AN: Thank you guys so much for all the awesome feedback. I truly appreciate it, and even though this story is a bit different and odd, I hope you guys stick with it. There's some fun stuff that comes up in the future chapters lol. Thanks again, and enjoy!
you'll lose your mind, always leaving it in the gutter like that.
It was late when Regina was driving home from the cemetery. The sun had come down hours ago, so she paid extra attention to the abandoned stretch of road she was on. Heavy woods surrounded both sides of the two lane road, making her stay vigilant for deer darting out in front of her, or other wild animals.
Or people walking along the side of the road.
People like looked just like M.
Regina slowed down instantly, passing by the girl walking along gravel and grass, sure that she was just imagining things. But it was her, the call girl that kept showing herself up in the mayor's life. Maneuvering the terrain in black heels that were at least not stilettos, and at the very least she was wearing a coat. Something that was more decorative than practical, white, with a fur collar. Though, the black mini skirt gave no hopes for Regina that the girl wouldn't catch hypothermia. She would have to ask M what her secret was to not freezing to death. Though perhaps it wasn't a subject that was appropriate to bring up to someone who was so quick to give innuendo.
Regina realized that she was slowing down to an actual stop, a little ways ahead of the woman walking, and she had to actually give herself a moment to come up with a single damn reason why. And even if all her half-excuses didn't sound too convincing in her own head, she could just leave her out here. It wasn't right, regardless of M's occupation.
After a few moments of the mayor glancing out her back window, the younger woman strolled leisurely up to her passenger side window, and Regina rolled it down for her. She leaned down, her breath showing and then disappearing once the heat of the car hit her face. M flashed white teeth at her in a smile, while she smacked away at her gum.
"Mayor Mills." She greeted, almost like she had caught the mayor's hand in a cookie jar. "We got to stop meeting like this."
Regina hardened her expression a bit, because nothing ever seemed to phase this girl, nothing bothering her or interested her any more than anything else. Like she was some kind of ghost or roaming curse, only existing to torment the mayor. And that bothered Regina.
"What are you doing out here?" She snapped a bit, and already felt heat grow on her cheeks because of it.
"My ride bailed on me." M shrugged disinterested, but then a little spark did flash in her green eyes. "What are you doing out here? Mayoral business?" The tone was dubious.
"Visiting my father's grave." Regina made sure to clarify. Then she glanced over her shoulder, before leaning down a bit to get a better look at the other woman. "You shouldn't be walking out here this late."
Just a simple show of mayoral concern caused the other woman to grin ear to ear, crossing her arms on the passenger side window sill, moving to lean into the car as if it was the most comfortable thing in the world.
She chewed her gum a few times more, mouth open and a bit obnoxious.
"You wanna give me a ride?" It was all insinuation, and Regina's head got a bit fuzzy at the question. That and the faint smell of perfume that followed M into the space of the Mercedes, like a coming storm. It took a moment to realize that the younger woman was waiting for a real answer, real words to form in the mayor's mouth, so she broke eye contact and looked out onto the road, debating.
There was nothing wrong with it—she wouldn't be doing anything wrong just taking someone up the road a few miles. Regina didn't even have to take her into town.
"Come on, no one's around." A teasing tone, and the mayor could actually feel the smirk without turning to face her. "No one will know."
"Okay, get in." She sighed, unlocking the doors and the other woman wasted no time to get out of the night air and into the warm car.
"You're a sweetheart." M said a bit breathlessly as she settled in the seat, and turning towards Regina, watching her with a satisfied little smile, and making no attempt to put her seatbelt on. She wouldn't be able to drive with M just staring at her like that.
"You know, we have a cab service in town." The older woman blurted out randomly, gripping tight at her steering wheel, hands at ten and two. "You should have called them. If you have problems with them picking you up, I'll make sure to remind them of the discrimination laws that are in place—" M put her hand up to stop the awkward conversation starter that was turning into a rant.
"Whoa, it's cool." She chuckled a bit, running her hand through the short layered mess that was spiked on the top of her head. "I just didn't have any cash on me, otherwise I would've. It's been a slow week." M said with a shrug, completely used to being without any funds at all, but Regina couldn't even imagine, not even having something for emergencies. Living off of what you get week by week, or in M's case, hour by hour.
Another sigh from the older woman, and she grabbed the shift gear, her leg getting tired from firmly holding the brake, so the Mercedes idled in park as Regina reached in the back seat, behind the passenger seat—behind where M was watching her like a hawk, and it was starting to cause a flair of anxiety to rise. She made quick work of grabbing her purse though, not wanting there to be any miscommunication between the two of them for how close their bodies shifted by the action.
It was an awkward silence that stretched between them as Regina had her purse in her lap, rummaging through the wallet and grabbing all the cash in it. This is ridiculous, she thought over and over again, aware that M was gaining a hold over her, because she was shoving a folded handful of bills towards her that was close to 300 dollars, and the younger woman hadn't asked for a single thing.
"…here." Regina mumbled, and M smiled bigger, and slowly—so damn slowly—took the money from her hand, glancing at it to estimate the amount.
"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be." She shoved the money in her jacket pocket, looked back at the mayor expectantly with an arched eyebrow. "So, what's your pleasure? What's your kink, huh?" The older woman's eyes grew wide at the question. "Try to shock me."
"No." The protesting word was repeated a few more times by Regina, just for good measure. "That's just something to get you back on your feet."
Good intentions, healing wounds, all those things Regina kept thinking about over and over. There was still nothing wrong with this. She was parked on the side of the road, and she just gave money to a prostitute, but really, this was still appropriate.
M hummed a bit in consideration, tilting her head slightly and looked at the mayor for a long moment, before taking the money back out of her pocket. She placed it gently in the car visor above her head before gaining eye contact back.
"I don't take handouts."
The mayor scoffed at that, obviously offended.
"It's not a hand out. You can pay me back."
"I don't do debts either." She shrugged, and looked out of the front of the windshield, but still not making any attempt to leave the car. "Don't like owing people anything."
"Just—…" Regina didn't really have a retort for the simplistic and final way of denying her generosity. "Take the money."
Finally the green eyes shifted back to her, both woman facing each other again, and M's face was serious and calm, and it was terribly distracting.
"I know you like me." Regina almost scoffed again, but she was interrupted with a confident raise of the girl's eyebrow. "I can tell." A sigh feigning disinterest and a shift in her seat brought M's body closer to the mayor's. "Why not make this official, then you can give me as much money as you want. You can give me your school ring, for all I care." Her voice was getting lower, more dangerous, setting Regina's face on fire. There was no way the mayor would admit such a thing—such a need, for such a girl.
So her denial conflicted with her truth, and she opened her mouth, a few times, sputtered a few false starts to empty sentences, and stumbled over her words. All the while M waited patiently, that calm still over her face. It felt vast to look at, like the sight of an ocean or the stars in the sky.
Regina gave up pretty quickly, letting silence settle between them, and it was more of a confession than actual words.
"It's okay, you can talk to me…" Then her lips started to curl up. "I'm a good listener."
"You remind me of someone." Regina whispered after spending too long staring into those green eyes that looked glossed over and covered in too much eyeliner. But the green. That was ocean and stars. Something bright and real, when everything else felt dim and blurry—the daily routines she held onto so tightly, it was safe, and Regina thought that she liked safe. Nothing about M's lazy smirk was safe, and still she was so drawn to this girl.
"I remind people of a lot of someone's." She responded softly, but there was such strength and confidence in the words, that it sounded condescending. When she shifted in her seat to lean more towards the mayor, the older woman tensed at the action. "Who was she?" M managed to actually sound curious as she studied Regina's conflicted features that grew frustrated. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, looking out the front window of her Mercedes.
"I don't…" A small sigh let out of her lungs. "I don't know." Regina was only going to spare a quick glance back at the younger woman, but those sleepy eyes suddenly looked interested, suddenly had a bit of a gleam in them. It made her gaze linger, until it stuck and there was nothing the Mayor could do about it. "But when I look at you, I feel like she could be real."
Like a missing piece of something Regina couldn't see. Something terrifying and frustrating, like pain and anger and obsession. She only felt it's lacking in her when she looked at M.
The call girl leaned in a bit, studying the other woman's features curiously, and it wasn't until the smell of mint gum engulfed Regina's senses did she realize how close M was to her. The older woman's eyes flickered down to her lips.
"Take me somewhere." It was low and deep the way she asked, rumbling like vibrations to Regina's ears, and it was just a little desperate too. Just a little. Barely enough to notice. She looked away from M, because she forgot how to breathe, and she felt like she was getting lost in those eyes.
"I can't—"
Her words were cut off by a sharp gasp when the other woman leaned in to brush her lips against the Mayor's ear.
"We can make her real."
Now she really couldn't breathe, taking in short and shallow gasps, because it was too much. Something about this was just too much of everything, but she didn't even know what any of that even meant. But it was a feeling of being overwhelmed—of being submerged and succumbed. There was also something deeper like a hidden thought or memory that Regina didn't like, because it felt dark and wrong, and the way M sounded when she whispered into her ear, only made it grow stronger.
"We can make her whatever you want her to be."
And then the girl's hand rested right above her knee,
Dark and wrong things, dirty things, and things she never knew she wanted—things Regina didn't even like—crept its way closer to the surface, as her eyes closed and legs opened and red nails moved up her inner thigh.
"It's been awhile." The words were choked out and stumbled on, because it was hard to breathe when she was focused on the feeling of fingertips and nails, the goosebumps rising on her thighs, and clenching in her stomach.
"It's okay…" She whispered, breath hitting the Mayor's neck, causing a pressure to build dense and tight in her lower stomach. "I'll go slow…"
Regina felt nails scrape at the suddenly damp cloth between her legs, and it took her hands digging into the side of her seat to keep from jerking her hips at the action. There had to be some focus on her breathing, or else the mayor was going to hyperventilate. So, with a considerable amount of effort, she took a deep breath and started to shift her hips lower on the seat, spreading her legs. Her eyes just about the close, when the quick flash of headlights shined through the back window of the car.
Fear gripped Regina at the sudden light of the quickly passing car. Her body tensed and legs closed, M reading the body language well enough to pull away from her, going back to her side of the car. The mayor watched the retreating car, praying they didn't turn around and see why there was a car pulled over in the middle of the woods. She prayed it wasn't Katheryn or David, but the tail lights of the car kept getting more and more distant until they were gone altogether.
She heard M sigh next to her.
"Look, I hate to ruin a good thing before it starts, but time's money, you know?" Her voice suddenly took on a very obviously disinterested and bored tone, which took the mayor aback. "And everyone's got bills to pay."
Just as the younger woman grabbed the door handle of the car, Regina spoke suddenly and little too loudly.
"Wait—…" She cringed once she heard how desperate she sounded, but Regina didn't like the sudden sting of rejection from the other woman. She didn't like it at all. M did wait though, looking back at her. "Let me take you home." The mayor whispered now, suddenly very aware of her words and what she was saying.
Another shrug from the call girl and another sting to Regina's pride.
"No handouts, remember? I'll walk."
Her hand gripped M's arm when she turned away from her again. She didn't grab the woman hard, but it was firm enough to get her attention back, and when M looked down at her hand touching her, Regina was reminded of Whale doing the same thing to her, and it caused the older woman to jerk her arm back as if she was burned.
Still though, the girl lingered, watching her.
"No, let me take you home with me." Regina clarified, almost mumbling the words, and not keeping eye contact. But she did see M's lazy smirk go back on her face, after what seemed like an eternity. Then she was settling back in the passenger seat, waiting for the mayor and watching her with those green eyes the whole way back to the mansion.