Chapter 4
Emma sat back in the chair at her desk and sighed. It had been hours since she had seen the brunette, yet she could still feel the sting on her cheek. She should have told her she had done it for Henry, but that was probably worse. By the anger in her eyes, she would have flipped out if she knew a Nolan was hanging out with her kid.
The club was thumping and the occupancy number was nearing its limit. She had been waiting for Anton to come back from the security room. He was going to let her know what he found on the two perverts from the night before. She looked at the clock on the wall and realized that two hours had gone by and he still hadn't been back up.
Killian had attempted to convince her to come down to the bar so she could see how Ruby handled her area. She didn't want to have the same women hit on her just to tell them she wasn't interested. She definitely didn't want to be near all the alcohol right now. Emma didn't consider herself an alcoholic, but boy could she use a few drinks to wash all this away.
She reached across the desk grabbing the folder Robin had given her. Opening it, she wasn't sure what was so great about these vendors. She looked at the first name, Nicky's spirits. Other than thinking the price was a bit high for kegs of beer, she didn't see anything out of place.
Emma flipped to the next page, Clean Sweep Cleaning Supply Company. She looked down at the items and shrugged. Toilet paper, paper towels, rags, mops, the usual. There was still nothing out of the ordinary. She sighed and grabbed a pen out of the cup holder and scribbled her name.
A knock at the door caused her to look up. It was Anton.
Poking his head in and smiled, "We found them."
Emma's couldn't help feeling excited. In a morbid way, it was like winning at bingo, "Awesome! Who are they?"
Anton walked into the room with a tablet in his hand. He handed it to the blonde and pressed the play icon on the screen before speaking. "This is when Mrs. Locksley and her friend came in." He pointed as Emma watched the brunette and her blonde friend walk up to the bar to order drinks. The two got their drinks and move over to a small table.
Anton reaches over and hits the fast forward, "They sit talking for quite a while." He presses play again, "Here they both get up and move to the dance floor, leaving their glasses unattended." He looks up at the blonde, "Wait for it." No more did he say the words and two guys wander over to the table looking around suspiciously, "There." One of the men dropped something into the Martini. Only a second later the darker haired one does the same to the wine.
Emma narrowed her eyes as she watched the two men walk away. The women moved back to their table. The blonde woman immediately takes a sip of her drink, but the brunette seems distracted. She then pulls her phone out of her purse and says something to the blonde. She then heads for the bathroom, "Okay that's when I met her in the bathroom. She was talking to Henry."
Anton hits the fast forward for a second then stops it again. "Now by this time the friend has finished her drink and our friend has magically made his way back to the table."
Emma watches as the man starts flirting with the other woman. The man couldn't be more than twenty- two or twenty-three. The blonde seems interested as she appears to flirt back. Within a matter of minutes, the blonde can barely stand up. The man escorts the woman straight out of the bar.
A waitress comes up to the table and takes the wine glass. Emma was sure it was because she thought someone left it.
"The waitresses discard any unattended drinks so that this doesn't happen, but those guys were fast," Anton said.
Emma saw when the brunette returned to the table. She looks around trying to locate her friend when the dark-haired man approaches. She guessed this was the part where the man had told her that her friend was on the dance floor. He flagged down a waitress who brought another glass of wine. As he took the glass from the waitress, he dropped the pill into the glass in one smooth motion. He turns and hands the glass to the other woman.
The new club owner knew what happened next. She clenched her jaw as she tried to breathe through her anger, "Do you still know where the dark haired one is?"
Anton looked at his boss with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, I copied his driver's license so I could make sure he doesn't get back in."
Emma passed the tablet back to Anton. "As soon as the club closes, I want you and a couple of the other guys to go find him. Something tells me he knows where his friend is."
The giant looked as though he was going to talk her out of it, but then nodded, "You got it."
She watched the big man walk out. Those douche bags were going to be sorry they were ever born. Who did these morons think they were? She snorted a laugh. They picked the wrong nightclub.
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Regina leaned back in her lounge chair finding it hard to concentrate on the book she was reading. She sighed as she looked out into the yard. The pool skimmer buzzed annoyingly as it floated around the water. The air was still too chilly to swim. Keeping the pool clean now was cheaper than paying someone to clean it later.
Her thoughts went back to last night. She couldn't believe she had hit a Nolan. She found herself shocked that the woman hadn't retaliated. Instead, she had apologized. Regina shook her head at herself. She still didn't feel sorry for slapping the other woman, just that it was a dangerous move.
Kathryn wouldn't answer her phone calls. She had never seen her like that and it was heartbreaking. She had attempted to go over to her apartment, but she wouldn't let her in. The blonde had just sadly asked her to go away.
Regina snapped the book shut and tossed it to the foot of the lounge. Reading was definitely out of the question. She found herself missing her son. He always had a way of making her smile no matter how bad things were.
Her phone rang pulling her from her thoughts. She smiled as she read the caller ID, it was Henry. "Hey, Sweetie."
"Hey, mom. How was your night?" He asked. She couldn't help but smile again. He always tried to act so grown up.
"It was good. How was yours?" She lied, but she would never tell her nine-year-old son the truth on this, maybe when he was older, but not now.
"Are you sure? You sound funny." His voice was laced with concern.
She smiled and cleared her throat, "No, everything is good honey. I'm just a little tired. I didn't sleep well last night. Did you get to go to the zoo?"
"Yep and it was awesome." Her son nearly shouted.
"That's great. Did you and your dad have fun?" She asked as she stood up from the lounge.
"I went with my friend Em. Dad had to work." He said, not sounding affected.
Regina's smile fell, "So your dad backed out again." She didn't mean to say it out loud. Robin probably had his assistant take their son and his friend.
"Yeah, but I had way more fun with Em than I would have had with dad anyways." He said as a rustling sound came through the phone.
"She gave me her number so I thought maybe I would call her and see if she wanted to do something today." He said happily.
Regina smiled again. Getting mad at Robin right now would not help anything. Her son did seem to have enjoyed himself, "So what are you and Em going to do today?" She asked as she walked back into the house.
"I don't know. Maybe she will want to see a movie or something." He said. "I got to go, mom, dad is calling me. We have to go down to the office."
Regina hated to hear words that involved her ex or the Nolan office, but she forced another smile, "Ok Sweetheart. You have fun today. I love you."
"I love you too, mom." He said before hanging up.
The brunette placed the phoned down on the island and went to make some tea. She refused for her son to grow up like the Nolan's. She did feel a small amount of sympathy when it came to the Nolan children. They had to grow up with a father like David Nolan. She could only imagine the number of times disappointment washed over green eyes. She shook her head. Green eyes? Why was she thinking of Emma Nolan's eyes? She sighed as she set the kettle on the burner. It was going to be a long day.
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Emma sat in her usual chair in the waiting room. Her father had called her this morning telling her to come in for a brief meeting. She so badly wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she had to keep her word to her friends.
"Miss. Nolan, Mr. Nolan will see you now." The receptionist said.
Emma gave a tight-lipped smile to the woman as she stood, but she wanted to pop her for the way she made the announcement. She hated being a Nolan.
"Emma, have a seat." Her father said after she entered the double doors.
The blonde walked towards the offered chair. She looked around at the massive office. She really couldn't remember ever being on this side of those doors before.
"How was your first night?" Her brother asked from a chair near the window.
Emma plopped down in the chair, "Long." She said as she let out a puff of air.
David stood up from behind the desk and walked over to the mini bar to her right. "I hear there was a disturbance last night." She could hear the, 'I know everything' tone.
"Well, sort of, but I'm handling it." She stuttered. She hated her father, but she sometimes had to remember who he was so that others didn't pay for her mistakes.
"Sort of? I hear that Regina Locksley slapped you. She started yelling that you were the reason her friend was raped." Her father said with his back to her. He was pouring himself a drink.
"Well, yeah, but like I said, I'm handling it."
"I've called Robin in." Her father said flatly as he turned with a freshly poured scotch.
"Why?" She asked standing.
"Because it is his wife, so he needs to deal with it." The man took a sip.
"No. Robin will fuck everything up. Please, father, let me deal with it." Emma found herself pleading.
David sat his tumbler down on the edge of his desk. "The last thing this family need is cops poking their noses in business that is not theirs. Robin needs to get his wife under control, and squash whatever this is."
Emma's mouth fell open as she looked at her sperm donor, "You can't be serious. Her friend was drugged at the club and then raped. She has every right to be upset." She looked towards her brother for help then back to her father, "But please. I promise there will be no cops. Give me a chance to prove to you I can do this."
Her father picked up his glass and walked around his desk. Silence hanging thick in the room. He sat down taking another sip of his drink and then he let his eyes fall to his daughter, "Why do you care so much? Do you have a thing for Robin's wife? Because I assure you."
"No, but I do care about the little boy who has to come here every day to only stare at the double doors. If Robin finds out about this, who do you think is going to suffer the most? It will be him. I can do this." She knew she wasn't giving her father time to reply. She didn't want him to accuse her of whoring because that's not what this was."
"I agree with her father. Give her chance to prove herself." August said looking at his sister.
David leaned back in his chair holding his tumbler up to his lips, "If I allow this, there will be no cops no matter what." Emma blew out a quiet breath of air. Before she could get too excited he continued. "But this better not be some tacky attempted to get into Robin's wife's pants."
It took everything in her to not curse her father at that moment. She found herself biting the inside of her cheek. "Of course father."
The phone on David's desk buzzed, "Sir, Mr. Locksley has arrived."
"Thank you, Sarah, send him in." Her father answered, his eyes locked onto his daughter's matching ones.
Emma didn't break eye contact with her father as she watched Robin walk up to the desk out of her peripheral vision.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked.
The blonde remembered the folder she had stuffed into the back waistband of her pants and pulled it out. "Here is the vendor agreement, signed."
She didn't miss the slight curl of her father's lip as he played along, "Yes. Now you can get to work on your part."
Robin looked confused, but he replied, "Very well."
Emma's phone pinged in her pocket and she pulled it out looking down. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips. Henry had texted her, 'Do you want to go catch a movie or something?'
She didn't reply. She just slipped it back into her pocket as she stood.
"Wait." Her father said as he tilted his head towards August.
August walked over and handed the blonde an envelope, "Last night's pay from the club. It's not as much as you're used to, but it's a good amount, you might want to find a cheaper hotel though."
Surprisingly enough, the blonde didn't flinch. She knew her father would do everything in his power to control her and the main way is to take away her income. She had to prove that she could do this, no matter the materialistic sacrifices.
Emma took the envelope, nodded her head and pulled the door open, "One chance Emma. That's all you have."
She didn't turn around. Instead, she grinned when she saw the smile on the little brunette boy's face. There was only one thing for her to do right now and that was to go and catch a movie with her new friend.
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Regina knocked lightly on the condo door. She shifted the bag of groceries that were in her arms over to one side. The brunette had been knocking for the past ten minutes. She could hear movement on the other side, but she still wouldn't open the door.
"Kathryn, please. Open the door." Regina pleaded.
"Go away." She heard the muffled voice of her friend from the other side.
"God damn it, Kathryn, open the door. You are my best friend and I need to see that you are all right." Regina found herself yelling.
There was a pause and finally, she could hear the locks turn. The door creaked open a bit and her friend slowly stuck her head out, "See, I'm fine. Please go away now."
The brunette bumped the door open, shoving her friend back, "Why are you shutting me out?"
The blonde didn't say anything. She kept her eyes on the ground as Regina closed the door behind her. Her heart sank when she noticed the blonde's appearance. There were dark circles around her eyes. Her hair was greasy and unbrushed and by the slight smell of body odor, she knew her friend hadn't bathed either.
Regina glanced around the room. Dishes piled high in the sink and the trash was overflowing. It had only been a couple of days since the incident, but it was obvious how badly it was affecting the other woman.
The brunette didn't say anything. She just walked into the kitchen and sat the bag of groceries down on the white island. She looked back to her friend, who was now sobbing. Her heart clenched again as she hurried back to the blonde. She wrapped her arms around her, "You don't have to go through this alone."
The blonde finally returned the hug. Her arms suddenly found strength as she tightened her grip on the older woman, "I can't do this."
"You can't do what, dear?" Regina asked.
"Go on." She paused and the brunette almost let go to look at her, but the woman spoke again, "Every time I close my eyes I can see them."
Regina hugged her tighter, "We can go to the police."
The blonde let go and looked at her friend, "And then what? They tell me there is no proof because there is no DNA. I don't have a chance and there is no way I can face them in court."
"Okay, we can work on that part later, but right now you are going to go shower and change, while I make us some lunch. After that, we are going to pack you a bag and you are coming home with me for a few days." Regina said.
The blonde shook her head, "I don't want to be any trouble."
Regina raised an eyebrow, "Go shower."
She watched as the blonde slowly made her way down the hallway to her bedroom. Regina was fighting everything in her to not break down and cry for her friend. She took a deep breath and went over to the sink and began loading the dishwasher. Her friend was truly broken, but she refused to allow her to shut her out. She was the only friend she had that she trusted her like a sister and she refused to watch her do this alone.
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Three hours later Emma and Henry emerged from the theater. "So they have a movie theater that only shows Disney cartoons? I've never heard of that." The blonde said.
The boys smiled, "Yeah, cool huh? Me and my grandpa come here sometimes. He always wants to watch Alice in Wonderland though. I think he has a thing for the Queen of Hearts."
Emma laughed as they walked down the sidewalk, "We all have our dark sides I guess."
"That's funny. That's what Grandpa said about my Grandma." Henry said with a confused look on his face.
"You don't think your grandma has a dark side?" Emma asked.
"I wouldn't know. She died when my mom was a kid." Henry dropped his soda into a trash bin as they passed it.
"Really? My mom died when I was a kid too." The blonde fought the pull of sadness that threatened to shine.
"Your mom died too?"
She nodded her head yes, but wasn't sure she should elaborate. Luckily he spoke again, "I'm sorry. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost my mom." He lowered his head.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about things like that, okay? You're nine. You need to worry about playing and what's going to happen in the next episode of Star Wars Rebel." Emma said quickly.
The boy stopped walking causing the blonde to do the same. He slowly looked up at her with watery eyes, "I don't want to live with my dad." His voice cracked slightly, but he was serious.
Emma swallowed, "That's not going to happen, buddy, okay?"
He ignored her, "I heard him talking to this woman that comes into his house late at night. He told her that if my mom fucks up he will take me away from her."
Emma licked her lips. She gently grabbed the boys arm and led him to a bench. She sat him down and knelt down in front of him. "Look, that won't happen, I promise. And please don't use language like that. I'm sure I'll get blamed."
"You don't know my dad. He does bad things when he doesn't get what he wants." The boy said as a tear slid down his cheek.
The blonde tilted her head with curiosity, "Like what kind of bad things?"
The little boy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I mean I know that he's hit, my mom." Emma's eyes narrowed as he continued, "He sometimes pays men to go beat up people for him. He has guys he pays to spy on you in the bar and on my mom when she is out of the house."
The blonde took a napkin she has wadded up in her hand and unfolded it to wipe the boy's face, "Henry? Has your dad ever hit you?"
He looked at her for a second longer than she thought he should have before he answered. "No, he just grabs me and yells at me a lot."
Emma sighed and sat back on her heels, "And why did he hit your mom?"
"I don't know for sure, but most of the time it was because he said she wasn't following his rules. I think he just hit her to try and scare her." He sniffled and smiled, "But it never worked. My mom isn't afraid of anything. Well except for losing me." Another tear found its way down his face.
Emma moved the napkin to wipe the tear, "He won't take you away."
The boy looked up at her, "How do you know that? My dad always gets what he wants."
Emma wasn't sure what to tell him. As long as she was around, she wouldn't let anything hurt this sweet kid. "I know, because if he tries anything then you and I will run away to New York or California or something."
A smile played at the corners of the boy's mouth, "What about my mom?"
Emma thought of the gorgeous and confident brunette that she had met at her club. She found it hard to imagine anyone being able to bully the woman. Her hate level for Robin Locksley had just reached the roof, "Then she will come with us and I will keep you both safe."
The little boy grinned jumping off of the bench into his new best friend's arms, "Yay!" He yelled.
Emma smiled and hugged him back. She let him down onto the pavement as they started walking again, "I guess I should take you back now."
The grin remained on the kid's face as he stared up at her face. After a moment he giggled, "I told you that you liked my mom."
She didn't argue with him this time, she just nudged him with her hip as they walked. Henry wasn't even her kid and she still couldn't imagine hurting him or not wanting to be around him. It made her think of her own father and how it was so easy for him to rid himself of her and her middle brother. Her thoughts shifted to Robin and she could feel the heat of her anger in her chest. She imagined him hitting Regina and it made her jaw muscle flex. The man was a horrible father and even a worse husband.
"Em, isn't this a shortcut to the parking garage?" Henry pointed down an alleyway.
Emma looked down the alley then to the street. Thinking of the route in her head she smiled, "I think you're right, kid."
The pair turned and started walking down the alley, "Is it true you like girls?"
The blonde almost choked as she looked down at him, "Ummm."
"I heard my dad say you were a spoiled dyke. I Googled it and it said that meant lesbian." He said as if this was an everyday topic for him.
"The word does mean that however, I wouldn't suggest you running around calling lesbian's dyke. It's not really a nice term." The blonde explained trying to get away from answering the question.
Henry nodded, but his eyes said he was waiting for an answer.
Emma sighed, "Yes, it's true, except for the spoiled part."
The boy was quiet. This made the blonde nervous. She didn't know what age children started hating on others because of their parents or even if he fully understood. She remained silent as she waited for the worst.
"It's okay you know." He started. "I mean that you like girls. I bet you treat your girlfriends better than my dad did my mom."
Emma smiled lightly at his words but then frowned as she thought of all the broken hearts she had left in her path. "Henry, I wasn't that great of a girlfriend."
He stopped and looked up at her, "Did you ever hit them?"
"No." Emma nearly shouted, but forced herself to remain calm, "I would never lay a hand on the person I was with. I can be a scumball, but I would never do that." She said.
"Would you ever hit my mom?" She watched the boy staring back at her with a serious expression.
"What? No, I would never. Why would I?" Emma thought back to the slap the older woman had given her. Even then her mind never thought to hit the brunette back.
Henry smiled, "Maybe you should date my mom."
The blonde's mouth fell open for a second and then she snapped it shut, "It's not that simple kid, though I wish it were."
The smile on the boy's face widened, "Do you think my mom is pretty?"
"Pretty is putting it mildly." She said without thinking. She tried to fix it, "I mean yes she is pretty."
"Then what's the problem?" He asked with confusion covering his face.
Emma smiled down at him, and took a deep breath, "Okay. First of all, for a woman to be interested in another woman, she would need to be gay or bi."
"Bisexual, it's where a person can have an attraction to either a man or a woman." Henry interrupted and recited as if he were looking at some urban dictionary.
"Uh, yeah. Anyways, you forget the part where I'm a Nolan. Your mom has made it crystal clear on how she feels about Nolan's."
Henry chewed his bottom lip for a moment and then smiled, "Then we show her you're not like the other Nolan's."
Emma's smile faded as she thought back to the way the brunette had spat the name Nolan as if it tasted bad. She wished she didn't carry the cursed name.
"And if that doesn't work, we'll change your name." He said with a huge grin.
The blonde couldn't help but smile at that. The boy was definitely wise beyond his years. She could also see the nine-year-old boy who desperately wanted to be a nine-year-old.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A man's voice sang causing the blonde's head to snap up.
Walking out from around a dumpster was the dark-haired man who had drugged Regina the other night. "I've been looking everywhere for you, you nosy bitch."
Emma's heart had begun beating furiously. Her first instinct was to push Henry behind her as the man stepped closer, "What do you want?"
The man had a cut that had not fully healed over his eyebrow, "Oh I think you know. I'm going to teach you a lesson."
Two other men stepped out from the shadows and Emma swallowed, "Henry, run."
"I'm not leaving you." He said as his hands fisted tightly into the back of her shirt.
"Henry, go now." She said more sharply and the boy lets go.
She turned her head slightly as she watched the little boy run down the alley. "I'm sure we can work something out."
"Oh, I'm through talking, bitch." He said as the two other college-aged men each took one of her arms.
The dark haired man leaned in close. "I had a nice piece of ass waiting for me to do whatever I wanted and you took that away from me. Can you imagine what fun I could have had with her?" His voice was low and as he spoke. Small spit droplets hit her face. It made the blonde's stomach turn.
"And after I was done with her, my guys here would have had a turn." Emma didn't wait for him to elaborate further. He struck a chord and she was pissed. She pulled her head back and then slammed her forehead into his nose. The cracking sound echoed through the alleyway. A howl of pain escaped his lips.
"You fucking bitch!" He screamed out before drawing back and punching her in the mouth. One of the other guys punched her in the stomach causing her to fall to her knees as the breath was forced from her lungs. Once she was on the ground she could feel the sharp tips of their shoes crashing into her sides.
She must have passed out because the next thing she remembered was Henry telling her it would be okay. A familiar man's voice chanting soothing words in her ear as she felt her body lifted off the ground.
