Setting/Disclaimer: Misthaven non-magical modern AU. The society and political system will be based on a combination of modern countries, with a probable bias toward the American system as I am an American. However, all characters are fictional and resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidence.
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Robin stared out the storefront trying not to sigh loudly.
Over the course of the last few weeks, he'd accepted that private security was a generally tedious job that involved a lot of standing around doing nothing, but this was worse than anything he'd had to put up with while guarding Cora.
The woman may have been hypocritical and mean, but at least she did things during the day. She was always running in and out of meetings.
Even the past week when he'd been following Henry Mills hadn't been so bad. The man had meetings at his foundation, speeches at conferences, golf games...tolerable things.
He hadn't been assigned to guard DisPater or his wife yet, but they could hardly be any worse than what he'd experienced so far after just one day assigned to Regina Mills.
The first half of the morning had been spent sitting in an uncomfortable chair outside her office at the foundation headquarters trying not to fall asleep. She didn't go to any meetings, no one came-by to speak with her, even her assistant, apart from a cursory greeting in the morning, seemed to have nothing to say to her throughout the day.
His youngest daughter was obviously a lot less popular than her father. She even ate her lunch at her desk.
Robin had thought he'd gotten a lucky break when she emerged at around 3PM to tell him that she was going to be leaving the office early to run errands.
When she'd said 'errands' he'd pictured going to the DMV, picking up dry cleaning, and paying the cable bill...in retrospect he really should have known better.
Apparently to her it meant shopping for power-suits and frilly underwear!
After leaving the foundation headquarters, she'd directed him to a place called simply The Galleria. It was a high end shopping mall. The most famously expensive one in Unity City, and it didn't fail to live up to it's reputation. The entire open area shopping center was made out of brilliant white marble, with intricately designed columns and fountains on the lower level and balconies on the upper.
Passing several well known fashion boutiques she stopped first at a fairly bland store where she tried on a few pantsuits. Then, as he trailed her to a very recognizable pink splashed boutique called L'amour Fou, he reminded himself over and over again that this job was actually worth the trouble.
However, after 20 minutes standing among racks of women's undergarments, breathing in the stench of potpourri, that mantra was really starting to lose it's power. In fact, he was starting to find the prospect to walking out the door, and swan diving of the parapate not quite totally crazy.
More than just nausea and tedium, though, his problem was rising disgust with his charge.
She'd gone to the changing room almost the moment they got inside, and then spent the entire time sending the sales associates to bring her items like a queen commanding her underlings.
Out of curiosity, and sheer boredom, Robin offhanded checked the price tag on a nearby item and found that it said 200 gold coins. For a moment he actually thought he might have a heart attack at seeing such a ridiculous price for a tiny amount of fabric!
Especially since the item he'd picked up was a fairly simple looking pair of white panties, with just a little lace on them. If they were 200 gold coins, he didn't want to know what some of the more complicated things in this store cost!
He didn't know exactly how much Regina was planning to buy, but, judging by the amount of time it was taking her, it would probably be enough to add up to a small fortune. An amount of money that could really make a difference in many people's lives.
Robin shook his head at the realization. Was she even aware of that fact?
He couldn't help but imagine what the look on her face might be if he were to inform her. Whether she'd actually care, he wasn't certain, but was pretty sure she'd be shocked beyond belief at someone speaking to her that way!
The thought made him smile, at least, and it was better than wondering how much longer she was going to be in the changing room, or, worse, what she was doing in there.
Of course, it was obvious what she was doing in there, but he didn't need to be thinking about that. Certainly, didn't need to be letting himself wonder if she was wearing any of the insanely expensive items currently in his vicinity.
No, that was definitely not a road he wanted to be going down. It was easier to pretend the thought of telling her off wasn't just as appealing as tearing any of these scraps of silk and lace off her.
The younger Mills may have been insufferable, but she was a beautiful woman who had a body that could bring men to their knees, and she damned well knew it!
She had to. How could she not?
He had noticed. He was only human, after all, and couldn't completely keep away the notion of stripping off all the fancy clothing she wore like armor…
Jolting himself out of those thoughts, he shifted on his feet, took a few deep calming breaths, and clenched and unclenched his fists.
One week. He only had to get through one week of this before the next security rotation. Just one week.
In the end, she spent another 20 minutes in the lingerie store, and ,after paying a total at the cash register that killed his soul a little, she wordlessly handed him her shopping bags.
Blinking in surprise as he realized that she expected him to carry them, he pursed his lips before taking a hold of the handles.
Wordlessly, Regina turned and made her way out the door, Robin following with his hands full of crinkling baby pink bags full of wildly overpriced delicates.
Outside the sun was high in the sky, causing glare off to reflect off every surface of the sparkling marble and bubbling water in the fountains.
Between that and the cloying smell of dried flowers lingering on the bags, he could feel a migraine brewing at the front of his skull.
The younger Mills, however, seemed completely unphased. Walking three paces ahead, she lead him through the upper level to the other side and down an escalator to a coffee shop. Inside she proceeded to order a fancy latte, complete with some very specific requests for how it be made.
He watched the poor, frazzled barista as she attempted to jot it all down on the cup and assure her they'd make it to her exact specifications.
Without so much as a glance at him, she stood to the side waiting for her order, her attention glued to her cell phone the entire time.
Finally, coffee in hand, she took mercy on him and headed back to the parking garage.
When they got to her car, she took the bags from him and instructed him to open the backdoor for her. After neatly storing all of her shopping bags in the backseat, she got into the passenger's side and told him she was ready to return home.
Before starting up the car, he slid on a pair of sunglasses that he hoped would block out some of the sunlight and keep his headache at bay.
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Regina spent most of the drive on her phone, which didn't bother him until they were about half a mile from the estate. At that point, she decided to make a phone call and ,from the conversation, it became obvious that the purpose of the class was to make an appointment to get her hair done!
He gripped the steering wheel tightly, pressing down on the accelerator to go a little faster, as he wasn't certain how much of this conversation he could listen to and maintain a straight face.
"Yes, it's important," Regina said into the phone, "No, I can't wait until next week!"
He turned the corner up to the gate house as she sighed loudly, "Well tell him it's an emergency! I've been a customer of his for long enough, he should understand this type of situation!"
Robin pressed the button to roll down the window and punched the access code into the keypad as he rolled his eyes incredulously..an emergency!
The gate rolled open far too slowly for his tastes, but when it was finally clear he stomped on the accelerator, causing the car's tires to spin and squeal momentarily before they jolted forward.
"Oof!" Regina groaned as the momentum sent her flying backward into her seat, "Gods! Listen, I'm going to have to call you back just please try to get that appointment before next Tuesday, I really need it!"
He was grateful for the wide aviator sunglasses he was wearing, hoping that they hid some of the expression on his face.
As she hung up her phone, she turned to him and, he presumed, glared at him from behind her own sunglasses, "Locksley would you be a little more careful, please?"
He clenched his jaw but managed to grit out, "Sorry."
She noticed the tone and glanced back at him, "Do you have some sort of problem?"
"Not at all, Ms. Mills," he answered evenly.
"Really?" she asked, the sarcasm thick in her voice, "So the attitude you're giving me right now is for no reason what so ever?"
"I don't know what you mean, Ms. Mills," he answered, speeding up again in hopes of making it the rest of the way down the private drive to the main house.
She stared at him open mouthed for a minute before bracing herself on the grab bar as he took a particularly sharp turn, "You need to slow down!"
Drawing a deep breath, Robin forced himself to ease up on the accelerator, "Begging your pardon, Ms. Mills."
She obviously caught his tone again because she pulled her sunglasses off angrily and asked, "What on Earth is your problem, Locksley?!"
She was pushing his buttons and he knew that he should just let it go. No good could possibly come of this conversation, but it had been the longest, most frustrating day of his life, his head was pounding, and he just couldn't stop the snarky words from coming out of his mouth, "Nothing. Nothing that's an emergency, at least."
Seeing her jaw drop open in shock was less satisfying that he thought it'd be. However, the few moments she stammered speechlessly was somewhat gratifying. Finally, she settled for, "Wow, you...you are just unbelievably arrogant!"
That did it. He couldn't hold back any longer. He turning to her he barked out an incredulous laugh, "I'm arrogant?"
"Yes! I don't know who you think you are-"
"Who I think I am?!" he shot back, "Believe me I know who you think I am! Me and everyone else!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
He didn't answer.
Regina looked at him challengingly, "Now you have nothing to say? You might as well spit it out, I'd prefer that to you acting childish like this."
"I'm childish?" he asked, once again floored by the irony of the words, "That's a laugh considering where it's coming from."
"So you're calling me childish?" Regina asked, "Care to share why?"
There was obviously no right answer to that question, so he again attempted to remain quiet. This prompted Regina to shake her head, "Do you even know what you're angry about? Because it seems to me like you're just throwing a tantrum over nothing."
His lips quirked in a half-smirk, half-grimace, "Should I throw one over my hair appointment instead?"
This time her shocked expression was rather satisfying.
"I don't see how my scheduling, or my reasons for what I put on my schedule, is any of your business, Locksley," she said dangerously.
"I'm sure you don't."
"Alright, I've had enough of this!"
"You and me both!" he shot back before he was able to stop himself, "When we get to the house you can carry your own shopping, by the way. I've had more than enough of being your pack mule! I may be your bodyguard, but hauling around your overpriced knickers wasn't part of the job description."
She stammered, her cheeks flushing.
This time a laugh did escape his lips, "What now you're embarrassed?"
She looked away, gripping her phone tightly in her hand.
"You're serious?" he asked, "You're ashamed to hear someone mention your knickers, but not ashamed to spend ungodly amounts of money on them?"
She seemed genuinely confused as she turned to him with a baffled expression and asked, "What are you talking about?"
He also felt a bit bewildered at the thought that she might actually be this oblivious as he answered, "You realize the amount you spent today, just at that last store, was probably as much as most people in this city pay in rent, right?"
"I..." she hesitated, "...well what does it matter to you? How I spend my money is none of your business! I work hard for a living, thank you very much."
"Oh," he groaned, "No, you don't!"
"Excuse me?!"
"You work very hard," he acknowledged, "I've hardly noticed you do anything else, in fact. However, just because you work hard, doesn't mean you work for a living."
"You're losing me on that one-"
"You were born rich. Your grandfather was President. Your mother was the governor of the biggest province in Misthaven. You work for your father, who's head of one of the country's biggest charitable organizations. You don't know what it's like to work for a living. You're never going to lose your job, and, even if you did, you'd still have a roof over your head and anything you could dream of. You work to keep busy, or because you actually believe in what your foundation does...but you don't work because you need to earn a living. You'll always have one."
Regina stared at him quietly as he turned into the driveway and pulled up to the front steps. As he turned brought the car to a stop, she shoved open the passenger's side door and got out before he'd even completely slowed down.
Pressing down hard on the break, he brought the car to a stop so as not to leave her behind. Saying nothing, she flung open the back door and began gathering up her bags.
Robin sighed, "Look, I'll get them."
"No!" she snapped loading the bags onto her arms up to the elbow, "It's not your job! I wouldn't want you feel like I'm using you as a pack mule!"
Before he could answer, she turned and stormed into the house, moving swiftly even as she was laden down with her shopping.
Pressing his fingers to his eyes, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Dammit! He'd really fucked up this time!
He'd landed a fairly cushy job that paid better than he could have ever hoped for, and what did he do? Burn bridges with one of the most powerful families in the country because he couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut for a day. Just one damned day!
Sighing, he got back into the car and drove it around the back of the house to the parking garage. Parking the car in a space, he got out, rode the elevator down to the basement level, and hung her keys up on the board where all the car keys were stored.
Not even bothering to check in with anyone, he headed straight for his room, figuring he'd take some painkiller and get started on packing up his things while he waited to be called down to the security office and told that he was fired.
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After getting his stuff packed into his suitcase, Robin had turned off the lights and taken a painkiller, hoping to get in at least a short nap before Drake called him to his office and broke the inevitable news.
When he woke up, the room was still pitch black, his mouth was dry and his head fuzzy.
Fumbling for the bedside table, he picked up his phone. His vision was blurry as he looked at the screen. Blinking a few times until his sight cleared, he was very confused to see the time read 11:30.
Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he flipped on the lamp and realized that he was still wearing his shirt and tie.
Had he fallen asleep in his clothes?
Glancing around he remembered that, yes, in fact he had. After getting in an argument with Regina Mills, he'd lain down to rest awhile before having to face the consequences of the things he'd said to her.
Checking the time on his phone again, he saw it was 11:30 PM…nighttime not morning.
Still, it was somewhat surprising. That meant it had been over 5 hours since the blow up with the younger Mills and he hadn't heard anything about it. He checked the phone to make sure, but he hadn't even missed any calls or texts.
That didn't make much sense. Of course, it could mean a lot of things. Maybe she hadn't told Drake until later? Maybe she'd waited for her father and mother to get home so that she could complain to them face to face? He wasn't sure what Henry and Cora Mills schedules were for this week, but Cora, especially, sometimes worked late.
As he sat on the edge of the bed, his stomach growled and clenched with queasy emptiness and his mouth was still uncomfortably dry.
Pushing himself up, he opened the door to his room and stepped out into the hall. The fluorescent overhead lights were off, leaving only soft glow from the recessed lighting. Normal for the staff quarters at this time of night.
Slowly, he made his way around to the elevator, hit the call button, and tiredly rode it up to the first floor. That part of the house was dark, but enough light came in through the windows that he managed to find his way to the kitchen without too much trouble, hoping to be able to get a glass of water and maybe some crackers to settle his stomach.
When he stepped inside, however, he was surprised to see that the lights were on and Henry Mills was at the counter making a sandwich. Robin stopped in the doorway at the sight of him, his mind recalling the details of the earlier argument with Regina...the things he'd said. Things her father was not likely to be too happy about.
As the older man glanced up from his plate, Robin braced himself to face whatever sort of wrath he might want to unleash.
To his surprise, however, Henry simply said, "Good evening."
When he didn't respond, Henry glanced at him again, "Are you alright? You look a bit rough."
"Um…" he answered slowly, "...just a bit of a headache, Sir."
"Hm," the other man nodded as he cut his sandwich in half, "Having trouble sleeping?"
The exact opposite, in fact. He'd slept much longer than he'd planned. Not wanting to get too deeply into things, though, Robin simply nodded.
Henry chuckled, "You need to take care of yourself, son. I know it seems silly, but this has been my life ever since I was a child. What we ask you do to isn't an easy job. I've seen a lot of people breakdown after just a few months."
Robin had barely been listening as the older man rambled, but the next thing he said caught his attention, "Was it my wife or my daughters?"
Looking at him in shock, he cautiously asked, "What makes you think-"
Henry brushed off the question before he'd even finished it, "I love my family, but I know they can be hard to please."
He wasn't sure what to say to that since the truth was that it had been his daughter, and that Robin was entirely at fault in it.
The man didn't seem to be too interested in pressing him on the question, though, instead he simply motioned him toward the table as he carried his sandwich over, "Here, come sit down! You look like you're about to fall over."
His limbs did feel heavy, so he obeyed, lowering himself into one of the chairs and muttering, "I did just come in for some water."
Without responding, Henry opened the fridge and got out two bottles, one water, one beer. He set the water down in front of Robin, before turning to get a bottle opener out of the silverware drawer.
After opening it, he sat down on the other side of the table in front of his sandwich, taking a contented sip. He looked up at Robin as he set down the bottle and nudge him, "Don't tell my wife, hm?"
"Of course," he agreed absently as he opened the water bottle and took a small sip. The liquid was pleasantly chilled, but not shockingly icy. It helped wake him up and clear his head a little.
Looking across the table at his employer, he watched Henry happily eating his sandwich. How could the man be so calm?
He thought of the comment he'd made earlier about his wife and daughters, and wondered if it was possible he could really be that uncaring. What kind of father would just not care about the kind of things Robin had said to his daughter? It didn't make sense.
Henry Mills, if nothing else, had come across as very loving parent. Both his daughters seemed to feel genuine affection for him, and, if all the photos around his office were any indication, he was extremely proud of them. So why was he not angry right now? Could it be he didn't know? That would mean Regina must not have said anything…
"Robin?"
Jolting out of his musings, he automatically answered, "Yes, Sir?"
"I said I think perhaps you should go back to bed. No offense, but you really look awful!"
"Um…alright," he finally agreed.
As he rose from the table, Henry continued, "And, whatever happened, don't take it to heart. My wife and daughters may be difficult sometimes but deep down they're unique and special...and kind, in their own ways."
Robin stared at him, feeling more confused than ever. Finally, he simply nodded and answered, "Thank you, Sir. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," the other man answered as he dug back into his midnight snack, and Robin shuffled his way back to the elevator, deciding to go back to bed since apparently he wasn't going to be fired tonight. Maybe in the morning things would make more sense.
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The next morning he got dressed in a clean suit. Luckily he'd left them hanging in the wardrobe, figuring, since the Mills family paid for them, they'd want to keep them.
In the breakroom the housekeepers were laying out the usual offerings for the staff's breakfast, and people were filtering through filling up their plates.
"Morning, Robin," Ruby Lucas greeted as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Morning," he returned the greeting, cautiously. Around him everyone seemed normal. The rest of the security staff was milling around finding seats to eat their breakfasts.
Getting into line he picked up a banana and a piece of toast.
"That all you're having?" Ruby asked, looking questioningly at his plate.
"Not very hungry this morning," he answered. She shrugged and turned back to filling her plate with sausage and bacon. For someone so skinny, the girl was quite a carnivore!
Robin found a seat to nibble on his toast and banana before it was time to head over to the security conference room. The food helped him feel a little more human so he stopped at the coffeemaker on his way. Whatever happened at this morning's security briefing, he wanted to have some caffeine in his system for it!
In the conference room, no one seemed to look at him funny as if they knew something he didn't.
As he sat down, Kronk plopped down in the chair next to him. The man was large and somewhat graceless, but he had a childlike innocence that made it impossible to dislike him, "Robin! Hey, I didn't see you at the gym this morning."
"Skipped today," he answered.
"Well you keep that up, soon I'll be able to lap you in the pool!" the other man joked, punching Robin in the arm.
He attempted to a brief smile as Drake walked into the room, "Alright everyone, no major updates for today. Measures as usual. Assignments are on the board."
With that everyone around the table got up and started filing out.
"Locksley!" Drake barked.
"Yes, Sir?" he answered, expecting the head of security to order him to his office so that he could be informed of his termination.
"Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?! Miss Mill leaves for work in 10 minutes!" was all the other man said.
Glancing at the assignments on the wall, he saw that his name was still written next to Regina's. Apparently nothing had changed.
Clearing his throat, he rose from the table to pick up the keys to her car and retrieve it from the garage.
Regina was waiting for him on the steps as he drove the car around to the front of the mansion. Flipping it into park, he got out and walked around to open the door for her.
"You're nearly late," she remarked as she stepped over to him.
"Yes, I'm sorry," he answered.
Stopping, she looked at him, "Something on your mind?"
Realizing he was holding the passenger's side door open but standing in between her and the car, blocking her way, he stepped aside. He knew he probably shouldn't say anything, but the words left his mouth before he could stop them, "You didn't tell anyone about yesterday."
She turned her head to meet his eyes, "Who would I tell?"
Robin didn't answer, causing her to frown and smirk mirthlessly, "Oh I see. You figured I'd immediately go crying to my parents?"
Tossing her briefcase into the car, she turned to face him fully, "Contrary to what you may believe, I'm not a child. I can fight my own battles."
"Ah, well about that...I apologize," he said, "For what I said. It was inappropriate."
Raising her eyebrows, she nodded, "Yes, it was."
There was nothing much he could say to that, so he stay silent.
"However, it was also inappropriate of me to expect you to help me shop," she acknowledged, "You're right, it isn't your job."
"Still, I had no right to say those things to you. It wasn't my place."
Regina sighed, "Look I think it'd best if, from now on, we just remained professional. We both keep our personal opinions of each other to ourselves, and remember that your job is to protect me...nothing else. Sound fair?"
"Yes," he nodded, "That sounds more than fair."
"Good," she said, sliding into the car. He shut the door, glad they'd at least come to some kind of uneasy peace.