Desperate Souls

Chapter 3: Disintegration

Glum Gloria

"You're kidding..."

"Nope," Emma glumly returned, "I'm sure not. Gold actually invited me over to his house, but I just realized I don't know where he lives..."

Mary Margaret stifled a giggle, then cleared her throat when the blonde glared at her. "I'm sorry, it's just... wow . He must've really done a number on you if you forgot to ask something important like that. I'll go look it up in the directory for you."

Hopping off her stool, the teacher approached a desk and pulled out a drawer containing several books. Now flipping through a phone book, she casually asked, "So are you going to need one of my dresses, again?"

Emma groaned. "Seriously, Mare? C'mon, I don't think I could stand dressing up two days in a row... I mean, what do I look like, a street walker?"

"And just what are you trying to say about my dresses?"

"Nothing, I just...it's not me, ok?" Sourly watching her search, Emma irritably muttered, "Ok, fine, I'll wear that stupid red thing you showed me the other day. I happen to like red, and for the sake of my own sanity, I'll just pretend it's a pantsuit."

Mary Margaret grinned. "See that? I admire your ability to make even the worst scenario a bright one, Emma." With a pleased, "Ah-ha!", she gleefully added, "Found it!"

Now rushing back over to the kitchen counter, she grabbed a notepad and began to scribble down the address. "It's quite the place, so I've heard... I've never actually been there myself, so consider yourself a privileged woman."

"Gee, I can barely contain my excitement," Emma sarcastically grumbled. "I mean, how can you be so sure he isn't some weird, twisted axe murderer? If I don't come back before dawn, send out a search party to come find my body."

Mary Margaret laughed. "Oh Emma, you are ridiculous! It's a miracle the poor man opened up to you at all, considering your last encounter."

Emma's eyes softened, then she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know... I guess we were able to put our differences aside for the sake of Henry." Recollections of Gold's story made her heart ache, so she honestly preferred not to talk about it. If she ever lost Henry the way he'd lost his son, she didn't know what she'd do...

"So when do you have to leave, Miss Glum Gloria?"

"Six," Emma mumbled, propping her chin on her fist with a sigh.

"Um...it's 5:30. Shouldn't you be getting ready? I know everything's close by in this town, but somehow Gold doesn't strike me as the type to enjoy a guest being "fashionably late"..."

"Yeah, I guess," Emma agreed, sighing as she hopped off her stool. "Direct me to your "seven deadly sins" dress, and let's get this over with."

Beaming with the excitement of a potential make-over, Mary Margaret nodded and ushered the blonde to follow her. She'd make her a knock-out whether she liked it or not!

And as fate would have it, Emma did not like being made into a painted siren. Scowling at her reflection in the rear-view mirror of her car, she muttered under her breath and had the striking urge to wipe the make-up off her face.

Gold's home was like a plantation, to say the least, since she'd been driving up his driveway for at least a full two minutes now.

"Good God, I hope I have enough gas," she grumbled. Gazing around her at the rolling grounds, she decided that it was beautiful, despite the fact it was getting hard to see through the darkness of night. She knew she shouldn't be surprised that Gold owned such opulence - he had claimed time after time that he was rich, after all - but she couldn't help but be awed at just how rich he must be.

After what felt like five to ten minutes, Emma finally pulled up in front of the house - mansion... castle - and stepped out on unsteady legs. Silently cursing her heels under her breath, she craned her neck and stared up, up, up until she spotted the very top of the roof.

She thought she heard the front door open, but she was too busy staring like a slack-jawed fool to really dignify Gold with a response. Then again, at this rate, it may not even be Gold ... he could surely afford hired help if he so desired.

Feeling foolish, Emma promptly closed her mouth and hesitantly walked forward. Her hand raised in greeting as her free one clutched at her purse, and she gave a sheepish, "Hi," as she spotted Gold on the porch.

'Nice ice breaker,' she sardonically scolded herself. 'Maybe next time you can add a nice little "hi, you" to spice things up.'

The man gave her a pleased smile and a gentile nod of the head as a reply. "Hello, Emma." He said, an apron still tied around his suit.

He probably had heard her coming and made his way to the door from out of the kitchen. Along the way he had been unable to remove the protective piece of clothing and as a result wore it with pride now. His green tie glimpsed from above the apron. He looked well-donned, though less than he had yesterday.

"Come in." he gestured openly at her, sweeping with his arm to signal her entrée and waiting for her to step into the house first before he followed her. Emma hadn't realized Gold was wearing an apron until she approached the porch, her nails digging into her palms as she tried her best to prevent the smile that longed to fill her face. "Thank you," she mumbled, barely able to prevent the laughter as she walked past him. He (fortunately) hadn't seen her expression, but there was an unmistakable warmth and joviality in her voice because of it. It was rather odd picturing Gold as "Mr. Suzie Homemaker," but she wasn't about to tease him since God only knows what he might slip into her food. He was knowledgeable of several foreign items, so he could easily poison her without her even knowing it.

His admiring eyes roamed her body, taking in the details of her dress and the way it hugged her curves. He could instantly imagine how the dress belonged to her roommate rather than to her, for Emma simply wasn't the type to dress up this vividly and like a 'lady'. Had it been his request that had caused her to doll up like she had the day before? For honestly, even though evening dresses were associated with ladies it wasn't what he associated with Emma. And when he had asked her to behave it had been more about the way she acted around him than the way she dressed.

Not that he would disapprove. Though he was very well aware it was more of a show than a way of living, he admired her looks and had to calm the beast inside of him that had been roaring for attention ever since she had come to town.

And tonight he had planned his grand finale.

If his little hints and suggestions hadn't been enough to rouse her suspicion and make her recall, he would find another way. Their battle for dominance had lasted long enough and he had grown weary of all their verbal fights. He expected no less of her tonight. A loose tongue and a harsh attitude towards him was what he anticipated. But he would not let that last.

Due to her staring at the sights around her, Emma didn't notice the way Gold was behaving around her. Of course, she was accustomed to making sure they had as little eye contact whenever possible, but in most cases she was good at telling when someone was staring at her. ...And especially so openly.

Blowing a golden ringlet out of her face, Emma immediately regretted letting Mary Margaret do her hair. It was a messy bun, and because of the tousled look, stray locks kept falling in her vision and irritating her to the point she wanted to cut them off.

With her hands on her hips, Emma was vaguely aware of the fact that her stance made her look like a tomboy, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to soften her appearance. For men like Graham, she'd allowed her necklines to go lower and, when she was feeling exceptionally coy, she'd put an extra swing into her hips when she walked. But with Gold, she felt subconscious of her every movement and almost appeared wooden in stature.

As he guided her to the table he made sure she had time to admire the paintings and art in his home. The ceiling rose, shuttered doors, a tinkling chandelier and embellished stucco pillars half incorporated in the walls of the hallway. It was already getting dark outside, so the sight she had from the kitchen on the back garden wasn't enough to show the beautiful flowers he held there.

A brittle smile on her lips, she softly asked, "How can you stand living in a place like this all by yourself? I'd go crazy staying in a house where it takes five minutes to get to the bathroom..." Although it had started off as a joke, she immediately regretted her words since she didn't want him to take it the wrong way. Gold, after all, probably didn't wish to stay in it all by himself, and more than likely wanted to share it with his son. ...And possibly the non-existent wife he'd spoken of.

He allowed her to pick a chair herself and finished the last preparation for their meal. When he limped back to her side he held a bottle of red wine and showed it to her. Clearing her throat, Emma tried to calm her nerves. She was fidgety to say the least, and her toes kept curling and uncurling in her shoes as she tried to figure out what to say. ...Or perhaps it would be better to say nothing at all, considering how most of their conversations ended up in bloody verbal battles.

"Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac." He said, knowing the taste was expensive. His voice was guttural and his leering eyes scoured her body. He would let this dinner start as normal as he could and then, at the right moment, he would strike. For now everything was according to plan.

Nearly jumping when she realized Gold was beside her, she placed a hand over her heart and gave a nervous laugh. "You scared me...I must've been daydreaming, sorry. Er...night-dreaming?" With a shrug of the shoulders, she then turned her attention to the wine and smirked. "And you really want to let me drink after what happened yesterday evening? Maybe I should just sip my wine instead of taking it by the glass... But then, you only live once, am I right?"

Holding up her stemware, Emma waited for him to pour it into her awaiting glass. In truth, she was a little nervous about possibly losing her inhibitions as before, but she promised herself she wouldn't have more than one glassful.

Watching the liquid enter the glassware, she gave it a sift and jokingly praised, "Ooh, smells like alcohol... In case you haven't guessed, I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff. You could be giving me the cheap Wal*Mart brand, and I honestly wouldn't even know the difference."

Mr Gold smiled at her, kindly, and set himself at the other end where he filled his own glass. "I figured we might go for something special as you are my special guest. I hardly have friends over, not to mention people in general. It'd be a shame to keep this bottled up when there is occasion for celebration."

He smiled toothily at her and set the bottle down, rising from his chair to plate the dishes he had prepared. He had been quite punctual and was relieved to see Emma had arrived only a few minutes after the appointed time. In truth he had expected anything of her varying from arriving extremely late to phoning him she wouldn't come at all. Having her here was truly a bliss.

Dinner that night consisted of crispy mushroom parcels with radicchio salad leaf and chive flowers as a starter, although not containing any meat it was a recipe suggested to him by Ruby who had said that it would do for a romantic meal. And Mr Gold planned to expose all his charm before unleashing his devilish side. The pans in the middle, still kept hot, contained pumpkin, spinach and chick pea yellow curry. Apart from the different sides, not too much and not too complicated but just as exquisite as his taste, he had a desert planned of chocolate strawberries with cream, but thought they might not get to that.

His usual plate of caviar and luxurious ingredients topping piles of meat that would be awaiting guests like Sydney or Regina he had left inside the fridge. Emma deserved something special, and no matter how much money food could cost it wouldn't necessarily make it taste any better than a normal crop from the fields. Some of the items of food Mr Gold had grown himself and he had been very particulate about how he grew them and as to their taste. Caviar which Regina liked so well, is nothing more but the eggs of a fish. Another of the mayor's luxurious favorites was soft roe. And soft roe, as Mr Gold sourly thought, was nothing more but fish sperm. If the night would evolve like he intended to Emma would end up with another kind of sperm instead.

And evil glance appeared in his eyes but quickly faded as he caught himself thinking indecent thoughts. He helped her to the starter and arranged his own plate, then sat down to thank before starting to feast on the chive flowers. His brown eyes found hers and he smiled at her.

"Enjoy your meal, Emma," a 'dearest' would not have sounded out of place had he added it. The huskiness of his voice betrayed his state of arousal and he silently pleaded she would not have noticed. So far she had not been able to recognize him or the hints he'd given to her for being the father of her child, and he intended to make her remember everything fully by the end of the night.

AU: This is all obviously written before the episode was aired in which we got to see Mr Gold's house ;)