for the OQ prompt party 2021, tuesday.
prompts:
202 : Regina agrees to be her closeted gay friend's date to a work function to stop his coworkers from guessing he isn't straight. She meets Robin at the party and falls for him, but Robin thinks she is madly in love with her gay best friend
26 : Fake dating
32 : OQ + David
darling, I fancy you (you)
When she agreed to be David's date for this stupid party, she certainly didn't envision this. She thought it would be harmless, and fun, but she should have known life would bite her in the ass again.
She still can see David's puppy eyes when he asked her – Please, Regina, do this for me and I'll never ask for anything ever again. And it sucks, that he'd have to ask her this, and she's sorry for him – because he has worked at this office since six months, and he doesn't feel ready to come out to his colleagues yet, so she has to be his date and he can pretend he's straight.
"You haven't been telling people I'm your wife or something, right, David?" she has asked, stern.
"Oh no. Just my… girlfriend," he says, flashing her that amazing smile he has, and god damn it, she has to go now. She has to, because he'd never hear the end of it if she doesn't.
"I am too nice to you," she groans. "I… alright. But you owe me one, okay? You could have told them I was a friend, but you had to go and say the word girlfriend, and now we'll have to fake-date on the top of it!"
"I know, I'm sorry, I panicked! Also, you know that if you came to the party while being, and I quote, just a friend… that's basically a coming out for me, right? I mean, have you seen yourself?"
"You could make something up, like, you have an actual wife who lives in… I don't know, in Asia!"
David looks at her with guilty eyes. "It did cross my mind. I did think about asking Mulan if she could come, you know she's always in China lately, so I could explain why she's never here anyway… but she's gonna be away, the day of the party."
"Fuck," Regina says, before she can stop herself. "You really are desperate, honey."
He crosses his arms, and raises an eyebrow. "Well, not all of us have the privilege of having a boss who basically walks around waving rainbow flags."
"Hey! Mal doesn't do that, you jerk. But I'll admit I was much more relaxed about telling her I was bi, yes."
"Lucky you," he mutters. "Look, it's just for a couple of months. Or six months. Until they're convinced about keeping me there. Okay? Then I'll tell them, and you and I can go back to being friends."
There's something in his eyes, and Regina finally softens. "You know what… okay then," she stops him mid-hug, and tells him, "but you owe me a spa day for every kiss!"
He shuts her up with that hug, and mutters into her shoulder, "Thank you, honey," and it's so heartfelt that she doesn't have the heart of poking him some more.
.:.
And this is how she ended up in this predicament – meaning, being gawked at by an older man, who' s probably drunk and can't stop staring at her. She curses herself for having worn this dress – it does wonders for her ass, but does nothing to keep the creepy old men away, in fact… one could say it makes the situation worse.
And David is nowhere to be seen.
He's gone to the toilet, she knows, but his timing could have been better. She busies herself with her drink, but she doesn't know anyone here, and she's not bold enough to walk up to someone and randomly start a conversation…
"I don't believe we have been introduced," a voice says from behind her, and she flinches, startled. She turns – the man (and god, what a man), looks chastised, and apologizes, "I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry, milady."
"I… it's alright," she answers, because it's not his fault if she was on edge. Fuck, his eyes are so blue. He flashes her a smile, and she notices how awfully handsome he looks in that suit of his – good enough to eat, she thinks, her cheeks reddening at the thought. He stares at her for a moment, but she doesn't feel… uncomfortable. He looks interested, she dare say, her hand going up to tuck a rebellious lock of hair behind her ear.
Get a grip, Regina, she tells herself, because she's blushing, for god's sake, and…
"It looked like you needed someone to talk to. I know how that old Blanchard man gets after a few whiskeys."
She nods absentmindedly, her gaze trailing towards the man who was staring at her. Sure enough, he's shifted his attention to a bottle, and he looks busier now.
"Well, it seems it worked – my… the person I'm here with, he's… well, he – "
She thinks she can see a flash of disappointment in his eyes – it lasts for a second, he's so quick to school it with a kind smile. "I'm glad I was here to help, then," he says. "Can I ask you your name, milady?"
"Aren't you a charmer," she raises an eyebrow, and god, it's so easy to flirt with him. "You can ask, but my name comes as a payment once you'll have told me yours, milord," she stresses that last word, and he laughs, looks amused enough that maybe she feels a tingle of pride in her heart.
"Robin Locksley," he extends a hand, and when she accepts it, she expects him to bring hers to his lips – but he doesn't. Instead, he holds hers, and asks, "I believe I'm due a payment, now."
"Regina Mills," she answers, shakes his hand lightly. She finds that she doesn't want to let it go. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine," Robin says. He looks so serious, now, as if it really is a pleasure, and it's not just something he said to be kind.
"So, Robin," she finds she quite likes the sound of his name. "Do you… work here, or…?"
"God no," he answers, lets out a laugh. "I'm a potential business partner, I work for an organization that helps refugees, and Mr Gold invited me to this lovely meeting just so I could… get the idea behind his firm. Truth be told, I don't particularly like lawyers and such, but… I mean, I get to regularly work with a couple of them and they're actually nice people, so…" he trails off, and she smiles, because his tentative explanations are quite adorable. "But tell me about you – god, you don't work here, right? With my luck, you'll tell me you're Mr Gold's pupil."
She shakes her head, smiles more widely, and starts explaining, "Actually, no, I – I don't work here, I'm just here with my – "
"Regina!"
David's voice reaches her right in that moment, and she turns – he's smiling brightly, walking towards them. On her side, she notices Robin stepping back, just slightly.
"Hi, David," she says, and David reaches them and – he sneaks one hand around her back, and she wouldn't mind if this were any other situation – in fact, she's here to help him, for this exact reason – but she spied a quick, almost imperceptible sad look passing on Robin's face, and she feels sorry.
It must look horrible, from his perspective. She flirted with him, and now he surely thinks she has a boyfriend, and –
"Sorry I left you here," David says. "I was ambushed by one of my colleagues, and he wouldn't let me go."
"It's okay," she looks at him and smiles, a bit forced, maybe. "I… was talking to Mr Locksley, here. I don't know if you two know each other."
Robin shakes his head, and he introduces himself to David – their exchange is so polite, but she still feels bad for him. He clearly thinks she's with David, as he should, after all, because David is looking at her with those kind of looks she knows are just of friendly affection, but to Robin… they must look like something else.
"I… actually, it just came to my mind I need to speak to Gold – would you excuse me?" Robin politely says. "I know this kind of event can drag on for a bit, so I'd rather do it sooner than later… it was a pleasure to meet you, David," he shakes his hand, then turns to her. "Regina."
She nods, and watches him start going away, and she can't stop herself – "Wait!"
Robin stops and turns towards her, asks, "Yes?"
She whispers again, "Wait," and opens her purse, takes one of her business card. "Use this, tomorrow. I have to speak to you about a… potential opening in my company, and this isn't the right place to do so. Call that number, please." She watches him raise an eyebrow as he reads Regina Mills, Architect.
"Al…right," he says, and she thinks he will call, even if he doesn't understand why. "I'll call you," he promises, looking straight into her eyes. He squeezes her hand, a quick and unnoticeable thing, and darts a look towards David. "Goodbye, Regina."
She nods, and watches him go. David reaches her, surrounds her back with his arm once again, and presses a kiss on her hair. "Regina has a crush," she hears him murmur, and it takes all her willpower not to kick him. "Good for you, honey."
"I hope I didn't scare him off. He's probably thinking we want a threesome, or something like that."
"Well I wouldn't say no, I'll be honest. Without you, though, because that would be awkward."
"Jesus, David, shut up."
"I mean have you seen him? He's a snack," David says, and if this were any other situation, she'd laugh and probably throw him a light punch, but this is a work event, and…
"Come on," she tells him. "Let's go pretend to be madly in love for another hour or so."
.:.
When the phone finally rings, the following day, she's antsy.
It's not like her – it's weird, she normally is more detached, but as David said… she has a crush. Maybe. Perhaps. He did tell her he was going to call, and she hopes he will, she hopes he won't ghost her, and… god, David would never let her hear the end of it.
She can't have a crush. Not at her age.
"Hello," she answers, hoping she didn't sound too eager, or too weird, or –
"Hello, Regina," he says, and god, that voice. "I hope it's a good time. You wanted to speak about… an opening?"
"Yes, it's a good time," she raises from her chair, and goes to shut the door of her office. "I actually wanted to talk to you about yesterday. I must apologize."
"Oh no, you have nothing to apologize for," he says, his voice feels so far away, and this won't do – she can't do this by phone.
"I do, I definitely do," she tells him, checks her watch. "Are you free in… let's say one hour? Near my office, the address is on the card I gave you."
"Yes, I'm free, why?"
Regina has to fight back a chuckle, because he's clearly letting her set the goalposts, and why is he being so polite? "I'd like us to meet, so I can explain everything."
.:.
He gets to the appointment early – he was in the area, after all, it's not that far from his office. Regina told him about a café, and since they both have to get lunch, it seemed as good as a place as any other. She arrives on time, and – god she's pretty, he thinks, her sunglasses hiding her eyes, she spots him rather quickly. Her perfume envelops him like a hug, and a pang of sadness reaches him when he remembers she's got a boyfriend.
"Hello," she says, sits down next to him before he can play the gentleman and free her chair for her. "Sorry I'm late, I… thank you for coming."
"You're not late, I was early," he tells her. "It's no trouble. I felt like we ended our time at the party rather… abruptly."
"Yeah, you can say that," she says, doesn't meet his eyes – she calls for a waiter, orders a salad, and he can tell she's nervous about this. "And Robin… oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't even wait for you to read the menu."
"It's alright," he smiles at her. "I'll have a wrap and a soda, thank you."
She waits for the waiter to go, and then takes a breath.
"So… I feel like I owe you an explanation."
"You don't – "
"But I do," she says, and she suddenly takes his hand. "Please just… listen."
"Al…right?" he's puzzled, because she seems to be taking this seriously, and he's already entranced by her – it's a pity she has a boyfriend, so he won't make a move, and…
"David is not my boyfriend," she blurts out. "So I guess we gave you the wrong impression yesterday."
He stares at her, dumbfounded. "I mean you two were… behaving in that way, I guess."
Regina smiles, and he notices she seems almost relieved. "You could say I was his temporary cover-up story. The thing is… he's been working there since a few months, and he's not ready to… come out to his colleagues yet. And they've been pestering him to know if he has a girlfriend, but he didn't want to be forced to come out, so he brought me along, but retrospectively speaking I think it did more harm than good."
.:.
He's silent.
It could be the situation, it could be her tensed nerves – but it seems like his silent is lasting forever, and then – he is smiling.
Her nerves suddenly disappear, melting like snow under the sun, as he says, "I can't believe you went through all this trouble… you could have told me at the party, you know."
"We needed to keep up appearances," she shrugs, as if excusing herself. "I am glad it's not… I'm glad you didn't take it the wrong way. I… it looked like we wanted a threesome, I told David."
"Yeah? And what did he say?"
"That you were a snack," she answers, and feels herself blush. Good god, get a grip. "I guess he isn't wrong."
Robin bites his lower lip, with another smile, and laughs. "Well I'm flattered," he says. "And… well, I'd have chosen another term, maybe, but I think the same about you, you know."
There's something in her belly – something that feels suspiciously like butterflies, and she chuckles at him. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but… I'd like to date you, Robin Locksley. Preferably, somewhere without David's colleagues."
"And I'd love to date you, Regina Mills." She feels herself fall for him – just like that. "That was an interesting start to a story, wasn't it?"
"You are confident with calling it a story?" she raises an eyebrow, but she's amused, and he nods.
"It certainly is. And I cannot wait to see how it will play out."
