Chapter 36
Regina was trying her best to calm down and try to make out any sense of what just happened between her and her boss just now. She could still feel the presence of his arms around her, but one thing she couldn't understand was the way he was looking at her. The way his eyes almost turned so soft, instead of seeing the angry flare in them. Again, she started thinking about the moment, her heart started to beat fast, and again she was taking deep breaths to calm down.
'Okay, Regina…calm down and act as nothing happened. Yes! You can do this she thought and tried to affirm herself with her decision. She then finally turned around to face Emmett who was putting the phone down and was now facing her again. She again couldn't help but keep staring at him, but Emmett quickly turned away from her.
"Ruben and Belle will be here shortly, Ruben's going to bring over some files I want you to look them over and see if anything needs any alterations if not then I can sign them, and you can send them back to the main office" He then walked away from her to towards the exist leaving Regina alone all by herself this time.
Regina then gave her attention to the computer on her desk, looking through companies' email, sure enough, there was an email from Ruben she had forgotten to open and check in the morning. 'I am sure he would have yelled at me for this if not for what just happened' her attention was taken away from her thought when she saw that she just received a new email. She opened it and noticed it was from Elsa, she had just sent her some rough drafts of the project they just talked about and along with a message that if Emmett come to change his mind, she would need this later so to keep her in the loop for now. 'That was fast' hmm.
"I hope I'm not interrupting something important," Belle said with a smile as she came into the office hall.
Regina looked up and smiled a big smile at seeing her best friend. "Oh, Belle…Hi…gosh I missed you" Regina then got up from her spot and walked toward her friend and hugged her. It was after a few seconds Regina finally let of her friend.
When they were finally separated, Belle looked at her friend with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Yea I am okay Belle" Regina assured her, as they both went to an empty desk at the front and sat down.
"Alright…just letting you know you can tell me anything Regina…or Kat. We are both here for you" Belle said as she handed Regina the files she had gotten from Ruben.
"I know…" Regina said as she gave a small smile to her friend. "So…where's Ruben? I thought you were both coming over." Regina then asked, distracting her friend.
"Hmm….uh yea….well, Ruben and the boss both were talking outside but I think they planned on going somewhere," Belle said trying to dismiss talking about Ruben.
Regina tried not to dwell on the tone Belle used at the mention of Ruben. "Alright…I guess we both have something we don't want to share yet..huh" Regina confirmed. Belle only nodded at her.
They were both quiet not knowing how to approach their concerns now. Then Belle brought up something that immediately got Regina's attention and focus.
"As you asked me, I did my research but didn't find anything about him. Not even anyone in the company knows about him" Regina had done her searching online, before moving with Emmett. She had discussed how she couldn't find anything related to Robin Nolan online, no pictures like he didn't exist. But she did learn that the Nolan's have three children, their eldest being Emmett, the second, being Robin Nolan, and the third being their daughter, Jasmine. There weren't any pictures of the other two children, but Emmett Swan tends to appear in lots of business magazines.
"It could be they used his identity" Belle considered. "What if that's what they do? They could be career criminals who use other people's identity and deceive others into getting their money and properties, then sell it" Belle deduced her thoughts. Regina couldn't help but agree with the thought being true.
"But….how could that have fooled my mother so easily?" Regina questioned.
Belle couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment. "Because she's greedy. She cares about nothing but money and reputation….and you know that" She then held up her hand put it on top of Regina's hand on the table. She gave it a squeeze and gave Regina a small smile, who had tears running down her face.
"Regina!" they both looked at the entrance door to notice that Emmett was standing there with a worried expression on his face, behind him Ruben stood dumbfounded. Emmett quickly ran past the other desks and reached their table where now they had quickly gotten up on seeing him and were standing by.
Before Regina could wipe away her tears, she saw Emmett reaching to her face with his hand and wiping away her tears with his fingers. It made her gasp which got Emmett out of his trance and stop; he then quickly took his hand away from her face. They then again looked at each other into each other's eyes, Regina with her teary-red brown eyes couldn't help but get lost in those green eyes, which now looked dejected looking at her.
Before Regina could ask or say anything, Emmett turned away from her and his back was now facing Regina. No one said anything, Ruben, and Belle both were shocked at what just transpired, and they honestly didn't know what to make of it.
Emmett then cleared his throat and turned back towards Regina to face her. "I-uh-I'll be gone for a longer period so I want you to attend to the clients that will be arriving shortly and when I come back, I expect a full report on what was discussed and what decision they reached. Understood?" he then asked her with his usual commanding tone.
"Yes..sir" Regina answered back instantly. He at hearing her response went to his desk and got something and again existing out of the building. But not before asking Ruben to get Belle so they get moving.
Ruben then gave Belle a glance and nodded at her. Belle quickly gathered her stuff and gasped.
"Oh god how could I forget!" at Belle's statement, Regina broke off her stance and turned to look at her friend. She noticed Belle holding up a bag.
"Your lunch! I forgot to give it to you…I am sorry…"Belle said feeling guilty for forgetting something so important.
"It's alright Belle" she was glad her friend wasn't peppering her with questions now and just smiled at her and hugged her. When they let go, Belle handed the food bag to Regina and looked at the entrance door.
She released a defeated sigh and looked at her friend with a pout. "I guess I have to leave you now….butttt" she then gave Regina a teasing smile "You are so telling me about what is going on with you and the boss," she asked a little excited and concerned at the same moment. Regina sat down on her spot and put the bag on the desk. She then grabbed her head with both her hands and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She then looked up at her friend and took a deep breath. "Belle…no just no…. there is nothing going on" Regina said pleading with her friend with her eyes not to ask her about it.
Belle closed her eyes for a second and opened them again. "Alright for now I'm letting it go," Belle said as she started to walk backward toward the door.
When she reached the door, she said her byes to Regina for now. "Take care of yourself, Regina"
Regina smiled at her. "Thank you, Belle, you do the same" at that Belle exited out the room to go where Ruben was probably waiting for her.
After Belle had gone, Regina decided she should eat before the clients arrive. She was aware of them already coming, she had assumed that Emmett would at least know that she knew of the days' schedule for her and him. She decided not to think about anything else and just eat her food so she could have the energy to handle whoever was coming.
(Let's get back to StoryBrooke and see how things are….)
Since Regina had runaway, the mills family had been stressed and Cora was becoming more obsessive over finding out Regina's whereabouts. She was doing anything in her power to find any single clue about her daughter. When she learned that Graham had helped her, she was so close to wiping away his existence from the face of the earth but managed to control her fury in time. She decided to use this information to learn about Regina, she was sure Regina was contacting Graham and that was going to be her lead to her daughter. Over the course of this, the distance between Henry and Cora grows, even more, they both spent most of their time at work. As for Zelena she and Gold didn't try to interfere in Cora's plans, they knew how obsessive she is over Regina. Zelena to avoid thinking of her sister or to see her mother keep going crazy over her decision to spend her time with her husband at the shop.
After some time and some more detailed research, Cora was able to discover more about the Nolan's and decided to contact her longtime friend Catherine Jane Grant for a long-overdue favor.
"So, what exactly does the mayor of a little town want from me?"
Cora looked at the woman sitting in front of her, she was almost regretting calling her over.
"Well, I think your mother probably has mentioned a little bit about why I might require your assistance," Cora said, as she looked straight at the blonde woman in front of her, who nodded at her in agreement.
"So why the personal invitation to your town?" asked the blonde, letting her irritation show clear on her face.
"I assure you Miss Cat Grant…what I am about to ask of you to do…will bring great success to your Media Empire," Cora said with an amused tone. At that, she had gotten Cat's full attention and she smiled to herself in victory.
"Now that I have your attention…. let's work together to achieve our goals," Cora said as she help out her hand for a handshake, which Cat accepted without any question.
"So, what is it that you want from me? I know you wanted me to hire one of my workers to go into Nolan's company to investigate but I am still not sure for what exactly?" Cat asked.
"I am aware of your friendship with their eldest son…. I want you to find out about his brother, Robin Nolan. Along aside this, I want you to hire someone to look for my daughter in New York" Cora demanded with a stern edge to her voice that left no room for question.
But Cat wasn't like anyone else, she doesn't get scared or nervous easily. "I can sense that this is related to your daughter so if you really want me to do what you ask, I advise you not to hide anything from me because any little detail will be beneficial," Cat said as she stared at Cora with equal determination.
Cora then laughed a little, she could see how this woman was capable of handling an empire all of her own, if only her daughter was wise enough to do her bidding she would have made her reach immense heights in life.
She then told Cat about what happened with their family and about Regina running away from home. Then she discovered Graham who helped Regina escape, so now her only issue was where in New York was her daughter.
Cat was taking in everything that was being told, but she felt that Cora was leaving out some other important factors of the story which she thought she will find about eventually.
