A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the support on the initial chapter. It's much appreciated!


Two

New York City, 1984

Emma Swan had no idea what she was doing with her life. She was a second-year archaeology student, waitressing part-time to try and make ends meet. Being truly honest with herself, she couldn't see herself pursuing a career in either fields. Waitressing was never the end goal and her degree choice had been heavily influenced by the release of the Indiana Jones movie. A movie which painted out archaeology to be full of adventure, travelling the world and daring booby-trapped tombs and temples.

The biggest thing she had learned after almost two full years of an archaeology course was that Hollywood movies relied heavily on their creative license. True archaeology, it turned out, was a lot less adventurous. It was a study rich in research and report writing. A study interested just as much in the design and layout of the temples as in its contents. Indiana Jones' actions of bursting into a temple and replacing its treasure with a bag of sand were not the actions of an archaeologist invested in learning more of those who came before them, but those of a looter merely interested in treasure.

As she absent-mindedly doodled on her note paper, her lecturer's voice droning on in the background, Emma pondered whether a life of looting would interest her. She could only assume it was well-paid, and it actually had the sense of adventure and danger she had been lulled into believing archaeology involved.

Her lecturer looked like he had never seen danger in his life, seemingly content with the mundanities of everyday life. He was a shot man, who looked to be in his late-fifties, with gray hair and circular spectacles. Known to his students only by the name of Doc – perhaps in some attempt to create an air of mystery to himself – his style of lecturing was sleep-inducing. He had a droning voice which, when combined with his long-winded explanations, required Emma to have caffeine in hand, in the form of coffee, to get through his lectures. Especially early morning ones like the one she was sat in.

Stifling a yawn, Emma placed her pen down and reached for the spot she normally placed her coffee cup. Her hand clasped around thin air. She cursed herself. After oversleeping that morning, she had been in a rush to get to her lecture on time, hurriedly bypassing her usual coffee shop without a second glance on her trip to campus.

A fellow student, arriving ten minutes late to the lecture in a nonchalant manner which screamed he didn't give a damn about his poor timekeeping, took the seat next to her. The one right next to her. It was a big lecture hall and it was safe to say that very few others had been lulled into the subject under the false pretences the Indiana Jones movie put forward about archaeology. There were no more than one-hundred-and-fifty students dotted around the lecture hall and at least three times the number of seats. There was no need for him to sit so close, filling up her personal space with the scent of his sharp Borsalino cologne.

In the midst of questioning her life decisions, half-asleep and grouchy, Emma rounded on him, ready to give him what-for and demand he shuffle over a few seats. All that went out the window the moment her eyes fell of him. Suddenly, she didn't mind him being so close. She could put up with the strong scent of aftershave in exchange for his charming smile and his brown eyes which were watching her knowingly. There was a hint of a smug smile on his lips as he brought her attention to the two coffee cups in his hand, holding one out to her.

She smiled at him, eagerly taking the cup of coffee. "You have no idea how much I needed this," she said gratefully. She moved the coffee cup to her lips, taking a small, tentative sip. The sweet hint of cinnamon it left in her mouth made her raise her eyebrows in surprise. He had gotten her order spot on. She took a larger sip and then placed the cup down in its rightful place in front of her.

"I saw you rush by this morning when I was in line so I got you one," he explained to her, his brown eyes watching her closely as he continued to show no interest in Doc's lecture. "Cinnamon latte was right, wasn't it?" He checked, his eyes wandering to the cup she had placed down.

Emma narrowed her eyes at him, folding her arms. "Are you stalking me?" She challenged him. Her tone was teasing and the guy seemed nice enough but she knew she needed to be cautious.

"Neither of us can get through one of Doc's lectures without good-old caffeine," he replied, gesturing to his own coffee cup which he held in his hand, "and we both have the same taste in coffee shop. You don't remember seeing me in there before?" He frowned, like he was surprised she didn't recognise him.

"Oh yeah, because I can definitely remember every handsome New Yorker I pass by out there," the sarcastic words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Handsome, she caught herself too late. Shit!

The smug smile from earlier returned briefly at her comment but he wasn't arrogant enough to comment upon it himself. If it weren't for the smugness he had failed to hold back, Emma might have let herself believe he hadn't picked up on it.

"You literally bumped right into me the other week," he reminded her, offering her a prompt.

Emma groaned inwardly, cringing as she remembered their last encounter. She had fallen right into him, spilling her coffee on his shirt, as well as knocking his own all over him. She cursed herself again, hating that she always seemed to turn into a blundering fool around the guy.

"I said sorry," Emma responded, slightly defensively.

"You didn't actually," the guy corrected her, bemused.

He was right, she recalled. Her closest friend and flatmate, Lily, had pulled her away impatiently, too caught up in the dramas of having nothing to wear for her upcoming date that night to even notice that Emma had collided with a guy. Emma had no time to do anything but send an apologetic look in the guy's direction, only he had been too preoccupied by the coffee all over him to notice.

"Well, I've said it now," Emma shrugged, responding lamely.

The conversation died awkwardly with that and the pair fell into silence as Emma turned back to her notepad. The guy beside her turned his own attention onto Doc for the first time – fifteen minutes into the lecture – as he began to retrieve his own notebook and pen from his bag. He clearly had no intentions to move to a seat a little further away and, despite the awkward ending to their brief conversation, Emma didn't mind.

The entirety of the lecture passed in relative silence between the pair of them. The guy spoke to her briefly to help her with a term she didn't understand, despite Doc's expansive explanation, but otherwise they worked in silence.

The guy didn't hang around either. The moment the lecture ended he was up and off, his stuff already packed up. Emma was left alone to pack up her own belongings.

"Oooooh!" Lily exclaimed, making her presence known as she rushed up behind Emma. "Do I spy an admirer?" She inquired teasingly, snatching the empty coffee cup up off the side and waving it around in Emma's face.

"Hardly," Emma scoffed, pushing the coffee cup out of her face. "It's just coffee."

"I can smell the cinnamon from here," Lily commented, scrunching her nose up. Emma had lost count of the number of time Lily had made her dislike of the spice known. "He's clearly interested if he's observant enough to note your favourite coffee. I don't even think Peter knows mine."

"That's because Peter only wants one thing from you which he clearly got last night considering you never came home," Emma responded distastefully. He disapproval of her friend's boyfriend was well known. She didn't hide it; she couldn't. She had never liked him. The guy was an immature, arrogant and self-centred jerk. Lily, frustratingly, didn't seem to see past the devilishly good looks and the accent which had her ignoring Emma's warnings.

"It's called having a love life," Lily retorted. "You should try it. Hey! You're coming out with me and Peter tomorrow night anyway. You should invite coffee boy along." She thrust the empty coffee cup into Emma's hands.

"I don't think-"

"Don't think," Lily cut her off, ushering her out of the lecture hall, "just do!"

"I don't need a guy!" Emma argued as Lily continued to gently push her out of the lecture hall and into the corridors.

"Come on, hurry up! You can still catch up with him," Lily urged her, hardly listening to Emma's protests. Emma rolled her eyes, quietly confident that they wouldn't catch up with him. The guy had a fairly decent head start. "Don't need a guy," Lily scoffed, finally processing what Emma had said, "you were only complaining yesterday that all you do is work and school!"

"I don't need a guy to change that!" Emma maintained her protest as they took a flight of stairs down to the bottom floor of the college building. "I just need more in my life. My life needs meaning."

"Maybe coffee boy is that meaning," Lily proposed.

"Now you're talking like it's fate!" Emma laughed at her ridiculous comment as they reach the bottom of the stairs and made a move towards the doors.

"Maybe it is fate. Maybe fate is pushing you together!" Lily dramatised, playing into it all. "Maybe you're destined to be together and maybe that's why you forgot to get yourself your coffee this morning." Lily pushed the doors open before they stepped out of the building and onto the busy New York street. Lily stopped, grabbing hold of Emma's arm to get her to stop too. "Maybe fate has led to you finding him again."

Lily pointed further down the street where she had spotted the guy she had nicknamed coffee boy. He was in a heated discussion with a traffic warden who looked like he was contemplating whether he was really paid enough for his job.

"He's got a Chrysler!" Lily gasped, turning Emma's attention to the car responsible for the conflict that the guy had gotten himself into. It looked practically brand new, its sleek black paintwork in sparkling good condition. "Go!" Lily nudged her down the street as the traffic warden walked away, leaving the guy to throw his arms up in exasperation and kick the bright yellow wheel clamp on his car in frustration.

"Bad luck," Emma spoke up conversationally, making her presence known.

"Or fate!" Lily piped up from behind her, loosely following after her. Emma glanced round to shoot her daggers before turning back to the guy.

The guy had turned to face her properly, a friendly smile on his face where the frustration had been just moments before. "Emma," he greeted her, sending a pang of guilt surging through her when she realised that he knew her name. He clearly paid more attention to others contribution in Doc's lectures than she ever did.

"Hi," she smiled at him, trying her best to avoid making it obvious that she didn't know his name. She had no idea where she was even going with the conversation Lily had pressured her into, and was all too aware of her friend's watchful eyes only a few steps away. The whole relationship thing had never really been her… thing. She blamed it on the lack of attachment figures in her early years. "I realised I never paid you back for the coffee…" she trailed off, reaching for her bag to get some coins.

She almost dropped her bag as Lily stepped forward impatiently, bashing Emma's arm as she moved to stand next to her.

"What Emma is trying to say," Lily clearly decided she had to step in, "is that we're planning on have some fun at the clubs tomorrow night." She not-so-subtly nudged Emma's arm, urging her to speak.

"Do you want to come?" Emma forced the words out.

The bemused expression crossed the guy's face again as he looked between the two women.

"I have a better idea," he replied, his gaze focusing entirely on Emma. "Let me take you on a date."

That was easy. Emma stared at him, momentarily surprised before she was able to answer, "Where?"

The question was good enough confirmation for the guy and he smiled at her. "Let's keep that a surprise for now," he spoke decisively. "I'll make some arrangements and then I'll call you with more details?" He finished questioningly, fishing for her phone number.

"Oh yes," Emma dived into her bag to retrieve her notepad and pen to scrawl down their phone number. She ripped the small bit of paper she had written on from the page and handed it out for the guy to take. The guy popped the pen he had in his hand away before taking the piece of paper from her and tucking it safely in his pocket.

"And here's mine," he returned, holding out a card for her to take.

Emma took it curiously, looking down to find it was a businesses card. Gold Industries, it read, complete with the name Adrian Gold and a telephone number. "Adrian," she read.

"That would be my father's name. He owns a huge company and with huge companies comes business cards, apparently. You wouldn't believe how many of those we have lying around our house. It's just the closest thing I had to write on," the guy told her before he made a twirling motion with his finger. "Other side," he directed her. She turned the card in her hand to find a name and number hastily scrawled across the back.

"Neal," she was finally able to greet him using his name.

He nodded. "I'll call you later, Emma."

As Neal walked off, Lily grabbed the business card out of Emma's hand, turning it back around to the professional side. "Neal… Gold Industries! He's the prodigal son! He's rich!" Lily gasped, clearly having more knowledge of the company, and its owners, than Emma did. She'd seen the building of their headquarters in New York, tall, black and with its name in big gold lettering, of course, but she had no idea what they did or quite how successful they were. Nor did she care. "Man, fate really is kind to you."

Emma shook her head dismissively, chuckling to herself, "There's no such thing as fate."