AN: I don't know what happened to the formatting the first time I uploaded this :/ I didn't do anything different
Sorry guys!
Chapter 25
"Can I help you dear?"
Emma turned to see who had addressed them, she saw an older woman standing there, she was wearing a long crimson dress with golden embroidery, her hair was dark brown and pinned up, she was staring at Emma with her eyebrows slightly raised and a thin smile on her face.
"Erm, we're here for Regina's birthday" Emma replied
"I see" Emma could have sworn that her lip curled for just a moment before the smile was back on her face again.
"Well I'm sure Regina is around here somewhere, enjoy" she inclined her head slightly to them before walking away back into the crowd of people.
"Well she seemed… delightful" Ruby commented "tell me not everyone is going to be like her?"
"I hope not, can you see Regina anywhere?"
"Nope, can you see the bar anywhere?"
"No"
"Oh! Over there!" Ruby said handing off to the side of the room
"What Regina?"
"Nope, the bar" Emma rolled her eyes, but still followed Ruby if nothing else but to make sure she didn't get into too much trouble.
"Can I have two shots of tequila?"
"I told you I'm not drinking" Emma told Ruby
"Who said either were for you?" Ruby winked at Emma then turned back to the waiter "a cosmopolitan and a coke please". True to form Ruby took both shots for herself, but at least she ordered Emma a soft drink. They both stood chatting for a few moments when Emma clocked Regina through the crowd
"Finally there she is" Emma looked over at Regina, she really did look stunning, she couldn't help but smile as Regina seemed distracted and kept glancing over towards the door. Smiling Emma handed Ruby her drink and made her way over to Regina. She was a few paces away from her when Regina finally saw and if Emma had been smiling beforehand she was smiling even more now due to the wide grin that filled Regina's face as soon as she saw Emma.
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Where on earth was Emma? Maybe she'd changed her mind.
Regina checked the door yet again for any sign of her.
"So Darling where is this new lady friend of yours?" Cruella asked her
"I don't think she's arrived yet" Regina replied, taking a swig of her drink
"Not been stood up on your own birthday surely?"
"I highly doubt it" Regina glanced across the room, not feeling too confident and then she saw her. Emma, and she looked beautiful. She started walking towards Regina who no longer heard what Cruella was saying to her, her attention was completely focused on Emma who was wearing a scarlet red dress that came just above the knees and it hugged her body perfectly. Regina knew that she must have had a goofy grin on her face but she didn't care, she separated herself from the group slightly as Emma reached her.
"Hey" Emma stood infront of her looking slightly awkward.
"Hi" Regina replied "you look amazing" she leaned forward and kissed Emma on the cheek.
"Thanks, so do you"
"Is Ruby not here?"
"Oh no, she is, I left her at the bar, not sure if that was a good idea actually" Emma joked
"I'm sure she'll be fine"
"So Regina are you going to introduce us?" Regina rolled her eyes at Cruella
"Emma, this is Cruella and Ursula, Cruella, Ursula this is Emma" Regina stared at Cruella almost daring her to say something.
"Emma darling, nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you" Cruella told Emma gently shaking her hand
"You have?" Emma replied looking at Regina confused, Regina however was just as confused as Emma, she had never mentioned Emma to Cruella
"Yes, Maleficent had told us that Regina was quite smitten with a blonde beauty" Regina glared at Maleficent who simply smirked at Regina.
"Oh, well I, erm" Emma spluttered
"Now Cruella you're making the girl blush" Ursula said, "come Emma, join us for a while"
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Thankfully after the awkward introduction the conversation flowed nicely, and Emma luckily avoided anymore awkward moments. She was about to slip away from them with Regina when Cruella dragged them all onto the dance floor, politely they both obliged and joined the others in a dance, that was until they heard a commotion near the bar, Emma turned and her heart sank as she saw Ruby being helped back onto her feet by a waiter.
"I better go see her" Emma told Regina
"Of course, I'll meet you by the buffet table" Regina replied. They both left the dance floor and went in separate directions.
"Rubes, hey are you ok?" Emma took over from the waiter and helped Ruby to her feet.
"Yeah, I slipped on some water on the floor" Ruby replied as they headed back to the stools at the bar. Emma turned back to where Ruby had been and there was indeed water on the floor and a skid mark where Ruby had clearly slipped.
"What is going on here?" Emma turned again to see the same woman from before standing there, but now she didn't have a sickly sweet smile on her face, instead she looked slightly cross.
"If you two would be so kind as to try and control yourself, some of us are here to have a good time in a sophisticated manner" and with that she walked away with her nose in the air slightly.
"Em, I'm not drunk honest, I slipped" Ruby whined
"I know you did Rubes" Ruby was well on her way, but she wasn't drunk and Emma blamed the water on the floor entirely as the reason her friend had fell, it would take her a few more drinks to be on the fall for alcohol reasons "come on lets go sit down on some proper seats". The two of them made their way over to the tables at the side of the room and sat down.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Emma asked as they sat down at the table and Ruby rubbed her ankle.
"Yeah, I'm just going to sit here for a minute, where's Regina?"
"She's by the buffet table, I just wanted to make sure you're ok"
"I'm fine Em" Ruby smiled, "go, it's her birthday, be with your girlfriend" Emma was about to protest when somebody else walked over to them.
"Emma hi!" Emma looked up to see Lacey stood there, Emma jumped up to hug her.
"Lacey hey, you look great by the way"
"Thanks, you too"
"Have you been here long?"
"I've been here a little while, got caught by Regina's mother on the way in, we've met once before, and lets just say she's not a fan" Lacey smiled
"I've not had the pleasure so far. Oh! Lacey this is my friend Ruby, Ruby this is Lacey" The two girls said hello to one another before Lacey joined them at the table.
"Emma, I'm fine, go find Regina" Ruby told her yet again
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, and beside I've got Lacey here to keep me company" Emma looked from Ruby to Lacey who both smiled in reassurance at Emma, so Emma stood from the table to find Regina, but if she wasn't mistaken Emma saw an all too familiar glint in Ruby's eye.
"Hey, sorry I took so long" Emma told Regina as she approached her at the buffet table
"Don't worry about it, is Ruby ok?" Regina asked, handing Emma a drink
"Yeah, she's alright, she just slipped on some water"
"Well as long as she's ok, would you like some food?"
"Yeah! I'm pretty hungry actually" Emma looked at the buffet table not really knowing what any of it was
"So what would you like?"
"Er…. what is half of this stuff?" Emma felt her cheeks redden
"Instead of me telling you why don't you just try some and then I'll tell you what it is?" Emma wasn't really sure that that was a better idea
"No offence Regina but none of this food looks like the kind of food I'd eat, or like, I mean what have you done to those tomatoes?" Emma pointed at the tomatoes that looked shrivelled. Thankfully Regina didn't look offended at all, in fact she was smirking clearly in amusement.
"They're slow roasted tomatoes with Mozzarella and red onion, now close your eyes"
"What?"
"Close your eyes"
"What for?"
"So you're not going to judge the food without actually tasting it, now come on, close your eyes"
"I don't know Regina" Emma replied nervously
"Do you trust me?" Regina tilted her head smiling at Emma. Nervously and slightly reluctantly Emma closed her eyes. Emma waited for a few moments till Regina said
"Open" Emma obliged and took a bite out of the food Regina had put in her mouth, Emma chewed and had a strong flavour of fish mixed with a creamy cheese flavour.
"Well?" Regina asked. Emma must have been pulling a face to match her opinion on the food as Regina started laughing
"What is that?" Emma asked swallowing
"It's Smoked Salmon Roulade"
Emma shook her head "sorry, but that's not good"
"Ok, ok, lets try again, close your eyes" again Emma closed her eyes and waited until Regina told her and she took a bite of the next food.
"Ok that one wasn't too bad Emma said, getting a faint taste of coriander and prawn
"Thought that you wouldn't mind that one, it's a Prawn Filo Tarlet"
"I'd still rather have a prawn cocktail though, is there literally just fish on the buffet?"
"Of course not" Regina pointed over towards a few trays of food
"Did you put fruit with meat?" Emma said pointing at pieces of Melon wrapped in ham
"Well I didn't personally but yes, it's Melon and Parma Ham, it's actually rather common"
"If you say so, but unless it's Hawaiian Pizza I prefer to keep fruit for desert" Regina smiled and shook her head
"Ok try this" Regina handed Emma something that looked shrivelled with cheese on top.
"What on earth is that?"
"It's a Chorizo and Cheese stuffed mushroom"
"How about I eat the Chorizo and you eat the mushroom?" Emma said picking the cheese and Chorizo off and popping it into her mouth, handing the mushroom back to Regina
"Wow thank you" Regina wrinkled her nose, but still ate the rest of the mushroom.
"You know I think I'll stick to some pate on crackers" Emma helped herself to some pate and crackers as she stood chatting to Regina who convinced her to try the different flavours of Pate some which Emma hadn't even known they did, although she did quite like the pheasant pate even if she wouldn't admit it to Regina. Emma was about to help herself to some chicken nibbles when she noticed deserts.
"Screw it, I've had enough appetisers, I'm moving onto deserts"
"Excellent idea" Regina said as they moved around to the desert table, "but first maybe wipe the pate off your face" Regina took a napkin from the table and wiped the corner of Emma's mouth, Emma's breath caught in her chest as she felt her stomach flutter, they both stared at each other for a moment before Regina broke the silence.
"So what desert would you like?" Regina asked handing the napkin to Emma so she could continue to wipe her mouth. Emma turned her attention to the desert table and instantly spotted éclairs.
"Éclairs! Definitely the éclairs!" Before Regina could comment on her choice she took an éclair and took a bit, instantly getting a strong taste off coffee. Without thinking Emma spluttered slightly and spat the desert out into the napkin Regina had just given her.
"You didn't tell me they were coffee!" Emma complained trying to wipe the taste of coffee off her tongue
"You didn't give me the chance" Regina replied biting her lip in an attempt to not laugh, Emma glared at Regina when another voice spoke
"Well you seem to be the cause of all the commotion this evening don't you dear?" Emma rolled her eyes, recognising the voice as the cause of all the criticism tonight, the woman in the crimson dress they had met when they first arrived.
"Seriously lady, do you have a problem with me?" Emma commented putting her hands on her hips.
"Emma" Regina interrupted, "I'd like to introduce you to my Mother, Cora Mills, Mother this is Emma Swan"