Emma V

"Mom, you seem more cheerful than usual lately," Henry commented as Emma hummed while she made breakfast.

"I'm finally settling in with all this, and it feels good, is all," she shrugged as she plated the chocolate chip pancakes.

"Yeah, but that wore off for me after like a couple of days," Henry said.

Emma had to think of an excuse quickly. "Well, you're different from me. I'm an adult and work hard every day, out there, and raising you. I got two jobs. So, this is the best place I've ever worked, and now it's finally sinking in."

"I'm glad you feel happy now," her son smiled at her, full of joy and love.

"I was always happy with you, kid; never forget that," the mother booped his nose with her index finger. "No matter the circumstances."

"I know. I love you, too," Henry chuckled, reading between the lines.

"I love you, kid," Emma stated wholeheartedly.

She smiled into his hair as they embraced. As she helped him prepare for school, her thoughts strayed. There was another love that was starting to work its way into her heart, and she resided no more than fifty yards away.

Emma saw Henry off on the bus and headed back to work as usual. She half expected Regina to bump into her any second. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes into hours. Finally, by dusk, the blonde wondered why she hadn't had another 'surprise' visit from the brunette. She went home perplexed, but shrugged it off as something must have come up for the CEO and ranch owner. Regina was a very important woman, after all.

The next day, Emma expected to see her, but yet another no-show from the owner of Morningstar. She brushed it off again, as Regina was likely busy with other, more important things than tagging along with her on routine tasks. She'd dropped off and collected Henry from Regina's house for his tutoring session, and Regina was cordial, but that was it. Emma had smiled at the woman the same way she always did, but Regina's smile was different, polite but lacking her usual warmth. The foreman decided she must be under some stress and let it go.

The third day nothing. Then the fourth, she saw her again to drop off and collect Henry. Same treatment. Finally, on the fifth day, it was Emma's day to collect her paycheck. After her final duties of the day and night had already come and gone, she stepped up to the front porch of the large house. She rang the doorbell and waited. It took a minute before Regina opened the door.

She motioned for Emma to come in, and Emma did so. "So, you've been busy?" Emma asked.

Regina didn't look at her as she responded, "Yes, getting ready for end-of-the-year reports from my company."

"Aren't you still on vacation?" Emma looked a little puzzled.

"Yes, but the work never stops when you're in charge," Regina replied. "I assume you're here for your check?"

Emma nodded. "It's Thursday, so payday."

"Yes, of course. Let me go get it for you," Regina confirmed as she left for her office to collect it. She came back and handed Emma the check in an envelope. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Emma shuffled her feet a bit, then said, "Would you want to ride a bit tomorrow?"

Regina looked at her stone-faced. "No, I have some work to do, but thank you for the offer."

"Oh, okay," Emma tried not to sound too disappointed. "Well, when you're not as busy, so some other time?" Emma asked, hopefully.

"Perhaps. Depends on my schedule," Regina said flatly. "Well, have a nice evening, Miss Swan."

Emma wasn't used to this tone and demeanor from her employer, her friend, and she found it curious, irksome, and a bit rude. "Yeah, have a good night, Ms. Mills." Regina shut the door behind her. As Emma walked in the chilly night air, she thought to herself that it was nearly as cold inside the Main Hous.

Emma grew more and more frustrated with Regina as she only saw her to drop Henry off, pick him up, and collect her paycheck on Thursday the following week. Not once did Regina tag along on ranch business or check in on her. This puzzled Emma, but she continued to chalk it up to the CEO being busy.

Yet, as they entered the first full week of December, still no Regina other than those increasingly curt meetings. Emma lay on her couch one evening and dialed Ruby to get her opinion on the issue. Emma explained the full story, including Thanksgiving.

"She's giving you the Regina Mills treatment now," Ruby sighed.

"What does that mean?" Emma asked as she scrunched up her face.

Ruby chuckled a bit, though it lacked any humor. "Icing you out. She treats a lot of people that way when they've wronged her or she just doesn't like them," Ruby explained. "It's a well-known fact in town. Remember, I warned you about this."

"Icing me out? I haven't done anything wrong," Emma said, perplexed at the notion of being nearly completely cut off from seeing the brunette other than the few occasions she had, and those were short. "What the fuck?"

"What the fuck, is right," Ruby agreed sympathetically. She paused for a few seconds. "Wait, this all started after Thanksgiving?"

Emma replied, "Yes."

Ruby chuckled, "I see what the problem is."

"What's that?"

"She obviously likes you in that way and is trying to keep her distance," Ruby stated.

Emma took in these words and couldn't comprehend why Regina would like her. She was so far beneath the gorgeous, talented woman that she couldn't understand. "No, she's not. No way."

Ruby said immediately, "Yes, she is! All the things she's done for you and Henry. Spending a good part of her vacation tagging along with you as you work. Then Thanksgiving, sharing a bed, and having a rather intimate conversation. Anyway, it's a bit childish to react this way, but consider her position and yours. You're her employee, and she's your employer. That is a recipe for disaster if it doesn't work out. Maybe she just doesn't want to risk that and has cut herself off from seeing you other than the bare minimum, you know, to not give into temptation." Emma could hear Ruby's smirk.

Emma gaped though Ruby couldn't see her. "Well, when you put it that way, it makes sense, but that just pisses me off. Why not be straightforward with me, and I'll just go about my business?"

"Sounds like you need to have a frank conversation with her," Ruby stated.

Emma instantly felt pressure and anxiety at the prospect of even thinking about bringing up feelings like that in a conversation with her boss. The brunette had been all Ms. Mills for nearly two weeks now, Emma thought. "No, I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and maybe she'll warm up to me again."

Ruby sighed, "Fine. It's your funeral. Hey, I gotta go. Talk to you later!"

"Yeah, we'll talk later. Bye," Emma said.

"Hope this gets a bit easier for you. I really do," Ruby wished as she hung up.

A thought popped into Emma's head that had her concerned. She went to Henry's room and knocked on the door before she entered. He was reading a book on his bed and looked up at her as she walked in. She moved his legs over a bit and sat down. "What's up, Mom?"

"Got a question for you," she said. "Has Ms. Mills been acting weird or anything out of the ordinary?"

Henry immediately shook his head. "No, she's been the same. Why?"

Emma was relieved that Regina at least wasn't being rude to Henry, but that just made her feel worse. What had she done wrong, she wondered. "Oh, nothing. Just haven't seen her as much during the day is all," Emma said. "So, I guess I've never asked, but what's she like when you have your tutoring sessions?"

Henry set the book aside and crossed his arms in the same way she does. "Everything is the same. She asks me afterward if the session was good, what we discussed, and the work assigned."

Emma couldn't help herself, she had a burning desire to know. She asked, "Does she ask about me?"

Henry thought for a moment and said, "No, not really, actually. Not since Thanksgiving."

"What did she ask before that trip?" Emma asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Um, simple things like what your favorite things are, and mine. She was just curious, I think. Normal conversation," he shrugged. "Maybe she ran out of things to ask me. She's focused on my tutoring now."

Emma made a mental note in her head that Henry also noticed the change, though he wasn't made aware of that until now. She didn't want to push things further, so she just ended the topic and told him to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.

Something bubbled inside Emma as she lay in bed thinking about what Ruby and Henry had said about Regina. She had a restless night of sleep and woke the next day tired and cranky.

The crankiness didn't go away when she accidentally hurt her shin at the stables. She knew there would be a bruise. Jefferson and Robin heard her cursing loudly.

"What is it?" Killian asked as he mucked out the stall of his regular mount, Redwing, a sweet horse with a little too much enthusiasm when being ridden.

"Nothing," Emma said. She rubbed her shin.

Robin came around the corner. "That doesn't look like nothing."

"It'll be fine," Emma insisted. "Probably just needs some ice. Just hurts like a bitch. You guys finish up here for me, if you can, while I go wrap this thing up. You good?"

"Yeah, we can do that," Robin confirmed. "Have a good night."

"You, too." She exited the barn and walked home frustrated with herself and everything else at this point.

Emma accidentally snapped at Henry for which she apologized immediately and said she had a bad day at work. He wrapped his arms around her which calmed her down considerably. "Thanks for the hug, kid. I needed that."

"Love you, Mom," he said.

"Love you, too, Hen," she said as a few tears gathered in her eyes.

The next day she started to take out her frustrations on some wood, chopping it for winter months. They needed a lot so she spent hours chopping away, and the pile grew ever larger. She felt the built-up emotions pour out with every whack and then split of the wood.

Jefferson came up on her in the afternoon on Hermes. "What's got you all riled up?"

"Nothing. Just chopping wood for the winter, something you, Robin, and Killian should have been doing for weeks now instead of half-assing it," she snapped at him.

He glared at her, "We've been working on it. Just not as much as you are today."

"Yeah, well, time to step it up more. I can't do this all by myself. We'll concentrate on this task this week so we can make a dent in the pile," the blonde said as she chopped another one. She took off her hat, took out the red bandana she kept in her back pocket, and wiped her face of sweat. She took off her jacket and immediately felt better.

"What's got you like this?" Jefferson asked, curiosity coloring his tone.

"Nothing. Just that work needs to get done, and it's not getting done," she said, omitting the fact Regina iced her out.

As she thought of Regina, Jefferson seemed to know she was thinking of her, "I haven't seen Ms. Mills out here in a couple of weeks. Strange how she went from every day to completely nothing."

He was fishing for information that Emma wouldn't give. "I guess she's busy," she shrugged.

"Or maybe Her Majesty's new toy has lost its shine and is getting the same treatment as the rest of us peasants," Jefferson quipped.

"What? No," Emma said a little too fast and defensively.

He breathed in and out a heavy sigh, "Welcome to the club." He chuckled as he turned Hermes around and left her wanting to throw the axe at his back.

It was Thursday, which meant Emma would be collecting her check. She hit the doorbell harder than usual and waited. This time it took Regina a whole five minutes to come to the door which didn't add any positivity to Emma's sour mood.

"Evening, Miss Swan. I have your check right here for you," Regina said as she handed her the envelope.

"Thanks. See you Monday, then," the blonde said coldly and turned around to walk home.

The foreman heard the door close behind her before she'd even got off the step onto the walkway. Emma stopped and stared at the door behind her. Regina's behavior was so unfair toward Emma. Why couldn't Regina talk with her like they did before? She shook her head and whispered to herself, "This is such fucking bullshit."