Chapter Nine
"What? Hold on!" Emma yelled into her phone, as she made her way to the patio. Regina was on the other end, and Emma couldn't hear a word she was saying over the music pumping in the club.
"Where are you?" Regina repeated, for the third time. Despite the music and the people talking and laughing all around, Emma could still hear the distinct annoyance in her voice over the line.
"I'm at a bar. Why? Where are you?"
"At my hotel. I thought you were meeting me?"
"I thought that was next week?" Emma lamented, silently kicking herself. It had been seven months since Emma had last seen Regina, and aside from the random drunken texts Emma would send her – which were only answered about thirty percent of the time – they had barely spoken until three weeks ago when Regina had called to say she would be coming back to Tallahassee.
Emma was sure it was next week.
"Really, Miss Swan," Regina said, with an exasperated sigh. "Perhaps another time, dear?"
"No! No, wait for me! I'll come right now, I swear!" Emma cried, the desperation in her voice threatening to betray her.
There was a long pause, and finally Regina said, "fine. You remember which hotel? I'll be downstairs in the bar. I'll give you twenty minutes."
"Shit, okay, I can do that," Emma said, knowing full well it was at least a twenty minute drive, and that didn't even account for the time it would take to get a cab.
It was nearly thirty minutes before Emma was standing at the front entrance of the hotel, trying to regulate her breath as she hoped that Regina was still in the bar, but she mentally prepared herself for the likelihood that she wasn't.
Or, even worse, that she was, and she was beyond pissed right now.
What she saw when she finally stepped into the bar was something she hadn't prepared herself for: Regina was there, sitting at the bar, chatting up a good looking, dark haired man.
Shit.
Her hand was on his back and she was smiling at something he was saying and Emma felt her heart drop to her stomach, as she stood, gaping, for longer than she probably should have.
She stood and debated what she should do next. Her logical brain told her to get another cab and head back to the club. Unfortunately - or fortunately - for her, any trace of logic seemed to vacate her mind whenever she was in a room with Regina. That, and she was a little bolder for sheer amount of Fireball whiskey she had practically been inhaling since she arrived at the club.
Emma drew in a deep breath and walked over to the bar, only tripping on her heels twice, before sliding onto a stool on the other side of Regina.
"Hi," she said, a little louder than was probably necessary, but her ears were still ringing from the noise at the club. This bar had a much quieter, calmer, ambiance to it, and Emma's loud voice garnered her more than a couple glares. She didn't care. All she cared about was that Regina glanced at her, raising an eyebrow in apparent disinterest, before speaking.
"This is a private conversation, dear," she said, before turning back to the man with the piercing blue eyes.
Emma's confidence almost faltered, but she was determined to get Regina away from this man. She had left a club with a twenty dollar cover after forty-five minutes, only to pay a cab to drive her across town, she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Well," she said, placing a hand dangerously close to Regina's on the top of the bar, without actually touching it, "I thought I might be able to entice you with a more interesting conversation."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Fifteen minutes ago, I might have been interested," she sighed. "I don't like to be kept waiting."
"Do you wanna get out of here?" the man asked, suddenly, as he became aware of what Emma's intentions were and clearly wanted to stake his claim on Regina while he still had a chance.
"More than anything," Regina said, flashing a sideways glance at Emma. If Emma didn't know any better, she'd swear there was a hint of a dare in those dark eyes.
Lucky for her, she didn't know any better.
She jumped up as Regina stood, and the man reached for his wallet to pay their tab. She quickly slipped in between the two, inches from Regina's face, and looked her in the eyes.
"What are you doing?" Regina asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.
"You're not leaving here with anyone but me," Emma said, and before she even had a moment to process what had just come out of her mouth, Regina grabbed the back of her head and closed the distance between them, kissing her hard enough that Emma was sure her lips would be bruised tomorrow.
Regina broke off the kiss, and leaned her lips towards Emma's ear. Emma felt her panic growing as she expected Regina to blow her off in any of a million ways, and leave with this blue-eyed stranger, leaving Emma alone with nothing but the agonizing taste of Regina on her lips.
"I don't submit to you, remember?" Regina whispered into her ear. Emma felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she bit her lip, wondering if there was anything left to say to save this situation. Regina lingered there, daring her to speak.
It was the man who spoke up first. "Should I just go?" he asked, disappointment evident in his voice.
"Yes," Emma said, firmly, and she heard Regina laugh in her ear.
"Perhaps another time, dear," she said, again, only this time, Emma realized her comment was directed at the man. She finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You won't keep me waiting again, will you?" Regina asked, pulling her head away from Emma's to look at her again.
"No," Emma said, with a relieved laugh. She knew it would be pointless to explain waiting for the cab or the logistics of the drive versus the time limit imposed on her. It didn't matter. She was here and the man was leaving and she had Regina.
"How drunk are you?" Regina asked, suddenly narrowing her eyes in disapproval.
"Hella," Emma said, with a cheeky grin.
"That's a new one," Regina remarked, raising her eyebrow as she ushered Emma to sit down again. Her constant swaying was making her nervous.
"I thought the young people you meet in bars taught you shit like that?" Emma asked, remembering when she had heard Regina used the phrase 'get off', which sounded hilarious coming from that sophisticated, refined mouth.
Regina smiled and shrugged. "I have less time for young people in bars. I have a child now, remember?"
"Oh, right," Emma nodded. "So… are we going to get out of here?"
"I thought you might have liked to wait for the room to stop spinning," Regina laughed.
"No, I'm good. I feel great," Emma grinned.
"I'll bet. Come, then," Regina said, holding out her hand for Emma to take, and leading her out of the bar. She had held Emma's hand that first night, too, and Emma realized Regina's hands were the only place she was allowed to touch her, with her own hands. She suddenly wanted to feel the rest of her olive skin, with her fingers, and wondered if there would ever be a chance.
Emma found herself holding on to Regina's hand more for support though, than intimacy, at this point, as walking in heels grew more and more difficult.
The boarded the elevator with a conservative looking couple that gave Emma a disapproving glare, as she kicked off her heels onto the floor, before bending over to pick them up in one hand, while still holding onto Regina's hand for dear life. She was quite visibly drunk, and she was sure they also didn't approve of her heavy eye make-up or her incredibly short, incredibly tight, black dress.
Regina looked much classier with her form-fitting burgundy dress and black nylons. Emma was sure she looked like a streetwalker by comparison, but she didn't care. Regina had still picked her.
Things took a turn for the worse as they got off the elevator and started down the hall to Regina's hotel room. Suddenly, Emma regretted drinking such a massive amount of alcohol in such a short period of time because the moment Regina had the door open, she was bolting for the bathroom, barely making it in time.
Regina stood in the doorway for a moment, closing her eyes and trying to keep her cool as she listened to the retching coming from the bathroom. Emma hadn't even bothered to shut the door.
"Wonderful," Regina whispered under her breath, as she walked calmly to the bathroom and knelt down beside Emma, holding her hair back until she was done.
Emma reached up to flush the toilet, and then sat back against the bathtub, letting her head roll to the side and rest against the cold porcelain. She couldn't help the tears of embarrassment that started to fall as Regina got up and wet a cloth, before sitting down next to her and wiping her face.
Emma lifted her head and let it rest against Regina's shoulder instead. "I'm sorry," she whispered, between sobs.
"Yes, well, perhaps 'hella' is not the wisest state of drunkenness for you to be in, is it dear?" Regina asked, with a clearly disapproving tone.
"No," Emma agreed, as she lifted her head and struggled to stand.
"Where are you going?"
Emma turned back to Regina, surprised. "I just threw up. Don't you want me to leave?"
Regina stood and put her arm on Emma's back, leading her into the main room. "You are barely able to stand without assistance. You are not going anywhere."
Regina pulled back the duvet on the queen sized bed, before walking back over to Emma and helping her out of her tight dress. She had only a thong, and no bra on underneath, so Regina pulled a t-shirt from her suitcase and handed it to her. Emma pouted a little as she put it on.
"You can stay the night," Regina said, noting the pout on Emma's face, "but you just threw up. Sleeping is all we will be doing tonight."
Emma nodded, and crawled into the bed, and watched Regina as she changed into her nightie – the first time Emma had actually seen her sleepwear, she realized – and turned off the lights, before crawling into the bed next to her.
"Are you mad?" Emma asked, quietly, looking at Regina in the dim light cast in from the street below the large window.
Regina let out a long sigh. "I should be. You ruined my evening," Regina noted, "but then again, you're nineteen, and nineteen year olds do stupid things like drink way more than they can handle."
Emma nodded, and exhaled in relief.
"I am, however, a little upset that you would put yourself in danger like that," Regina continued.
"What do you mean?"
"Emma…" Regina sighed, "the first night I met you, you let me take you back to my hotel within half an hour of meeting me. You were young and naïve back then, and though you might think two and a half years and a prison term have made you wise, trust me, you are just as naïve as you were then. Not everyone share a bed with will be as nice to you as I am."
Emma bit her lip and looked away, but said nothing.
"Something tells me, my dear, that is something you are already well aware of."
"I don't want to talk about it," Emma said, quietly.
"Good, because I'm not in the mood to play therapist. It does, however, worry me, that you would get in a cab, alone, that drunk."
"I won't do it again," Emma promised.
Regina sighed again. "Good. Now go to sleep," Regina instructed. Without further prompting, Emma rolled onto the side so that Regina could move into her regular position as 'big spoon'.
"Do you have to leave tomorrow morning?"
"No," Regina said. "Not until Sunday."
Emma smiled in the darkness as she closed her eyes in the comfort of Regina's embrace. Not until Sunday. It was Friday night. She hoped that meant she would get the chance to make it up to Regina tomorrow night.
She drifted to sleep thinking of all the ways she could do that.
Tomorrow.