Chapter 23
Ruben spent the whole day getting himself busy with work, he didn't want to think about the events of the morning so his only way was to consume himself in the work besides since Emmett wasn't available at office, mostly all the responsibility fell on him for the day. As for Emmett, he spent the whole day in his room at his parent's mansion, he didn't even went to eat lunch with them when he was invited, making a excuse of 'not feeling well'. His parents tried to offer their company too but he refused. Mary and David knew that leaving him alone would be for best, but they assured him they would wait for him to come to them whenever he wanted.
On the other hand Belle was getting ready to leave for the day, it was about to be 10 pm, she had spent extra time at the office today. Mostly all of the workers had gone home already, only few remained. She knew Katherine was already home. She had received a text from her asking her when she will be home. She just had to go give these few papers to Ruben and then she could go home.
'I wonder how he's doing after this morning, I still can't believe he asked me out…hah…no no no no don't think about that now, you just have to give these reports for the day to him and then leave….yeah….no pressure…' Belle was giving a pep talk to herself as she was walking over to Ruben's office. As she reached the door, she went up to knock.
Knock!…knock!….knock!
"Come in!" came the response from the other side of the door. Belle opened the door and stepped in. She noticed that Ruben hadn't even looked at the door to see who it was. He was currently sitting on the chair and reading through a file. Belle walked to his table and placed the reports on the table.
"Here's the report for today, sir" at Belle's voice, Ruben finally looked up from the file and noticed Belle still standing there, waiting.
"uh…thank you Belle, if that's all you can go.." Ruben said turning back to the file in front of him.
"um…Ru- I mean..sir?!..." at that Ruben looked up again but didn't say anything, waiting for Belle to finishing say what she wanted. But Belle just stood there and starting fidgeting.
"sigh…Belle, was there something else you needed?" Ruben tried asking her.
"Umm sorry…nothing sir. I'll be going now" with that Belle turned around and walked out of the office. Ruben was left dumbfounded at Belle's sudden leave. He decided to not let it get to his head and went back to work. He needed to go through this file one more time to make sure everything was as it's suppose to be for tomorrow's meeting. After that he would be done for the day and go back to his place.
Meanwhile in Stroybrooke….
It was 7pm. The Mills were preparing themselves for dinner. Everybody was sitting at the table and eating, everybody was quite.
"I am done, I'll be going to my room" Regina said, as she got up from her spot and walked away from the table.
"Regina…won't you stay for desert?" asked Cora looking at her direction. Regina stopped and turned around and responded a small no then went up the stair without waiting for another comment or question form anyone else.
When she was back in her room. She decided to text Graham.
Regina: Graham, are you ready for tonight?
Graham: hey.. yeah I am all set. How about you?
Regina: Yes. I am all set too. I was able to convince mother to let me for out today and I got the money.
Graham: Wait.. would she had found out by now then?
Regina: No..Graham I took care of that. If they fear my mother, you know I am no less either. Hahaha.
Graham: well as long as Cora doesn't find out before you leave tonight then you are safe.
Regina: yea, you are right.
Regina: I will text you again tonight and let you know when you need to be here. Again thank you graham for doing this.
Graham: no problem Regina, I will see you soon.
With that Regina put her phone on her table and decided to lie down on her bed and sleep for a little bit.
After deserts everybody had went to their own rooms.
Cora & Hnery's room
As Cora and Henry entered their room, Cora sat in front of her dressing table and started taking off her jewelry. And Henry went to sit on the their bed, taking off his tie and coat off.
"Don't you thin something is going with Regina?" Cora turned around and looked at Henry with a serious expression on her face. Henry tired to ignore her gaze.
"Well, what do you expect Cora, she has been through a lot. She's not herself for the moment, it will take time." Henry spoke his opinion.
Cora just ignored him and got up from the table to go change in the bathroom. After few minutes she came out and noticed that Henry was ready for bed. He was already inside the comforter. Cora decided to do the same.
Cora just sat beside him and waited for him to put the book down he was reading, he had gotten from the beside table.
"Henry! Don't you find Regina's behavior a little odd though?" asked Cora.
"Cora…sigh…you are just anxious that whether or not she will agree to your terms" Henry finally said.
Cora just stared at him, and didn't know what to say. "You know what Cora, I am going to sleep, I don't want to talk about this" Henry announced as he put away his book and lay down to go to sleep. Cora was stunned for a minute and soon she herself decided to lie down and go to sleep as well.
It was now 12 am at midnight. Regina had gotten up an hour ago. She noticed that it was quite outside. Everyone was mostly like be asleep already. Now her only worry was how to get out of the mansion quietly without attracting attention. The day had allowed her to make her arrangements of finish packing her luggage with the things she decided she only needed. She had her handbag that had her passport and the tickets printouts and all the necessary items. Her flight was at 1:30am and the airport was about half an hour away. She took her phone out and texted graham to come pick her up. After a minute she received a reply of an 'ok I'm coming'.
She knew it would take about 10 minutes for Graham to reach her place so she gather her stuff and walked out of her room. She noticed that only a lamplight was on in the living room. She made her way to the stairs with quite steps. She got down the stairs as quietly as possible with the luggage and when she was downstairs she looked up and around her to make sure that no one has gotten up. She had picked her luggage up from the floor during and her walk down stairs to not make a single sound and she guessed she would have to keep holding it up until she reaches the main gate. She was glad she hadn't packed lots of things because the luggage was not that heavy for her to walk across the room. She stood in front of the door and looked to her side, there was a security keypad, she quickly put the code with her other hand and opened the door slowly and got out.
She stood in front of her house and decided to text Graham again.
Regina: Are you here yet? She didn't receive a immediate response so she decided to wait there until Graham decided to text her back.
After about 5 minutes she felt her phone vibrate. She looked at it and saw Graham's name with a text message.
Graham: I just got here come on out. Regina walked across the footpath and came up to the entrance gate. She noticed another security keypad on it and typed the code in and opened the door and got out and closed the door behind her.
Regina saw Graham parked opposite her house. She almost ran upto him and got in the car.
"Are you really sure about this, Regina?" asked Graham to make sure Regina was absolutely confident.
"Yes Graham, I am 100% positive about my decision, now let go to the airport" Regina said. Graham noticed the confidence in her voice. He was glad. With that they left the Mills mansion but not before Regina looked back one more time. 'Goodbye Daddy…' was Regina's last thought as the mansion started to appear small and small and then they were out of sight.
They managed to reach the airport in about 25 minutes with Graham breaking the speed limit now and then. Regina got her luggage on the carry ons and checked out her ticket at the desk.
"I don't think I will be ever able to repay your debt Graham" Regina tried to express her thank you to Graham.
Graham just looked at her and said "Hey, this was nothing reason, and you don't have to look at it like a debt or anything, I agreed to help you besides that's what friends for right!"
"Even though, I am really glad you agreed and I appreciate it a lot" Regina said looking at him with a small smile.
"Hey I should have asked you this sooner…uh…but how are you going manage in NY alone, do you have any relatives there or a friend?" asked Graham with worry in his voice.
"hahaha…Graham, you are so forgetful. Did you forget that Belle moved to NY three years ago, I will be staying with her for a while so don't worry about me that much. I told you I have everything covered" Regina explained.
"Oh shit…I totally forgot. Well that appeases my worry" Graham said with a smile. Regina was so grateful that she had friends like Belle and Graham in her life that are supporting her in her decision.
"Uhh..have you—have you told her about your pregnancy and Robin?" Graham asked. The question got Regina out of her daze and she looked at Graham who was expecting an answer to his question.
"Um..no…I-I know I should have but, I couldn't tell her. Maybe..maybe when I there I will tell her, if I find the courage to..sigh" Regina said, feeling uneasy now.
Graham just pulled her in and hugged her. "Hey now…I am sure Belle will be understanding so you don't have anything to fear okay?!" Graham assured her.
"Yea you are right. Thank you Graham" Regina said with a smile. Soon she felt Graham let go of her and she stepped back a little to look at him.
"Well…I should go now. I can't thank you enough Graham" Regina said.
"Like I said anything for a dear friend" was Graham response. They hugged one more time and Graham stood at his spot and watched Regina disappear in the crowd and after few minutes spotted her at the check-in line. He noticed Regina was trying to look for him and when she finally spotted him she waved at him and he waved back. After that he noticed Regina walk into the other side where she was out of sight now. He decided this was his signal to leave and go back to his place and sleep.
