Twenty Minutes Or Seven Years

by Viktoryus

Regina is on her way to a work Christmas party when she and her noisy neighbor next door both get stuck in an elevator together. They are forced to make small talk with each other, but both find out rather quickly that they might actually have more in common than they originally believed. Swanqueen AU One-shot. Story is mine but the characters are not.

Regina looks over her appearance carefully before reaching into the drawer of her vanity for a few more hair pins. She adds them to the low, loosely wrapped bundle of curls that are laying just elegantly above her clavicle and once it feels secure enough but not too tight, she sighs contently. She runs her hands down the front of her one-shoulder gown, the shimmery material feeling a little strange to the touch, and adjusts it one last time.

She's not excited to go to this year's Regal Christmas party, but she couldn't exactly get out of going either, seeing as she is the current editor-in-chief for the magazine. The magazine has had a year filled with more trials and tribulations than it has triumphs, and even though the dramatics have died down now that the year is drawing to a close, Regina still feels awfully guilty that they are spending so much money on these extravagant parties that always seem to cut into both their marketing and operations budgets. Especially this particular one because it is the party of the year according to most of New York City's elite.

Once Regina is satisfied with the way her hair looks, she softly pads her way through the bedroom and into her closet where in the far left corner holds a very large and impressive rotating shoe carousel. She slowly spins through the shelves until she finds the pair she is looking for. Carefully removing the strappy, metallic, silver and light gold Louboutin sandals from their place on the shelf, she walks to where the full length mirror is on the other end of the closet. She puts them on and studies her reflection. She looks about as flawless as it's going to get, she thinks, as she turns to one side, specifically showing off the side of the gown where there is a slit that comes all the way up, stopping just about mid-thigh. She knew that these shoes would match the dress perfectly and smiles to herself smugly.

Emma has had one hell of a day. She and Lily were up until nearly three in the morning having one of the worst yelling matches they've ever had. They haven't really been able to agree on anything since they moved in together six months ago, and last night's fight was the one that officially ended their relationship. Lily told her she was leaving, and when Emma woke up to find all of her things gone, and the brunette nowhere to be found, she knew it was truly over between them.

Her best friend Ruby had warned her about rushing things along too quickly with Lily and advised that she should wait until they had been dating for at least a year before moving in together, but as always, she didn't take any of the advice to heart. Whirlwind relationships aren't really her thing, but Lily seemed to be different, or at least she was in the beginning of their budding romance. Now, as she is picking up the remnants of the broken vase that Lily had thrown at her head just hours before, she realizes what a huge mistake this has been.

The apartment is in complete disarray, and as she is looking around once more, she stops to really take in the mess of everything around her. When she finally comes to the realization that Lily is likely not coming back, she runs her hand through her hair and sighs in frustration. Lily was the one that had insisted on this apartment and now that she will be living in it alone, she may have to pick up a few more photography gigs just so she could afford it. Just the thought of having to find more work makes her both apprehensive and irritated, but luckily she has a few contacts in the city that she could talk to that might be able to help her drum up some more work. In fact, she is meeting one of them tonight and it took her a very long time to even convince him to see her with it being Christmas Eve, so she really has to make this worth his time.

Regina taps the button for the elevator before pulling out her phone from the clutch in her hand. She types a quick message letting her driver know that she is making her way down to the car. As she is putting her phone away, she hears a door shutting from down the hall so she turns to see who it might be. When she sees that it is the blonde that lives in the apartment next door to hers, she grunts softly to herself.

The couple next door has been the worst neighbors that she has ever had, and she has been able to avoid having an actual conversation with either of them for the last six months. If she's to be honest to herself, they remind her too much of when her and Selene were still living together. All the constant arguing about absolutely nothing of real substance only drove them to hate each other in the end. And eventually, Selene had to move 3600 miles away from her for them to be able to even exist on the same planet. What a mess all of that was, she thinks. Instinctively, she taps the elevator button a few more times hoping that she can make it in and close the doors before the blonde arrives. If she does have to talk to her, she's worried that she will only complain about how much noise is always coming from their apartment.

Once her door is locked, Emma makes her way down the long corridor that leads to the elevator lobby. She makes it to the elevator just as the doors are opening and steps inside after the woman who is already making her way into the compartment. She sees that the woman is dressed to the nines and it makes her feel self conscious and underdressed in her jeans and worn leather jacket. Once they are both in the elevator, she watches as the other woman pushes the button for the first floor before speaking. "That dress is beautiful. You must be on your way to a party tonight." She says awkwardly and is suddenly feeling even more self conscious than before.

Regina hesitates to respond but doesn't want to seem too rude so she smiles politely and answers against her better judgment. "Thank you. And yes, I'm headed to a holiday party." She leaves it at that, hoping that the blonde can do the same.

"Must be some party." Emma says with a small chuckle. She turns towards the woman, so that she can get a better look at her. The woman, from what Emma can see looking only at her profile, is absolutely breathtaking. The dress looks perfect on her and everything about her entire ensemble, from the shoes to her jewelry and her small purse makes her look like a goddess. "You look absolutely beautiful." Emma adds finally before turning to face towards the elevator doors again.

Regina can't help but roll her eyes, not because of the compliment, but at the fact that the conversation between them has already gone longer than she ever wanted it to. She opens her mouth to speak, but before she is able to thank the blonde, the elevator screeches to a halt, then jolts a bit more before stopping its descent altogether. Regina looks over at the blonde in confusion, "What in the…" just as the lights flicker a few times and then turn off completely as well.

"Um...I think we've stopped moving." Emma says finally once the silence really sets in.

"How observant of you." Regina says in an irritated tone. She pushes the call button a few times waiting for someone to answer. When she doesn't hear any response to her call for help, she pushes it again.

Emma wants to bite back at the woman's last comment but thinks that it probably doesn't warrant any response from her considering the two of them might be stuck together in this small space for an undetermined amount of time. Instead, she just watches as the brunette gets more and more frustrated and finally decides to toss the bag that is holding her portfolio down onto the ground before sitting down next to it. When she looks up, she sees the brunette looking down at her with a confused expression on her face. "I doubt you're going to get a response if you haven't already. And I don't know how comfortable it is for you to sit in that thing…" she says as she casually motions at the woman's long dress, "but I don't know that you're going to want to stand there all night either." She adds with a shrug.

Regina is taken by surprise at the kindness in the other woman's tone. She was so sure that her last harsh statement would have gotten her the cold shoulder by now. She stares for a moment longer and then sighs before slowly removing her shoes. Usually, a four-inch heel doesn't bother her much if she is walking in them, however, standing in them all night is another story. She pulls out her phone and when she realizes there isn't any service, she shakes her head and puts it away. Then with her hands both firmly on her waist, she contemplates her next move.

"You know, staring at the door isn't going to make it open." Emma says with a tinge of sarcasm. She pulls her knees up, scoots herself against the back wall of the elevator, and then wraps her arms around them pulling herself in tightly. She sighs as she thinks about how this day just went from bad to worse because she is now going to miss her meeting.

Regina turns and glares at the blonde. "You evidently don't have anywhere to be tonight, but I happen to be a guest of honor at one of the most prestigious events in the city. So, excuse me for being a bit taken aback by our current predicament."

"Wow…" Emma says, her frustration with the brunette finally hitting that point where she can no longer bite her tongue. "Firstly, very egotistical of you to assume that you are the only person that can make plans on Christmas Eve. Second, just because I'm not all jazzed up, doesn't mean I don't have plans. I do actually have somewhere to be, and I can assure you it is much more important than some party."

Regina frowns as she wasn't expecting the blonde to fight back the way she just did. She bites down on her lower lip for a second before slowly lowering herself to a crouch so that she can look the woman in the eyes when she apologizes. "I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have made any assumptions. I tend to get belligerent when I'm frustrated and you do not deserve to be on the receiving end of that."

Emma stares back at the woman in front of her and realizes that she could never truly be angry at someone as beautiful as she is. She wonders why she hasn't seen her around before tonight, since they probably live on the same floor. "It's fine." She says finally. "I get it. It's a shitty situation. And isn't this the elevator that was just out of order a few weeks back? I thought they had taken care of whatever was wrong with it already." She says in an attempt to change the subject.

Regina does remember and because of that, she had actually been avoiding taking this specific elevator for the last few weeks. But in her hurry to leave, it must have slipped her mind. "Yes, you're right again. They were supposed to have fixed whatever is wrong with it after the last fiasco when Mrs. Radcliff was stuck in here with nine of their fifteen dalmatian puppies." She scrunches her face as she recalls the smell that wafted out of the elevator every time the doors opened, even a full week after the incident. "Do you think that they even know that we're stuck in here?" She asks.

Emma looks down at her watch. It was barely just after 6pm. "I think that they will figure it out soon enough. There should still be people coming and going right around this time. Although, I'm not entirely sure how long it will take for them to get the thing moving again."

Regina thinks about this for a moment before hiking her dress up to a position right around her hips so that she can also sit down onto the floor of the elevator. She flinches at the cool touch of the floor against her bare thigh and once she is comfortable again, she too slides to where her back is to one of the walls, but to the side of where the blonde is sitting. "I suppose this might be a blessing in disguise." She finally says softly as she leans her head back and shuts her eyes for a moment.

Emma raises an eyebrow at the woman, waiting for the explanation that she isn't even sure would ever come.

Regina realizes that Emma is silently asking for an explanation once she opens her eyes again and sees the woman's bright green orbs looking her way. She thinks about how the lack of lighting in the elevator actually makes the blondes eyes shine more than she would expect them to, and she can't help but think about how pretty she looked then. "The party tonight isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my Christmas Eve. In fact, I would have rather stayed in tonight." She explains at last.

"Oh." Emma replies, unsure of what to say until she remembers something the brunette had mentioned just a moment ago. "But, I thought you were the guest of honor, or whatever."

Regina chuckles. "Well, when you're the editor-in-chief, it's pretty much your party." She says trying not to sound narcissistic since the blonde had already accused her of that once tonight.

Emma's eyes grow wide in surprise. "Wait a minute. You're talking about the Regal annual Christmas Party, aren't you? You're Regina Mills?! The Editor-in-Chief of Regal Magazine?!"

Regina nods. "Guilty. To all charges." She replies with a smile. "I'm actually very surprised you know who I am. And about the party. Do you work in the industry?"

"Oh, no…" Emma starts. "I mean, I wish I was. Working with Regal, that is. I've been doing a lot of freelance photography for a while now and have a couple of regular gigs, but nothing as awesome as doing anything for your magazine." Emma sighs as she thinks about her current dilemma again. "And actually, I know about the party because I was supposed to meet one of my contacts tonight about a possible job. And he actually does happen to work for you. August Booth?"

Regina nods again. "Oh, yes, August. He's in fashion."

Emma smiles sadly and sighs. "Yeah, well, he said he might be needing someone for some of his upcoming fashion spreads, so I was running my portfolio to him tonight. After some, and by some I actually mean a lot of convincing on my part, he was able to squeeze me into his schedule right before he had to leave to get ready for the party. So, I doubt that he will even consider me now that I'm going to be a no-show."

Regina frowns at the woman's sudden dispirited demeanor. It makes her feel even more awful for her assumption earlier regarding the blonde's plans for the evening. "Is that your portfolio that you have there?" She asks, pointing to the bag that is sitting beside her on the ground.

Emma nods. "Yeah, it's some of my most recent work. I haven't really done much in the fashion industry but I have some shots that I am really proud of."

"May I take a look?" Regina asks and as expected, the woman looks back at her in surprise.

"What? Really?" Emma asks incredulously.

"Sure. To be honest, August is pretty picky when it comes to the photographers he uses, but I can always put in a good word if I like what I see." She shrugs in a noncommittal way and points to the bag once again. "May I?"

Emma nods emphatically. "Yes! Of course!" She says as she pulls the binder out of her bag and reaches it over to hand it to Regina.

Regina takes the binder from the blonde and sets it in her lap. Then she pulls the phone out of her clutch and swipes through it until she finds the flashlight. She taps the screen to turn on the light before she slowly begins flipping through the pages of the portfolio. She finds herself surprised to see that the photographs are all actually quite good. "Wow. These are really good…"

Emma can feel her face get warm at the compliment and is suddenly very glad for the lack of lighting in the stalled elevator. She can see Regina's face in the reflected glow of the LED shining from her phone, and though the shadows give her face an odd, unnerving look, she is beautiful nonetheless. "You really think so?" She asks timidly when she is able to find her voice once more.

Regina looks up at the blonde and nods. "Yes, you do have quite the talent, Miss…" She pauses, tilts her head to one side, and squints at the blonde. "Hmm... It seems to me we are not on equal footing seeing that you know who I am, but I still haven't even a clue what your name is."

Emma smiles. "Emma. Emma Swan." She says as she reaches her hand out awkwardly.

Regina stares at Emma's hand for a second before reaching out as well and taking the woman's hand and giving it a firm shake. "It's nice to meet you, Emma."

"Likewise! And thank you… for saying what you said about my work. It means a lot coming from the editor-in-chief of Regal." Emma replies with a smile. "I doubt I'd ever feel this good about it again."

"Well, that's nonsense." Regina says as she gently closes the portfolio and hands it back to Emma. "I'm sure that you hear that about your work all the time."

Emma shrugs. "Maybe I've been showing them to the wrong people." She sighs as she thinks again about how screwed she is going to be if she doesn't find a good, permanent photography gig. The last thing she wants is to go back to waiting tables and bar-backing. "God, I wish I could say that this whole thing is a blessing in disguise for me as well. But at this point, it seems like it's more a nightmare."

Regina can't put her finger on it, but there's a sadness in Emma's tone that makes her feel terrible for having such unpleasant thoughts about her just earlier. "If we ever get out of here, and I make it to this party, I will certainly let August know about what happened and why you had to miss your interview tonight. I'll make a request that he sees you as soon as we are back in the office the day after tomorrow."

Emma is surprised by the woman's kindness. "You'd do that? For me?" She asks with a curious but shy smile. "You barely know me."

Regina rolls her eyes. "Emma, I'm not doing you a favor of nepotism. If I didn't like your portfolio it wouldn't matter if I've known you my entire life. I just think that August could use someone with a fresh and new perspective. That's what I'd like to think Regal Magazine is always striving towards."

Hearing her name from Regina's lips gives her a warm feeling that she isn't expecting. The woman sitting across from her is certainly beautiful but definitely out of her league. She mentally berates herself almost immediately for those thoughts especially since it hasn't even been a full twenty-four since her relationship with Lily ended. "Regina…I...I don't know how to thank you. This really means a lot to me. You have no idea."

Regina smiles. "Well, consider it a Christmas gift." The blonde smiles brightly back at her then, and it dawns on her that the woman's soft features are actually quite beautiful. She has the sudden urge to tell her as much, but is interrupted by the buzzing sound of the elevator call box.

"'Ello. Is there anyone in there?" The man asks.

Regina has a look of surprise on her face and doesn't respond to the man, so Emma takes it upon herself to crawl over closer to the speaker to answer him. "Hey, hi. Yeah, there's two of us in here. Please tell us that you are working on getting us out of here."

"Yes Ma'am. We've got the maintenance team working on it now. Shouldn't be too long before we get it up and running again. Just wanted to check in to make sure no one is in a panic," the man replies.

Regina rolls her eyes. "And what if we were in a panic?" She asks Emma in a playful tone, soft enough so that the man wouldn't be able to hear her. "Do you suppose they would actually be able to do anything about that through an intercom?"

Emma chuckles. "Thank you." She says to the man and when the buzzing goes away indicating the call has ended, she sits down in the spot she had crawled to and turns back towards Regina. "You really shouldn't underestimate the power of a calm and soothing voice to get you through a crisis," she says with a smirk.

Regina lets out a hearty laugh and it echoes in the small space. "That man's voice? Calm and soothing? Hardly."

Regina's laugh sounds like music to Emma and she has to once again make a mental note that she should be nursing her newly broken heart instead of slowly growing more and more fond of the woman that is now sitting almost too close to her. "Oh, no… his voice, definitely not. But, mine's not too bad, right?" She isn't sure if that sounds too flirtatious and the last thing she wants is for Regina to think she is coming on to her, especially when the woman is willing to help her to get an interview, and for the chance at a photo spread in her magazine, no less. "What I mean is, if you were really having a panic attack, I could probably calm you down from it…" She trails off because she knows that she will talk herself into an even bigger hole if she doesn't stop now.

Regina studies Emma again for a moment. She has to admit that her feelings for her very loud and seemingly obnoxious neighbor has taken quite the turn in the last hour. After spending some time with her, she realizes that her assumptions were actually quite erroneous and that she's not at all the person she imagined. But, she cannot deny that the yelling that's always coming from the apartment next door has left an imprint she won't soon forget. "I suppose if I were indeed having a panic attack of sorts, that you might have more luck calming me than the man on the other end of the intercom would."

Emma chuckles nervously at that. "You don't have to spare my feelings. I know you are just saying that because I encouraged it just now."

"Oh, believe me, Dear. It's not really in me to not speak my mind." Regina says before taking a deep breath. "I'm lucky that it works to my advantage in my line of work."

"Well, I can certainly admire and appreciate the honesty. I don't even know who I'm trying to kid though. The truth is, I can barely talk myself out of a catastrophe right now, let alone anyone else." Regina doesn't respond so she continues. "My girlfriend walked out on me this morning with a huge mess and an expensive apartment that I can't afford. On Christmas Eve. And I really should be freaking the hell out but I'm just so exhausted that it makes me numb." Emma tries to laugh off the pinching feeling in her heart and turns to face Regina who is already looking over at her with an expression that she can't really read. "For the record, I'm really glad that you're not having a panic attack or anything... We'd both be sitting ducks." Regina smiles at that. "And I already mentioned this, but I'll forever be in your debt for putting in a good word for me with August."

Regina smiles at the blonde. "You really have to be careful who you say that to in this industry. You might regret it later."

"Hmm… You don't really seem like the type to use that against me, though." Emma says with a smirk.

Regina gives her most devilish smile. "Oh, Ms. Swan. You really shouldn't underestimate me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Emma bites down on her lip to keep herself from smiling too broadly. "You know what? This might be the boldest thing I say to you all night, and please don't take this the wrong way. It's sexy as hell when a woman that looks the way you do says something like 'you have no idea what I'm capable of'. It really makes me want to find out exactly what that is."

Regina feels her face heat up at Emma's assertion but doesn't look away from her. "That is indeed a very bold statement…" She smiles then before adding, "and thank you. Not just for that compliment, but for the one from earlier tonight. I think that the sudden jolting of the elevator made me forget that I was trying to thank you before. You're very kind and it means a lot to me."

"I am only speaking the truth. No gratitude necessary." Emma says with another genuine smile. Then she looks away from Regina to stare forward again. Neither of them say anything for some time, both just enjoying the comfortable silence. Emma thinks about how she now has no one to spend Christmas with. Ruby is at home for the holidays and she had expected to be spending it with Lily which is now a huge bust. "This is so not how I imagined my Christmas this year. I mean, what do you do with the gifts you get for your girlfriend when she dumps you right before you're supposed to give them to her?" This comes out pretty lightheartedly considering how dreadful she's feeling about it all.

"Truthfully, I think that you rejoice." Regina answers without hesitation as she thinks about a similar disaster of her own. It wasn't Christmas but it was a significant moment for her and Selene nonetheless. "I do hope you kept all of the receipts. And hopefully an engagement ring isn't one of those gifts. Having to return one of those really bruises the ego."

Emma turns her face back towards Regina and raises an eyebrow. "That sounds like quite the story." She doesn't want to push so instead just offers a smile before turning away and laying her head back against the elevator wall.

Regina isn't sure why she suddenly feels so compelled to share her story with the woman sitting beside her. Maybe it's because they just met, or because she could so easily sympathize with Emma. "I had planned to propose to my girlfriend of seven years the night that she decided our relationship was over." She says this cooly. There wasn't much resentment there anymore. It's been years since they've even spoken to each other. "I should have seen it coming from miles away. Earlier that week I had just been promoted from being one of the many print journalists at Regal to their Art Director so I was probably feeling a bit too confident. I picked up the ring on my lunch break, and Selene and I had plans for dinner that night. But, I arrived home to find that instead of being dressed for dinner, she had packed all of her belongings. She left for Paris on a redeye that night"

Emma frowns. "Did she know you were going to propose?"

Regina shakes her head. "It wouldn't have changed anything if she did. And even if so, I know that I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that she only stayed for that reason alone."

"Seven years is a long time though…" Emma says. She finds the idea of anyone walking away from the woman sitting there next to her to be completely absurd. Sure, they only just met, but in the time that they have spent in the elevator compartment together, she hasn't been able to pick out a single flaw.

"With the right person, it doesn't matter if it's twenty minutes or it's seven years, time will always feel immeasurable." Regina says softly.

Emma nods in understanding. "And with the wrong person?" She asks.

"Oh, I suppose it depends on how wrong the person is for you. How long were you and…?"

"Lily." Emma answers softly.

"So, how long were you and Lily together?"

"Not quite a year." Emma answers honestly. "But it was so bad for a long time… we fought so much."

Regina couldn't stop herself from chucking which earns her a quizzical look from the blonde. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course, you can. I mean, we're practically best friends now, aren't we?" Emma says with a smirk.

Regina laughs. "Well, not sure you will still feel the same way after what I have to say."

"Hmmm. Try me." Emma says confidently.

"I actually live in the apartment next to you, so I have, on occasion, witnessed this fighting that you're speaking of." Regina immediately feels bad for admitting this to the blonde even though she knows her honestly isn't intended to make her feel bad about the past.

Emma's eyes grow wide in surprise and embarrassment. "You could hear us through the walls? Oh, God. I-"

"I would usually tune it out once it started. You have no reason to be worried. I didn't hear any of it in detail." Regina says hoping to reassure Emma who seems very concerned and distraught after her admission.

Emma frowns. "I'm sorry. This is so incredibly embarrassing. I just… you have no reason to believe this, but that person isn't me. I don't know why, Lily just seemed to bring out the worst in me."

Regina does understand because she knows that familiar feeling all too well. It seems like such a silly notion that the people we love could change who we are fundamentally, but while the right people might encourage us to be the best version of ourselves, the wrong and toxic relationships can certainly have an adverse affect. "I do believe you. And I think that happens to even the best people."

Emma manages a small, grateful smile. "I just wish it would hurt less, ya know? And I'm sure having to spend the rest of the holidays by myself isn't going to make me feel any better…" She sighs into a small chuckle. "How's that for a pity party? I'm sounding pretty pathetic, huh?"

Regina shakes her head. "No, I think that you're being too hard on yourself. And I believe that you have at least another good twenty-four hours of pitying yourself before you can be considered pathetic." She smiles when Emma laughs at her comment.

"You know what? The last thing I was expecting tonight was an impromptu therapy session, inside of an elevator. But, I have to say, I feel much better. Thank you."

Regina laughs. "I can't say that I ever expected that anyone would consider my intrusive comments to be therapeutic. My convictions usually have a more detrimental effect on people. If I told my sister you said that, she would cackle at the thought."

"No way! Now, who's being too hard on themselves? Is your sister older or younger?" Emma asks curiously.

"Older. But she hardly acts that way."

"Well, that makes complete sense. Older siblings are supposed to think the worst of their younger siblings." Emma states matter-of-factly.

Regina smiles at this because she really lucked out when it came down to her older sister. Zelena is her best friend and even though she could be the most annoyingly nosy person in the world, she wouldn't trade her for anyone or anything. "Do you have any siblings?" She finally asks Emma after a while.

"Nah." Emma has to stop herself there hoping Regina doesn't push her for more. She's already told the brunette all about her relationship problems. She should spare her from the stories of having to jump from one foster home to another all through her teenage years. Luckily for her, before Regina could respond, the elevator jolts back to life and the lights come back on. "FINALLY!" She exclaims as she flinches at the sudden brightness of the small space. She jumps up onto her feet and reaches her hand down to help Regina up.

Regina takes hold of Emma's hand and pulls herself off of the ground. She thanks the blonde and stands up while smoothing out her dress in the spots where she had been sitting on it. She reaches for her shoes and puts them back onto her feet just as the elevator doors open onto the lobby level. She steps out and immediately her phone starts chiming with all the missed messages. She quickly finds her driver's number and calls him. "Hi, Seb. Yes, I'm sorry. The elevator that I was in, stalled. And there was no service." She rolls her eyes at all of his questions. "Yes, with me in it! Hence, I was unable to reach you to tell you. Seb, enough with all these questions. Are you still waiting outside the building? Perfect. Just pull back up to the front and I'll be right out." She walks as quickly as she is able to in her tight dress to the front door and opens it to find that there is a heavy wall of snow and sleet pouring from the sky. This is just great, she thinks as she prepares to walk the thirty feet that is currently between her and the Towncar that has just pulled up next to the curb. But, just as she is about to step into the downpour, she feels a hand on her back.

Emma watches as Regina seems to be contemplating her next move and suddenly remembers something that she might be able to help with. She hurries after the brunette and stops her before she takes another step. When Regina turns towards her, she smiles. "Allow me…" She says before reaching into her bag and pulling out an umbrella. She opens it up and boldly pulls Regina closer. "Stay close though, I wouldn't want you to ruin this beautiful little number." She adds with a wink.

Regina feels terrible that she had completely forgotten about her blonde neighbor the moment the elevator doors opened. She smiles gratefully at her before taking her arm tightly. They both walk very slowly over to where the car is idling and before she could reach for the door, Emma takes the door handle and opens it for her, letting her slide into the seat. She instantly misses the warmth from Emma's body. "Thank you." she says.

"You're very welcome." Emma walks up a bit closer to the car with the umbrella to keep the rain from hitting Regina since the car door is still open. She isn't sure why but looking down at the beautiful woman that's sitting in front of her, she was suddenly feeling more courageous than usual. "So… I-"

"Don't worry, I will make sure to speak with August. You should hear from him after the holidays." Regina says as she remembers her promise from before.

"Oh…" Emma says with a nod. "Yes… Thanks again for that. But I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to grab dinner with me sometime."

Regina is completely taken aback by the woman's question, and she realizes that she isn't doing a very good job at hiding the shock from her face because of the look she sees on Emma's face.

"It's not a big deal. I'm sure you're super busy. I just thought-"

"Emma." Regina calls out and waits for Emma to stop rambling off before replying, "dinner sounds lovely. We can chat about it tomorrow, perhaps? Will you be at home?"

Emma nods emphatically. "Yes! I'll be home all day."

"Alright, I'll stop by in the morning before I head out, if that's alright with you?" Regina cannot help but smile at Emma's sudden change in demeanor.

"Yes, of course!"

Regina nods again in confirmation. "Alright then. Have a good evening, Emma. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes. See you tomorrow." Emma smiles brilliantly at the brunette one last time and steps away so that she can shut the car door. She waves and watches as the Towncar disappears down the street before she walks back into the building. Maybe her Christmas wasn't going to turn out as terrible as she thought it would be after all.