A/N: Little bit of sex half way through this …
"And they just said yes?"
"To an interview, not to the job," Regina clarified.
"Oh, wow, I mean, that's amazing, right?"
Regina looked curiously at her girlfriend whose reaction was not what she had expected. "Yes, it is. I wasn't expecting them to give me a job on the spot but I was a little surprised that they were able to meet with me next week. I had assumed it might take a while, if it happened at all, especially since the return to work after Christmas and New Year always makes for a slow office. At least, I figured I'd have to wait for a vacancy to come up. I guess I was lucky."
"Well, you more than deserve some luck," Emma mused, running her fingers through her hair and deciding she needed a shower.
She'd just returned from a night shift to find Regina bouncing with excitement at the email she'd received from the British Library, inviting her to attend an interview for the exact job she had originally been offered, almost two years ago. Her work had been intense the last week and she was looking forward to a few days off to spend with her girlfriend.
"I'll help you prep for the interview if you want. Although, to be fair, you got the job once before, so I'm sure you know what to say. I mean, you must be a shoe in."
Regina shrugged. "Maybe. I don't want to get my hopes up. Yes, I got this position before but I get the feeling that the fact that I never turned up for my first shift will be a black mark against my name."
Shaking her head, Emma placed her hands gently on Regina's shoulders. "They're not going to hold that against you. They know the circumstances, right?" The brunette nodded. "Then they're going to understand that it was not your fault. They loved you before via zoom, and they'll love you in person. Plus you've read about five billion more books since you interviewed last time."
Laughing, Regina kissed Emma tenderly. "Not quite five billion but I take your point. Thank you. And yes, it would be nice to run some practice interviews with you. But only when you feel up to it, I know you're exhausted."
"I just need a good night's sleep and a few veg-heavy meals. The food in the hospital canteen is weirdly carb-focused considering the customers. You'd think they'd be serving super healthy stuff but apparently not. I'm going to shower and change then we can cook lunch together if you want?"
"I'd like that," Regina nodded. She'd missed Emma. Although they'd had snatches of time together over the festive period, she had spent more time with Emma's parents than her girlfriend. Her Christmas Day with Mary Margaret and David had been wonderful, in fairness. But Emma's presence would have made it even better. She was very much looking forward to the next few days where the two of them could hang out and snuggle up on the sofa, hiding away from the grim January weather.
The following Monday, Emma sat on the second step of the staircase, chewing the side of her thumb as she waited for Regina to return. The brunette has texted her to let her know she was on her way home after the interview but had given nothing away. It must have gone badly, she mused. Not because Regina wasn't a fantastic candidate but because if it had gone well, Regina would have said as much. Emma wondered how upset her girlfriend would be. Perhaps she should have gone out and bought an extra large bar of Galaxy chocolate, a newly discovered favourite of Regina's. They could eat their disappointment together.
As she was contemplating whether she had enough time to run down to the corner shop, the sound of a key in the lock told her the wait was over. Getting to her feet, she plastered a smile on her face as Regina appeared, dripping wet. London weather had been horrific for the past few days and the brunette looked sodden.
"Well?" Emma asked as Regina peeled off her coat.
"It's raining."
"I can see that. What happened?"
"I forgot my umbrella at the interview. By the time I realised, the next candidate was already in there and I didn't want to knock and interrupt."
"No, I mean how did the interview go? And yes, why do you look like a drowned rat?"
Regina cocked her head to one side, eyebrows twitching up in amusement. She was aware that she looked a state. Her carefully applied makeup and styled hair had run down her face and been flattened respectively.
"Drowned rat?"
"It's an expression," Emma huffed. "Regina, tell me, how did it go?"
The brunette hesitated for a moment before giving in to Emma's impatience. "It went amazingly. Really well."
"Yeah?" Emma grinned widely. "Oh that's amazing. I'm so pleased. Tell me everything."
"It was the same interviewer I had before, so it was nice to meet him in the flesh, not over a computer. We talked about - hang on, can I shower and change into some dry clothes before I go into this, I'm kind of freezing."
Emma nodded. "Sure, of course. I'll make you a cup of tea."
"Or you can join me."
This time it was Emma's turn to look surprised. "Really?"
"Unless you don't want to."
"No, I do. Of course I do. I always do. It's just …" she checked her watch, "half three in the afternoon."
"Yeah, and I'm horny."
Emma's throat went dry. "Ok. Interviews put you in the mood do they?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "No, it was all the old books. They always get me hot and bothered."
"I know you're joking but I don't care. Upstairs. Now."
Squealing as Emma grabbed her waist and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, Regina tried to keep her rain-soaked clothes away from blonde's dry outfit but Emma didn't care. She pressed her body closer, tongue teasing the edge of Regina's lips, before breaking away and grabbing her hand, leading the way up the stairs.
They were home alone, mercifully, so items of clothes were discarded as they made their way up to the ensuite at the top of the property. By the time Emma reached into the shower to turn the dial, she was only wearing her underwear, and Regina was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, peeling off her socks which had got wet when she couldn't avoid a huge puddle just outside the tube station.
As the water warmed, they divested each other of the final few items, stepping under the hot stream moments later. Regina sighed in satisfaction as the cold wetness of her hair was replaced with the shower water.
Emma hesitated for a moment, watching as her girlfriend's skin pinked under the heat. Reaching for a washcloth, she gently wiped away the smudged makeup until the woman's face was completely bare. Regina smiled shyly, even though she actually rarely wore makeup now and Emma had seen her mussed hair and sleepy face every morning just after she'd woken up for months.
"You're so beautiful," Emma murmured, the washcloth dropped with a muted slap to the bottom of the shower cubicle as she stepped forwards and pulled her body flush to Regina's. Wet skin touching, steam rising, their kisses became impassioned quickly, Regina's fingernails dragging down Emma's back as the blonde's tongue danced with her own. Soon, Emma was sinking to her knees, ignoring the impracticalities which came with shower sex. She didn't care that her knees hurt nor that water was getting in her mouth. All that mattered was that she could make Regina feel good.
The younger woman widened her stance as Emma's face buried between her legs. She threaded her fingers through the wet strands of the now-dark blonde hair as Emma's tongue dragged through her folds.
"Yes," she hissed out as Emma's lips fastened around her hard clit, the tip of her tongue flicking out to tease the sensitive nub. After months together, Emma knew exactly what to do to push Regina right to the edge in seconds. Not that they always wanted to make each other come hard and fast. Sometimes they took their time, exploring over every inch of each other's bodies as they slowly and steadily built their pleasure to the peak.
But today wasn't one of those days. Regina leaned back against the edge of the shower cubicle, hissing lightly at the cold tiles against her shoulder blades but quickly settled into the new position which also gave her the ability to rock her hips forwards into Emma's face, grinding lightly against the hot, wet pressure against her core. Emma's hands were gripping her hips, fingers splayed over her ass as she held her girlfriend's body against her mouth.
The cry of Regina's orgasm echoed slightly in the bathroom, her fingers tightening in Emma's hair as she felt her body pulse with pleasure. Emma's mouth was relentless, not giving up until Regina's grip lessened and she knew her girlfriend was spent. Getting to her feet, Emma ignored the ache in her knees as she kissed Regina tenderly, enjoying the way the woman's ragged breath puffed against her lips as the woman recovered.
"You should go and hang around old books more often," Emma teased as Regina's hand made its way between her legs. "I could get used to midday shower sex."
"Well, I'll find out by the end of the week," Regina murmured, her lips trailing along Emma's glistening collarbone.
"You'll get it," Emma replied, tilting her head backwards to provide Regina greater access.
"Maybe."
"Definitely. I believe in you."
Regina could have sworn the clock had stopped. Or that the batteries are failing and time was moving at half speed. But a check of her mobile told her that, nope, it was still only ten past four in the afternoon. She was expecting to hear from the British Library any moment. But she'd been expecting to hear from them any moment all day. Friday, they'd said. Well, there were only fifty minutes left of the working week and Regina's nerves were shredded with worry.
What if she didn't get the job? What would she do? Who else would want her? What qualifications could she pad her CV with? What would she tell interviewers when they asked her what she'd been doing in the UK for eighteen months? At least at the British Library that was out in the open from the start. Sure, it was still awkward and she felt embarrassed knowing the person who was interviewing her was aware of her past. She felt shame about it. She couldn't help it. Although she rationally knew that what happened wasn't her fault, she still felt embarrassed when she remembered that others knew the dark secret from her past.
So … what if she did get the job? What if she ended up working at a place where everyone knew she had been a victim, had worked in the sex industry, had been a sex worker, forced against her will to fuck men for money. Oh god, why had she ever reapplied? How could she possibly walk into a room of colleagues who knew what she had done, what had been done to her? This was a terrible idea. She'd have to call and withdraw her name from the application process.
But as she was reaching for her phone, it illuminated with an incoming call from an unfamiliar number. Crap, she thought to herself. Too late to back out now. At least there's little to no chance of them hiring her anyway. Whoever was calling to let her know she'd been unsuccessful was going to solve her problem in a few minutes.
"Hello?" Regina answered.
"Hello, this is Darren from the British Library. I'm calling to speak with Regina Mills."
"Speaking," Regina said, sucking in a deep breath. Darren was the interviewer she'd met with earlier in the week and the man who'd conducted the virtual interview when she was back in Puerto Rico.
"Hi Regina, it's lovely to speak with you again. Have you had a good week?"
"Yes, thank you. Have you?" Regina asked automatically.
"It's been busy with interviews but I love meeting fellow book lovers, so I can't complain."
"Right, of course." Was he setting her up for the let down? Busy with interviews? Was that implying that they'd had lots of applicants and that she shouldn't feel disappointed by her rejection. Stiff competition and all that.
"So, I said that we'd call by the end of the week to let you know our decision. I'm sorry it's taken until the eleventh hour. Time has run away from me today and I don't quite know where it's gone."
"Time can be a greedy thing. Sometimes it steals the details for itself."
There was a pause and then; "Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner?"
"Yes," Regina replied.
A chuckle rumbled down the line. "I knew you were the right choice."
"Excuse me?"
"Regina, we'd be delighted to offer you the position. We wanted you for this role two years ago and we want you again now. Your passion for books and reading shines through and I think you're going to be an excellent addition to the team here. That is, if you're happy with the offer we'll be making you."
"Offer?"
"The salary is negotiable but I think you'll be fairly happy. I'll be sending a formal offer through after this call, assuming you're interested in considering it."
"Yes!" Regina's enthusiasm surprised herself, considering the spiral she had been falling down when the call came through. "Yes," she repeated, a little more calmly, "I'd be very interested in considering your offer. Thank you, Darren. This … you … I mean, you don't know what this means to me, the opportunity this is for me. I … thank you."
"You're welcome, Regina, but really, thank you for reapplying. We were all disappointed when you didn't show for your first day and wondered what had happened back then. When you reappeared and were still interested, just at the time when the woman who had held that position was putting in her notice, it felt like it was meant to be. I very much hope we'll be working together soon."
"Me too. And thank you, again. I'll look out for your email and get back to you as soon as possible."
"No rush. Take the weekend to think about it. Talk it over with family, friends, if you need to. And if you have any questions, my direct line is on my email signature, so feel free to reach out if you want to know anything that isn't included in the package HR has put together for you."
"I will, thank you."
"You're welcome, Regina. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll look forwards to speaking with you next week."
By the time Emma returned from her shift, Regina was halfway through making dinner. Belle was sitting in an armchair which had been dragged from the front living room into the kitchen as the barstools were not comfortable with her six month pregnancy bump now. The two brunettes were laughing when Emma entered, slinging her work bag next to the washing machine as a silent reminder to do her laundry over the weekend.
"Hi babe," she said, kissing Regina's shoulder as she peered over to see what was being cooked. "Ooh, looks yummy. Hey Belle, how's the little one?"
"Restless," Belle replied, rubbing her stomach. "How was work?"
"Surprisingly quiet. Eased me back in after two days off. I'm gonna go shower off the hospital before dinner, okay?"
"Sure," Regina nodded, a little quietly.
Emma headed out of the kitchen and Belle waited until she heard the blonde's footsteps on the stairs before speaking. "Why didn't you tell her?"
"She's just got in. I'll wait until dinner, it's fine," Regina shrugged.
"But, she'll want to know," Belle frowned. "You told me straight away."
"I needed someone to tell."
"And you don't want to tell Emma?"
"Of course I do," Regina sighed. "I'll tell her when she -"
"Regina!" Emma reappeared, skidding into the room in her socks, clearly having run down the hallway. "Did they call? Did you get it?" Her wide eyes told Regina the blonde had remembered halfway up the stairs that something very important hadn't been addressed.
"They called," Regina said with a slight quirk on her lips as she took in her girlfriend's bubbling excitement.
"And?"
"I got it," Regina replied, a smile splitting across her face.
Emma squealed and rushed to her, lifting Regina off her feet as she spun around. Belle laughed at their antics as she watched Emma embracing her girlfriend, pride and happiness radiating from her.
"Congratulations! Oh my god, we need champagne. Regina, this is amazing. I'm so happy for you and completely not surprised because you're amazing but oh I'm so pleased. Are you? Are you pleased?"
"I am," Regina nodded, reaching up and brushing some errant hairs from Emma's face. I'm very pleased. I've not accepted yet but I will, first thing Monday morning. I … I got the job, Emma!"
A/N: Only two chapters left …