Enjoy, and hope everyone has a lovely weekend!
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
Location Unknown...New York...[Saturday, January 24th...12:51 am]
"These are the best photo's you could get?! Hand holding and driving together? I am not paying you for this shit...do I need to find someone else?"
The photographer shuffled his feet nervously, "I-I'm sorry but that's all they've been doing a-and—"
"Next time we meet. I better have something better than this. I don't want a fucking scandal...I want her career. Get out."
The photographer frantically collected the photo's that were scattered on the tiled floor and quickly left the room as humanly possible, not missing the fact that his employer kept the still shot of two political powerhouses holding hands, faces inches apart.
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
Torch Magazine Headquarters, 1 World Trade Center New York, NY...[Wednesday, January 28th...10:03 am]
Emma was fashionably late like she always was...it was her thing, especially when doing an interview for magazine's such as Torch. Instead of her usual 'straight off the runway' business attire, Emma chose to wear a pair of white straight leg jeans with a crème colored cotton turtle neck and a black blazer that was literally named after her; "The Emma Blazer" and black penny loafers.
Ruby blinked away the black dots from the insanely bright flashes, thankful that the elevator doors finally closed. She looked at Emma in bewilderment, "Why the hell do you have paparazzi stalking you? You're a CEO, you don't act or sing."
Belle laughed, "I'm shocked you don't know. When she's not dominating Wall Street and whipping clowns into shape with numbers, Emma is a model. She's every socialite's dream without being one herself. Living one life is hard enough...but for Emma, living two is like breathing air."
Ruby's curious gaze turned into anger and worry—a look Emma wasn't sure was even possibly, "You're risking everything." the tall brunette hissed.
Emma stared at Ruby with a cool gaze, "Time and time again, and I'm still here." the elevator doors opened, Emma walked out and a very confused Belle trailing behind her. Ruby growled quietly, narrowly avoiding being squashed between the two metal doors.
Torch headquarters looked like every other magazine company main office; a large lobby with a oversized receptionist desk, Ruby could barely see the top of the man's head but Emma didn't bother to stop to greet him, she went right to the double doors that were instantly buzzed open. Past the lobby was even colder in a sense of modern fashion for furniture type of way but Emma and Belle seemed quite comfortable with all eyes on them as they walked through the isle's of cubicles and office's alike, beneath the Swarovski chandeliers—the werewolf felt uneasy and she was thankful Emma didn't say anything about her carrying a gun today.
The interview room was just as grand and forbidding as the rest of the office but the skyline view of the city behind the white leather sofa made the room seem larger than it really was. Belle and Ruby sat in the two black leather chairs next to the door behind the tripod holding a camera that was sitting next to another plush arm chair.
Belle patted Ruby's bouncing knee smiling kindly at the wolf, "Why are you nervous? You're not the one on spotlight."
"I thought this was a magazine company...what's with the camera?"Ruby shrugged, crossing her arms tightly.
"Torch has an online exclusive show that specializes in live videos...so there are no edits or anything; they believe in raw reactions and stuff." Emma's phone buzzed in her hand and she smiled. Ever since Saturday, she and Regina have been texting non-stop...it was mostly about Henry but they seemed to be managing three different conversations simultaneously.
The door was opened and slammed just as quickly, startling all three women The woman who entered was probably the most eccentric looking woman Ruby has ever seen in this century...and she was Santa's best friend. The angular woman was tall and had medium length black (right side) and white hair (left side) and she wore the longest, and most ridiculous black fur coat and Ruby had to bite back a snarl...that was real fur. She pressed a button on the camera, a red light appeared before sitting down. Emma met Ruby's heated gaze apologetically, but focused her attention on her interviewer.
"Cruella de Vil...been a while."
"Far too long darling, far too long." Cruella gestured to Emma's outfit with a look of approval, "I suppose I can be relieved you still know how to dress."
Emma crossed her legs at the knee, "Thanks. How are you?"
"Miserable, darling, as usual. Perfectly wretched."
"Um..."
"Tell me darling when will you enrich the runways of Paris and Milan? I grow bored of these sticks wearing business fashion. You are the epitome of business. You should be wearing those suits...or you could just wear my furs darling. You'll look ravishing."
Emma's face reddened slightly at Cruella's praise, "Uh...well, I've been kinda busy lately and—"
Cruella waved off Emma's excuse, "But not busy enough to do this interview, hmm?"
Emma shrugged, lacing her fingers together over her knee to avoid fidgeting. "I don't walk the runway anymore but I'm still under a three year contract with Mayhem Parkes. So I don't really have a choice but to be here unfortunately." Emma ignored Belle's warning glance, Emma was never good with press and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
Cruella however just smirked, and it made Emma uncomfortable. "Financial adviser, CEO and model. How do you manage darling?"
"Um..." Emma licked her lips, "Well, my assistant Belle French is my life savor so I have to give all the credit to her. She manages my work life, I manage my personal life."
"Sounds unfair...your business life is huge. What about her personal life?"
"Well yeah...her schedule is fine Cruella. She hasn't complained so...we're good I guess."
The eccentric woman chuckled, "You guess? That doesn't sound very reassuring, Emma. In fact, after that response I'd expect the Tyrant Swan rumors to start again. Anyway as lovely as it is to see you darling I must offer you a confession."
"You do?" Emma's eyebrows raised in question, and the phone in her hand was buzzing. She looked down to see that it was Regina was calling which was odd because Emma was sure that Regina was aware she had an interview...in fact...Regina had her own press conference down at city hall. So why was she calling? Did something happen to Henry? Emma was about to excuse herself but Cruella offered her a photo. When the blonde finally registered what she was seeing, all color drained from her face and Ruby was about to run over but Belle stopped her.
"You see, I'm a really terrible person."
"What the hell is this?" Emma hissed worriedly, and it was making Ruby anxious.
Cruella's smile was one similar to the cat eating the canary, "I didn't bring you here to talk about fashion darling...I just wanted to be the first to cover the scandal between the Wall Street Wolf and the Mayor of New York."
"Scandal? There's no scandal? We're just friends, that's all!" the reason why Regina was calling made sense to Emma now, and Emma felt sick to her stomach. The very thing that they were both fearing was happening...of course it was only directed at the two of them, but they could only handle so much before the topic of Regina's son came up. "This photo is racy but there is nothing sexual going on between Regina and I."
Cruella's thick painted eyebrows rose, a devilish smile matching the glint in her blue eyes. "I could have sworn it was Mayor Mills to everyone but her son. First name basis sounds rather intimate darling...remember you're streaming live. Pick your lies carefully."
"I'm not lying, we're just friends and colleagues. It's strictly platonic." no matter how much Emma wanted to kiss her, love and caress her.
Cruella caught the look and leaned in carefully, keeping out of the view of the camera. "But you want more, don't you?"
"I don't appreciate you bringing me here under false pretenses and ambushing me, Cruella. I came here to promote fashion and business, not whatever bullshit agenda you clearly have going on here."
"Oh come off it dear, this isn't your first scandal...but it's the first you've been caught red handed."
"Okay. You know what?" Emma crumbled the picture and stood, lips pressed firmly together. "I'm done here."
"Don't worry darling...there is more where that came from. Thank you for stopping by, I look forward to our next meeting."
Emma stopped and stood over Cruella's chair, not caring about being streamed live anymore and ignoring Ruby and Belle calling her name. But Emma simply shook her head and walked out with her head held high but behind her facade, her heart was pounding hard. This wasn't supposed to happen.
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
CEO E. Swans office, Wall Street New York [ Wednesday, January 28th ...11:03 am]
Emma was pacing in her office with a glass of whiskey in her hand, she had promptly kicked Ruby out of her office—the last thing she needed was her friend in her ear lecturing about things that were already said and done. Emma needed to fix the mess she has unintentionally created...and she had yet to call Regina back or answer any of the brunette's phone calls. She was nervous about facing Regina with a definitive game plan but of course Emma should have known better.
Regina was not a woman to be denied.
Not even Ruby dared to try and stop the woman from storming into Emma's office and slamming the door shut behind her. Emma rolled her eyes as she stood at the bar with her back turned to her visitor, "Why is everyone slamming doors today?" she dropped two ice cubes into her tumbler.
"Ms. Swan, Why haven't you been answering any of my phone calls?! This is not the...are you drinking?"
Emma went to sit behind her desk with a loud sigh, "She caught me off guard. Look I know what the headlines are saying right now but we can't give them a reaction...we just have to—"
"Ms. Swan I'm perfectly capable of thinking for myself."
Emma refrained from rolling her eyes, "Then why are you here Regina? I don't care what they say about me, but you're the one with a lot to lose."
Regina went to Emma's bar to fix herself a glass of water, "I don't particularly mind either Ms. Swan but—"
Emma's office phone cut of whatever it was the Mayor was about to say, Emma put the phone on speaker—knowing exactly what this phone call was going to be about. "Yeah, Belle what's up?"
"Sorry to interrupt Emma but Todd Kinney just sold his stocks with us and sends his deepest apologies."
"What was the excuse?"
"He, well, he didn't mind that you are a lesbian, he disapproves of who you were being a lesbian with."
"That's new." Emma snorted, stealing a glance at Regina's stony face. "Thanks Belle, um...take a message for the rest of my calls until further notice."
"Sure!" click.
Emma picked up her pen and wrote down yet another name on a sheet of paper, and Regina was shocked and angered at how long that list was. "During my political campaign, I've crushed a lot of toes to get here. Emma—"
"It's just business Regina. Numbers go up and down, it's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?!" Mayor Mills all but shouted, "It is a big deal, have you not seen the headlines lighting up town square?"
"Yeah I have, "Two Tyrants In Love" is the worst the one but c'mon...this will blow over. Just focus on being the best at your job and Henry, 'cause he really needs you right now."
"Ms. Swan." Emma didn't like that tone or the way Regina was leveling her with that cool gaze of hers, "I didn't come here for idle talk. I came to warn you that this situation is only going to get worse and it's going to make our jobs a lot harder than necessary." Regina took a drink from her own tumbler, sighing deeply. "Perhaps it would better if you distanced yourself from—"
"Nope. I'm not letting bad press ruin our friendship...or anything else. C'mon Regina...don't let these junkets shake you." Emma looked past Regina's cool demeanor and saw the truth—Regina wasn't scared of the press slamming but she was afraid to lose the only person she has truly called a friend in such a short time. "Regina...our friendship is gonna be stronger than ever by Christmas and I'm willing to put five dollars on it."
"Five dollars? That's what I'm worth to you Ms. Swan? Five dollars? I feel cheap."
Emma laughed, glad to see a hint of a smile from the brunette. "Our friendship is gonna be priceless...but I'm still gonna bet five dollars we're gonna be best buddies by Christmas."
"I'm sure you'll be running for the hills beforehand."
"Okay, then it's a bet." Emma leaned forward, holding out her hand. "Shake on it."
Regina looked between Emma's hand and the blonde's face several times to gauge if she was being serious or not—chuckling softly, Regina shook Emma's hand firmly. "This is utterly ridiculous."
"I look forward to being five dollars richer, maybe I can finally afford to get a full meal from McDonald's...I think."
Regina set her glass down on the coaster on Emma's desk as she gathered herself to leave, "Don't be late tomorrow Emma."
"Yeah, yeah you've told me only a million times now. Go be Mayor or something."
Regina rolled her eyes, "Idiot." she walked out of Emma's office, selectively ignoring the blonde's mumbled comment, "Yeah...your idiot.", that she was sure she wasn't supposed to hear but it warmed her heart. Cora Mills was wrong, there are people in this world who want to like her...she's not destined to be alone for the rest of her life. There were few people...but they were there and that's all Regina cared about. Perhaps at first it was just Henry yet Mayor Mills was slowly visioning Emma being in her future as well.
Ruby stood from her seat as Regina approached on her way to the elevators, the taller brunette blocked the other woman's path but much to her displeasure she smelled no fear from Regina. "Stay away from Emma, Mayor Mills."
"Oh...you're her little lap dog, aren't you? Rufus?"
Ruby bit back snarl, "Ruby."
"Irrelevant." Mayor Mills countered coolly, walking around Ruby to press the down button. "Unless Ms. Swan personally tells me to never call her again, I'm afraid you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other in the near future dear."
"Emma is being too nice, you're putting her in danger and I'm warning you now to stay away from her or—"
"Or what? What goes on between Ms. Swan and I is private." the elevator doors opened and Regina stepped onto it like she owned it, "Do us all a favor and go take yourself for a walk. Fresh air might do you some good, dear."
The elevator doors closed soundly, leaving Ruby fuming on the top floor while Regina chortled all the way down to the first.
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
SQ :: SWAN QUEEN :: SQ
You know...I just can't find a Regina I like the most for this story...but I guess depending on the situation, one of her many personalities will come to light I guess. I guess I'm going for good Regina, but can turn bitch in 2.3 seconds, ya know?
This wasn't a media frenzy and them going at it like the pro's they are. I wanted to catch them off guard with some media backlash...media frenzy will come later, but not this soon. Plus I really just wanted to put Cruella in here one good time.
All mistakes are my own.
Anyway, bye awesome nerds.