a huge fan of you, and you," she adds, turning to Regina before looking back at Emma. "You're my favorite couple," she squeaks out, barely containing her excitement. "I can't believe you're both here. Well, I mean, I knew you were both going to be here, but I can't believe you're here together. At the same table. Oh my God."
"Thank you for your support," Emma says, not really sure what else to say as she turns her attention to the photo and picks up her Sharpie to sign it. The girl had printed out the selfie Emma had posted on her Instagram the week before promoting the mattress — the one of Regina pretending to be asleep and Emma posed behind her. It's the first couple photo she's been asked to sign all day. "Do you, uh, want Regina to sign it, too?" Emma asks, looking over at Regina for permission.
"Oh my God, really?" The girl asks. "That would be amazing. I was going to ask, but I didn't know if that was allowed."
"Oh, sure," Regina says with a smile, taking the Sharpie from Emma and quickly signing her name and a little heart. "Here you go!"
"Thank you so, so much," the girl says, clearly giddy, before being ushered out of the line by a convention staff member to keep things moving.
"This is surreal," Emma says under her breath, receiving a calming pat on her knee under the table from Regina in return.
*.*.*
"Are you done for the day?" Emma asks Regina as they walk through the back hallways reserved for the convention talent and make their way toward the photo op room later that day.
"Yeah," Regina says. "I was only a fill-in for someone who canceled, so I just had a 30 minute photo op and an hour of autograph signings. But I knew your schedule was jam-packed, so I didn't want to get in your way earlier or distract you."
"Well, I'm glad you came by," Emma says, taking another sip of water. Her throat is scratchy from talking so much with so little rest. "It's been crazy but also kind of boring without anyone I know around to talk to… how were your sessions?"
Regina shrugs. "They were fine. Since I was a last-minute add-on there weren't really that many people there for me, aside from the random out of work child and teen actors that Gold hired to come stand in my line to make it look like I drew a crowd."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yep. He may be a giant tool, but the man knows what he's doing when it comes to this stuff."
"Wow."
"Out of everyone there, probably only 30 were actually fans of my previous work. The rest were his plants. Oh, and about 100 of your fans came by though. I guess they bought tickets for my auto session when they found out I was on the roster. So, I should thank you for the extra cash those sales brought in for me."
Emma rolls her eyes. "Anytime."
"Alright," they're greeted by the photography manager when they arrive at the room. "Emma, you have 45 minutes to get through all the photo ops. The photographer will give you more information about what you should and shouldn't do during the session, where to stand, and all that jazz as soon as he's done with the current talent's session. Do you have any questions for me?"
"No, not really," Emma says, noticing that the woman isn't even paying attention to her, and a volunteer quickly ushers them to a small, private room off to the side to wait for Emma's session to start.
"Do you want to stick around during my session?" Emma asks Regina when they're left alone.
She shakes her head. "I don't want to cause any distractions with your fans, and I'm starving, so I'm going to go find something quick to eat. But I'll come back down and meet you here after?"
"Okay, sounds good," Emma says, leaning in to kiss Regina's cheek without even thinking, even though they're completely alone and no one can see them, before the brunette departs. It's becoming a natural reflex, it seems.
*.*.*
Emma notices the clock on the wall indicates that there are only a few minutes left of her photo op session, but there's still a handful of people waiting patiently in line. She finds that she has a bit more time to have some semblance of a conversation with the convention-goers during the photos than she did at the quick pace of the autograph table, so she is enjoying this a bit more than the earlier portions of her day. Most of the guests have been aspiring soccer players, but she's been surprised at the number of young adults who seemingly have little interest in the sport, but are much more interested in her relationship with Regina. She files that note away in the back of her head, sure that Neal, Gold, and even Cora will be thrilled by that piece of news.
She smiles at the camera as the flash goes off, and the current fan is ushered away by a volunteer while the next one is brought up to her. The process continues until the line finally dies down. She finishes the last photo — a group photo with five college-aged women — and lets out a breath.
"Got time for one more?" she hears and smiles as Regina walks back into the room.
"Always," she says, extending her hand toward the woman as she approaches, which Regina gladly accepts. Emma notices out of the corner of her eye that the small group of fans are still congregated near the door, waiting for their photos to print and are openly staring at the couple. Emma tries to ignore them, to let them think that they're witnessing some sweet, private moment between two newly in-love women, rather than something that's the result of two brilliant PR masterminds' scheduling and strategy prowess. She notices a few of them are trying to subtly take out their cell phones to take photos or film, and she hopes that the room coordinator doesn't notice. This will be great publicity for them if fans capture some moments. Neal had already texted his approval of Regina's impromptu autograph moment. He'd eat this up with a spoon.
"Ready?" the photographer asks, a hint of irritation present in his voice. Emma had been the last scheduled photo session for the day, so he likely just wants to get out of there.
"Absolutely," Regina says, pulling Emma into her and posing.
They take a few photos of varying levels of seriousness, the last of which Regina lightly grabs Emma's chin so she can kiss her. It catches Emma off-guard, but she rolls with it, laughing as they finish up and move to the side of the room as the photographer sends their pictures to the printer and starts dismantling his equipment.
"We're still being watched," Regina whispers to her as she takes a sip of her take-out drink.
"I know," Emma nods. "I'm surprised they haven't been kicked out yet."
Regina shrugs. "It's the end of the day. People probably don't care anymore, but maybe we should sneak out the back so they can't follow us."
"Good plan," Emma answers as she picks up the first photo that printed. It's actually quite cute. They haven't had many 'official' photos together yet, but she has to admit that they look great together.
*.*.*
"So, that was surprisingly fun," Regina comments as they drive back home after the convention.
"It was. It was a little weird at first, but I had a good time. It was cool to meet everyone, and I'm glad you showed up. That definitely made it more enjoyable," she smiles, catching Regina's eye for a second before the brunette focuses back on the road in front of them.
"Glad to hear it," she chuckles. "Do you want to make a detour and go get dinner before we head home? Or do you want to just get Postmates later?"
"Didn't you just eat?"
"I had something quick and small to hold me over. I figured you'd be hungry after you were done with everything, so I wanted to wait."
"Oh," Emma says, thinking that was sweet of Regina to do. "I could go for some dinner now, if you want to stop somewhere. Anything specific in mind?"
"I was thinking we could try that new Italian bistro Ruby mentioned last week."
"Oh, Marco's?" Emma confirms.
"Yeah. Does that work for you?"
"Sure," she says, suddenly a little nervous. Ruby had mentioned it and said it was amazing, but she also said it had been a very romantic setting. Ruby had taken Aurora there for their three-month anniversary. Ruby had also mentioned that it was very private inside, so it wasn't a place to go to be seen on a date, so Emma's a little flustered by Regina's selection.
"Perfect," Regina says as she turns on her signal and changes lanes, heading toward their new destination.