A/N: Posting a day early in the timeline, just because :) Enjoy some fluff!
Thursday, March 15, 3:30pm
"Emma, I love your girlfriend," Lily said as she saw the blonde walk into the office of the studio.
"Yeah, you and about 2.1 million other people, if her Instagram follower count is anything to go by," Emma replied as she plopped down ungracefully onto the couch. They had just finished rehearsing their pas-de-trois, and Emma had an hour and a half before she had to teach her youth jazz class. Most days she ended up napping in the studio's office when she had to teach after rehearsal, which was her plan that afternoon.
"Yeah, but I seriously love her."
"What? Why?" she asked as she dug around in her bag for a protein bar.
"Because of this." Lily tossed an issue of Celeb! Weekly to Emma, hitting her in the thigh with the glorified tabloid.
"Ugh, paparazzi," she complained, noting a small thumbnail image of Regina in the lower right corner. The brunette had a green smoothie in one hand and a takeout bag from her favorite burger joint in Halifax in the other as she walked down the street. The picture was accompanied with the caption: Is newly-single Regina 'Queen of the Damned' Mills leaving Frozen Mirror for a career in musical theater? See p. 29.
"Yeah, yeah, they're invasive and they suck," Lily said. "But, look at what she's wearing in that photo, and then look at the article."
Emma looked closer and noted that Regina was wearing the dance company baseball cap she had stolen from Emma the day the blonde signed her contract with Danse Theatre Montréal. The brunette had kept it ever since. Emma couldn't help but smile when she made that realization. She turned to page 29 to see the article, and there were four more candid paparazzi photographs taken on various days. "Man, they are relentless," Emma commented as her eyes skimmed across the pictures.
"They're paparazzi in Halifax…I doubt they have much else to do except keep tabs on the cast. It's not like the town is riddled with celebrities," Lily pointed out. "Now, keep reading."
Emma obliged and turned her attention back to the magazine, smiling yet again when she noticed Regina's apparel. In one of the other images, she was wearing a tank top with the Danse Theatre Montréal name emblazoned on her chest, along with yoga leggings sporting the EmKi Dance Collective's logo down the length of her right leg as she left a pilates studio Halifax. "I knew it!" Emma growled. "She's so dead."
"What?" Lily asked, confused.
"She stole my leggings. She said she hadn't seen them when I asked her if I left them in Halifax after we were done shooting the musical," Emma replied, referring to her favorite leggings from her company that she still ran with Killian back in Maine.
Lily rolled her eyes as she went back to eating her salad. "If clothing theft is the biggest issue in your relationship, then you guys have nothing to worry about."
Emma shrugged as she decided to read the full article: Regina Mills, star of the hit dystopian TV series Frozen Mirror was all smiles as she left Halifax Burgers and Shakes on Friday, just five days after her divorce from successful Montréal restaurateur Robin Locksley was finalized, according to public record documents obtained by Celeb! Weekly. The next morning, she was looking radiant as she left Pilates First fitness studio early on Saturday. It appears her newfound single status is agreeing with her!
Emma rolled her eyes, but continued reading:
This week the network confirmed that Frozen Mirror will be returning next fall for the show's ninth season. But, rumor has it that producers and the network executives are planning a cast shakeup for the upcoming season, according to an inside source on set. It sounds like some of our favorites may not be returning, and at time of publication, only star Ingrid Snow and her new on-screen love interest Hyde Jackson have signed on for the new season. Our source tells us that Regina shined on set during the filming of the show's upcoming musical episode, stealing every scene she was in during filming.
Emma smiled, as she had to agree with the anonymous source's assessment. Regina was amazing, and the bootleg copy they watched while Regina was in town to finalize the divorce proved it.
The source hints that Regina has been contemplating leaving the show, possibly to pursue opportunities in musical theater. Even Ms. Mills' own Instagram posts have confirmed that she's been working with a private dance coach since last summer, who happens to be affiliated with the two dance companies seen advertised in Regina's recent apparel choices. Could she be preparing for a major change in venue for the next phase in her career? I guess we'll find out this weekend when Frozen Mirror airs its highly-anticipated musical episode if Regina Mills has the chops for a career on Broadway.
"Interesting article, eh?" Lily stated when she saw Emma toss the magazine aside.
"Well, it's all total bullshit, as far as I know. I have no idea who this 'inside source' is, but Regina is definitely not planning on going to Broadway. But, hello free publicity for us," Emma said.
"Yeah, no kidding. The issue has only been out for two days and our phones have already blown up with inquiries about open teen and adult classes. They think Regina takes classes here, and they're hoping to drop in for class and run into her," Lily explained.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Wow. Remind me to tell her never to come here. She'll get hounded."
"Probably not a bad idea. Also, we're receiving a lot of calls asking if you teach teen and adult classes…they probably assume that Regina would be most likely to take one of your classes, given that they think you're her coach."
"Ugh."
*.*.*
Emma stepped out of the shower and hastily threw on a pair of sweats and zipped up a hoodie when she heard her phone ringing in the bedroom. She smiled when she saw Regina's name on the screen. "Hey, babe," she said as she sat down on the bed, pulling her feet up underneath her to help warm up. It was chilly in the apartment, a side effect of vintage buildings in Canadian winters, and her still-wet hair wasn't helping matters. She grabbed the striped Pendleton blanket from the end of the bed and pulled it over her lap. She chuckled when she realized Adagio had been napping underneath the blanket, and the feline sent her an evil glare after losing the warmth the wool textile provided.
"Hey. How are you?" Regina asked as she, too, settled in for the evening at her small apartment in Halifax.
"I'm good. I miss you, though."
"I miss you, too. But, I'll be there tomorrow night."
"Are you still thinking you'll make the earlier flight?"
"I think so. I'm scheduled to be done around noon, so even if we run over, as long as I get out of there by 1:30, I can still make the afternoon flight. Even if I don't, I'll take my normal flight and be at your place by 10. But, hopefully I'll be back in time for dinner."
"Good. I'm bartending the lunch shift at the bistro tomorrow, but I get done at 6. If you get in earlier than that, I'm sure Robin won't mind if I duck out a little early. There isn't a happy hour deal on Fridays, so it shouldn't be too packed at that time."
"Sounds good. Will you pick up dinner while you're there, regardless? I've been craving his croque monsieur for ages."
"That sounds dirty," Emma laughed and made a face. "But, I suppose I can do that. Any regrets about divorcing him and his delicious French sandwiches?"
"God no. Besides, this way I still get the sandwiches and I get you. Win-win."
"Good answer," Emma said. "Speaking of the divorce, have you seen the most recent issue of Celeb! Weekly?"
"You know I avoid reading anything other than People. Everything else is complete trash," she said. She paused briefly before continuing, her curiosity getting the best of her. "But, what did it say?"
"Not much. Just pointing out that your divorce was finalized last week, rumors about the cast shakeup on the show, and apparently that you're secretly planning an escape from TV to go be a star on Broadway."
"Oh good lord." Emma could practically hear Regina's eye roll through the phone.
"And, Lily wanted me to thank you for wearing our company's apparel out in public so the paparazzi could capture it and give us free publicity…and nice leggings, by the way," Emma continued, causing Regina to chuckle.
"Yeah, the fans noticed that, too. I was tagged in some photos on Instagram but I had no idea where they came from. I thought a fan took them when I was heading home that day. I didn't realize it was in a tabloid."
"I turned off my photo tags, so I haven't been paying attention to what fans are posting. Are they causing any problems for you?"
"Not any more than usual. Gold hasn't seen it yet, I guess. The fans of course are eating it up, and now that my divorce is final, it does add more 'evidence' to their theories about us. Half of them think we're doing each other, and the other half just think that I'm going to try to make it as a dancer now. I was wondering why they would think that, but I guess if they read it in Celeb! Weekly, that explains it."
"The magazine also said that some inside source said you were amazing and steal the show in the musical."
"Well, that I'll happily believe," Regina laughed. "Speaking of the cast rumors, they offered me a contract this morning for next season."
"Oh, that's great!" Emma said as she shifted over slightly to accommodate the angry tabby cat that crawled into her lap, searching for the blanket. "Are you going to sign it?"
Regina sighed. "I'm not sure yet. Not as it currently is written, no."
"Oh?"
"Well for one thing, they're not offering me a raise, and I know for a fact that Ingrid was offered more money this year when she signed on for the next season. I'm not about to let her out-earn me."
"Good for you," Emma stated. "You two carry that show and should get paid the same."
"Well, that I can easily negotiate. What may be more challenging is that they made the morality clause even tighter than it was before."
"You're kidding me."
"I wish I was. It's ridiculous."
"What does it say?"
"Well, it explicitly says that I cannot 'actively promote' shipping my character with Ingrid's. I asked her if she had a similar clause and she said yes. She's annoyed by it too, but with her character now paired up with Hyde's character, she probably won't get as many fan questions about it. Now that my character is single again after the disastrous end of the love triangle with Graham and Daniel's characters, I know I'll get a lot of questions about Ingrid."
"What does that even mean, though? You can't control what fans ask you at cons."
"No, but they have a list of appropriate canned responses, and I'm no longer allowed to tweet or say that I support all ships. I'm only supposed to explicitly support the canon ships. And, they don't want us signing fan photo edits of non-canon ships, either. It's going to piss off a lot of fans."
"That's bullshit."
"It really is," she sighed. "If they want to do that, then they need to be the ones setting the rules and making sure the conventions include that disclaimer in their package sales. Otherwise, I'd look like a total bitch if I refuse to sign something. I very rarely have refused to sign things in the past, because I like to encourage creativity. I just won't sign anything if it's truly pornographic, but the screencap manipulations fans put together of Ingrid and me have never bothered me, and she doesn't care, either. But, they want us to refuse to sign it, because even though the studio is totally homophobic, it doesn't want to appear that way. They want to shift the blame to us and make it seem like we're suddenly uncomfortable with it."
"You're not considering agreeing to that, are you?" Emma asked. If Regina agreed to that, then God only knows what else she would agree to and how it would impact their relationship.
"Hell no. I already told them that I'm not going to ignore, or worse yet speak out against, one of the strongest group of fans on the show. It's not going to happen. I wholeheartedly support that ship. Hell, if I wasn't on the show and was just a viewer, I would ship it, too."
"What did they say to that?"
"They said they would think about it and try to work out a statement that I would be agreeable to. But that's not even the worst of it…"
"Oh, God. What else?"
"Now that I'm divorced, they want to write it into my contract that I will show up to all show, studio, or network-sponsored events with a male date. I'm not even allowed to go stag."
"Gross. Can they even do that? That seems invasive."
"I don't know. I sent the contract to Victoria to look over. The studio has brilliant lawyers, though, so I doubt there's anything that's against the law in there. They always find some loophole so it doesn't get classified as discrimination. But, I'm hoping she can find something that will bring them down and give me ammunition to fight against it. They made Ingrid sign a similar thing as well, since she's single. And, they made her agree to never go to a lesbian-themed establishment while she works on the show, after that whole fiasco last summer with her friend's bachelorette party. They want me to agree to the same. And that I'm not to be seen in public in any situation that may be construed as a romantic event with another woman."
"Jesus."
"Yep."
"So…"
"Fuck them. I'm not signing it. Not like that. If they want me, they have to get rid of everything. They've owned me long enough, and I'm not going to let them continue dictating my personal life."
Emma couldn't help but smile. "You're amazing, Regina."
"Thanks, but I don't feel like I am. I never should have let them control me like this in the first place," she sighed. "If I would have had the strength to stand up to them back when they started slowly adding all these clauses into my contract, I could have avoided this whole thing. But, I was desperate for the job back then, and it was a great role. And I didn't know that I would ever be interested in being involved with a woman again…I truly thought the thing with Mal was a one-time thing, so it didn't seem like a big deal. It seemed like a small price to pay for an amazing opportunity."
"Yeah, but you're standing up to them now, and that's what matters," Emma said. "And, even though it sucks that they did that to you, it wasn't all bad. If it weren't for Gold's manipulation of your contract and personal life, you wouldn't have Henry and Roland. And you wouldn't have Robin."
"That's true. I wouldn't trade the boys for anything, or my friendship with Robin, even if it was all under false pretenses and orchestrated by other people," Regina conceded. It was a small silver lining to an otherwise horrible position.
"When do you have to sign the contract by?" Emma asked.
"They want all negotiations and finalized signatures by the end of next month. Upfronts are in mid-May, so they want the finalized cast in place by then, especially since a few of us would need to attend."
"Oh, good. That gives you some time, then, to figure things out."
"Yeah…"
"Regina, what's going on?" Emma asked, sensing that there was more to the story.
"I just don't know what to do. This is maybe the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life."
"If they would remove those stipulations from your contract, would you want to come back?"
"I think so. It's risky, because the show has been on for eight years. The writing is still mostly strong, but it has hit some bumps along the way. I did ask them what the plan is for next year, and they have a really interesting character arc planned for me. I'd like to see it play out. And, I don't know what I would do if I weren't on the show, you know? I've already missed pilot season, because Gold and Company kept me particularly busy through the typical audition period. He made it impossible for me to go to anything in-person, and I was too exhausted to film something myself to send it in. But at the same time, I've been playing this same woman for eight years. I feel ready to do something else, creatively."
"It sounds like there's a lot to think about. But, you're amazing, Regina. Even if you decide to leave, you'll find something else. You're so talented."
"I love you," Regina said.
"I love you, too. Now, get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow."
"You will, and then it'll only be a few more weeks until you're stuck with me for a longer period of time."
"I know. What if I get sick of you?" Emma joked.
"You might. But, I'm just excited that this is the last short trip I have to make out there. After this visit, I just have two more weeks of filming and then we're done for the season. I'll get to be in Montréal full-time until I have to go on the convention tour at the end of April, and I'll only be in Europe for 10 days before I'm back. Then you'll be stuck with me for almost the entire summer, except a few random conventions here and there."
"I wish I could go with you to Paris and Rome."
"I know…me, too. And eventually you will. But I totally get that you have rehearsal for your show. And this time I'll actually be able to go see you. Gold can't change my schedule and make me miss it this time."
"You're going to make me nervous."
"What? Why? I've watched you dance before."
"I know, but I didn't know you were there. If I remember correctly, you didn't even buy a ticket and just snuck in at intermission," Emma teased.
"Damn right I did."
"But this time, I'll know you're there. And Killian will be, too. So much pressure."
"You'll be great, Emma. You always are."
"Thanks," she replied shyly.
"Okay, I really should go to bed. I have to be on set at 5 A.M tomorrow morning. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Can't wait. Goodnight, Regina."
"Goodnight, Emma."
A/N: The next chapter will reveal Regina's official coming out plans...it will likely take me awhile to finish writing it, because it will probably be long (or broken up into several chapters). I also need to update Second Chances and Silver Linings, since that story is quickly wrapping up and I need to finish it. I hope you enjoyed this update!