We get to see Regina developing a social life outside of her relationship with Emma.

xxxxxxxx

The very next day Cruella called Emma with a list of interviews and photoshoots she had arranged for the blonde in the wake of her winning the league. Emma asked for the details of each one to be sent over via email before she agreed to any of them. Usually she would blindly accept but now she had Regina to consider and so she wanted to be a bit more selective with what she signed up to.

Once the promised email arrived a little while later and she had printed it out, she and Regina sat down to look it over. The brunette was reluctant to give her opinion on which of the deals she thought Emma should agree to or not. She wasn't au fait with the different magazines and TV shows that wanted the blonde so she remained quiet as Emma read through the various deals she was being offered. The first time Regina opened her mouth was when the soccer star read out an offer from a national chat show that wanted both her and Regina to appear on their show for an interview.

"I… I… don't want to, Emma. I don't want to be interviewed or go on TV," she nervously voices her request.

"That's okay, sweetheart. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," she takes the brunettes slightly shaky hands into her own after placing the print-out on the coffee table, "no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do, I promise." The blondes words subdue Regina's worries and she relaxes against the blondes side, the rigidity in her posture loosening. "I'll cross out all the options that include you, yeah?"

"Yes, please," the brunette meekly replies.

"No problem, baby," Emma picks up the sheets of paper and a pen and scans through all the deals, crossing off the four options that include Regina.

Regina feels even worse for refusing the deals when she notices the amount of money that was being offered for each one as Emma draws a line through them all without any hesitation at all. What the blonde used to pay Gold for a night with her was only a tiny fraction of what she was unquestioningly writing off with a flick of her pen.

"We need to get you a passport," Emma says when she comes across an offer from an international TV show based in the U.K.

"Really? Can we do that?" Regina almost sounds excited at the prospect of being able to travel and see the world, even more so because she would be doing it with the blonde by her side.

"Yes, absolutely," Emma smiles as she answers. She knows that it will take a while to get one for the brunette because she had basically been off the grid for the last ten years, so for now she crosses off all the international offers as well. She could always do those at a later date when Regina would be able to accompany her, she didn't want to be away from her girlfriend for any longer than she had to. For now she ticked off a few options that would keep her in the country and wouldn't take her away from the brunette for more than a couple of nights. She sent a return email to Cruella, confirming all the offers she was willing to accept and leaving it to her agent to organise her time table for the next two weeks or so, before she had to begin with the World Cup qualifying games. She also asked her agent to help sort out a passport for her girlfriend and Kathryn before the start of the international games. If anyone was able to sort out a passport that quickly it would be Cruella, she had lots of connections and she was Emma's best hope of fixing it so that Regina would be able to travel with her for the games.

Emma knew Cruella would work quickly and would have her starting on the interview circuit as soon as possible so she decided to make the most of what would probably be her last free day for a while. "Do you want to join me in the jacuzzi?" She offers her girlfriend.

"That sounds lovely, darling," Regina easily agrees.

Emma takes her hand, always loving just how perfectly the small hand fits in her own, and leads her to their bedroom to get changed. The blonde picks one of her baggier pair of swim shorts, wanting to have some room for the growth she knows will happen between her legs when she's in close proximity to the brunette in a bikini. Regina rummages through the many different bikinis she now owns and opts for simple red two piece with white trim. It's modest but does a wonderful job of accentuating her breasts and buttocks.

"No, no, no," the brunette mutters when she sees the swim shorts the blonde has picked out, hanging loosely over her hips and thighs. She opens the drawer that contains the blondes underwear and digs through it until she finds a pair of tight white briefs her girlfriend would usually wear under her kit when she was working out, "put these on."

Emma takes the proffered briefs but gives the brunette a confused look. "These aren't for swimming and they will be see through when they get wet."

"I know… that's the point," she purrs with a smirk, "don't worry, I'll make it worth your while." She saunters out of the bedroom, making sure to add a little swagger to her hips for the blondes viewing pleasure.

Emma groans and feels herself stir as the brunettes curvy backside retreats from view. She looks at the briefs in her hand and knows they are going to struggle to contain her. "I could just take everything off and we can forego the jacuzzi," she shouts after her girlfriend.

"My offer has a time limit," the brunette calls back to the blonde as she descends the stairs.

Emma is kicking off her shorts and pulling the briefs up her legs so she can chase after the brunette as quickly as possible. Her constrained semi inhibits her speed a little but she catches up to the brunette before she has even reached the bottom of the stairs.

"In a rush for…ahhh," Regina shouts before she can finish her sentence as the blonde throws her over her shoulder, fireman style.

"I don't want that offer to expire," the blonde states as she jogs to the indoor pool with Regina laughing over her shoulder. She gently places the brunette onto her feet as they reach the poolside so she can turn the jacuzzi on.

Regina reaches for the slight bulge in Emma's briefs and caresses it to life, "that's better," she whispers into the athletes ear when she's at full hardness, before walking over to the now bubbling jacuzzi and sinking into the warm water. "Are you coming, Em-ma?" Regina purrs to the blonde who is rooted to the spot, the outline of her hard cock all too visible in the tight briefs.

"Almost," she mutters, causing the brunette to throw her head and laugh. Emma awkwardly walks over to the jacuzzi and drops herself into the water, her stiffness not really allowing her to move with any grace.

Regina instantly moves to straddle the blondes lap. After their discussion of the deals Emma had been offered the brunette had felt a little rudderless. Emma had a life outside of the mansion, a life that involved international travel, and fans, and notoriety. Regina had no control over that but inside the house when it was just her an Emma, she held all the power and she felt the need to exercise it at that moment, to take back a bit of control.

Emma could tell that there was a storm of thoughts behind the deep brown eyes of her lover, she knew that her public life was daunting to Regina and all the offers she had just gone through was new and scary for the brunette. It would be daunting to anyone let alone someone that had been hidden from society for the last decade. She wanted to tell Regina that she could make every single decision for the both of them for the rest of their lives but she also knew that words wouldn't fix the brunette, the only things that would were trust and time. So she let's the brunette dictate things, giving her all the power and control that she needs to balance her thoughts.

Regina wraps her arms around the blondes neck and gently kisses her lips. "Is it really okay that I turned down the interviews?" She tentatively asks, she was more concerned with Emma's tyrannical agents response than Emma's. She knew Emma wouldn't force her into anything but everything she had heard about Cruella had told her that her only concern was money, and the offers for the interviews with the two of them were a lot bigger than any of the other ones.

Emma had already told her that it was okay to say no to the interviews but if she needed to reassure her a thousand times more, she would. "Sweetheart, we have the last say, the only say, on what we want to do. Please believe that. No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do anymore. I have told Cruella which ones I will do, she nor anyone else will question it any further."

That was enough to quell the brunettes concerns for now. Sometimes she just needed it repeated back to her that her choices were now her own. She smiles and leans down to kiss the blonde hard, dragging her tongue over the thin bottom lip of her girlfriend, requesting permission to kiss her deeply.

Emma's lips part, allowing the brunettes tongue to snake into her mouth and caress her own warm muscle. She holds onto tanned hips, slipping her thumbs under the thin band of her bikini and pulling her closer, inadvertently crushing her dick between their bodies and causing her to moan into the brunettes mouth.

"You like that, baby?" Regina murmurs against the blondes parted lips, pressing her centre harder against the blondes stiffness, earning another moan in return. "I'll take that as a yes."

Emma slips her hands around to the back of tanned thighs and lifts her out of the water, turning around and placing her on the edge so she can kneel between her legs. "I like it very much but there's something else I prefer," the blonde states before pulling at Regina's bikini bottoms. The brunette lifts her bottom up so they can be removed. Emma keeps eye contact with her as she pulls the scrap of material down her legs and discards of them into the bubbling water. Regina lets her legs fall wide open, inviting Emma to feast on her. Emma doesn't hesitate to bury her face between olive thighs, taking a long, firm swipe with her tongue between swollen lips, tasting the unique and wonderful flavour that is Regina.

"You like that, baby?" She smirks up at the brunette, repeating Regina's earlier words back to her.

"I'll give you you're final grade once you've finished," Regina half-heartedly jokes as she places a hand at the back of the blondes head and pulls her towards her needy centre.

Emma supresses a smile and places her open mouth around the protruding bundle of nerves, circling the flat of her tongue around it. The familiar feel of nails digging into her scalp and quivering thighs around her face has the blonde slowing down her ministrations, she wanted to build her lover up further before giving her her release.

Regina grunts above her in a mixture of pleasure and frustration at the blondes teasing. She lets her head fall back, one hand holding her up as she lets Emma eat her out the way the blonde wants to, she knows her release will be worth it when it happens.

The moans and whimpers of the brunette are dampened by the thighs pressing tightly against her ears as she pushes her tongue inside her centre.

When the warm muscle slips inside of her the brunettes arm that was holding her up gives in and she lays back against the cool tiles of the floor, both hands now tangled in blonde hair, holding her tightly against her opening.

Neither of them hear the door opening at the other end of the room. "Bloody hell, are communal areas not even safe from your libido's?" Kathryn says loud enough to break the trance between them and get their attention.

Regina moves her hands to cover herself but Emma is quicker and pulls her into the water, hiding her lovers modesty from amused blue eyes before she wipes the back of her hand over her mouth.

"What do you want, Kathryn?" Regina asks of her friend, who was fully dressed, so obviously not there for a swim.

"I thought I heard a moose dying… but I guess that was just you," she teases her friend.

Emma can't bring herself to look at the other blonde after being caught in the act, even if it was her own home, so she stares into the bubbling water, wishing that Kathryn would leave.

"Go away," the brunette demands.

"Okay, okay, don't get your knickers in a twist. Well, you know… if you were wearing any."

"Kathryn!" Regina shouts.

"Okay, I'm going," she turns around and opens the door before looking back at the two guilty looking women, "Oh and Emma," the younger blonde looks over at her, with bright pink cheeks, "remember to wait an hour before you go swimming after eating." The blonde laughs at her own joke before leaving them to it.

Regina waits until she can no longer hear her friends retreating footsteps before taking up her earlier position at the edge of the jacuzzi. "Now, where were we," she innocently asks as her legs fall open.

Emma stares at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious. What if she comes back in?"

"I am very serious and I am going to finish with or without you," the brunette grins as she slides a hand over her abdomen and to her centre.

"Fuck," the blonde whimpers. She takes one last look at the door Kathryn left out of and makes her mind up when Regina moans her pleasure. She brushes the small hand away and resumes eating Regina out, with a little more pace and a little less teasing than she previously had, in case they were interrupted again.

Xxxxxxxxx

"I should cancel. I don't want to go. I'm going to miss you," the blonde whines as Regina helps her pack a weekend bag for her trip to L.A. that would see that blonde complete two radio shows, four magazine interviews and photoshoots as well as one TV interview. The good news was that after the weekend was over it would be the last round of publicity she had to do before she got to spend three whole days with Regina.

"It will be Monday before you know it and you'll be back home with me." Regina folds up one of the blondes night vests and stores it in the holdall before sitting down on their bed next to her girlfriend. "I'll miss you too but we just need to focus on the three days we have together when you get back," the brunette tries to convince the blonde as well as herself.

"But if I don't go we can have an extra two days together."

"Not exactly, you know Kathryn and I have plans with Mal and some of the other girls this weekend. Even if you stay at home, you'll be alone for most of the time." Since her first, and so far only visit to the Slayers stadium, Regina had met up with a few of the women she had made friends with that night. She would like nothing more than for Emma to stay home that weekend so they could be together but Emma needed to focus on her career and Regina was enjoying having a social life for the first time ever.

Emma falls back on the bed and sighs dramatically, "no!"

"No, what?"

"Just… no. I don't like this," she petulantly argues.

Regina chuckles and lies down next to her, their legs hanging over the side of the bed. "Do we have to go through this every time you go away?"

"Only until your passport comes and we can travel together."

"I can't wait for that," Regina turns her head and smiles at the blonde, "I hope it won't take much longer for it to be sorted."

"Cruella said as soon as one of her contacts gets hold of a copy of your birth certificate it should be pretty straightforward from there, but apparently they are hard to get hold of," she frustratedly huffs as she stares at the ceiling.

"Be patient, my darling, it will all work out in the end."

"Screw patience. I would rather just have everything I want right now," Regina ungracefully snorts in amusement, bringing Emma's eyes and attention back to her, "never mind, I already have everything I want," the blonde quietly says with sincerity as she turns on her side and takes the brunettes face in her hand, running the pad of the thumb over plump lips.

Regina almost looks shy at the blondes sweet words. She had never thought she would mean anything to anyone but then Emma would say something without much thought and make her feel like she was the most important person in the world. She kisses the digit caressing her bottom lip and pulls Emma on top of her. "How long before the car comes to pick you up?" She asks with a devious grin.

Emma glances at the alarm clock on the nightstand, "about forty minutes. Whatever could we do in forty minutes, Miss Mills?" The athlete replies with a matching grin.

"I'm sure we could think of something," Regina murmurs against the blondes lips.

Xxxxxxxx

Later that afternoon Regina and Kathryn are sitting outside on the patio, sharing a bottle of wine and enjoying the last of the days sun.

"So, have you decided what you are going to do about your father yet?" Regina delicately enquires before taking a sip of wine.

Kathryn's face falls a little and she distractedly twirls the stem of her glass between her thumb and index finger before eventually answering, "no, not yet. I want to see him again but I don't want him to learn the truth about where I've been since I left."

A week ago Fred had approached Kathryn with some information about her father. He has seen her on national TV when he was watching the Slayers win the league. He had doubted himself at first but after going over the footage several times he was sure that was his daughters smile, that she was his daughter. So he began contacting every police department in the area for information until he was eventually put in contact with David Nolan. Kathryn had given the agent permission to inform her father that it was her but she was still trying to make her mind up about being reunited with him. He still wasn't aware of what had happened to her since she disappeared and she knew that if she did agree to meet up with him she would have to tell him everything.

"Kathryn… your father hasn't given up on you after all this time. He has never stopped loving you and he wants to see you again. You can't let your embarrassment get in the way of having a family again."

"I already have a family, you and Emma."

"Yes, and you will always have us, but he is your father. I would do anything to be able to speak to my father again. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. After everything he must have been through it is the least you can do, Kathryn. He won't care that you ran away and that your relationship with your boyfriend failed or where you ended up for the last decade, he just wants you back." Regina had often heard stories from Kathryn about how strict her father could be but she had also heard plenty of stories about how great a father he was and it had always sounded to her like he had only ever wanted the best for his daughter.

The blonde gulps down the contents of her glass. "I know. It's just really scary to have to face what I ultimately did to myself because I didn't listen to him."

"It's time you forgive yourself for that, it wasn't even your fault," Regina pleads with her self-loathing friend as she leans over to grab the bottle of wine to top up both of their glasses.

Kathryn solemnly nods her head, she knows what she needs to do and she knows she probably will end up doing it, she just wanted a little time to get her head around it all. "That's enough about me for one day. Let's talk about you. Are you going to have babies soon?" Just like that, Kathryn could switch back to her normal self and deflect the conversation onto Regina, "because the way you two go at it the odds are you should have a litter of little Emma's by now."

"Do you actually know how long a pregnancy lasts?" The brunette condescendingly asks.

"Technicalities," the blonde replies as she waves off Regina's very valid point.

"Why are you so obsessed with the idea of Emma and I having children?"

"Because it's going to happen and when it does I will get to be the cool aunt who they come to when you two are being assholes and I can buy them their first beers and show up inappropriately drunk at special family occasions."

"Firstly, there is no appropriate levels of drunkenness at family occasions, and secondly, how many children do you think we will have?" It was a silly conversation but the mention of her and Emma having children always brought a flutter to her heart.

"Firstly, just wait and see, I'll prove you wrong," she jokes with a wink, "secondly, Emma is definitely going to want enough children to form her own football team."

"Idiot," Regina gently berates.

Kathryn's laughing is interrupted by her phone ringing. "Hey, Ruby," she answers after checking the call I.D. Regina stares at her friend with a shit eating grin on her face, knowing it will be her turn to tease her friend after the phone call. "Yeah, I'm just having a drink with Regina, why don't you come and join us?" She looks over to Regina to make sure it's okay with her, the brunette nods her permission, it's not as if she would ever have said no. "Oh and bring pizza… we aren't fussy, any toppings."

"I want pineapple on mine," Regina shouts over as Kathryn listens to whatever Ruby is saying on the other end of the line.

Kathryn grimaces at Regina's request. "Anything but pineapple," the blonde amends, earning a glare from Regina, which she ignores. "Okay, great, see you soon."

"You are an asshole."

"And you are a reprobate," the blonde quips.

The brunette shakes her head and carries on with their conversation. "So when are you and Ruby going to have children?"

"What we do is just for fun, we aren't soulmates like you two lovey-dovey, star crossed lovers."

Regina hadn't ever considered the term 'soulmates' before but as the word bounced around in her head it felt very fitting. "Trust me, what we do is a lot of fun too," she says with a cheeky smile that her third glass of wine had afforded her.

Kathryn throws back her head in laughter, "don't I know it. I hear you two having fun often enough."

Regina simply shrugs, Kathryn took great pleasure in letting them know each time she heard so she could tease them about it. The brunette had gotten used to it and it no longer brought as much embarrassment to her.

Twenty minutes later and Ruby arrives, one ridiculously large pizza box in her hands. "Half meat feast, half veggie supreme," the lanky brunette declares when her blonde lover answers the door, "not a piece of pineapple in sight."

"Great. Come on in," she steps back and allows the brunette in, who has to hold the box at an angle to fit in through the doorway.

"Hey, Regina," Ruby cheerfully greets as she makes her way onto the patio with the giant pizza box still in her hands.

"Hello, Ruby. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. Where's Swan?" She queries when her teammate is nowhere to be found.

"She's in L.A. until Monday."

"Our star player certainly has been busy," Ruby declares with nothing but pride in her voice as she takes a seat and puts the pizza down.

Kathryn joins them a few moments later with a glass for Ruby and another bottle of wine.

After most of the pizza had been eaten and another bottle of wine had been finished, Regina made her excuses to go to bed early because the two women opposite her were starting to get handsy and it only served to make her miss her absent girlfriend ever more.

When Regina emerges from the en suite after showering, she can hear giggling coming from Kathryn's room and it makes her smile that her friend has found some sort of happiness in their new lives. The ringing of her phone on the nightstand puts a bigger smile on her face, there was only one person it could be, the name flashing on her screen confirmed it. "Hello, darling," she greets her girlfriend.

"Hey, beautiful. Miss me?"

"Of course. How is L.A.?"

"Hot, really hot. And worst of all, it is distinctly Regina-less," the blonde sighs down the phone as her girlfriend chuckles.

"So what are you up to?" Regina asks through her smile.

"I just got into bed and decided to call the most beautiful woman I know before I go to sleep."

"Aww, but you decided to call me instead." Regina still found it a little difficult to accept the never ending stream of compliments the blonde would direct towards her and would use humour to deflect the attention.

"Oh hush you. We both know I'm right. Anyway, are you in bed yet?"

"I'm just about to get in actually. Wait, isn't it half past eight there, why are you in bed?"

"I have to be up at four for the radio show. What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Kathryn and I are meeting up with Mal and Fiona for brunch in one of Mal's restaurants and she's letting me go into the kitchen for a training session with one of her chef's," the volume of her voice increases in excitement at the prospect at having some proper training with a real chef.

"That's fantastic, sweetheart!" Emma was happy that Regina would be getting the opportunity to do something she enjoyed so much. Mal and her girlfriend had become good friends over the last few weeks and if Regina wanted to make something from her love of cooking and baking then Mal was the right person to help her.

They kept talking, never running out of anything to speak about, until Emma started yawning. "You should get some sleep, my darling, you have a busy weekend ahead of you."

Emma didn't want to go but Regina was right, her itinerary was going to be hard enough, even with a full night's sleep. After saying their goodbyes and hanging up, the brunette swipes through the many different pictures she had captured of her and Emma together until her eyes being closing and she has to put the device away.

Xxxxxxxx

Regina is sipping coffee and reading the daily paper in the kitchen when she hears Kathryn and Ruby make their way down the stairs. The front door opens, Ruby was obviously leaving, so Regina decides to have a little fun at her friends expense. She holds her phone against her ear and pretends to be talking on it when Kathryn walks into the kitchen looking for her morning caffeine fix.

"Yes, if you could send someone over as soon as possible to deal with this, it's a serious matter," her stern tone catches Kathryn's attention, "thank you. Goodbye." She pretends to hang up her phone and ignores the blondes quizzical stare as she picks the paper back up and continues to read it.

"Who was that?" Kathryn finally asks when she realises Regina wasn't going to volunteer any information.

"That was an exorcist, they are going to send someone around to cleanse the house of the evil spirits that kept me awake for most of the night with their wailing and pitiful screams."

Kathryn flips her off and walks out of the kitchen to the sound of her friends laughter. She couldn't really argue, she always made a point of trying to embarrass Regina and Emma when she heard them in bed.

The next time Kathryn appears she is wearing a light blue sundress with matching strappy sandals, her hair is plaited and she has a light layer of make-up that enhances her features. "Is that what you're wearing? You look like you are going for a job interview," she observes the brunette, who is wearing black slacks and a white silk blouse, with knitted eyebrows.

"Mal told me to wear something kitchen appropriate for my training session with one of her chefs after brunch," she explains as she looks down at herself.

"I forgot about that. Are you excited?"

"Yes, I can't wait."

"Well I can't wait for mimosas, when is Fiona getting here?"

"Any min…" the sound of the intercom buzzing interrupts her. "That will be her now. Let's go."

Xxxxxxxx

Mal is busy directing a delivery man as to where to place her newly arrived stock when the trio of women arrive. She quickly delegates the work to a staff member when she spots her friends. "Ladies, it's good to see you all," she greets them all with an air kiss to each cheek before leading them over to a reserved table in front of a floor to ceiling glass window that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. She gestures for a waitress to come over once they are all seated. "We will start with four mimosas, make them with champagne, none of that cheap prosecco crap we use for the paying guests." The older woman was a bit snobby but she had a good heart and that's what Regina liked about her. "Oh, and keep them coming," she calls after the waitress who was on her way to the bar to prepare the drinks.

"So what are the plans for after brunch?" Fiona queries.

"Lunch," Kathryn deadpans, causing everyone at the table to laugh.

"Regina is going into the kitchen with Pierre for a cookery lesson and I thought we could sample the new case of Italian red I've had from our supplier, out on the deck," Mal answers.

"Wonderful," Fiona happily accepts as Kathryn nods in agreement. A day of drinking undoubtedly expensive wine in the company of newly made friends, in the Sun, did indeed sound wonderful to Kathryn.

Regina was beyond excited to be having a lesson from an award winning chef, which they all were in Mal's restaurants, so she really didn't mind missing out on the day drinking. She was hoping he would be able to teach her something that she would be able to make at home so she could impress Emma. Regina sipped at her mimosa when it arrived, she wasn't trying to get drunk like the other three were planning to, she needed to be clear headed for her lesson in the kitchen. Their brunch consisted of fruit salad that was comprised of all various exotic fruits that the brunette had never tried before as well as freshly made pastries.

A middle aged gentleman in chef whites approaches the table when the brunch rush appears to be over. "Hello, Mal, Fiona, which of these lovely ladies will be joining me in the kitchen today?" He asks in a thick French accent as he looks between the two women he has never seen before.

"Ah Pierre, this is Regina and this is Kathryn. Regina will be joining you if you still have time?"

"Absolutely, there is plenty of time before the lunch rush. If you have finished, would like to get started?" He directs to Regina.

She enthusiastically agrees and once Pierre promises Mal that he will show Regina to the deck area once they have finished, he leads the brunette to the kitchen where he hands her a hairnet, and a chefs jacket.

"The lunch special today is seafood linguine, made with fresh linguine," it was a simple statement but the way he said it implied anything but fresh linguine was an insult to cooking, "and a simple but decedent tiramisu," he finishes with a chefs finger kiss.

He begins by demonstrating how to make the fresh linguine before letting Regina have a go at it. She had watched him intently and only needed a little instruction as she made her own batch. Next he shows her how to make her own tomato puree which was to be added to the dish later. He then sautés a little garlic with prawns for a few minutes, Regina copying everything he does as she uses the stove next to his. He then pours the contents of the pan into a blender and adds some of the tomato puree. At this point he adds the freshly made linguine to a pot of slightly salted boiling water. The next step was to add quite a lot of butter to the pan they had just used, and then throw in some more prawns, squid rings and mussels, frying them for a minute before putting a lid over the pan and letting the contents steam until the mussels opened, discarding any that didn't. They then pour in the blended prawn, garlic and tomato puree over the cooked seafood with the addition of a few plump cherry tomatoes. Pierre flicks the pan expertly, mixing the contents together. Regina didn't want to risk the contents of her pan spilling over the floor so she opts to stir them with a wooden spoon. Once the pasta is al dente he drains it and adds a scoop to a deep dish before spooning the seafood mixture on top of it. Regina copies everything he does and she plates up her offering. Her presentation was a little more sloppy that his, there were small spatters of juice around the plates rim but it didn't look too bad, she thought.

"Okay, let's see how you did," he says with a smile before using a fork and spoon to gather up a bit of everything into one mouthful. He chews slowly as Regina waits with bated breath for his verdict.

"Not bad, not bad at all," he praises her after swallowing down the mouthful, "the pasta is a little chewy but a bit more kneading of the dough will fix that, and the seafood was a touch overdone because stirring it with a spoon isn't as effective as flicking it in the pan but for a first attempt this is very impressive.

Regina breaks into a huge smile and relaxes a little now that a chef had liked her food.

"Next… tiramisu," he says excitedly, it was obviously a dessert he enjoyed if his waistline was anything to go by.

Once they had each made a tray of the dessert he puts them into the fridge, telling Regina they needed a couple of hours to chill. The kitchen was becoming busier with various members of staff rushing around more quickly as orders came in thick and fast. "I have to help out with the lunch orders, you can either go back to your friends or if you would like to find out what it is like to work in a kitchen, you can stay and be my sous chef?"

She opted for the latter option, eager to gain experience in the kitchen environment. For the next couple of hours she did nothing more exciting than peel and chop various vegetables, at what she could see was a glacial pace compared to the actual chefs, but she enjoyed it none the less.

"You did wonderful," Pierre says as he pats her on her shoulder after sending out the last of his orders. "I am going to have a glass of wine as you prepare another batch of the seafood linguine that we will serve to your friends. Time to see how well you listened," he added with a wink.

She bit down her nerves and began to prepare the dish to the best of her ability as Pierre gave her some gentle guidance throughout. When it was done he tried some and reassured her that it was even better than her first attempt. He gathered five clean dishes and added a portion of linguine and sauce to each.

Regina couldn't help but smile when she thinks about how Emma would complain at the portion size, the blonde could quite easily eat all five portions in one sitting. "Why are there five?"

"One each for you four ladies and I need some lunch too," he happily chuckles as he pats his stomach.

Regina couldn't believe that the award winning chef was so impressed with her abilities that he was going to be eating the meal she prepared, for his lunch. He reminded her a lot of her father, he was very kind and gentle and spoke to her in soft tones.

The brunette shed her hairnet and chefs jacket, fixing her hair in the reflection of the shiny metal countertop as Pierre balances all four dishes in his hands and leads her to the deck area where the three women are drinking.

"Ladies," he greets the now tipsy women, "lunch has arrived."

"Did you have fun?" Kathryn asks Regina, who takes a seat next to her.

"I had a lot of fun and I learnt a lot. Thank you, Pierre."

"You are welcome in my kitchen anytime you like. You are a natural and the pleasure was all mine." He kisses the back of her hand after he has placed a dish in front of each woman. "Your lunch was made entirely by Regina, so please enjoy," he addresses the women before leaving them to eat their lunch together.

"My, my, I have never seen Pierre so impressed with anyone before. He's usually like a French Gordon Ramsey when he's had someone new in his kitchen," Mal drably states.

Fiona is the first to have a taste of her lunch. She closes her eyes and moans as she chews on the food in her mouth. "Wow," is all she says before taking another bite.

"Holy shit, Regina. I knew you were good but this is incredible," Kathryn joins in with the praise after her first taste.

"I wouldn't have known that Pierre hadn't cooked this himself if he hadn't told us," Mal adds after her first bite.

That was the best compliment Regina could have hoped for and even though all the lovely words made her blush she felt a giddy rush for having done so well.

Pierre had made sure to get one of the waiters to serve them all a slice of Regina's tiramisu after they had finished the linguine. Upon tasting it, Mal had promised to pass Pierre's phone number onto Regina so that they could arrange for her to have lessons with him whenever she wanted.

Regina had had a perfect day and had never felt so proud of herself but as they sat in the Sun, drinking and chatting, all she wanted to do with be with her girlfriend so she could tell her all about her wonderful day. She hoped the blondes day was just as incredible as hers had been.

xxxxxxx

I usually don't like stories that include made up characters that weren't on the show but I just couldn't think of who to use, so I made up Pierre. I hope you liked him, but if you didn't, don't worry because he probably won't be more than a passing mention in future chapters.