don't drown, old chum. there's sharks out
Regina Mills woke with a start, from a nightmare she couldn't remember.
She took steady breaths, sitting up in her bed, and waited for the irrational fear inside her to pass. Her eyes scanned her bedroom, everything just as she left it every night before. After a few moments, she heard the shrill beeping of her alarm clock, bright red numbers saying 6:00 a.m., just as it did every morning, so with a sigh she turned it off and pulled the blankets away, getting ready to start a new day.
Once dressed, picking out a professional—if not a bit boring—pant suit, full of greys and an uneventful white blouse, she walked through the upstairs hallway, pausing briefly at the door of an empty room. Well, not empty, but filled with nothing that mattered to the mayor. Just clutter and storage, and she thought, as she often did, that the room could have purpose. Potential and promise, if only she could think of one single thing to do with it. With a sigh, she walked on, making her way downstairs for a small breakfast and a generous amount of coffee. It was Monday, the start of the work week, so Regina knew she would need it.
Life in Storybrooke was pretty predictable, but the Mayor liked the routine. Sometimes she felt as if it was the only control she had here, everything flowing on its own. The people in this town all having their own agenda's and motives, and her title was the only reason why she intersected with any of them. Meeting after meeting, of politician smiles and attempts of throwing wool over her eyes. Budget cuts for this group, tax breaks for another. The red tape could make a person feel helpless to make any kind of real difference, but at least she had the routine.
Speaking of which, the last meeting before lunch came and went, and she gathered her briefcase and coat, making her way out just a little before noon. She opted for walking, as she usually did on Mondays, if weather permitted. She took her time not to look rushed, as she passed by the select townspeople that were out as well. Polite and curt smiles and nods, given and usually received, as she neared her destination of the police station. She looked at the entrance, feeling an annoyed sort of dread creep up, but with a sigh, the mayor went on, opening the doors with determination.
Once she entered the station, she saw the Sheriff inside the inner office, busy on the phone. Regina made her way over, past the desks and only paused for a moment to glace back at the two one-person cells along the wall. Both were empty, and it was no surprise to her, not really, though something caused her to pause. Just a moment, taking in a deep breath.
The scent of a perfume hit her faintly. Something sharp and imitating fruit, like a sweet poison. Nothing physical was lingering with the scent, but it struck her none the less, causing a shiver to run down her spine, before Regina shook off the feeling and ignored that odd and particular smell. The mayor looked away from the jail bars and walked to the office door, knocking lightly before opening it and slipping in, as the Sheriff finished up the phone call at her arrival.
"Sheriff." Regina gave as a professional greeting, causing David Nolan to look over with a smirk and a wandering eye, scanning her from head to toe.
"Mayor Mills." He replied, the professionalism not transferring well in his tone while he straightened up from his slouching position as he sat on the outside edge of his desk. "What do I owe the pleasure?"
"Same as every Monday." The older woman gave with a sigh, looking around his office absently, nothing really catching her eye, but she preferred it over making eye contact with him. "I'm here for the weekly budget report. You have it ready, don't you?"
"Of course." Regina looked over to him at that, as he made no move to get the report, or really to do anything but sit there on top his desk, watching her with a smirk. "I'm very efficient at my job, Regina."
She almost corrected him, insisting on being called Mayor Mills when it was during work hours, but the confrontation wasn't something she wanted, nor the innuendo he would most likely bring into it. Looking away again with a slight eye roll, her sight caught on the cells outside his office.
"Did you have someone in the cells last night?" She asked absently, not really knowing why she even said it.
"What?" David seemed just as confused by the question.
"I'm just curious." Regina looked back at him and for the first time today, saw his face cleared from arrogance and replaced with confusion. Then he chuckled lightly.
"Would you like weekly copies of my arrest reports as well? I could send over security camera footage, if you'd like to watch me do hours of paperwork." His tone was a bit offended, and she scoffed with a smirk, attempting to lighten the mood.
"And deprive you of the pleasure? We all know how much you enjoy watching yourself, David."
That certainly lightened his mood, his grin full force as he out stretched his arms slightly.
"Who can argue with the view?" All the mayor could do was shake her head at his predictability. "The wife wants to know if you're coming for dinner Friday."
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Regina shrugged as she asked.
"I don't know. Hot date?" His leer and wagging eyebrows marked an end to this conversation, or at least Regina's willingness to participate.
"The weekly budget report, please." She reached out her hand, her patience wearing away with the passing seconds, until finally David turned his shoulders to look over at the desk behind him, shuffling some papers and grabbing the report that was already ready in its envelope. He flexed his arms as he moved to draw attention to a physique that of course Regina had noticed, she just didn't care nearly as much as David thought she should. He was attractive, just as he knew he was, though if his arrogance wasn't a turn off in itself, Regina's fear of retaliation from David's wife would seal the deal.
"I can always just fax it, you know." He said as if there was some hidden reason for her visit, and there was, but that reason wasn't what he always seemed to assume, with the way his eyes lingered on her longer than what was appropriate. She took the file from his hand and placed it in her briefcase, finally looking up to meet his gaze.
"I enjoy the fresh air." Her voice held a tense professionalism and a smile that was faked easily. David only grinned back like a fool, causing Regina to resist the urge to roll her eyes.
After she left, the Mayor walked down to the diner for her lunch break, just as she did every week day. Kathryn, David's wife and the town treasurer, was already there, at the table they always sat at, a standing date between the two of them, one they've done every work day. She couldn't remember how it started, work meetings blending into idle chit chat, and forming a friendship…of sorts. Their dynamic always felt strained in one way or another, at least to Regina. She always felt as if she had to be weary of what she said, always keep that politician mask close at hand, with the way Kathryn's eyes would search for a crack in the mayor's shield.
Still though, she did enjoy her lunches with Kathryn. The routine calmed her. It allowed the breath to flow easily through the mayor's lungs.
The same chime of the diner door, the same few patrons in their regular seats, and Regina saw her friend sitting at the same booth, one towards the back. The city treasurer was still settling into her spot, obviously not arriving much earlier than the other woman, as she went over and greeted her, hello's and pleasantries exchanged. As Regina sat down, she pulled the budget report out of her briefcase, handing it over to the blonde.
The head waitress Ruby, came over to take their order, Kathryn never sparing a glance at her, but Regina smiled politely as always, and as always it was never returned. Just bored and disinterested eyes on her note pad as she wrote down what she wrote down every day. A Cobb salad and a glass of grapefruit juice, and for the mayor;
"Coffee, black."
Ruby barely managed a nod as she turned and strolled back to the diner counter.
"You're skinny enough." Kathryn said, still preoccupied with looking over the report, and the other woman rolled her eyes in response.
"You're one to talk." The blonde smiled slyly at that, as Regina waited patiently for her to finish looking for whatever she was looking for, never taking long, with expert eyes scanning every expense. She had a knack for numbers, always saying that it was all money was, numbers and math.
Finally, the report was placed in her own satchel, when their orders were placed in front of them.
"So how did David seem?" Kathryn asked innocently, pretending to be preoccupied with her salad, and it caused Regina's eyebrow to arch.
"Very much like someone who doesn't need me to check up on him once a week."
"I just worry about him." The blonde said with a sigh.
"You don't trust him."
"Tomato, tah-mato." She dismissed with a wave of her hand. Then one hand rested under her chin, looking wistful, but it hardly looked convincing to Regina. "He's been distant lately."
"That doesn't mean he's in someone else's bed." Regina tried to offer, lifting her coffee cup up, and blowing into it before taking a sip.
"Have you met a man before, sweetie?" She asked with a patronizing infliction. It was one of Kathryn's favorite ways to talk to Regina, and the other woman had gotten used to it over time. Mostly. "If they aren't getting it at home, they're getting it somewhere."
"He's a harmless flirt, that's all…" She said with a shake of her head, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Does he harmlessly flirt with you, Regina?"
The brunette's stomach sunk at the cold tone that suddenly froze over Kathryn's voice. The mayor looked back to her to see the smile gone, and a warning in the woman's eyes.
"No, of course not…" Wide brown eyes insisted, as she stumbled over what she could say to appease the sudden tension. "I'm only—I'm trying to help."
"Then help." With a sudden smile, all signs of upset was gone from the blonde's face and voice. "What did he say?"
She sighed in response, which only made the other woman bare teeth a bit in her smile. "He asked about dinner on Friday, and then gave me the report." Another sip of her coffee down, and she contemplated how long she would have to draw out this cup of coffee, before it was appropriate to get the hell out of this diner. "He's a little suspicious about why I keep getting it in person." Regina went on, tracing the rim of her cup.
"Suspicious, as in guilty?"
"I'm not your spy Kathryn." There was annoyance in her tone, because her tolerance for this domestic nonsense had a limit. She never did understand it, as if Kathryn actually fed off of the idea of affairs and scandal. Even if they were her own.
"We're friends dear, that means you're whatever I want you to be."
Regina really didn't like how casual Kathryn's degrading tone was getting, and today was a day that it rubbed her in all the wrong ways, brown eyes shot up in a glare that she didn't intend, but she could feel her features contort into something cold and challenging. The sheriff's wife dismissed it though, with a scoff and a wave of her hand, never seeing Regina as a challenge.
"Oh come on, I'm just teasing." Picking at her salad a little more, she coyly looked up at her, trying to feign innocence. "You know, I would be pleasantly distracted from the disaster of my marriage, if I had something else to focus on…" The trailing off of the sentence caused a playful eye roll from the mayor, as she grabbed her briefcase and coat.
"I'm leaving."
"Like maybe you actually going out on a date. With a human." The blonde continued, even as Regina made herself busy putting her coat on.
"As opposed to what? The giraffe I had dinner with last week?" A smirk settled on her lips as a sneer settled on the Katheryn's.
"Look at you. Almost making a joke."
Regina sighed, collecting her things and took a moment to soften her features at her friend. Not wanting to leave on a tense note.
"I have to get back to work." And with a nod from the treasurer, she turned and made her way out, almost out of hearing range before the other woman gave a parting shot.
"Don't you ever get lonely?" Katheryn asked with an exasperated sigh, but Regina didn't acknowledge, staying silent and kept walking.
[]
"Do you ever get lonely?"
The girl asked, her dress pristine and white, ruffles and pearls that looked out of place with her pink cheeks and wild hair. Always putting flowers in them, because they were just so beautiful, she wanted them for herself.
"Being Queen," She clarified, because the older woman didn't answer, only stood with her back to her, looking out onto a vast land of fields and villages, high up on the balcony of the castle's tower. "If I am to be one someday, I wish to know what it's like…"
The girl walked closer to the Queen, mindful of her dress, standing up a little straighter as she strode, to match the regal women's stiff and rigid stance.
"If you ever feel alone."
She reached out to the unmoving figure, an uneasiness filling her that quickly turned to fear. Once her pale fingertips brushed the other woman's shoulder, cracks started to appear and spread, so quickly that all it took was one gasp from her before the Queen's form—or what looked so clearly as such—started to tumble and fall to the floor, turning to nothing but dust.
To ash.
And she was left standing there, alone.
[]
Regina Mills woke with a start, from a nightmare she couldn't remember.