I'm so sorry I didn't get this finished before Christmas! I still have a week of days to get finished! I'll try to get some up early in the morning, if not then, sometime tomorrow afternoon should be plausible. I should only have two, maybe three chapters left if I keep doing multiple days in one chapter, which I like doing. Hope you guys enjoy! Merry Christmas!
On the 15, the women had breakfast and went about their days.
On the 16th, Emma woke up early without even setting an alarm. She grabbed the wrapped copy of Love Actually from her dresser and pulled on her clothes, ready to go and thankful she showered the night before. She checked her hair, which was curly as ever and undid one of the buttons she had just done on her shirt. She headed to Granny's for what was becoming her usual order and then headed to Regina's office. The secretary just nodded at Emma and told her to go ahead into the office. This time, Regina stood from her desk and greeted Emma almost at the door, taking the items from her hands and leading Emma to the desk. Emma wrapped Regina in a hug easily and quickly, though she had wanted to linger a few moments and enjoy the warmth that radiated from the other woman's body.
"How was your night?" Emma asked.
"It was fun. Queenie has already taken over my bed, though I intended to not allow her to sleep there, she broke me in on the second night. She was too cute to deny. She gives me a look quite similar to the one you and Henry give me on occasion."
"Oh, so I give you a look that is too cute to deny?" Emma asked, causing Regina to look flustered at her response. Emma decided to drop it before she made the brunette uncomfortable. "Oh, hey, I brought you another present." Emma handed Regina the gift, who proceeded to open it and smiled. "I haven't seen this one."
"I figured. You don't seem like someone who chooses to watch many Christmas movies, but that one is another one of my favorites. I was thinking I could come over tonight and we could watch it together?"
"I would love that, though tonight might not be a good night. Would tomorrow be ok? Henry will be at a friend's house."
"That would be great."
"I'll make you dinner, again, if you would like it."
"Yes, that would be awesome. Your cooking is awesome."
"Thank you, dear."
"Well, I better be off to work, it was good seeing you, Regina."
"Likewise, Emma." Emma stood and walked around Regina's desk, leaning into the brunette and placing a soft kiss on her cheek before leaving the office.
Emma sat in her office with her feet on her desk and her phone in her lap. She badly wanted to text Regina, just to say hi, but she had only left there an hour ago. She could tell that Regina was becoming more receptive to her gifts and presence and that pleased her to no end. Emma really couldn't pinpoint exactly when she started feeling this way for Regina but the feelings in her heart were warm and tender for the other woman. She knew she should have checked with Henry to see if he was fine with her trying to pursue his mom, but she figured she would find out if Regina would be pursued beforehand, saving herself the embarrassment of him saying yes and Regina saying no, or the pain of him saying no and then never knowing what could have been. She pulled up google on her phone to avoid texting the brunette. She knew what her biggest gift for the other woman would be, not that she knew how to procure it, so she looked up how to do that.
She needed to text Regina anyway because she needed to figure out a gift for tomorrow morning and the morning after that, because she didn't want to wait until after talking tomorrow morning to pick up the next days gift. She found the page she needed and made the calls that were necessary. She was hoping it would take more time than it had, instead when she looked at the clock she saw that only 45 minutes had passed and she sighed.
Hey you.
Hello, Emma. Bored of darts already?
Hah! I haven't even played darts, thanks for the idea.
Please, continue to inform me of how the town's taxes are being spent on entertainment.
Pfft. Entertainment? This day could not even get more boring if it tried.
So you text me for entertainment? I do have a job to do, even if your day is slow. Would you like me to find more work for you?
Noooo. Thanks for the overwhelmingly kind offer, though. I'll probably just fill out some more papers before lunchtime. Text me if you have free time later.
I will keep in mind your offer. Have a fun day, Sheriff.
You too, Madame Mayor.
Emma sighed. That wasn't exactly the conversation she had wanted to have, but the flirting couldn't be denied, even the texts translated it properly. She did as she said she would and pulled some forms out of her "in" tray and started answering questions and filling out reports. The time crept a bit faster than it had earlier in the morning and it was almost time for her to take her lunch. She placed the finished forms in the files the belonged and stood to grab her coat. Before she could make it past her office door, she heard the familiar clicking of heels on the station floor. Her heart jumped as she knew she could hazard a guess about who was visiting and likely be certain she was right.
Sure enough, rounding the corner as Emma stepped out of the doorway to her office, she saw Regina carrying a white carryout bag from Granny's. She smiled at the brunette, and offered her a seat.
"I brought you lunch," Regina started the conversation.
"Thank you. What brought this on?"
"I just thought that since you were spending so much money on my breakfast everyday, you might appreciate my buying you lunch."
"Depends on what you got me," Emma teased, smiling. She was curious though what the health food fanatic would have brought her. Her eyes followed Regina's hands as the other woman pulled two sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil out of the bag followed by two small Styrofoam containers. She waited while the brunette handed one wrapped sandwich and one container to her and placed her two items in front of her, too, then Emma took the empty bag and tossed it in the trash.
She waited even longer until Regina had unwrapped a club sandwich for herself and opened her container to reveal sautéed green beans. Emma unwrapped her own sandwich, expecting the same as the brunette's, but instead revealed an extra bacon BLT, and her container had French fries. She took a fry and popped it in her mouth, moaning at the delicious taste.
"Oh, you are the best, Regina. Thanks." Emma grinned in pleasure at the other woman.
"I know. Thanks for pointing it out, though, it is always nice to be reassured." Emma rolled her eyes jokingly and smiled once again.
"Tell me, do you prefer silver or gold?"
"Gold, white or yellow, but white seems more modern and I like that."
"And what's your favorite type of jewelry?"
Regina raised her eyebrows questioningly before answering, "I'm not telling you that."
"Why not?"
"Because I've noticed that all of your questions, or most of them, result in you buying me something, and you are not buying me jewelry."
"Why not?"
"Because I said so. It's unnecessary."
"Oh fine, then. What kind of music do you listen to?"
"I really enjoy old music, rock from the 70s. I also really like indie stuff, things that nobody has ever heard on the radio, but I look up music often to see what I should order. Usually what I've ordered is good."
"What kind of indie stuff?"
"I like Brandi Carlile and I really enjoy a guy named Sufjan Stevens."
"Gotcha." Emma stopped to think for a moment, wondering what she should ask the brunette next. "What's your favorite book?"
"You don't think I own my favorite book?"
"I'm sure you do, now I'm just asking so I can know more about you."
"The Sound and the Fury, then."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just loved it the moment I read it. I really enjoy symbolism in movies and books, so perhaps that's why."
"I love hearing about your interests. You...I don't know, you intrigue me."
"You don't know?"
"No, I mean you definitely do, I was just searching for the right word."
"What about you, Emma? What's your favorite book?"
"Lord of the Flies."
"You like a book about a bunch of kids killing each other?"
"It's a dystopian world. I like that. I never had this utopic life, I lived in my own form of dystopia and I would read it as a kid, thinking that at least my life wasn't that bad. It was sort of a way to make me feel better about my life."
"I guess I can understand that."
"I love talking to you, Regina."
"I enjoy your company as well, Emma."
"I wish you could stay here all day."
"Right now, in this moment, I wish the same. However, I've taken too long of a lunch break as it is, so I need to get back, especially if I want to cut out a little early tomorrow to take care of dinner for you."
"Oh fine, I guess I can do some more paperwork or something to keep myself entertained."
"Have a good day, my dear."
"Have a good day, Regina. I'll see you in the morning,"
"Indeed."
Emma watched Regina leave her office and enjoyed the sight. That woman was the most infuriating, annoyingly attractive and secretly loveable woman she had ever known. Sure, other people wouldn't see Regina as loveable, but something clicked between her and Regina that others just wouldn't understand, that they wouldn't see.
When Regina got back to her office she tried to piece together the past few days with Emma and how she felt about it. She knew that the blonde had feelings for her, trying to deny that would be stupid and she had told herself that over and over. Regina's own feelings for Emma had changed a long time ago and she was still having trouble with that. She was excited to have the blonde over for dinner the next night, but she wanted to figure out how to make the evening go perfectly smooth and she wanted to make a delicious dinner for the blonde. She wanted to kiss Emma. Her pink lips that never had lipstick or gloss were so inviting to Regina that it was hard, each day she spent with the other woman, to not kiss her.
Both women spent their evening anticipating the next morning. Emma had gone shopping and Regina had gone home to take care of Henry. Neither woman slept well that night, both excited and nervous for what the next day would bring.
When Regina woke up the next day, she searched through her closet for something acceptable to wear. She found one of her best pencil skirts, tight around her hips and bottom, she then pulled out a crisp white blouse over which she placed a small vest, leaving the blouse unbuttoned to just above where it met the vest. She pulled on one of her favorite pairs of stilettos and headed to work.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Emma pulled on a black sweater dress and wool tights. She pulled a black pair of knee-high boots on over the tights and headed to the kitchen to grab a couple of ibuprofen to get rid of the headache that had manifested in the time between her shower and getting dressed. Snow came out of her and David's room as Emma was pulling on her peacoat.
"Where are you headed looking so nice, Emma?" Snow asked.
"I'm going to work."
"Dressed like that?"
"Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"No. You look really nice, almost like you're trying to impress someone."
"Well, maybe I am."
"Oh, really? Who, Emma?"
"Um, no offense but it really isn't your concern. I kind of want to keep it private. Also don't expect me home until late tonight, maybe not even at all."
"Oh?" Snow responded, raising her eyebrows.
"I don't know, but it's a possibility."
"Ok, well, be careful and have a good time."
"Thanks, see ya!" Emma called, walking out the door and on her way to Granny's.
When Emma arrived at Regina's office, she handed her the scone first, then her coffee, followed shortly by a small wrapped gift. Regina smiled and opened it.
"Jewel?"
"Yeah. That CD is from the mid-90s and it's really good. I thought you'd like it because I listened to the indie artists you told me about and they have kind of a similar sound."
"Emma, that's really sweet, thank you." Regina stood and tore the plastic from the CD case. She then opened it and pulled the disc out, walking to a player she had on one of the shelves on the wall, placing it in and pressing play, setting it so the whole disc was on repeat. She turned the volume low so she and Emma could talk, but she could still hear it."
"I'm glad you think so. Tomorrow's gift is probably going to be pretty lame."
"Why is that, dear?"
"Because you don't give me much to go on."
"Well, then you should skip the weekend from giving me gifts."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because, first of all, you don't need to keep buying me things, anyway. Secondly, I think Henry might find it weird, you coming over to give me Christmas gifts."
"Yeah, I guess that's true. I probably still would have gone to the office, you know you worked all of last weekend."
"I did, but I won't be working this weekend. There is only a week until Christmas and I have a lot of decorating to do."
"Ok, I'm going to go to work so we can both get everything done before our date tonight."
"Our date?"
"Should I not call it that, Regina?"
Regina looked like she was deep in thought for a few minutes before replying, "I suppose we could call it a date." The words brought a wide smile to Emma's mouth and the blonde kissed Regina on the cheek and left the office.
