Days had passed since she'd last seen Regina, spending the majority of her time instead with Neal. She was learning more about him, and actually somewhere, deep down, starting to like him. It was harder for her, since she wasn't attracted to him right off, but he was different, kind and caring and everything a straight woman would want. The only problem being that she wasn't straight. But that could be worked around, it had to be, she needed to find out whatever it was that Death was wanting to know.
He hadn't visited her in her dreams since that one night, and she thought maybe that was a good sign, that she was doing a good job. She had reported bits and pieces to Graham, keeping him informed, but it didn't seem like she'd reported anything of any use, none of it seemed substantial. The only information she really had was where he lived, where he worked, who he'd seemed to mention as important people in his life, and his roommate. Though, he really never spent any time with that roommate, so Emma had crossed him off the list of suspects and reported that to Graham.
She really was starting to run out of leads if she couldn't get him to open up, and that seemed hard to believe. She'd been told that he was loosening up, becoming careless with information, but yet she hadn't been able to find out anything, there was nothing left carelessly lying around like she'd think. She'd done some snooping around his place, and had turned up empty handed.
But tonight, she was in for a big surprise, one she hadn't seen coming, he'd asked her out, on a double date, with a friend of his, said it was a business meeting with a coworker, and he was bringing his wife, and so he suggested she come along, to 'keep her company' as he put it. And Emma had agreed instantly, this might be her big break she had thought.
She'd walked into the restaurant, arm wrapped in Neal's, wearing a dress, and he wore a suit. The restaurant itself looked quite pricey, there was a maître d', who greeted them at the door, leading them to their table, a private one in the back.
Emma took in their surroundings as she passed, it was dimly lit, each table closed off with small walls, keeping the air of privacy up. A live jazz band played from the front, near the bar, soft music echoed through the large room. Tile floors shone with a black shine, flecks of silver, glimmered up, everything perfectly matched, creating an air of elegance.
Neal stopped at the table, pulling the chair out for Emma, before sliding her in, continuing to act as a gentleman, even as time passed, it did not slip from his behavior. He took the seat to her right, and the two made small talk as they waited for the other couple to arrive.
Emma was curious, asking questions about the pair they were waiting on, unsure of what to expect, or how to act, she had been kept in the dark for the majority of tonight's event. And when she saw the couple that arrived, she really wished she had managed to get some more information from him ahead of time. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw exactly who it was, Regina and Daniel, they had entered the restaurant and walked over to them.
It was a mixture of surprise and Regina's beauty that had caused her breath to catch. She had been wearing a slim black dress, paired with a small black clutch and black heels. The dress itself was low cut, accentuated with a diamond necklace and matching earrings. Her makeup was perfectly done as always, her lips a bright crimson red, drawing Emma's attention.
If Regina was surprised, she did not show it, keeping her emotions perfectly in check and her face schooled as always. Emma couldn't help but replay everything Neal had told her about the night, it was a business meeting, and Emma hoped it wasn't the kind of business she had been thinking it would be. She prayed it was something to do with his day job, the cover job for what he actually did and not, not under any circumstances, the job she knew he actually performed.
He had said it was a meeting with his business partner and his wife, which meant that Daniel was the one he worked with, so Regina was safe, for now. She only wondered how involved Regina was. She knew there was something there, at least it was highly probably, replaying back to when they were on the elevator in New York, she was looking for Will, there was no other possibility. It was Will that had disappeared, that was who she was telling that mystery guy to find.
Fear began to creep into Emma's mind, fear at the realization she may have to kill her love as well, and that would kill her in return. She realized she may never actually get her happy ending. But she questioned, if Regina wasn't involved, then maybe there was a chance, maybe it was just Daniel, she could remove him from the picture, but wouldn't that hurt Regina too much? And if she did that would Regina ever want to actually be with her?
"Emma? Emma? Are you okay?" Neal was looking at her, questioningly, worry etched in his features.
She turned his focus towards him after noticing that the entire table was looking at her, waiting expectantly, and she flushed in embarrassment, "Yeah, sorry, I must have zoned out for a second."
Regina had yet to have any recognition across her face, which was funny considering that she had also met Daniel, and spent quite a bit of time with the both of them. Something was definitely going on here, Daniel was acting the same way.
She opened her menu, determined to focus on it, and see what she could pick out of the conversation that Neal and Daniel were currently busy in, she supposed that he'd already introduced her, or maybe skipped that part, it wasn't really all that important.
This was after all, her opportunity to find out what was going on, but they seemed to talk about nothing more than the farm, and horses, which made no sense to her as Neal had never mentioned any sort of interest in horses, and it had nothing to do with either job.
Tonight was not going to go as planned at all she supposed. And while she knew next to nothing about horses, something seemed fishy in how they were talking, and so she began to focus not on the topic of conversation but on what was being said. She guessed the horses could be code for something else, this was a public place after all, and while she knew Neal and Daniel both, the people at the surrounding tables would not if they overheard anything while walking by.
And when she began listening and swapping out words, trying to make sense of the conversation, things began to fall into place, she was lost in her own world, trying to take mental notes of what was going on, and a look of concentration fell across her face. If she wasn't busy looking down, pretending to focus on the menu, she might have noticed Regina's brow furrow in confusion.
"So, you never said you were dating Neal."
"I didn't know you knew him, or else I would have said."
"If you had, I wouldn't have worried about you so much, I spent a good long part of the night of your first date wondering if you'd been drug off and killed."
"I can handle myself, I've met lots of strange men in my line of work."
"Hey now! I'm not strange!" Neal had picked up the last part of their conversation and joined in, commenting in the only way he could.
"Wait, do you honestly believe that? I've known you since our college days and I have to say, I agree with Emma, you are pretty strange," Daniel had joined in now, teasing Neal and putting a stop to their entire discussion about work.
The waiter had arrived at the table to take their orders, and bring them their drinks. Emma hadn't even remembered ordering a drink and the look of confusion on her face must have been evident as Neal leaned over and whispered, "I hope you don't mind I ordered you a red."
She smiled appreciatively over at him, thankful that he had helped her out in her moment of confusion earlier. She was still panicking internally, as the meal resumed, a bit of playful banter between all of them. Work was sadly not brought up for the rest of the meal, but at least the night wasn't a total loss, she had managed to get some useful information.