Hey guys!
Thanks again for all the positive feedback on the last chapter! I'm really glad you guys dig this story. A few people noted that I've accidentally swapped Ruby and Belle's names a couple of times, so my apologies for that. I'll try to proof read a little more thoroughly from now on.
Without further ado, here's Chapter 3! :)
1.55pm
Emma was packing her notebook away after a long lecture on famous French sculptors of the 1700's when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Ruby smiling down at her.
"Hey!" She said brightly.
"What do you want Ruby?" Emma replied rudely, turning back to gather her things.
"Jeez, what crawled up your ass this morning?" She answered annoyedly, folding her arms. Emma glared up at her, then stood up so they were eye level.
"You know exactly why I'm pissed at you." She glowered.
"What? Because of the other night? Oh, come on! Lighten up, it was just a bit of fun!" She said defensively.
"No. You knew exactly what you were doing, and you knew Belle would get upset." Emma said angrily.
"Oh please, I didn't think she would run off crying over a stupid kiss. And besides, she had to face her feelings sometime, right?" She replied with a hint of attitude. Emma sighed.
"Look, Ruby. It really wasn't your place to get involved. I don't know what exactly you were trying to prove, but whatever. Belle and I are fine, so if you could just butt out of my love life, I would greatly appreciate it." She said sarcastically, preparing to move past her.
"Hey! Look, I'm sorry okay? Maybe it was a little mean. I'm sorry." She said defeatedly, unfolding her arms and reaching out to Emma.
"It's Belle you should be apologising to, not me." She replied, shrugging away from Ruby's touch.
"Okay, okay! I'll apologise to her next time I see her." She pouted.
"Good."
"So, are we still on for my tutoring session tomorrow?" Ruby asked flirtatiously. Emma sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Yeah, I guess. 5 o'clock in the library, right?"
"Right… Where's the library again?" She asked confusedly. Emma had to hold back a laugh, remembering the comment Professor Mills had made in her office.
"Um, across from the English building."
"Right, got it. See you then!" She said with a wink, disappearing up the stairs and out the door.
Emma leant down to grab her bag and noticed Professor Mills smirking at her. She felt her breath run short at the sight of the Professor looking at her. She was wearing a tight black dress that clung to every curve of her delectable figure. Emma couldn't help but run her eyes over the Professor appreciatively.
"Trouble in paradise?" She asked. Emma let out a short laugh. She paused, regarding the professor with a sheepish grin.
"Are you going to make a habit of listening in on all my private conversations?" She asked mock sarcastically.
"Well, they're becoming rather difficult to ignore. Especially when you have them three feet away from my desk." She answered with raised brow.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Emma sighed. "Ruby can be kind of an asshole."
"Need to know?" The professor asked.
"Probably." Emma nodded with a small smile. "She did ask me where the library was though." Emma marvelled at the sound of rich laughter that erupted from her professors throat. God, she was sexy.
"Why am I not surprised?" She smiled knowingly, holding Emma's gaze for a moment. "How is your research coming along?" She continued.
"Oh, good actually! I think I have some stuff that may be of use."
"Did you ask your mother about those books?"
"I called her, yeah. She's in Paris for the weekend so she won't be able to give me a definite list until tomorrow. Sorry."
"That's not a problem. Paris, huh? How lovely. I love Paris." The professor smiled, her eyes wandering.
"Me too." Emma smiled. "Yeah, my mom travels a lot."
"What does she do?" She asked interestedly, perching on the end of her desk.
"She owns an art gallery in my hometown."
"Ah, so that's where you get it from." She smiled knowingly. Emma smiled back.
"Yeah, she's kind of my biggest inspiration." Emma laughed. "Sorry, that sounds so lame."
"Not at all. I think it's lovely that you have such a close bond with your mother. She sounds like an interesting woman."
"Yeah, she's something alright." Emma sighed. She thought she detected a momentary flicker of sadness in the Professors eyes, but it was gone so quickly she disregarded it.
"Anyway, I'll see you tonight? 5 o'clock?" Emma smiled, picking up her backpack.
"5 o'clock." The professor confirmed, returning to her things.
Emma walked out of the lecture hall, smiling contentedly to herself. Excited at the prospect of spending an evening with the professor.
4.55pm
Emma took a deep breath and opened the door to Professor Mills' office, she was immediately greeted by 5 pairs of eyes staring back at her. She paused, slightly taken aback, then lifted her wrist to look at her watch.
"Am I late?" She asked, panicking slightly.
"No. Everyone else was just early." Professor Mills stated, regarding her with that alluring smirk she seemed to save just for her.
"Oh, okay." She replied nervously, walking over to where everyone was seated. She glanced to the side of the room and noticed a lone chair, walking over tentatively she picked it up and placed it next to a pretty Asian girl, who regarded her with a small smile. Emma smiled back, sitting down.
"Right then. Now that everyone is here I thought we'd begin with each of you giving a short presentation of your weeks research findings. This is Emma's first evening with us so I want her to hear about some the topics we've been pursuing and their relevancy to the book." Everyone glanced over at Emma, who smiled nervously in response.
"Okay, Mr. Hood. You may go first." The professor stated, sitting down and putting on her thick, black reading glasses. Damn she looked hot in those glasses Emma thought absentmindedly, staring at her. The professors eyes flickered to her momentarily and she saw the corners of her mouth turn up slightly.
Mr. Hood, or 'Robin', gave a short presentation on his findings in Will Durant's book 'The Renaissance.' An obvious choice, thought Emma. But he spoke eloquently, and approached the book with clear and thought-provoking insight, stating it's relevancy to the project at hand. He was good, Emma noted. The rest of the meeting went on very much the same, with everyone standing up and giving their presentations. The pretty Asian girl, 'Mulan' was her name, had given an impressive, passionate review of H.H Arnason's 'A History of Modern Art', her critical analysis of abstract sculpture was inspired. She was obviously the most knowledgable of the group. Emma smiled at her as she sat back down, she shyly returned the smile, tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear.
"Emma?"
She glanced up at the sound of her name to find the Professor waiting expectantly.
"Mm?" She responded, having been slightly distracted by the pretty brunette.
"Let's see what you've got." The professor said with a smirk, taking her reading glasses off and resting her chin on her knuckles.
"Oh, right, sure." Emma stammered, fumbling with the zipper on her backpack before pulling out a tatty and obviously very old book. Professor Mills glanced at the book with intrigue.
"So, uh… I found this in a really old book shop in Florence last year. And it's uh… Well it's pretty incredible really. It's about the life of this guy called Luciano Del Sarto, who was at the centre of the Italian art scene in the mid to late 1400's. Apparently this guy was close friends with all the greats. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Titian, Raphael… he knew them all. He spoke to them regularly about their work, their inspiration, their lives, and he wrote this book about the things they confided in him. Some of the stuff in here is pretty crazy."
"May I see that?" Professor Mills interrupted, extending a hand towards the book.
"Oh yeah, sure." Emma said, handing it over. The professor opened the book and flicked through a few pages, frowning.
"This is all in Italian." She stated.
"Well, yeah." Emma replied nervously.
"You read Italian?" She asked, glancing at her with intrigue.
"Yeah." She replied, holding her gaze. The professor was looking at her in a way that Emma couldn't quite put her finger on. She suddenly broke eye contact, turning the book to look at the front cover.
"Del Sarto?" She questioned. "I've never heard of him." Emma sighed.
"I know. No one has. When I asked the owner of the book shop about him she said she'd never heard of him. The only bit of information I've ever found on him was in a book about Da Vinci's life, where it said that he would often stay at Del Sarto's house in Florence for long periods of time, to work. Other than that, there's nothing."
"Can we really rely on the information in a book written by a man who basically didn't exist?" Robin scoffed from the other side of the group. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Well, he did exist because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to write this book." She said sarcastically, the rest of the group snickered. Robin glared at her.
"Yes, but there's nothing substantial out there about him, there's no proof that he was friends with any of those artists. How do we know anything he's saying in this book is true?" He argued.
"He has a point, Emma." The professor added, still glancing at the book. Robin looked over at Emma smugly. She felt an angry blush creep up her neck, but she wasn't going to show her disappointment.
"Well, there's proof that he was close to Da Vinci, and there's a lot of really interesting stuff about him in here. Stuff about his life and the inspiration for his work that I've never read elsewhere." She said. Professor Mills glanced up at her.
"Okay, Emma. I'll give it a chance. If you bring me some translated extracts that you think could be of use, I'll certainly look them over."
Robin huffed and slunk back into his chair. Emma smiled triumphantly and sat back down.
7pm
"Okay everyone, I think we can adjourn for the evening. You're all excused." The professor said, placing her reading glasses back on her nose and going through the papers on her desk.
Emma was gathering her things when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Mulan smiling down at her.
"Hey, don't worry about Robin. He's a pompous ass who thinks he knows everything. He can't stand his intellect being challenged." She said, looking over at him warily.
"Believe me, I am not about to be intimidated by a guy who uses that much hair gel." She replied. Mulan giggled. Emma glanced up at her. "I thought your presentation was really great. You obviously know your stuff." She said smilingly.
"Thanks." The brunette replied, blushing slightly. "You too. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical when Professor Mills told us she'd recruited a freshman for the project. I mean, that's practically unheard of. She's insanely selective when it comes to the students she works with, and even if she does pick you it's basically impossible to please her. But listening to you talk today. I mean, wow…" She smiled, Emma smiled back embarrassedly. "She was definitely right to pick you, and it's weird… I think she actually likes you, which is crazy because she doesn't like anyone. She actually looked interested in what you had to say… Honestly, at one point, he looked so pissed I thought Robin's head was going to explode." She laughed. Emma was trying to fight back the grin that was threatening to take over her face. Wow. She thought. Did Professor Mills really like her that much? She tried not to read too much into it. "And I thought that book sounded really interesting, I'd love to read it… You know, if it was in English." Mulan finished.
"Well, I could translate the really juicy bits for you, if you wanted? Maybe over coffee sometime?" She asked. Mulan looked up at her, blushing.
"Really?" She asked. Emma nodded. "Yeah, I would like that." She replied with a shy smile. "It's so cool that you know Italian. My parents always pushed me to speak a third language, but I was never into it." She continued.
"What other language do you speak?" Emma asked interestedly.
"Chinese." She smiled.
"Well, that's pretty impressive. I don't think I could ever learn Chinese."
"Well it's pretty easy when you learn it from birth." She shrugged, smiling. Emma laughed softly.
"Yeah, that does give you a slight advantage." She replied.
"Anyway, I better head off. Lots of work to do." She sighed. "It was nice to meet you, I'll see you around."
"See you." Emma smiled after her as she walked away. She had just begun packing her things away when she heard Robin's voice over by Professor Mills' desk. She paused for a moment to listen.
"Hey, so Regina. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to grab a coffee sometime?" He asked nervously, his hands shoved into his pockets. She looked up at him slowly with a raised eyebrow. He took a hand out of his pocket and reached up to rub the back of his neck.
"Uhh… um… I mean so we could go over some of the research together. You know but uhh… just the two of us and uh, with, uh… coffee?" He attempted.
"I hardly think that would be appropriate Mr. Hood. And it's Professor Mills." She replied with a deadpan tone, returning to the notes on her desk.
"No, of course not. You're right. Sorry Professor." He stuttered. Turning on his heel and rushing out of the room as quickly as he could. Emma was smirking to herself as he brushed past her, the tips of his ears bright pink.
"Ouch." Emma said, still packing away her things.
"It seems you're not the only one with co-ed crush problems, Ms. Swan." The professor replied nonchalantly.
"Apparently." Emma smirked. The brunette glanced up at her with a small smile.
"The book." She said. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not intrigued. I would very much like to read it."
"I can lend it to you." Emma offered, reaching to unzip her backpack.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, I can't read Italian." She stated. Emma paused.
"Ah." She said. "Well… I could come back here anytime and read through it with you. Maybe not the whole thing, but the bits which I think you would find interesting." She offered.
"I couldn't ask you to give up any more of your time for me, Ms. Swan." She retorted.
"I don't mind. Honestly, I would feel bad if you had to live your life never knowing what was in this book." She replied, holding it up tauntingly.
"That good, huh?" The professor smirked.
"Oh, yeah. There's some serious juice in these pages." She answered with a wink. The professor laughed. Again with that laugh thought Emma.
"Alright, Ms. Swan. I'll take you up on your offer. How does Thursday evening sound to you?" Emma tried to recall if she had any plans on Thursday. Even if she did, she would have cancelled them.
"Sure, Thursday works for me. We could grab a coffee?" Emma asked seriously, then laughed when she saw her Professor's raised brow.
"I'm kidding." She said, holding out her hands out in defence.
"Very funny Ms. Swan." The professor replied with a roll of her eye. "Be here for 6pm, okay?"
"Sure thing. See you later." She called, turning to walk out of the office.
"Goodbye, Emma." The professor smiled after her. Shaking her head as she closed the door. That girl was certainly something. She thought to herself.
5.05pm
Every eye in the library turned to Ruby as she bounded towards Emma, wearing a tiny vest and even tinier shorts, sipping on an iced latte. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, Em!" She said brightly, reaching down to give her a hug.
"Hey, Ruby. You ready?" She asked, reluctantly returning the hug.
"I just got here, can't we chill for a sec?" She frowned.
"You asked me to help you study." Emma stated, gesturing to the books laid out on the table.
"Fine." She huffed, plopping into her seat and glancing round the room.
"I hate it in here, it's so quiet" She sulked.
"It's a library…" Emma replied, frowning slightly.
"Yeah, but there's like, 0 positive energy in here. Serious negative vibes." She replied, Clueless style. Emma couldn't help the smirk that formed on her lips.
"So." She said, turning to Emma whilst sucking seductively on her straw. "What have you got for me?"
6.25pm
They were flicking through a book of famous Italian Renaissance paintings, pausing every so often to analyse particular details. Ruby was leaning in as close to Emma as physically possible. Every time she attempted to move away, Ruby scooted even closer, so she gave up trying. Ruby was rubbing her leg against Emma's and brushing over her hand every few page turns, Emma knew she was doing it on purpose, but tried to ignore it.
"Why are all these chicks so ugly? Like, why couldn't these people find any hot chicks to draw?" Ruby asked, wrinkling her nose. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Well, they didn't have Sephora and YouTube make-up tutorials back then." She said sarcastically. Ruby snorted.
"Yeah, right. Even highlighter and contour couldn't save these trolls." Emma laughed. Ruby was shallow, but she had her humorous moments.
"I'm bored." She huffed. "Can we talk about something else for a while?"
"Ruby, you asked me to help you study." Emma reasoned.
"I know, but we've been studying for like, forever now. I already feel way smarter, so can we just take a little break? Please?" She pouted. Emma sighed and closed the book.
"Fine, we might as well finish now anyway. What do you want to talk about?" She asked, running a hand through her hair.
"Are you seeing anyone?" Ruby asked suggestively. She certainly doesn't waste any time. Thought Emma.
"No, not right now." She said carefully.
"Do you like anyone?" She asked, grinning sexily. Emma detected a hint of hopefulness in her expression.
"No. I'm not really interested in dating anyone right now." She stated plainly. Ruby frowned.
"Why not?" She asked disappointedly.
"Because I'm not." Emma shrugged.
"What about sex?" Ruby asked casually. Emma choked slightly.
"What about it?" She replied.
"Are you fucking anyone?" She asked directly. Emma could feel a blush rising up her neck.
"No, Ruby. I'm not 'fucking' anyone, as you so eloquently put it." She said with a hint of annoyance. She didn't like people poking so obviously into her personal business.
"Well, I mean, like, you could be. You could have your pick of most of the girls on campus, so I just figured you'd be making the most of it." She shrugged. Emma sighed and ran a hand through her hair, Ruby watched as she did it.
"Honestly, I'm not good at relationships and no strings sex doesn't stay that way for long. In the end someone always wants more, and the other person, usually me, doesn't. So it ends up messy and there's always drama and I really don't need any drama in my life right now." She stated. Ruby nodded.
"I get it." She said. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"You do?" She asked.
"Of course. Sex always comes with drama, especially with girls, with all the feelings and emotions attached to it, it can get messy, fast. With guys, not so much." She shrugged. Emma stared incredulously at her for a moment. Ruby was actually making sense for once.
"But, I know a girl who would love to have sex with you, absolutely no strings attached." She added flirtatiously, running a finger across the back of Emma's hand. And, she's back. She thought, letting out a short laugh.
"Well if I'm ever in the mood for a booty call, I'll let you know." She said sarcastically, gathering up her things. Ruby huffed.
5.45pm
Emma was typing up the last of her translations for Professor Mills when she heard a knock at the door.
"It's open!" She called.
The door creeped open and Belle stepped into the room. Emma smiled, she hadn't seen her since that Friday night. Belle smiled back shyly.
"Hey, B. What's up?" Emma greeted her warmly.
"Hey, do you have a minute?" She asked.
"I was just about to head out. But I've got a few minutes until I'm officially late, so, shoot." She said, packing away her MacBook.
"Okay, um. I just wanted to say sorry for the other night." Emma's head snapped up.
"Belle, you do not have to apologise for that, ever." She said adamantly. Belle shrugged.
"I know, but it was all so stupid and I really don't want anything to come between our friendship." She replied.
"B, you're my best friend here. Nothing is gonna change that." Emma said earnestly. "Unless you like, went all American Pyscho and tried to axe me death or something." Belle giggled.
"No I don't think I've quite reached that level of insanity." She laughed.
"Good." Emma replied with a smile. "So we're cool?" She asked, walking over to Belle with outstretched arms.
"Totally." She replied, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck. "David and Elsa were pretty pissed that we ditched them though." She said, pulling back.
"Oh shit! I totally forgot about them." Emma cried, smacking her forehead. "I better text an apology."
"Don't worry, I told David what happened." She said. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really? When did you see Nolan?" She mused. Belle blushed slightly.
"Um, we kind of hung out all weekend, actually." She said shyly. Emma's eyes widened.
"Oh reaaaaally?" She replied with a grin.
"Yeah… He's a really good listener… We sat in his room and talked till like 3am on Saturday night." She said smiling.
"Just talking, huh?" Emma mocked, nudging Belle, who rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Yes, we just talked… But he asked me out." She said shyly.
"And did you say yes?" Emma asked.
"Maybe." Belle smiled knowingly.
"That's great B!" Emma cried, pulling Belle in for a tight hug. "That's so great, you guys are cute together." She smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so. I wasn't sure at first, but he kissed me a couple of times and it was really nice. So I thought, what the hell!" She laughed. Emma smiled.
"I'm really happy for you, B." She said softly.
"Thanks, Em" she replied, smiling shyly.
"Right, so I have to go. But we'll catch up one night this week, yeah? I want to hear all about this magical weekend." She grinned. Belle laughed.
"Shut up." She said embarrassedly. "Where are you going, anyway? Hot date?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Ha. I wish. I've got some stuff to go over with Professor Mills." She shrugged.
"Ah, wouldn't want to keep the Evil Queen waiting." Belle said with mock fear.
They both walked out of her room. "Actually, she's not so bad. She's actually pretty cool." Emma said whilst locking her door. Belle fake gasped.
"Is unattainable Emma hot for teacher?" She asked with a grin. Emma laughed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Hey, I'm not unattainable!" She said, slightly offended. Belle looked at her curiously.
"Oh my god, you're totally into her aren't you?" She said, grinning wildly.
"Shut up, I am not." Emma said, punching her lightly on the arm.
"Emma's got a crush, Emma's got a crush." Belle sang mockingly.
"I'm leaving now!" Emma said, walking away. Chuckling as Belle's mock singing echoed down the hall.
6pm
Emma knocked on the door to the professor's office.
"Come in." Came a voice from the other side.
Emma pushed open the door and peered round.
"Hey." She said softly.
"Hi." Came the response. The professor glanced up at her from the notes on her desk. Emma pushed the door open the rest of the way and held up two lattes.
"I thought since we couldn't go to the coffee, the coffee could come to us." She grinned. The professor stood up and took off her glasses.
"Oh my god. You're a saint." She said, reaching out to the cups. Emma laughed and handed one over to her. The professor grabbed it and took a long sip, moaning softly. Emma blushed slightly at the sound, feeling a familiar stirring in her core. Jesus, I need to get laid. She thought, quickly taking a sip of her own coffee to mask how turned on she was.
"Oh god, I needed that." The professor sighed.
"I could tell." Emma said flirtatiously, her eyebrows raised over her cup. She thought she detected a hint of a blush on the professors cheeks, but she quickly laughed it off and sat down.
"Shall we?" She said, motioning to the chair on the opposite side of her desk.
6.45pm
"Wow." The professor breathed, removing her glasses and leaning back in her chair. Emma had just finished translating one of the more scandalous exerts of the book. "This is… amazing stuff." She said, almost laughing, a twinkle in her eye.
"I know right." Emma grinned.
"Really, I can't thank you enough for agreeing to read this to me. It's incredible." She smiled. Emma smiled back shyly.
"It's really no problem Professor Mills."
"Regina."
"Hm?" Said Emma confusedly.
"Regina. You can call me Regina. But only when it's just the two of us. In class I'm Professor Mills, okay?" She stated.
"Oh, okay, sure… Regina." Emma replied, liking the way the name felt on her tongue.
"So, Ms. Swan. When did you learn Italian?" The professor asked with intrigue, resting her chin on her knuckles. Emma exhaled lightly.
"Well, I learned a little here and there from visits with my mom. We'd go maybe once a year, she was fluent of course. And when I decided I was going to travel Europe last year I made an effort to learn the languages of the places I was visiting. My mom helped me, and by the end of my time there I was fluent."
"Places? Plural?" She asked. "How many other languages can you speak?"
"Well, I'm fluent in French and Italian, and I know a little Greek. But, honestly my Greek is terrible." She laughed, stopping when she noticed the way the professor was looking at her. Emma's face felt a little warmer. Jesus those eyes. She thought, noting the way they were staring intently into hers.
"You're really very impressive, Emma." She said with a small smile. Emma blushed even harder.
"Uh. Thanks Prof… uh, Regina." She stuttered, swallowing.
"Have you given any thought as to what you might do when you graduate?" She asked, leaning back and folding her arms. Emma ran a hand through her hair.
"Actually… I'd really love to teach. Well, to lecture. College. Like you." She replied, smiling shyly. The professors eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Really?" She asked. "Why?"
"Honestly… Because of my mother." She said.
"Your mother?" Regina asked confusedly.
"Yeah. Well, I mean, she's been this constant source of inspiration throughout my life. She's given me everything. Her knowledge, her passion, her ambition, the ability to travel and experience life in a way that's so different to everyone else. She has this way of seeing the beauty in everything, something which I like to think she's passed on to me, and… the thought of being able to share that wealth of knowledge and passion, to inspire other people like she inspires me. Well, I think I'd have a pretty happy life." She stopped when she noticed Regina smiling sadly at her.
"Are you okay Regina?" She asked.
"Hm? What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I was just listening to you." Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. I, um. Well, let's just say that my mother is uh… Well, she's not quite as lovely as yours." She said regrettably. Emma frowned, a wave of guilt washing over her.
"Oh. I'm sorry Regina, If I had known-"
"No, don't be silly! I'm fine, really. It's lovely to hear to talk about your mother. I should very much like to meet her one day." She smiled.
"She's flying over to see me next month. Maybe I could arrange a lunch date for the three of us? I'm sure she'd love to meet you too, I've already told her about you." Emma paused, realising what she had just said. Way to play it cool, Swan. She thought. The professor smirked at her.
"You've told your mother about me?" She asked. Emma desperately tried to think of a response that didn't make her sound like a stalker.
"Well, of course. You're my Art History professor, she wanted to know what you were like." She replied. Nice save. She thought. The professor nodded.
"Of course." She said. Emma stood up and started to gather her things.
"Well, I should get going. The line in the dinner hall always gets crazy long after 7."
The professor stood up and walked round to the front of the desk, perching on the edge. Emma stole a glance at her legs as she continued to pack away her things. They looked even more delicious up close. She couldn't help but picture her fingers running along them. Starting to get a little flustered, she dropped her notebook on the floor. Both her and the professor bent down to pick it up, their fingers brushing as they reached at the same time. Emma paused, curling her fingers in slowly, refusing to meet the Professor's gaze as they both stood up, not wanting her to see how much she was blushing. Get your shit together, Swan, or she's going to think you're a total creep. Shaking it off, she smiled, reaching out for her notebook, her eyes finally meeting the professors, who was gazing at her curiously, that smirk once again playing on her lips.
"Thanks." She said, taking her notebook and stuffing it in her backpack.
"No, thank you, for the coffee and taking the time to read this to me, it's been very interesting. You'll have to tell me if there's anything I can do to repay the favour." She smiled.
"I can think of a few things." Emma said flirtatiously. Holy fucking shit. That sounded so inappropriate. She's going to think you were talking about sex. She thought, panicking. Don't make it obvious that you're embarrassed, just go with it. She thought professor's eyes had widened in shock. Play it cool. Just dial it back a notch.
"Let me buy you a coffee?" She attempted. Cool as a cucumber. She thought, though she felt anything but.
"You already did that." The professor said with a smirk, surprise still evident in her eyes.
"Okay." Emma laughed. "Tough crowd. I meant let me take you to a coffee shop and buy you a coffee. You know, sit down, gossip about our friends, tell each other our wildest dreams, braid each others hair, that sort of thing." The professor started to laugh. "Come on, what have you got to lose?" Emma asked with a grin. The professor glanced at her with intrigue.
"Nothing, I suppose." She resigned.
"Great." Emma couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.
"But, don't tell the others. I don't want to break poor Robin's heart." She mused. Emma laughed.
"It will be our little secret." She winked.
"We seem to have a few of those." She replied. Emma swore she detected a hint of flirtation in her voice. The two women held their gaze for a moment longer than usual. Emma's eyes flickered down to Regina's lips, and slowly lifted back up to her dark brown eyes, which shone with a devilish glint. Emma was on the verge of leaning in when the professor pulled her out of her daze.
"I'll see you on Monday, Ms. Swan." She said softly, the smirk returning to her lips.
"Bye, Regina." Emma breathed, slightly disappointed, but not letting it show. She gathered up the rest of her things and walked out of the office.
Holy shit. She thought, mentally high-fiving herself. That was definitely something.
That's the end of Chapter 3! Please let me know what you guys think, I love reading your comments! :) Stay tuned for Chapter 4!