Chapter 29

"I want to thank you both for being so supportive, I still can not believe you both would be so assuring and helpful, I couldn't be more grateful for the way things has turned out for me" Regina said with a content smile on her face, all three of them were sitting around their living room table like the previous night and eating breakfast together.

They both grabbed Regina's hand and smiled at her. "We are just glad you decided to trust us enough to share your troubles, and like I said we are here for you, Regina. Right Belle?" Belle then nodded at them.

"Regina, I wanted to ask you this last night but since the way things turned out I didn't want to burden you even more" Katherine and Regina both looked towards Belle waiting for her to finish what she wanted to say when she got their attention.

"Well..Ruben…um he's one of my superiors from work and we talked yesterday and I told him about how you were looking for a job, so he asked me to ask you about a job offer he currently needs someone to fulfill but I am not sure if this is the job you can handle especially given the circumstances given now" Belle gave them a nervous look, she knew it would be overwhelming for Regina to work with her boss while being new to everything here but now she discovering that her friend is pregnant she wasn't sure this job is at all appropriate for her friend.

"Uh…so the thing is Mr. Swan, the company's CEO, requires a secretary who is willing to work with him from his home. The bonuses being, you will have a place to live at where you don't have to worry about paying any bills since the company will take care of that, food will be provided, transportation will be provided also, and all you have to worry about is any other expenses you have. Your duties being able to maintain everything work related for Mr. Swan, scheduling things for him, arranging meetings for him, basically being available for him for work related issues only. You will both be living at the same place but with separate everything so there won't be any crossing of personal boundaries on both parties, it will be strictly business and professional" Belle interrupted what she had thoroughly discussed with Ruben about the job and its conditions.

She looked at Regina who was now just debating what she should say.

"I think that's a lot to consider Belle besides I think this job is demanding too much" Katherine answered for Regina.

"Kat's right Belle, I have never done a job as a secretary, before even diving into the whole living and working together idea, I have to know and learn what is expected of me from this job….and that will only happen if I get training beforehand" Regina finally voiced out her thoughts.

"Ah..I guess you are right. But Regina you have worked with your mother so that experience might help here a little. Don't you think?" Belle asked at that Regina just gave a slight nod. "But I'll ask Ruben today and see what he says, so don't worry and you don't have to rush through this, we can try other places where you can find a job that will suit you" Belle tried to reassure her friend.

"Alright Belle, lets go I'll drop you off at work today" Katherine offered. "And as for you Regina just try to take it easy today and stay home" Regina just nodded at her in agreement. Soon both Belle and Katherine were out of the door of their apartment after saying good-bye to Regina for the day.

Regina couldn't help but be uneasy from what she learned last night's conversation with Graham. She knew her mother would put all her efforts into finding the whereabouts of her, she knew yet she still couldn't help but feel troubled and worried. She hoped and prayed her mother would just give up on her. 'When will I be free of you mother?!' Regina questioned to no one while tears streaming down her face.

Belle & Ruben

"So, how did it go with your friend yesterday?" Ruben asked with some hope receiving good news. It was lunch break; they both had gone out to have lunch together away from prying eyes of their fellow employees. They have been doing this for a week since they couldn't find any other time to be alone; they were still taking things slow. 'Very slow' thought Ruben.

Belle couldn't help but avoid looking at Ruben, she didn't know what to say. "Uh…well the thing is, um she needs time to consider this"

"Belle" Ruben said with a serious tone. "You know you can tell me anything, please trust me a little more than that" Ruben asked with a soft to his tone now.

Belle finally decided to look into his eyes, she knew she couldn't just up and reveal her friends secret like that, it wasn't her place to do so, but she also knew her friend needed a job specially now that she will be going through a serious change in her life. She wanted to help her friend but couldn't understand how can she help in the right way. She didn't want Regina to go through anymore that she already have. 'I know for a fact something major happened for her run away from Cora, so why hasn't she told me anything about it yet' Belle thought with disappointment. She again averted her face away from Ruben.

"It's just she's gong through something and she needs time if she will be making the right decision with accepting a offer like this" Belle finally spoke.

Ruben leaned back into his chair and just stared at Belle, he noticed the change is her behavior, he knew for sure something was going on but he wasn't going to pressure Belle into telling him. 'I hope she will come to trust me a little more than this in the future'.

Without saying another word, they both went to finish up their lunch since their break was going to be over pretty soon.

It had been few days since the job offer and Regina had decided to take the offer. Belle was not completely pleased with the idea; she didn't thought that Regina would actually agree to it. Katherine on the other hand was also worried but didn't know what to think of it.

"Are you really sure about this Regina?" Belle asked with a worried look on her face.

Regina knew her friends were worried for her but she didn't have any other choice, she knew she couldn't just keep on relying on others to do things for her all her life. She decided to take her make her own decisions since the day she left Storybrooke and she wasn't going to back down from it now.

"Belle…Kat, I know you both are worried about me but trust me I need to do this" they both looked at her with confusion. "Alright, there is something else you both need to know about…I hope after that you guys can come to see why I am making such a decision for myself in this condition". They both nodded at the same time without saying any words and waited for Regina to continue.

Then Regina told them about her marriage with Robin, how the marriage was fake and how her supposedly husband was only after her property and the reason her being pregnant. Also her reason for running away because her mother wanted the unborn child rid of.

"Oh god Regina I am so sorry I didn't know, I assumed after you told us about your pregnancy that it was Graham's child since you guys used to be together during college times" Belle tried to express how sorry she was to learn this.

"Oh Belle, was that also the reason you got so upset that day from my conversation with him" Belle again nodded her confirmation. Regina just pulled into her self and hugged her best friend. Belle couldn't help but feel even more stupid at her assumption. "It's alright Belle, you didn't know and I guess it was safe to assume that Graham would be the father since he was the only I had an actual relationship with which my mother also broke"

"Hey hey now, you got us now, we won't let your mother hurt you again" Katherine said with reassurance. She has come to see Regina as a good friend over the past weeks and love her as a good friend too.

"But Regina did you only run away from Cora to save your baby or are you also looking for the father?" Belle managed to break the comfortable silence that Regina was in, that question got both hers and Katherine's attention. Belle looked at her with unknown stare.

"Its both" Regina confirmed. "I…uh…he's from here, or I think he is..thats what both of them told us…so I am hoping at least that part was true" Regina informed them. Hope was the only thing that mattered now. She still didn't know what she was going to do once she figured out about Robin's whereabouts. Her main concern at the moment was her baby.

"I don't think you should believe anything that man has told you" Katherine said with some bitterness to her tone.

"I…I guess you are right…but now my only concern is my unborn child" Regina said with confidence, both of her friends nodded at her in agreement.

"Have you heard anything from your brother lately?" asked David.

"No father, nothing since the last time he left for Europe, I am not even aware if he's still there or not" answered Emmett. Emmett had come to the mansion for the night, he wanted to make sure things were clear between him and his parents about the secretary situation.

"The reason I am here is to clear the bad air about what we talked about in the office…I hope you have given it some thought" Emmett asked this time.

David just looked his son, and nodded. "So..do you agree with my idea?" again David nodded at him. Emmett didn't know what to think of this reaction, he wanted verbal confirmation this only lead him to believe he wasn't happy about it.

They both sat in the open air balcony with their drinks, letting the silence settle in.

"Sigh…son..I don't want you to think I am disappointed in the way you are taking this situation, I just want you to be cautious of every action and decision you make and that is all"

David had leaned back in his chair and was looking up at the black sky full of stars, Emmett stared at him for a little while then spoke again, "Well…we got one candidate coming in tomorrow for the interview, uh she's a friend of one our companies employee" at that David looked towards his son who was still looking at him, Emmett continued again "She's seems like to be the perfect person but I believe tomorrow will tell if that is true or not".

David just gulped down his remaining drink and what he said shocked Emmett. "Well why don't you bring them here, your mother and I can interview them or better yet we can come to the office tomorrow what do you say? What time are they coming?"

"Wha…?" Emmett couldn't believe what he was hearing, his father had never demanded something like this before. "But father….you don't need to do that, I have worker who are capable of interviewing possible future employees".

"Now now…don't be tense my son. Since this individual will be living with you…I think its best if your mother and I can learn little bit about them before we let them in our company and your life"

"Father…I thank you for your concern but there is no need, I am capable of handling myself now" Emmett had actually asked Elsa, the company's manager to interview.

"I know son, but this situation is different and I can assure you your mother will definitely agree with me on this" David pointed out. Emmett nodded his head in defeat; there was no point in arguing about this anymore since David mentioned Mary.

"As you wish, Father. I guess its time to go to bed then" with that Emmett got up and looked his father who didn't made any move to get up. "I'll go in a bit" David said with that Emmett left his father to his own thoughts and silence.

The next morning came, all the Nolan's had already left for the office. Meanwhile, Belle was panicking over the interview even though it wasn't her who was going to be interviewed. But her concern was over the fact that it wasn't Elsa who was going to interview her friend but Mr and Mrs Nolan. All three of them learned about it last night from Ruben, it didn't seem to bother Regina in the slightest but Belle on the other hand was freaking out.

"Don't you think there is something fishy going on here? I mean how come the company's founders are going to interview you, I mean its not their responsibility you know. Its just so odd" Belle said with a nervous laugh. Katherine had wished good luck to Regina and had dropped them off at the office. They had come early just in case. The only thing that now seemed off was how Regina was behaving according to Belle, which was very surprising.

"How come you are not nervous? Like how can you be so calm about this?" Belle tried to voice her questions again. Regina looked at her and closed her eyes for a second and then took a deep breath and let it out and opened her eyes again to look at her friend.

"Trust me I would love to be nervous and scream about this like any normal person but I can not lose to my emotions. I do need this job so I will do whatever it takes to gain it" Regina confirmed her friend with confidence in her eyes. She had decided to accept it she was not going to back out of it now. They sat there in silence for the next minute or so before Regina heard her name being called out.

"Regina Mills!"

As Regina got up she looked at her friend and turned to go into the room where fate was either going to be good or bad for her future.

Happy New Year's Everyone :) 2017